I
A
N
T
F
A
T
G
S
A
E
A TR U E S TO R Y
BY M R S
’
R A I LR O
10
Mf L
.
C
?
Y
N
A
E
B
HICAGO
N E WS
AD
:
C O M PA N Y
S H E R M A N S T R EE T ,
I
8 7 9
.
.
.
;
C O N TE N TS
OUT I NTO
H I CAG
H
UN
I N TH E
.
13
CHA PTE R
III
.
22
CH A PT ER
I V
.
A
M I S S I ON
CH A PTE R
W ITH A
S HOP G IR L
R O M A NC E
TH E CLUB
UDA S
IN
.
VI
.
49
VII
.
55
CHA PT E R V III
.
62
N G DA Y
CHAPT ER
I!
.
70
CHAPTE R
!
.
R E A L I TY
A ND
H OUS E
M R S M ON R O E
.
V
”
CHA PTE R
T O IL S
S G IV I
33
CHA PT ER
UB E N H AR LO W
T H AN !
J
5
T I NG A S I TU AT I O N
O N LY
RE
.
C HA PT ER I I
O
A WOM AN
“
I
WOR LD
TH E
H OM E
S WEE T
C
CHA PTE R
.
79
CHA PT ER
!
I
.
89
CHAPT ER X II
’
S
H US
B
.
A ND
1 02
CHAPTER X III
P E TT I COA T S
.
1 10
(3)
CO NTENT S
4
A
F E A TH E R H E
ON
CHA PT ER X I V
WEAR
C H A PT ER !
V
.
1 35
CHAPT ER XV I
T A NG L E D T H R E A D S
M AR G A R E T
1 26
D I D N OT
B RIN !
TH E
.
.
144
CHA PT ER XV II
’
S
.
S TO RY
1 56
CH A PT ER XV II I
.
O V ER
1 65
“
'
TH E
R ET
URN HOM E
R EAP IN G
LO S T
CHA PT E R X I X
AND
172
.
CHA PT ER
! !
.
TH E R E WA R D
179
CH A PT E R XX I
FO UND
TH E G O S P E L
.
1 87
C HAPT ER
N ARR O W PA TH
TH E
.
XX II
.
1 91
CHAPT ER XX III
OF
PE
AC
E
2 00
CH A PT E R XX I V
I N S OL E M N CO NC L A V
MR S
.
G RUN DY
TH E G O S P E L
V
IR TU E
A ND
.
E
C H AP TE R
F ATE
XXV
.
CH A PT ER XX V I
OF
.
220
.
U
G SH
23 1
CHAPT ER XXV II
.
P RO T E CTE D
N O TH I NG
B UT
C HAPT ER
LE A V ES
2 37
XXV III
.
2 48
A G A I N S T F A TE
C HAPTER
I N TO
OU T
“
H OW
s h al l
it
t
r
re
Wh o s e
ace
d
an d
i
d
u n st a n e
S tretc h es
so
s
.
r stran ger
,
g en tl e ey e d ,
o
f ee
tr
.
WO R LD
b e w i h h e r, t h e t en d e
F ai f
Bef o
TH E
I
.
t
r d s rud e
th e w o l
an ge
an d
’
Wi de ?
DOD—BYE , Mother !
h i gh w ay
”
N OW d OD t y ou
all I S hall wri te
’
'
fret about m e at
often and tell you j ust hOW I get
along A nd may be I ll com e home at C hri st
m as
You shall have a n e w dres s for a pr e sent
I am going to save my money
if I don t come
N OW don t cry p le as e th e re s a
on purpose
”
dear good mo ther I t W il l al l com e out right
”
“
I hope i t may J enni e answer e d th e mother
sadly
I v e n e v e r s lept a nigh t
b ut oh d e ar
.
’
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,
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( 5)
A G A IN S T FA TE
6
.
without you under the s a me roo f and if anything
should happen i t would break my heart It does
seem to me that I sh a ll never have you back
again the Jennie I s ee before m e Somehow I
mistrust that woman you are going to I wish
we knew more about her She has prom ised
”
w ell I know but will she keep her promises 4
“
”
It wil l n ot take lo n g to decide that mother I
Yes ; and I suppose i t w ill be better than
going into a s tore ; but oh it does se e m as
tho u gh I cannot gi ve y ou up I
M rs A rmstro n g looked at her daughter and
it r e quired al l the stern di scip l ine of her reserved
nature to keep her f rom breaking down u tterly
as she parted with her only child fearing i n her
heart she knew n ot W hat evi l poor woman She
had fallen into th e useless habit of looking on
the dark side of everything which was no very
surprising circumstance con sid e ring th a t her
blessings al l came in disguise ; even this pre
cions child gro w ing fro m lovely girlhood i nto
l ovelier womanhood had al ways been a sourc e
exquisi te sorrow
How to get enough to
of
cl othe her comfortably to gi ve her eve n an
ordinary e ducation to surround h e r wi th the
,
.
,
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IN T O
O UT
T H E WO R LD
7
.
mal le st and poor e st l ux u ri es — a f ew of th e
many littl e p leasures which young girl s crave
this had been the end and a im of the moth e r s
existence Herself a disappoint ed woman S h e
had struggled hard to gai n f or J e nnie something
She had tried and fai l ed
o f a ll s h e had missed
Many nights the mother had lain awak e sch e m
ing and planning f o r Jennie while th e gi rl slept
a n d f ound in rosy dr e ams a comp e nsatio n f or
the day s losses
”
Yo u haven t hal f e nou gh cl othe s con ti nu e d
M rs A rmstrong looking wistf ully at the littl e
“
red l e ather trunk on the stoop
That meri no
i s wor n so thi n i t did n t m ake o ver very we l l and
t h e plush cap e looks f aded ; but the brown rep i s
a s good as n ew
That will wear all W inter com
”
f ortab ly Did your f ather gi ve you any money 2
Thi s l ast was asked i n an eager W hisp e r wi th a
wist f ul glance toward the tall solemn lookin g
m an w h o w as harnessing a rickety horse into a
m ore rick e ty wagon preparatory to taking h is
d aughter to the depot
”
answered th e girl in a lo w ton e
NO
r e ddening slowly as she sp oke She hated the
name of money for i t repres e nt e d to her all
s
’
.
,
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AGA IN S T F A T E
8
.
mean and sordid mak e shi f ts If sh e cou l d onl y
have a room full of i t sh e woul d b e happy ; but
th e se crumbs from the table ba h
”
“
Well ! here are t w o dollars said Mrs A rm
“
strong all I have i n the world Perhaps your
f ather will gi ve you a little more and y ou must
b e ca reful of it dea r for I m sur e I don t know
where the next i s coming from
A s Jennie had never rec e i ved a shi l ling in her
life wi thou t a t able of i nstructions add e d thi s
caution was unnecessary She took th e money
in a thankless sort of way and crushed it into
th e palm of h e r cotton glove She wante d to
throw i t down trample upon i t and make i t
feel how lightl y she est ee med i t th e mis erabl e
pal try su m ! A v e ry human girl this on e
you s ee !
But she saw the tearful face of that dear good
mother w ho had s t ood li ke a wall of defense
b e tween her and life ever since sh e ent e red it
and now she w a s going out into th e great beau
ti f ul w orld wi t hout her ! It seemed so u n gra te
f ul after all that m other had do n e
A nd sobbing as she had n ot done sinc e a c h i l d
J e nni e cl ung abou t h e r mother s n e ck ki ssin g
-
,
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O UT
I NT O
T H E WO R L D
9
.
and clasping her i n a strai nin g embrace Th e n
she climbed over t he high wheel into t h e ol d
wagon and took her place by her f ather s side ;
the gaunt ol d horse started of f and they w e r e
gone !
But the girl looked back wi t h such g e nuin e
sorrow for the m iserable home s he was leaving
it was a w onder she did no t sh are the fate of
that tragic woman perpetuated in sal t A s she
l ooked she s aw through th e crystal of her tears
that her m other w a s hurrying after her holding
o u t a s m all book
”
You forgot it Jennie dear she sai d as sh e
came up almost breathl e ss from the u nusual
“
exertion of running
I found i t on the bed
”
where you had overlooked it
A frown ru f fled the low smooth brow of the
girl and t he pretty tr e mulou s lips contracted
pettishly but sh e took the l ittle volume and
s queez ed the thi n hand of her mother lovingly
“
Read i t oft en Jennie dear ; you will find
pe ace an d comfort there when all else fails I
h a ve marked some comforting words i n th e
”
Epistl e of St John
”
“
I hear the train Mary int e rrupt e d Mr
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A G A IN S T F A T E
IO
A rm strong
.
Women never know wh e n t o let
”
well enou gh al one G e t up said he to his
”
“
horse
look ou t there for th e wheel turn in g
t o hi s wi fe and they start ed on
“
G ood bye Jennie darling ; be a goo d girl
and write home Ofte n
These w ere th e l ast
homely words of the sorrowing m o ther
Jenni e soon dried h e r eyes — the tears of yout h
a re easily exhausted — and began to S peculate on
the probable events of her jo u rney to C hicago
an d
the improbab l e happines s of the bright
f utu re that a w aite d her there
The li ttle book
in her lap sl id down into the bottom of the
wagon and lay there unnoticed She was think
ing Of all the fine sights she would see the money
she would have the books she could re a d the
d resses she would wear
Her eyes grew bright
her cheeks red her lips smiled and s he sat like
an enchanted Hebe beside her taci turn father
and had tra veled miles i n imagination when th e y
s topped at the dingy depot
But the mother h a d gone back to the house
h ad entered the li t tle disorderly ill fi tted bed
room no w drearily v a cant and had thrown her
s elf on her kn e es b e sid e the empty b e d and wi th
“
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INTO
OUT
T H E WO R LD
I
.
I
fac e bu ried in he r check apron was fighting
a battle to the death
There were two Other girls at the depot wait
They w e re schoo l
i n g f or the comin g train
m ates and companions of Je n n ie s and w ere n ow
looking for her w ith m uch solici tud e as the
three were going together to seek their fort u nes
in the ci ty O ne had be e n a teacher of the di s
t riet school i n th e next township f or th e l ast
y ear and exp ected to Obtain a situation in t he
u b lic schools of C hicago at a better remunera
p
tion The other was a bright girl who h a d
a ssisted her widowed mother b
l
in
th
e
e rk in
c
y.
g
o n e general store — the place being post o f fic e
dry goods shop and groc e ry combined: Sh e
hoped to reali z e more money an d see somethin g
o f the world
These t w o Luci a Wi nne and E va
Bartlet t were surroun ded by their f ri e nds w ho
had come to s ee them of f and as they heard t he
w hi stl e of the fast nearing trai n t he v watch ed
a nxiously for Jenn ie A rm strong fearing that sh e
woul d be left But j ust at the last momen t t h e
O l d horse reached the platform and J e nnie S prun g
h er
,
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out
.
I was sure you would miss th e train
”
,
said
AG A
I2
I N ST
FA T E
.
Eva running u p t o her and that would h av e
be e n too bad w e w ant to start with even luck
Here is the train n ow I m ust s ay good bye to
”
them all a nd she ran back to the group at the
door
Mr A r m strong kissed hi s dau g hter after t he
f a shion Of men i n parti ng w i t h t he de a rest
objects of their af f ections He neither cried nor
l ooked concerned but it i s to be presumed that
h e f el t qui te as b a dly as though he had
A s the trai n s tarted he stood sile n t and apart
from the rest a cold misanthropic m an watch
ing wi t h eyes th a t no tear dimmed this farewell
“
Of his only ch i
sole daughter of his hous e
”
and h eart
He s a w the three young faces a t
the car windo w s — t hought ho w much fairer
Jennie s w a s than the others yet they w ere
pretty gi rls too ; and then as the cars f ad ed
aw a y i n t he distance he roused him sel f w i th a
sigh wondering why any of them had ever been
born
But the t hree girl s had no d a rk forebodings
They knew naught of the curse of a grante d
pray e r !
“
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C H A PT E R I I
S WEE T H OM E
“
Th e s e
Di ed
,
th e h opes ,
a re
e
v
en
as
w e ga
.
.
th t o e b y on e
ve th em b i t h
a
n
r
HE N
the ca rs bearing the three gi rls
had pass e d quite ou t of sight th e
group on the platform dispersed Mr
A rmstrong un tied the old horse which w as nib
bling the scant a utum n grass a t hal ter length
and soon the t hree dilapidated structures man
h orse a n d vehicle — were j ogging back on th e
way home They wer e nearly there when sud
d en ly a man stepped ou t from a fa rm gate by
the roads ide and a pproached Mr A rmstron g
with a decided gestu re commanding hi m to
which he did w aiting w i thout a change
s t op
Of countenance for wha t was coming
The man w ho approached was v oung of sle n
der wiry frame and with a pale intellig e nt f ace
.
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( 1 3)
,
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I
A G A IN S T F A T E
4
.
denoting a superabu ndance of n ervous force
His black hair was i n strange contrast to his
pale b l ue eyes that glowed wi th anger or passion
of som e ki nd H is lips were thi n and com
presse d He placed on e f oot on the wh eel hub
an d grasped the Old box sea t wi th white slender
fingers that looked very unlike a farmer lad s
S O Jennie S g e ne has sh e he b egan l ook
“
and n ot s o m uch
in g hard at Mr A rmstrong
a s said good bye to me
I d idn t expect or
deserve such treatment as that Mr A rm stron g
Were y ou afraid to l e t m e know s he w as going
yond e r ? There s some di f f erence between
of f
bei ng an honest m an s wife and recei ving the
love and care of a whole li fe time and b e ing a
strange r in that place of tempta t ion an d sin
”
Mayb e she will find i t ou t too
”
“
I am sorry answered Mr A rmstrong i n his
col d passio n l e ss voice
but Jennie do e s n t
know her ow n m ind It is n t m y fault tha t
R e uben She do e s
s h e wil l no t be your wife
”
n ot care for you nor any on e els e in that way
Sh e did care f or me you know she did before
that fin e scamp from the city cam e up here t o
bre ak hi s neck —how I wish h e had — and have
.
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16
AGA I N S T FA TE
.
in ob ed i e nc e t o a touch from th e w h ip A n d
”
“
I loved her so h e m uttered and that infernal
rascal has succe eded in getting her away Wh at
a drivelling Old dolt h e r f ather is n o t to se e
”
through him !
He t urned aw ay wi th a white f ace and cl e nche d
hands a d e spe rate man all for the sake o f on e
baby faced girl who at that moment had f orgot
t e n his existence
M r A rm strong w e nt home and put out th e
A s he ran the wagon into i t s shed
ol d horse
h e sa w th e l ittle book l ying in the bottom H e
picked i t up and Opened i t at the fiy leaf There
w a s a tender inscri ption by the mother s hand
written only yest e rday He could n ot bear to
te ll her that Jennie had forgotten i t
I reckon
”
s h e did n t want i t
he said A n d after all what
wonder
How can th e bo u nding heart of youth
take ho l d on the preciou s words of St John ?
Later w hat tend e r balm t hey a re to the weary
wounded heart
”
“
Did s h e go of f ch e erful like ? ask e d Mrs
A rm strong as her husband entered the ki t chen
Her voice w as shaky and h e r eyes suspicious ly
re d
“
on
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SW EET HO M E
I
.
”
7
C he erful enough answe re d th e m an
I
gu e ss she won t be sorry of th e change Its
mighty nice riding around t he country makin g
wreaths of autumn l eaves and drawing trees and
rocks on whit e paper but grubbing a mong t h e
s a m e f or a li ving and n ot ge ttin g i t i s a di f f erent
thing I m sick enou gh Of i t f or my part
Hi s wife di d n ot ans we r him
He had been
an unsucc e ssful lawyer an unsucce ss f ul poli ti
e ian, and a stil l more unsucc e ssful f arm e r It
was t he man not the luck that w a s wron g
H e h ad l ost f riends reputation and money bu t
hi s wi f e w as h is f or riche r or poore r f or be tte r
or wors e
”
“
“
I s aw Harlow he said p re s ent l y and h e
s ee m ed cross and disappointed abo ut Jenni e
Sh e n e v e r told hi m when she was going or said
good by e Se e ms to me she did n t do j ust right
”
Re ub e n has done a good deal for her
”
“
He i s too tyrannical and stormy said his
“
wife
The very way in which he love s Jenni e
would make her unh appy She has al w ays lov ed
h im as a brother bu t sh e w ill n e v e r car e f or hi m
”
I n any oth e r way
You do n t t hin k J en n ie ca r e d f or th at Ross
“
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2
1
A GA I N S T FA T E
8
.
F arnham do you asked Mr A rmstrong slowly
wi t h his eyes fixed on th e ceiling as if h e wer e
reciti n g a l e sson
“
I have n ot tho ught m u ch about i t Rich
ard
He paid her a great d eal of attention
when h e got well but there was no love
making I know tha t it is through hi s in
fl u e n ce Mrs M onroe h a s s e nt for Jennie
Wh at
a spl e ndid thing i t would b e if i t should t u rn
”
o u t i n that way
“
Well I do n t know Tw e nty years ago Mary
your father would have set hi s dog on F arnham s
f ather if he had presumed to cross the door sill
The son i s a ge n tlem an and not a charlatan but I
reckon he s got some of hi s fath e r s tastes Still
money and education do a vast deal for on e i n
thi s world a n d he s young F arnham 8 worth
a m illion and w e are n o t worth a cent But you
s e e Ross F a rnham can choose from among the
young ladies Of hi s own s ocie t v What chance
would our l i t tl e girl have again st them
”
“
Such things have happened before replied
“
the m other
Jennie h a s beauty — there s no
h arm in saying that — and sh e i s well educated
Sh e would pick up accompli shm e nts easily and
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SW EET HO M E
19
.
”
i s the lov in ge st little thing i n the world
concluded this loyal heart
“
Well ! I do n t se e exactly with your eyes
”
“
Mary answered her husband
I am afraid
that when Jennie sees the city l adi e s i n their
fine feathers i t will make her look very poor and
”
dowdy
P oor and dowdy ! the m other felt as if i t
ere blasphemy to speak i n this w ay of h e r
W
absent darling A t the same time the words
brought wi th them a comforting assurance that
in the great G arden C i ty her li ttle wild flower
m ight be overlooked by evil eyes B e tte r b e
a daisy than a ros e when the king bee comes
to woo
The old coupl e — old through di sappointment
an d car e an d hard labor rather than through
years — sat down to supper alon e f or the first
time The t a ble ware was of the poorest and
plai n e st and so w a s the f are I f there was n o
ou t spoken sentim ent of love between the t w o
there was respect and harmony which are often
mor e enduring They had been lov e rs but pov
e r ty a n d sorrow had come b e twe e n the t w o so
o f te n wi th t heir sp ectral f aces they had fright
she
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AG A IN S T F A T E
20
.
e ned l ov e away — at le ast the love that expr e ss e s
i tself i n e ndear m ent and sentiment
“
”
She must be nearl y th e re by this tim e sai d
t he moth e r looking up at th e cl ock
“
I reckon she i s i f th e re has n t b ee n any
”
accident t o th e train
respond e d Mr A rm
strong
A cciden t to the train ! Th e moth e r s h e art
stood still a m oment then a sil e nt prayer wen t
up to G od f or h er darl i n g s pro t e ction Strang e !
that she should pray She h ad asked and not
re c e ived all her li f e time ; had wrestl e d f or her
treasur e s as f ervently as e v e r Jacob did and
they had vanis hed f rom h e r grasp while s h e
sought to keep th e m Why should she pray ?
Does the Infinit e G od e ver change any of H is
plans b ecause H is cr e atur e s b e se e ch Him in
angui sh on t he ir kn ee s ? A nd if her darling
should be brought back to her W hite and still
the youn g life e xp ell e d i n a m oment from i ts
transi en t home to r e turn t o Him who gave i t
wou l d i t not be somethin g to thank Him for ?
“
C ou l d not s elfish love say
Sh e has escap e d al l
I have su f f er e d
Sh e has gone withou t sin or
”
sorrow to w e ar h er crown ! A h d e ar L ord w e
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S WEE T
HOME
21
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are human ! It w as the man af ter G od s own
“
h eart who beat his breast and cri e d
Would
”
G od I h ad di e d f or thee
’
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CHAPTER I II
C HIC
A GO
M a n m ad e t h e
.
.
t ow n
”
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’
only a s ix hours ride but m any a
long jo u rney h as been less importa nt
The three gi rls w e r e delight ed with
e verybody and everything they s a w It w a s
l ike going into a n e w world t o l eave thei r
quiet country homes and see so m any new faces
and new sigh t s Luci a w as the sober on e of
the trio and kept the others within check with
ou t at all dampening th e ir p l easur e which w as
almost riotous
It see m ed to Jennie that they n e ver would get
through the streets and past the hous e s all j u m
bled together an d i nto the depot where they were
greeted by a noisy gang of hackmen who stood
in a row at th e head of th e s tairs f or all the world
wa s
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( 22)
2
AGA IN S T FA TE
4
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ordering them in h er most au thoritati v e
s ch ool m a m manner to allow them t o pass w hen
“
Jennie cri ed out There s your brother Albert
Lucia
A young man at once stepped forw ar d
and the girls joi ned in a chorus of delight He
kis sed Lucia and shook hands hearti ly wi th the
other t w o girls
O h Albert those horri d men ! Do send them
”
away cried Lucia But they all disappeared
l ike magic when they sa w the gentleman
“
I could n ot i magine what they were shouting
”
at said Mr Winne l a ughing ; they completely
hid you from vie w I expect they w ere loo king
”
for a rich harvest from you little country girls
“
You ought to have seen Luci a Mr Winne
“
said J e nnie
I think she w a s going to read her
diploma to th em I n e ver s a w anything so funny
”
i n my l ife
Well Mi ss Jennie you m ay p repare for a suc
cession of wonderful surprises from now hence
forth E verything here i s on a m agn ifice n t scale
We take the most exaggerat ed vie w s of all things
But come into the rec eption room w hile I look
after your baggage You wil l al l go hom e wi th
”
me
w as
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her
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A thou s a n d me n
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P ag e 23
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seeme
d
to b e p oi n t i n g the i r wh i s
p
at
CH I C AG O
2
.
M rs Monroe promised to me e t me ,
5
”
said
“
Jennie bu t there was so much confu sion I ex
pee t she missed me O f course I should n ot
”
know her
“
Well I will see that you get ther e saf ely t o
”
morrow said Mr Winne
H e re i s the ladies
room Si t here for a few moments while I look
”
u p y our checks
The place was dreary an d uninvi ting an d a f ew
weary looking people w ere w aiting in t he li stl e ss
manner t h a t travelers wear The three girls sa t
do w n toge ther frightened and w ondering Ev e ry
momen t the door opened and some one cam e in
stared a t them at the closed ticke t of fice and went
A young man in a nobby sui t of gray with
ou t
a blue tie and a paper collar leered at them like
some grotesque monster and passed harmlessly
Then a rather tall w ell dressed f a sh
o u t a g a in
i on a b l e looking m an came i n wi t h an elegant
nonch a lant air and an easy graceful walk H e
half raised hi s hat in the most respectful mann e r
as he pas sed the girls and bowed slightly as if
deprecating the i n trusion Jennie starte d up
clasped her hands and then sank back into h er
seat She knew thi s elegant gentlem an and h er
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AGA IN S T FA TE
26
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heart gav e a great bound It was Ross F a m ham
and he w a s looking f or her
Eva whispered t o her I t s the gen t leman that
was at your ho u se last summ er Wh y do n t you
”
sp e ak to him ?
Speak to him ! She wished herself miles away
O h ! how poor and insignifica n t sh e f elt Sh e
dre w her coarse shawl abou t her — the shawl h e r
m other had robb e d herself of to give to her child ;
s h e had tho u ght i t so bright and pr e t t y then ;
She tried t Ohide the littl e
n o w s h e h a te d i t
hands i n thei r cot t on gloves under it Wher e
n o w w a s her independence of character ; the aunty
i nsolence the flash a n d sparkle of her coque t ti sh
beau ty ? She w as glad Ross did not know her and
passed her by a n d ye t there w a s a strange tremor
about her he a r t Tha t he should not recogni z e
her was humiliating too Then w hile sh e was
shrinking back between her companions he turned
and s a w h e r a n d cam e quickly toward her hold
ing out his well gloved hands with a pleasant
ef f usion of m ann e r
Mi ss A rms t rong ! I did not expec t t o s ee y ou
wi t h comp a ny I am very glad to w elcom e yo u
to C hicago I unders t ood M rs Monroe to say
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C H I C AG O
27
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,
you were alone She sent m e down for you
but i ndeed I am very gl ad to see you again
and to be of service I have the carriage h e r e
wai ting
A l l this time he was shaking hands with that
warm cordial yet respectful m anner p e culiar to
hi m Jennie returned hi s greeting ti midly W i th
ou t a s hade of the audaciou s coquetry w i th which
sh e torm en ted h e r ru stic admirers
Then she in
t rod u ce d him to h e r friends and he proved to b e
acqu a in t ed with Lucia s broth e r Mr Winn e
who greeted him very coolly however when he
came and se e med dispos e d to insis t on retaining
Jennie under his protection at le a st until the next
morning Ross F arnham would not listen to
this a n d J e nnie made her adieus prom i sing to se e
her friends often ; a n d the carriage rolled away
with her seated by the side Of Mr F arnham
I t was all like Heav e n to poor Jenni e ! The
easy luxurious m ot ion of t he comfor t abl e equip
age the liveried dri ver the gay panoram a of city
streets all alight seen now for the first time th e
handsome impassioned face Opposi te an d th e
pleasan t d a rk eye s that she felt were regarding
her with kindly i n t e re st ! the gir l forgot tha t she
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2
AGA IN S T FA TE
8
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poor and d owdy ; that she had com e to C hi
c a e to be a sort of upper servant ; and leaning
g
back on the bro w n satin cushions sh e t ook it all
i n a s an enchanted dream Then the carriage
stopped an d Mr F arn h a m a ssisted her ou t and
they entered a great handsome hall wi th plate
gl ass w i ndows filled with a glitteri n g sho w of
frosted silver glass and frui t There w as a long
s a l on where gen tl e men w e re seated at sm all ta
bles eating and reading They p a sse d thro u gh
t h e entire length of this to the fur ther end where
ladies and gentlemen w e re sea t ed toge t h e r at the
tabl e s Ross F arnham installed Jen n ie comfort
ably before on e of the marble stands and bade
the attenti ve colored wai ter furni sh the bes t sup
per the place af f ord e d Jennie was h a lf fright
ened and w holly awed by the splendor about her ;
by the great gli st ening chandeliers all alight with
pri smatic hues ; by the lo f ty frescoed ceilings
and imposing arr ay of tables gli ttering w ith
silv e r and cut glass ; an d by t he colored att e nd
ants running noi selessly abou t Somehow the
child gre w d a zz led a n d frightened by i t al l Ross
F arn h a m saw the look of perplexity on the girl s
face and said gently :
w as
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AGA IN S T FA TE
3o
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pu re and good as at Newton I have a bay trot
ter that I have reserved for this
Jennie smiled wi th a look of i n t ense s a tis f a c
tion She had he a rd dreadful stories of ci ty life
\
Of young girls en ticed a w ay from their country
homes and never he a rd of again O f elegant
and handsome m e n who w ent a bout in the gui s e
angel s of light bu t w ere fiends of darkness
of
O f traps s e t for un w ary souls gilded traps i nto
which they someti mes walked most w illingly
She h a d be en s o well drilled in to terror of all
these namel e ss ills that sh e felt strong and elate
sitting there with her friend Ross F arnh am to
protect her and al l this atmosphere of l u x u ry and
respec t ability about her She gre w chatty and
confidential ; recall e d littl e incidents Of the past
summer when they we n t harvesting and nut t ing
together and asked innumerabl e questions a bout
M rs Monroe and her surroundings and laughed
h e r ow n cheery laugh
Ross F arnham was charmed
Th e child di d
n ot know her ow n value ; did not know that sh e
w as as l ovel v as an angel
But she did know by
a girl s quick intui tion that s h e was acceptable
t o Ro ss F arnham ; that he did not think h e r poor
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CH I C AGO
or co un t ry fie d or
31
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shabby He the el egan t man
the world had spent many an hour willingly
Of
i n her society nor had he ever gi ven her a word
o r a look that was n o t respectful while ther e was
ever an underton e of tend e rness that set her h e art
be a ting wildly Th e re was that same man ne r
no w as he clasped h e r coarse shawl about her as
though it were t he mantl e of a prince ss and
handed h e r the li ttle country rustic back into
the throne like carri age wai ting at the door i n
the strong gas light A s S h e turn ed t o look out
a moment into the lighted streets she saw a wo m an
young f ai r dressed as i f f or a ball in silk and
lace and glitt e ring jewels She came ou t f rom
the shado w and stood a moment gaz ing a t the
carriag e as i t rol l ed away and there w a s such a
l ook of misery and hate on her haggard face
s u ch a revelation of a soul i n the throes of moral
de a th that Jenni e turn e d sh u ddering away and
nestled closer to Ross F arn ha m for p rotection
In a short tim e the carriage stopped and n ow
at a handsom e residence on the West Side
”
Thi s is Mrs Mon ro e s s aid Mr F arnham
as he assist ed Jennie from the carriage and aecom
h
an ie d her up the s te ps
He
ran
g
t
e b ell and
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AGA IN S T F ATE
32
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a s e rvant Ope n e d the door She w as exp e cting
them and at once relieved Jenni e of her satchel
”
“
A re you coming in Mr F arnham ? she asked
re spectfully
N ot to night Esther ; I will see M rs Monro e
”
I suppos e she i s as wel l as u su al
to morro w
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C HAPTE R I V
A
H UNTI N G
.
S I T UA T I O N
.
VA
BA RTLETT spent two or thre e
d ays at Mrs Winne s with Lucia an d
then turn e d her steps toward the situ
ation she desired to find She had hoped that
Lucia s brother w ould help h e r in this and that
perhaps Lucia herself would be abl e to go ou t
wi th her in her quest at the various s tores but
she soon learned that C hica go people are a very
bu sy people and that for every situation vacant
there at least two hundred applicants and that
as a rule the merchan ts care m uch less abou t t he
necessities and sen sibilities of th e ir cl e rks than
they do about their c a paci ties as good s al e sw o
men Mr Winne filled a government position
being an employee of the post of fice He did fin d
time to see the superintendent of school s and
i ntroduce hi s sister Lucia t o him and h e gave
E va a slip of paper contain i ng th e nam e s of the
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(33)
AGA IN S T FA TE
34
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l eading dry goods houses with the street an d
n umbe ra t tached telling her as he did s o that sh e
w a s welcome to stay a t h is house unti l sh e found
a situation His wife ho w ever was a peevish
invalid with her arms full of little children
luxuries his small salary did n ot justify —a n d
she spent the most of her time in berating their
on e servant a n d che a pening the prices of living
with the results of which sh e regaled her h u s
band when he went home at n ight tired and
embarrassed Both girls hat ed the stifled sordid
a tmosphere and determined to get out of it as
soon a s possible
Lucia went first A s sh e passed a good exam
in a tion and obta ined a firs t class certificate sh e
was a t once called upon as a substi t ute for a
te a cher who w a s ill and her services giving sat
isf a c tion she retained the place the convalesce nt
te acher being place d i n a department where the
work w a s lighter Luci a found i t convenient
t o pay the same board which her brother s wife
d e manded of her a t a place nearer to the schoo l
a n d in a family whose j oys and sorrows were not
a matte r of traf fic In h er ow n littl e room she
coul d rest and enj oy h e rself afte r h er ow n fash
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36
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
wou l d l ook magn ific e nt in rich and el egant cos
tum s s The pale yo u ng l ady whom Eva had
addressed scanned her with professional eyes
and at h e r eager oh do you think h e will wan t
”
”
“
me ? answered sorrowfu lly
I think h e w ill
Something i n the answ e r r e strained Eva s gl ad
n e ss
Is th e pl ace so very h ard
she asked
”
“
Hard enough replied t h e oth e r dusting
ou t h e r show case and then sh e turned away to
wait on a l ady w ho d ragged any amount of pea
cock fin ery af ter her By t hi s time the propri e
tor of the store had fini shed his in structions to
h i s salesman This was Eva s chanc e W ith h e r
heart i n her m on th sh e approached t he g e ntl e
man and asked the usual question
He w as a handsom e elderly m an sto u t and
florid with a profusion of curly iron gray hair
He w ore a pair of handsom e gold rimmed
gl a sses and he l ook e d at her a full min ute
before speaking then he answ e red h e r question
by asking another
“
What can y ou do
F or answer Eva gav e him he r letters of r e fe r
en ce from th e country stor ek e e pe r who had
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H U NTIN G
A
S IT U A TI O N
37
.
employe d he r He stood a mom e n t in d e ep
thought
“
I hardly know It s ee m s as thoug h I had
h eard th e m s ay th e y n ee ded a good figure in th e
”
shawl room You would do he said turnin g
Eva round as if she were ind ee d a lay figure
”
C om e wi th me he added and went dir e ctly to
th e you n g l ady t o whom Eva h ad first spoken
“
M iss Holmes if th e re i s a vaca ncy i n th e shawl
d epar t m e nt will y ou try this young woman ?
You can instruct her in t h e u sual duties and l e t
”
h e r know the ru le s I wi ll see you to morrow
and h e bow ed court e ou s l y an d w i t h dre w
Had the ski e s f alle n ? W as t h is weary dis
consolate E va Bartlett wh o h ad trudged away
a week af ter Wh at seemed a f orlorn hope n ow
an employee of the flourishing dry goods hous e
Rock w ell ? Th e sad stern face be h ind
of Bates
the coun ter recalled h e r
“
Where are you stoppin g
asked Miss
Holmes pu tting her laces in order while she
talked E va informed her and also told of h e r
necessity of at onc e finding a boarding plac e
“
You can board where I do at t h e Woman s
”
Home on Jackson str ee t
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AGA IN S T FA TE
38
.
Is it a hospi tal
asked E va the n am e s ug
m
so
e
public
institution
e s t in
g
g
“
Miss Holmes smiled a little at this
It i s
”
“
af te r a sort she said a hospital for the hal t
and the blind A t l east i t i s a refug e from the
average boarding hous e k eeper Yo u can hav e
a com f ortabl e half room for four dollars a week
and if you lik e music a piano to practice on
Ther e are no men i n the e stablishment except
a caterer and the wom e n all hate each oth e r
but you n ee d hav e nothing to do
c ordially ;
You can
w i th any of them unl e ss you wi s h
”
com e to ni gh t if you pl e ase
E va thanked the young lady and promis e d to
b e th e re Th en s h e went back to Mr Winne s
and r e port e d progress H e r f ri ends h e r e con s id
e red her particularly f ortunate A fte r tea she
pack e d up her small wardrobe and made h e r
adieux Unlik e Lucia sh e fel t sorry to go Sh e
was accustom e d to chi l dren and liked the sticky
caress e s of thes e little ones and s h e felt sure she
s h ould prefer th e di sordered atmosph ere of the
f amily to th e restricted air of th e Hom e
Ye t
sh e felt that it was best f or her to go
M r Winn e accompanied h e r to h er n ew resi~
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H U N T I NG
A
S I T UA T I O N
.
d e nce and saw her safe in Mis s Holm e s k eeping
Th e n h e l e f t her wi th a kind invitation to spen d
h er Sundays and holidays wi th Lucia at hi s
h ouse
Eva tho ught the Home a palace Th e gre at
warm parlors the halls well lighted and fur
n ish e d s o luxuriously seemed t o h e r th e e m b od i
m e nt of all com f ort
Som e of the boarders wer e
entertaining company in the parlors some were
trilling at th e pianos oth e rs walked arm in arm
thro u gh th e hal l s A ll l ooked comfortable and
happy and se e med to consider it a hom e i nd e ed
“
I have m ade an exchan g e and you are to
”
sh are my room sai d Miss Holm e s as sh e led
”
“
the way there
It i s small as y ou se e throw
ing Open the door bu t we can m anage It is
l arge enough and fine enough f or shop girl s as
”
o u will soon find
y
She spoke bitterly and her manner impr e ss ed
E va di sagreeably She needed to be re assur e d
and comfort e d this first night among stran ge rs
bu t S he fel t as though constantly men ace d by
some hidden danger
But sh e was a brave gi rl an d n ot ac custom ed
to thin k ing merely of h e r own com f ort s o sh e
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AGA IN S T FA TE
4o
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unpack e d h e r trunk and hung u p h e r f e w dr e sses
in her hal f of the cl oset Mi ss Holmes watched
her but did not of f er to assist She seem e d tired
o u t and lay on the s mall lounge as utt e rly pros
trate as if she never exp e cted to rise again Still
s h e not e d each garmen t as i t appeared and com
Th e r e w e re onl y three The l ast
m en t e d on i t
was a black alpaca plain l y but neatly m ad e
”
“
That will do for the store said Mi ss Holmes
“
We all wear black It does n ot show wear nor
dust and then with di ff erent sets of collars and
cu f f s you can always appear to advan tage N ow
le t me advi se you h ow to dress for the first
week after th at you w ill see for yourself Wear
that black dress wi th blue ribbons and do your
hai r up in a coil with a black velvet band aro un d
the front That l igh t hair of yours wi l l dress
S plendidly O h ! child ! what did you r m other
send y ou h e re for Do y ou know that y ou have
walked right into th e l ion s den poor littl e
lamb
Eva s large i ntellig en t eyes filled wi th tears
“
Is i t such a wicked place
she said
Well
I am not afraid I m e an to attend to my work
al l day and at night I shal l b e her e with y ou
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H U N T I NG
SIT U ATI O N
A
41
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h elp m e to be good — I am sure
and
sh e knelt a f f ectionate l y by th e
ou wi l l
y
low couch and patted the h and that hung whit e
and l imp over th e sid e
But the hand w as instantly withdrawn an d
Margaret Holmes rose s t ifli y to a si tting posture
and a b righ t red spot bu rned fiercely in ei t he r
cheek
“
You do not kn ow what y ou are tal ki ng
”
about
she
said coldly Then she suddenly
changed her mo od and sobbed aloud an d Eva
heard her sayi ng
Let this be my c om p e n
sation as she clasp ed the s urpri sed girl to
“
her heart for a momen t
A n d n ow y ou m u st
go to bed and to sleep f or to morrow wil l com e
e arly Yes d e ar chil d I wi l l h el p you to be
”
g ood
an d
o
u
y
wil l
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C H APTE R
A WO MA N WI TH A
V
.
S
M I SI ON
ENNIE f oll ow e d the s e rvan t up stairs
to Mrs Monroe s room Sh e exp e ct ed
to find a delicat e invalid supported by
pi l lows ; but much to her surprise she s a w a
l arge fair woman quite elaborately dr e ssed and
l ooking i n a hi gh st a te of he alth and pr e serva
tion Th e l ady cam e forward with m uch em
r es s em e n t t o meet J e nni e took bot h her hands
p
dre w t he girl to her and l ooki ng inte ntly at her
said i n a l ow sweet voic e :
“
DO you
SO thi s i s my li ttl e waiting m aid
think you will be happy here wi th me Je n nie ?
You s e e I know your name My cou sin Ros s
F arnham h a s told me about y ou and I hav e
had a long l etter from your moth e r Mr F arn
h a m i s always talking about th e littl e girl tha t
took such good care of him wh e n his hors e
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( 42)
.
AGA IN S T FA TE
44
A t first J e n n ie
.
inclined to s ay Nothing !
h e r small stock of accomplishments seemed so
poor by contrast Then s h e remembered that
she had come here to work and earn m oney and
s h e informed M rs Monroe that s h e could wri te
and sew neatl y and do light branches of house
work She could re a d well for her fa t her had
instructed her and play the melodeon for Sun
day School airs an d draw a little and gro u p
au t umn leaves and ferns prettily That w a s all
”
“
Why you are q uite a wonder Jennie said
“
the l ady condescendingly
I will teach y ou
t o be self reliant and make use Of the t alents
given to you DO you think you will ike to
li ve here
Jennie looked about th e room a moment b e
fore answering I t w a s gorgeous with the gli t
ter of cut glass and orn a ments Mirrors i n
every available place ; brackets at every a ngle
w ith lovely little statu e ttes on them ; flo w ers in
bright bloom ; books i n handsome bindings ; a
large lace drap ed bed wi th flying cupids hover
ing nea hung by invisible W i res ; a n d the large
h a ndsome mistress of i t all looking a t her ear
She f elt that she had entered upon a
n e s tly
o
f el t
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A WO M A N WI TH A M I S S I O N
45
.
li f e that was completely and e nthrall
in gly n e w ; but wh e th e r she S ho ul d lik e i t or not ,
how cou l d she tel l ?
”
I hope I shall sh e answer ed at l ast h aving
r e called the gi f t of spe ec h a n d I wi ll try t o do
exactly as you want m e to M other sai d y ou
would have patience w i th me f or I should b e
”
n e w and awkw ard at first
”
You co u l d not be awkward if y ou tried
said M rs Monro e ki ndl y She had a morbi d
d e sire f or a p r otege This beautiful untrained
girl would bring additional dcla t to h e r charita
bl e caree r
Jennie fel t a l ittle hom e sick pang as she S pok e
of her moth e r and th e d ew that rises so oft e n
from the heart su f f used her eyes But Mrs
Monroe drew her toward another room an d
opened the door into a p e rf ect li ttle bower of a
chamber
”
Thi s i s your room Je nnie sh e said I l ik e
to hav e you n ear me in case of a sudd e n illn ess
You see it op ens f rom mine Mr Monroe is
aw ay s o m uch that I l ike to have som e on e
”
within call
”
“
It i s j ust lov e ly m urmured Jenni e i n a
spher e
of
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46
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
p l eas e d ton e l ooking w i th raptur e on the bright
carpet a pattern with violets on a drab ground
On the large white curtai n s the pretty toi le t
table and th e knick knacks upon it
“
I am glad you like it You can hang you r
things i n the closet ; and as i t is late and y ou
m u st be tired good night
and Mrs Monroe
s h ut the door between th e m as she spoke
”
“
She n e ver asked m e to sit down thou ght
“
J e nnie ;
I wo n d e r if that is city man n ers
Never mind ! This is more than I ever dream ed
”
of i n my life befor e
S he inspected everything w i th a gi rl s car ef u l
and then being real ly tir e d from the
n otice
excite ment and novel ty undr e ssed and was soon
r e ady to sl ee p in th e pr e tty whit e b ed But first
s h e knelt down and asked G od to tak e car e of
her She had never omitted this habit since her
m other had first join ed her hands at her kne e
P erhaps i t was only a habi t Perhaps she had
h ard work to f eel that she was a sinner and fix
her mind upon G od as a frowning Judge I
think myself she asked Him to take car e of h e r
i n the tone of a spoiled child that did n ot b e
li e v e i n any danger A ll th e sam e she did n ot
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WOM A N W IT H
A
A
M I SS I O N
47
.
or ge t to kn eel under t h e stran ge roo f and wit h
a pl e asant sleepiness takin g possession of h e r to
add her l ittl e pray e r to th e count le ss petitions
going u p to the unchanged and un chan ga b le
f
,
,
G od
.
W ll
'
e
H e ta k e
f
ca re o
her ?
I t was n ot of Him sh e though t as he r hea d
sunk into the soft pillow or of His infinit e
splen dor Her poor l i ttl e worldl y heart was
fill e d wi th the glory of one of H is creatures
O n e f o n d thought for the dear mothe r at home
and th e rest for Ross F arnham
Th e next morning Jennie was awak e and up
e arly to attend to h e r du ties Mrs Monro e
seen by daylight was a di sappointment — a phy
She had grown Old i n the service
s ica l w reck
of socie t y and h e r face w a s wrin k led and pallid
in the morning light Its expression too was
uncertain and discontented A bla se woman i s
infini t ely more an obj ect of pity than a blot s!
man P aint and powder lend a t e mporary e n
chantmen t to the f eatures but th ey kil l the soul
Jennie s first lesson in the art of en amellin g and
maki ng up was a novel experi e nce It w a s h er
first initiation into the i mpuri ty of f as hion and
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AGA I N S T FA TE
48
.
s h e coul d not quite di sguise her cont e mpt f or
this mod e rn J e z eb el She wrot e a piquant de
scription hom e to her mother who answere d
that her ow n grandmoth e r w h o was a g ood
woman had worn po w der and patch e s !
.
,
,
,
S he had been p a tted by J ew a n d G e n t i le
”—
P a ge 4 9
s ome t i mes a s if s he mu s t dr op
“
.
.
unt
il
it
s ee med
AGA IN S T FA TE
50
.
cooli ng fluid about her throbbing temp l es M ar
garet Holmes forgot her own we ari ness a n d
trouble i n helping Eva Her feet were hardened
by thei r long years Of waiting S O sh e thought
w as her h eart
But there w a s on e tender spot
left a n d Eva had reached it h a ppily for h e rself
I t w as a hard place
Eva found that ou t soon
It is said that the sick inmates of a
e nough
hospi tal loathe each other They h a ve no sym
pathy for their dupl icate mi sery S O those who
are compelled to work side by side i n a store
all day serving as puppets poorly pai d pu ppets
at that learn to look with conte mp t on eac h
other Eva found herself i n a n atmosphere of
Open or suppressed discontent Her ow n e u
d eav ors to be pleasant and courteous in her inte r
course with others were met with open critici sm
or sneering su spicion ; s o she determined to gi v e
her exclusive a t ten t ion to her work and at least
meri t the approb a tion of her employers ; and
s h e soon learned t o be always sm iling and agre e
able t o all prob a ble or p ss ib le customers Sh e
g
work e d steadily from eigh t in the morning until
She w as
s ix at night w ith an hour for lunch
n ot e xp e cted
allowed to sit down
n or inde e d
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O
N LY
A
SHO P G I R L
51
.
durin g th e whole t ime except at the hour of
noon Whe n n ot engage d i n s el l in g a cloak or
having on e fit ted upon h er she had the boxes to
k e ep i n order the counters and tables and change s
of buttons and trimmin gs to l ook after o r t he
h e ad of the departmen t to wai t u pon F or this
s e rvice she received sev e n dollars a w e ek with
an ultim ate promi se of ten if the season was
good an d she w as found to be w orth it In the
next depar t m e nt ano ther sal eswoman a quiet
s a d faced gir l of eighteen recei ved twelv e ; but
sh e be lon g ed to a fami l y who had formerly been
in f ashionable society and could influence a large
amount Of trade among the fashionable people
some of w h om cut her to th e heart by th e i r con
descending patronage ; while others and th e y
were among the really best pu t th emsel ves out
t o do her a favor and n e ver l et her know i t
She could s peak t hree languages an d w a s an a c
complished musician Eva liked her quiet lady
li k e mann e r and the tw o girl s taci tly agreed
never to make it any harder f or each o ther ; but
beyond the cou rtesy of business th ey made n o
further acquaintance The fac t w a s the depen
dant w ho had seen be t t e r days had n othing to
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2
5
.
l ook forward to and w a s d ying of hope lessn e ss
while Eva had everything in the future — a home
and independence for hersel f and her wi d owed
mother Se ven dollars a week to the girl who
had never befor e earned but two was a begin
ning that promi sed w ell
Mr Bates th e s e nior partn e r had taken con
He had him sel f ex
side ra b l e notice Of Eva
plained her duties and on sev e ral occas i ons had
watched her making sal e s and suggeste d certain
methods Eva l istened respectfully bu t whe n
h e came nea r and S he looked up into hi s fac e
t h ere seem ed some Oppr e ssion i n the air There
was a l ook of int e n se admiration i n hi s dark
h alf veiled eyes ; a crue l f riendliness in the ten
der regard of h is look It se e m e d as if Marga
ret Holm e s kn e w by intui tion when he w a s n e ar
E va f or th e n sh e h ad always some e xcus e to
draw near and Mr Bates would compress his
h andsome lips give hi s state ly shoulders a half
contemptuous shrug and saun te r away N 0 girl
in that store wou l d have dared him as Miss
Holmes did and none hat ed him wi th as j ust
a cause
A t the Home Eva found a comfortable enough
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O N LY
A
S HO P G I R L
53
.
r e sting pl ace Sh e lik e d th e manage m e nt but
sh e did not enjoy the aggregation of poverty
A t night the l ittl e tables were filled with a ti re d
com m u n it v of
toil e rs ; young girls Ol d maids
widows wi ves w ho had no hu sbands and co l
orle ss neutral women who seem ed n e v e r to hav e
had a childhood but w e re pe rpetual dwell ers in
the arid region of middle age Ne ver a man
among them nor a l ittl e child Heav e n s ! what
a life ! O f thei r heart burnings and histori e s
Eva kn ew nothing They were nearly all du ll y
unin te resting to h e r E ven to th e ms el v e s l i f e
w a s either a batt l e or a blan k !
Som e f e w w e r e
young girl s lik e Eva who expected l i ttle but
deserv ed m uch Af te r tea Eva and Miss Hol m es
would pe rhaps si t a f e w moments i n th e parlors
and listen to some music ; but generally th ey w e nt
at once to their li t tle box of a room and sat th e r e
all the evening walled in h earing gay voic e s
but not j oining in any mi rth themselves Eva
l onged to see the inside of a theatre ; bu t Mar
g aret Holmes had obj ect e d to the one i n vitation
sh e had received fro m t he spruce young cashier
”
I t is the way al l girl s begin S h e had said
I cannot he ar that y ou shoul d follow th e ir
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AGA IN S T FA TE
54
.
”
example ; an d Eva had denied herself th e cow
eted pleasure rather than app e ar ungrate f u l
But i t did seem at times that life ought t o
hold something better and brighter th an this
monotonous work a day existence Eva l on ged
wi th downright homesickness for a romp with
th e boys an d girl s at hom e a breez y run to the
village post o f fice a downright good t ime in
S pi te of hard work and there was a lways a
tempter ready to show her the kaleido s cop e Of
pleasure
F rom such thoughts as th es e she
would raise h e r eyes to s e e Margar e t Ho l m e s ob
servin g h e r like som e grim spectre of fate say
”
“
ing Thou shalt not ! Thou shalt n ot !
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C HAPTER V I I
IN
O
TH E T I LS
.
.
RS M O NR O E S room was darken e d
th a t lady being prostrate w i th a severe
h e a dache
Jennie was w riting by a
f ain t gas j e t di recting a g reat pile of busin e ss
envelopes in a fai r roun d han d
Sh e has
changed some what since we sa w her las t Her
too vi vid country color has toned down to a
mere t inting of the oval ch e ek She looks more
womanly i s f a r more be au tiful than formerly
but i t i s plainly vi sible that this mode of li f e
do e s not suit h e r She is looking care w orn and
ti red Her work to tell the truth is horribly
distasteful to her She hates the very nam e of
ref ormers and ref orm The makeshift s of this
house are pitiable and the charities of i ts mis
tress wear a mantle to conceal i t from the
world J ennie had tried her b e st to becom e
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(55)
AGA IN S T FA TE
56
interested in foundling babi e s and O l d ladi e s
h omes and h ad really gone upon mi ssionary
inves tigation s in the spirit of a true re f ormer ;
but she coul d n o t find any pleas u re or comfort
in the final em ancipation of her se x through the
arena of political glory To be the wife of th e
m an she loved and the mo ther of his children
seemed to her an infinitely higher station f or
any w om an than a position a s j udge of a
supreme court editor of a newspaper or f ound e r
of all the G ood Samaritan soci e ties i n th e world
Mrs Monroe called her an idiot and gav e li p
proselyting her J e nni e did her work well
There coul d be n o fault found with that ; but i t
w a s impossible to please the c a p t ion s woman
whose life chords were all disson ant ; s o th e
young girl bore w ith he r as best sh e might
served her conscientiously for the pay that was
slow i n coming and tri e d her best to r egu l at e
the ill assorted househo l d while Mrs Monroe
read and dreamed and th e ori z ed h e r l ife away
A s She now sits and writes in the half dark
en ed room som e on e i s l ooking at h e r through
the half op e n e d door She i s wri ting busily her
rosy lips compressed h e r l ov e ly h ead s e t coqu e t
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AGA IN S T FATE
58
.
your thi n g s OH I want you to g o out on th e
”
Bou l evard
“
But Mrs Monro e will n e ed me I h ave n ot
”
fini shed my work yet said J e nnie l ooking up
in to the handsome dange rous face and seeing
as i n a vi sion a l ong stretch of smooth road
and tw o very happy people bowling along it
Ross F a rn h a m s face flushed angrily H e was
n ot accustom ed t o be g f or favors of
thi s kind
H e flung Open the door and said :
“
Maria I wan t Jennie f or an hour on the
”
Boulevard coolly ignoring possible denial
Mrs Monroe was indignant at h e r sudden
awakeni ng and at Jennie for permitting i t ; but
s h e had n o power t o r e strain h e r cousin s wi sh e s
so she gav e an u ngraciou s p e rmission f or Jenni e
t o get ready
When Jennie had gone Mrs Monroe s a t up
gathered her handsome n egligé robe abou t h e r
and looked angrily at her cousin He in r e turn
surveyed her cri tically and coolly remarked :
You are looking exceedi n gly w e ll f or an
”
invalid Maria
“
Thank you ! I do n t i magine you cam e
here solely to comp l iment my appearance Ross
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IN
T H E T O I LS
59
.
and e v e n if y ou did I wi sh y ou wou l d stay
away You will spoil that girl with y ou r att e n
tions whether you mean anything or nothing
I re al ly bel ieve she i s indulgi n g in hopes ridicu
lously abov e her posi tion even n ow
“
I am doing a simple act of ki n dness as y ou
w el l know
Wh e n I w as in her n eighborhood
a mi serable peevi sh sick m an sh e did every
thing in her pow e r to m ake time pass plea santl y
”
f or m e
“
A n d you repaid the family in coi n such
people l ove best You helped h e r impecunious
ol d father and y ou gave me no peace unti l I
s en t f or th e daugh t e r Ross F arnham let thi s
girl alon e I will send her back to her poverty
rather than se e h e r harmed by you
F or all an swer he got u p crossed th e room
an d stoo d b e fore hi s cousin a s she sat thro w n
”
b ac k i n a lounging chai r
Shall I tell her
“
h e ask ed in a low voice
t h e story of A nna
”
Le ste r ?
”
“
N O ! n o ! cri ed h is cousin excitedly clasp
”
“
in g h e r h ands i n supplication
In mercy n o !
”
Then leav e Jenni e to me he retorted stern ly
”
“
I think
he sn ee r e d that you ch urch go e rs
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60
A G A IN S T
FA TE
.
consid e r som e so u ls pr e ordain e d to b e sav e d,
and some to b e lost You may consi d e r h er on e
Of the elect or
He di d not finish the s e nte nce Jennie radi
ant and blushing cam e into th e room Sh e
busied herself abou t Mrs Monroe f or a moment
“
bending down her blushing f ac e to whispe r I
”
will not be l ong away and leav ing a smal l
pure kiss on that lady s artistically powdered
cheek
Of what stran ge m a t e ria l a re women mad e
A t that moment when the young an d tend e r
h eart of t h e girl w e nt out in grati tude to th e
Older woman f or being even the remo t e cause of
h er h appiness th e older on e was coming very
near to envying and hati ng her because the gir l
was j ust entering upon a threshold which sh e
had cross e d
A s Ross F arnham help ed J e nnie i nto the com
f ort a b le Open carriage he smiled to himself
The little brown s tra w hat with its pigeon
wing plucked and pressed b y h erself the short
made of her mother s old cloak ;
c oarse j ack e t
the cheap washed pi n th a t cl asped a too bright
ribbon grated on the man s nice appreciation of
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IN
TH E
T O I LS
.
61
dre ss but t hey did n ot appeal to his more oh
tuse moral s e nse
Miss Badger would have
worn seal skin and th e finest ostrich p l ume
would have trailed over her dainty shoulders
and her long slim fin ge rs woul d have been cas ed
in pearl colored kids Bu t who of th e m al l had
so pr e tty and piqu a n t a face so delicat e ly curved
a chin s o lily like a t h re a t A nd t o thi s gi rl
e v erything w as new and fresh
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CHAPTER VI II
Th i
“
“
s
is
n ot a
fit m atc h ,
Th a t y ou d o
“
Oh , l o
vi
seem
ng
h ea
”
to
.
q uo h R ob i n H oo d ,
t
m ak e h e r ”
.
rt tru t
s
on
”
.
ERE S a letter f or you Mrs A rmstrong
”
F rom Jen nie I think said Reuben
Harlow walking in upon the Old
coup l e on e ev e ning some we e ks after Jennie had
“
gone
I j u st stepped into Burt s a m om en t
”
and he asked me to bring i t up
“
Thank you Reuben ; sit by while we read
”
it and the proud mother adju sted her glasses
carefully and read the fo u r pages of closely w ri t
ten paper wi th the most car e f ul att e ntion be f ore
I t w as
sh e ventured upon any part of it aloud
a wonderful letter — bri ght cheery full of good
news and folded up in it was a crisp five dollar
bil l — Mrs Monroe s first in s tallment of Jen n ie s
wag e s I t was s e nt with a gleef u l little messag e
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R
E UB EN H A R LOW
63
.
and the mother ki ssed i t and pu t i t i n her bosom
as a precious treasure
”
N ow what does she say Mary ? asked Mr
A rmstrong becoming i mpatien t as t he mother
seemed inclined to read the letter to herself once
”
“
more
Reuben w ould like to kno w t oo
”
“
I t s good news Richard
answered the
“
moth e r smiling to h e rself
I can hardly
b elieve it yet i t is such good news Did n t I
tell y ou ou r little girl w ould have goo d luck ?
”
She is to be Ross F arnham s wife !
”
“
Ross F arn h a m s wife !
Mr A rmstrong
“
looked almost as h appy as t h e m other
Well ;
that is news ! N O more poverty and hardship
f or her th e n ! I can hardly believe it
C heer
Re ub e n there are plen ty of gi rls w ho will
up
b e gl ad t o welcome your attentions Do n t
l ook so gl n m man
”
“
Do e s she say he i s t o ma rry h e r ? asked
Reuben l ookin g hard at Mrs A rm strong
”
“
Why its the same thing
answered th e
mother finding the place i n th e letter Her e
s h e says
Ross o ff e red me a splendid fur cloak
mother bu t I thought you w ould n o t w an t m e
t o acce p t anything of that sort b ef or e we w e r e
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AGA IN S T FA TE
64
”
.
marri e d
A nd a gain : Ross has s ele ct ed a
di amond ri ng He says it i s worth many thou
sands of dollars O n ly think ! that for your
li t tle Jennie He has j ust brought m e s u ch a
l ov el y b ouquet O h dear mother I a m t oo
happy ! When Mrs Monroe lect ures me I do
n ot cry as I u sed t o but j ust sm ile to think
h ow di f f e ren t it will all be when I am Ross
wife I have promised h im not to s ay a word
about i t yet t o anybody in t he world ; but of
cou rse h e did not think I would k ee p it f rom
”
ou o r father
y
”
“
I am sorry f or y ou R e uben said Mrs
“
A rm s trong
but you see i t was not to happen
I won t s ay that you might not have made her
a b e tter husband than Mr Farnham but he
took her fancy last summer and i t s e ems h e
h as chosen h e r above all the girl s he knows I
never w a s on e to think money makes peop le
wicked I believe the poor hav e more t e m p ta
tion s to overcome than the rich I think Jenni e
”
will n ot be spoiled by prosperi ty
”
Sh e won t b elong to us any more Mary
said the f ath e r with some late nt regret in h is
“
ton e s
So all this tim e w e v e b ee n worrying
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AGA IN S T FA TE
66
.
hear of her good fortune when I know i t to
be such She is a thousan d times too good f or
Ross F arnham
He took h is hat as he spoke
and w ith an abrupt good night left th e farm
hous e
“
Reuben s ee ms a good deal ou t up abou t
”
Jennie
said Mr A rmstrong taking up his
daughter s le tter and preparing to read i t care
“
fully
I t is strange how things turn out
Wh o w ould have thought w hen that awkward
bay ran Of f an d threw Ross F a rn h am at our
gate that i t would ever take such a turn as
”
this
The father read the lett e r and w e nt to bed
but the m oth e r sat up till far into the night
m arking ou t a path Of roses for her child
Reuben Harlo w w en t home and as usual
He went
f ound his mother si tting up for him
and sat down by her and said abruptly :
“
I m going up to C hi cago to morrow m other
to find ou t the truth about Jennie A rm strong
She h as written home that she expects to b e
m arri ed to Ross F a rnham I took the letter up
t here myself to night
I meant to t ell th e m
how tongu e s were wagging her e about h e r
to
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R E U B EN H A R LOW
67
.
’
but I h ad n t th e heart to I m going mys elf
”
t o f in d ou t the truth
“
A nd whe n you have found i t ou t Reuben
what good will i t do ? Is S he the only woman
in the world that y ou must spend your time
running after her ? What good w ill i t do you ?
She went of f and nev e r sai d a good by e to y ou
and she won t know you in the city It s her
nature She s fickl e m inded and ungrate f ul is
”
J e nnie A rmstrong and y ou know it Ruby
“
I do n t care if s h e i s mother She is the
on e woman in the world fo r me and I wil l not
s ee he r go to d e struction withou t lifting a fin g er
t o save her
I 11 find o u t whether h e r fine lo ver
intends to marry h e r — curs e him A nd I l l
warn her of the e vil things sai d about h e r
P oor child sh e has n t the least id e a what such
w ickedness means
I f her fath e r had a grain
of
common s ens e h e would hav e kept her at
”
home and taken care of her
What did she go to the city for ask e d hi s
“
m other angrily
Th e r e s enough to do at
hom e But n o ; I s pose the girl must hav e
fine dre sses an d ribbons and laces like th e r e st
t he m Reputation go e s f or noth ing I ve
Of
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AGA IN S T FA TE
68
.
se e n h e r droning about with that F arn ham
walking and riding and picking flowers whil e
her m oth e r cooked and washed and i roned at
”
hom e It S hows a bad heart to my thinking
“
It w a s beca use Of her inh e ri te d d elicacy of
constitution and the way her moth e r brought
her up She could never stand drudging Why
”
her hands are lik e a lady s said this valiant
defender of th e abs ent girl
“
Inh e ri ted fiddl e s tick s retort e d his mo th e r
She was a good woman but had outli v e d th e
“
A n d you want to marry this
rom ance Of youth
baby handed girl and bring her here over m e
”
Reub e n Harlow you are an ungratef ul s on
”
“
N O I m not mother an sw e red the yo u ng
“
man sorrowf ully
You woul d hav e n o hard e r
work to do i f I married Jennie O h G od !
how I wish I could I ve loved h e r since she
”
was that high measuring th e height with hi s
“
‘
han d
Since s h e first said I ll be your li ttle
wife Ruby ; and now and now mother I t e ll
you I must go and find out what she m e ans to
Thi s fellow F arnham i s
d o or I shall go mad
follo wing h e r up and giving her pre sents and
ta king h e r out to rid e N ow I am going to
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R E UB E N H A R LOW
69
.
he i n ten ds to m arry her I f he
do e s it s all right I ll come back and nev e r
speak her nam e again But if h e — if h e dare s
”
to m ake her a thing s o vile
he start e d up
digging hi s n ails into th e palms of hi s hands
“
why th ere 11 be a short reckoning b e tw ee n us
”
that s al l !
Mrs H a rlow was f rig h t e n e d by this d epth of
passion I t seemed to her that h is pal e stud e nt
f ather stood there inst ea d of Reub e n the boy
she had r e ared alone She f elt sorry f or th e
lov e that w a s wasted and indignant at the girl
wh o had thrown him over for another Tru e
J e nnie had not b e en hi s plighted wife sav e i n
the extravagan t play Of th e ir childhood but h e
h ad always be e n he r swor n fri e nd boy and man
an d until the unlucky hour wh e n a runa w ay
h orse threw Ross F arnham at h e r father s gate
Th e n e xt morning Reuben packed a cru mpled
l e ather satchel with necessary clothing Then
he wen t to a drawer took out a small single bal l
pistol and wi thout a word cleaned and l oad ed it
He s aw hi s mother watching him anxiousl y
”
“
“
F or thieves ! he said qui e tly ; th e city is
f u l l of them
fin d
ou t
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CHAPTER
‘
Wh e n
Sh al l
we
IX
.
th ree me et aga i n
”
.
T was Thanksgiving Day in the Stat e
Of Illinois The oflices and stores in
the city were all closed and ev e rybody
that could took a holiday There was a gran d
e xodus of all who had country hom es or f ri e nds
to visi t a n d the odor of roast turk ey was stron g
in t he land It w as a busy ti me for hous ewives
and a fearful epoch i n pou ltry life ; bu t i t i s
pleasant to feel that on e i s sacrificed in a good
cause
The hom e of L u cia Winne s brother under
went a grand tran sform ation for the occasion
an d fairly glo w ed under i ts decoration of red
berries rifled from the mountain ash and b e an
They were sent
t if ul ly varied autumn leaves
f rom the Old homestead at New ton accompani e d
by a generous supply Of apples an d th e grand
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( 7 0)
T H AN ! S G I V IN G
DA Y
of
s ultan
7
.
1
the turkey dominion
S a i d tu rkey
w a s n ow smoking h ot i n t he oven crisp and
brown and pervading t he atmosphere wi th its
deli cious Odors
Al l the littl e sticky children i n the househo l d
had been picked up w ashed and dried se t i n a
ro w and counted
and told t o be go o d till A un t
Lucia cam e They piled themselves up in the
front windows after awhile an d flattened their
n oses against th e window panes Just as it
was gro w ing dark t hey all cried ou t i n choru s
”
“
There s three A u nt Lucias com ed !
The
th ree proved to be Lucia E va and Jenni e who
were i n vi ted to sp e nd th e evening and nigh t in
Mr Winne s family
There w a s s o m uch noise aft er thi s tha t poor
peevish lit t le Mrs Winne would h a ve gone d is
tracted only she was accus t omed t o ear t hquakes
sound I t was the firs t unres t rained in ter
of
course the t hree girl s had enjoyed since they
came to t he city and t hey w ere de t ermi ned to
m ake the m ost of i t They talked and laughed
a great deal and kissed a l l the babies and gav e
them c a ndy making t hem stickier than ever
A s soon a s Mr Winne came in —h e had b e e n
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2
7
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cracking nuts i n some remote corn e r — they al l
went out to the comfortable dining room and
sat down without ceremony to a real hom e
dinner
”
“
“
O h ! cried J en n ie m errily what a bean
”
ti f ul turkey !
”
“
A n d what lovely cranberry j elly respond e d
Eva
”
“
A nd what delicious c ele ry
said Lucia wit h
h e r usual propriety
”
“
A n d what silly g e ese !
exclaimed Mr
Wi nne flouri shing hi s carving kn if e a s if i t h ad
been a ba t on
”
“
The c a ckling of geese sav e d Rome
an
s w e re d Luci a sen ten tiously
”
“
Well i t won t save Tu rk ey r e torted th e
m aster of th e house and in m erry mood they
attacked the feast set be f ore them Even M rs
Winne caugh t the spiri t of jolli ty and forgot t o
adminis t er reproof or to grum ble
”
Who do you think I s aw yesterday ? asked
E va when they were fini shi n g the dess e rt
She looked at Jennie a s she spoke
”
“
A ny on e w e all know ?
an swere d Jenni e
blus h ing slightly
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AGA IN S T FA TE
74
.
”
“
Oh ! cried Jen nie in terror how dread
f ully you talk Of killing ! If th a t i s the kind of
m an Reuben Harlow is what girl would ev e r
”
l ove him ?
”
“
I do n ot kn o w do you ? answ e red Mr
“
Winne quietly
By the way Jennie I s aw
you riding ou t the other day i n state and styl e
”
with Ross F a rn h a m Do y ou Often do that ?
”
Yes said Jennie bl ushing very red 1
He is Mrs Monroe s cousin
I — g o sometimes
and he was at ou r house a month last summer
“
—
and and
She wan ted to add I am to be
”
h is w e dded w ife ; but sh e could n ot The
words died on her ton gu e
”
“
Is n t he handsom e ?
cried Eva i m p ul
She
had
often
s
ee
n
him
wi
th
Jennie
s iv el
y
They had been in the s t or e together to s ee her
Tha t he should m a rry her , if he wanted to
seemed to her the most natural thin g i n the
”
world
I j u s t think he is splendid
”
O ther girl s have thought so to their cos t
“
replied Mr Winne
He s a splendid scamp
tha t s what he i s an d if I were in your place
J en n ie I would make him keep h is dis t ance
Ross F arnham has rui ned many a girl s reputa
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TH A N ! S GI V ING
DA Y
.
and broken her hear t If you w e re my
sister and h e presumed t o O f f er you any att e n
”
tion I would horse w hi p hi m
Lu cia whose exceedingly pri m and prop e r
deportment had never challenged a n y m an s
attenti on pursed her lips and looked disapproval
at Jen nie ; bu t Eva fel t t hat i t was almost u n
kind to i ntroduc e th e s ubj e ct at al l an d sh e
asked d eprecatingly :
”
I s he really a bad m an ?
“
Yes ! he i s known about town a s a fas t man
O f course young ladi e s in hi s ow n s e t may
aspire to his hand in m arriage an d accept his
attentions o n t hat basi s He i s handsome fas
and
whol
l
y
unscrupulous
with
plenty
c in a t in
g
Of money an d all the ar t s and blandishmen t s Of
a long experience in evil I tell you Jennie
you are i n deadly peril a n d I wonder tha t y ou
”
do n o t see i t or that Mrs Monroe allows i t
”
He i s a relative o f Mrs Monroe s ans w ered
Jennie who had hard w ork t o keep the tears
“
back
and he has been very kind and always
”
very respectful t o me
P erhaps he i s in love ; if so why should n t
”
b e m arry Jenni e ?
sugg e sted Mrs Winn e
ta t ion
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AGA IN S T FA TE
76
.
She i s quite hi s equal by birth and education
and he has enough money for both There are
rich m en i n this city w ho have marri ed poor
”
girls a n d gi ven them splendi d posi tions
”
“
I t i s not the w a y Of his world I suppos e
sai d Lu cia who w a s eating philop oenas and
breaking wi sh bones wi t h h e r nephews and
“
n e ice s
I know on e thing
she continued
significantly ; I would never accept attentions
from such a man until he had signifi e d hi s in ten
”
tions to my friends
”
“
A Decl aration of In d e pend ence whispered
Eva merrily into Jenni e s ear ; but she poor
child was distre ssed beyond measure by all their
insinuations I f this was to be the end of her
holiday sh e wished she had not come
“
Th ey wi ll talk di f f eren tly to m e when I am
”
“
Ros s F arnham s wife s he thought
H ow I
wish I could let them know Of hi s dear love and
care ; but I have prom is e d not to sp e ak of i t
until h e gi ves me p e rmission
A loud she said :
“
I am old enough now Mr Winne to know
right f rom wrong Mr F arn ha m has nev e r
given me reason to think h is atten tion s any
t h ing b ut honorabl e You know he associat e s
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T H A N ! S G I V IN G
DA Y
77
.
wi th the most particular l adies in the city and
is always welcome at their hom e s or to ride
or walk
with th e m Mrs Monroe thinks a
”
great deal Of him
“
A nd Mr Monro e
said Mr Winne for I
”
am told there i s such a person
“
He i s home so little I do not know I
think he do e s n ot lik e any of hi s wife s friends
”
v e ry much
”
“
“
P oor man ! sai d Mr Win ne I suppose h e
is of the least possibl e accoun t i s h is ow n hous e
”
hol d
“
Indeed you are m ista ken He t u rns things
over once in a while all through the h ou se ; but
h e i s rather q u iet and patient most of the time
Mrs Monroe says he i s a psychological som e
t hing or other and sh e i s writing hi m ou t for a
”
scientific paper
”
“
Interesting subj e ct said Lucia laughing
Th e proper study of mankind is man O h !
d ear I d rath e r try cloaks On for a li ving than
be factotum t o s u ch a woman B ut y ou need n t
”
le arn any of h e r i deas Jennie
”
“
I am not likely to laugh e d Jenni e thank
“
f ul th e conversati on had taken a n e w turn
I
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AGA IN S T FA TE
78
.
am too narrow and conservative and behind th e
age She says I am joined to my idols Of ign or
ance and prej udice I expect every day t o be
dismissed O h ! wh at a lovely world thi s w ould
be if we all of u s had money enough I would
”
never want to live i n any other
“
A n d h ow ti r e d y ou would
Eva
“
L e t me tel l you my experience I have an
opportuni ty to see the weal thiest and mos t ele
gan t peopl e in the city of f guard and Oh ! h ow
m iserable and discon tented they are when you
”
find them o u t
”
“
T el l u s abou t th e m Eva said Jennie n est
ling af f ection at ely near h e r Sh e had always
b ee n a little afraid Of Lucia who was on e of
thos e p e rfect l y self contai n e d you n g ladies who
l ook with tacit di sapproval upon though tl e ss
impulsi ve girls of thei r own age or near i t ; but
sh e loved bright pleasant Eva wi th her car e ss
ing ways
”
“
“
Excuse m e g irl s said Mr Winn e I am
going to smoke a pipe of peac e in th e dining
room ; so y ou can gossip to yo ur h eart s con
”
t e nt
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CHAPTER
R OM
AN C E
.
A N D R E A LI TY
OU
.
”
mu st n ot laug h at me be gan Eva
“
if I morali z e a li ttl e Sometim e s or
even be come tragic ; but y o u know I
have a chance to see the world f rom a very
di ff e ren t poin t of vi e w from eith e r of you and
I do not like it I am sick of dress tired to
death of fashion and quit e ready to go back t o
Newton and b e storekeeper a n d postmistress at
t w o dollars a w ee k ; f or that i s all I can contri v e
to save h e r e A ll the res t goes f or board and
transient e xp e n ses B e sides a shop gi rl her e
i s nothing more than a lay fig ure — a sort Of
talking and walking machine W hile th e re it is
”
rather a c redi t to fill the position
But ther e are some v e ry nice young l adi e s
”
“
in your store said Lucia
Th e pri ncipal of
”
ou r schoo l has a sister th e r e
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AGA IN S T FA TE
8o
.
I know t h at they have secured position s
and homes an d do not seem to m ind the dis
advantages ; but a gre at m any of the girls
l ose their self respect and gi ve up t ryi n g to b e
anybody Bah ! h ow I sh udder sometimes as I
try on a clo ak or suit and feel the hands turn
in m e round and round and hear them talk as
i f I were dea f cri ticisi n g m y figure an d appear
ance to my face O ld sordid Jews You ought
wi th such u ncle an hands j u st
t o see them
l oaded w i th diamond rings A nd they would
keep me standing all day But th e daughte rs
are young and pretty and if th ey want any t hing
they get i t I mu st say I like to have gentle
m en customers They always let me select th e
cloak and then pay the price w ithout any hag
gling O ne lady bought a cloak af te r rubbing
a threadbare place in its dup l icat e to s ee if it
w e re all wool They say s h e never bo u gh t a
yard of calico wi thout chewing a pi ece to see
”
if the colors were fast
”
“
I w ould n t let her
said Jenni e in dig
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Th e n
p e rtinent
would be reported f or being im
N ot a week ago a lady bought a
u
o
y
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,
AGA IN S T FA TE
82
.
things in the least Some tim es a real true lady
com e s in ; not one who i s rich and patroni z ing
bu t a lady who knows j ust what she wants and
speaks to u s as if w e were human beings wi th
sou l s Then t here are some w ho try to be very
sympathetic a n d they ask us wh a t sal aries we
are paid and how we are treated and w hat
church or Sunday school we at t end an d wan t u s
They will be very
to j oi n the church sociables
good if we go to thei r particular church ; but if
we h a ve no further notice from them
n ot
What surprises m e i s that everything i s so con
Someti m es the richest ladies are the
t ra dic t ory
m eanest w hen m aking purchases They will
select el egant goods that j u st sui t them an d
then haggle over the price for an hour ; and
such worn ou t faded out fashionable women as
they are all pain t and po w der and make up
with no m ore expression in thei r faces than i n
”
a rag doll s
”
“
How y ou m u st dislike them cried Jennie
”
I shoul d hate to w ai t on such people
”
“
We pity t hem answered Eva
It i s such
a forlor n fate to be only a walking dry goods
adv e rtis e m ent A nd th er e are other women
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R
OM A N C E
A ND
R
E A L IT Y
83
.
Oh ! gi rls i t is a w fu l — they come th e re dressed
like queens i n the richest Of laces and vel vets
a n d silks
and select such elegant goods and
order them charged to Mr A or Mr B and t he
next day li t tle pale Mrs A comes in and buys
a modest inexpensive garm ent and studies ov e r
i t a long time ; and Mrs B i s an i n valid and w e
all feel so sorry f or her Som etimes I w i sh I
had never learned there were such wicked peopl e
”
in the world
I t need make no di f f erence with us on l y to
”
stimulate us t o a better life remarked Luci a
”
Somebody is responsible answered Eva
I am sorry too for peopl e w h o make such
ship w recks of their l i ves Yo u would be if y ou
”
could hear the cruel things said about them
”
“
“
Your pity is all waste d rep l ied Lucia
I
should keep mine for t hose w ho are more de scrv
ing When I find a depraved child in my school
and there are such I can t ell you I j ust expe l
i t and s o preven t i ts hurting twen ty good chi l
”
dren That i s t he only safe plan
And Lucia
l ooked the moral school ma am to perf ection as
she spoke
Mr s Monroe would t ell y o u th e re were pre
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AGA IN S T FA TE
84
.
”
nata l re asons wh y t he ch i ld s h ou l d b e b ad
said Jenni e
You ou ght to s ee th e obj ects S he
picks up and brings hom e Th e hous e i s l ik e a
”
hospi tal hal f th e tim e
”
“
Why I thought sh e w as an inval i d said
L ucia
So sh e i s
Sh e takes all ki n ds of horri d
dos e s a n d e ats fiv e m e als a day w e ighin g e v e ry
”
ounc e
”
“
Who pays f or all h e r p hilan throphy ask ed
”
“
Eva ; Mr Monro e ?
“
Well it com e s out of h is pock e t in th e e nd ;
bu t she att e nds m ee tin g s w he r e th e y take up
co ll ections f or such purpos e s ; and t he re i s a
s e cret society t o whic h a n umb e r of th e l adi e s
b el ong Th e y m ee t in a c ell ar on t he W e st Side
an d f orm in proc e ssion wit h b l ack cambri c rob e s
and m asks Th e r e i s a qu een —I b el i e ve Mrs
Monro e i s th e qu ee n
and th ey hav e some kind
of a n ord e r and tak e sol e mn oaths n ot to te l l
anything under p enal ty Of d e ath Th e d ue s
”
of the society are us e d f or chari tab le purpos e s
”
“
Well I don t lik e that Mrs Monro e said
Eva d e cidedly
Margaret Holm e s kn e w a poor
s e amstr e ss who work e d f or her and s he says s he
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R OM A N C E
R E A L IT Y
AND
85
.
t urn ed h e r into th e str ee t in the middl e of th e
night for som e fancied o f f ens e and that s he onc e
h ad a constable i n t h e h ouse to arr e st a poor s e r
”
vant girl for st e alin g a pair of stockings
”
“
Why do you stay th er e Jennie aske d L ucia
You cou l d g e t a si tuation somewh e re e ls e f or
”
t he same money
Jenni e blush e d scarle t
Why d id sh e sta y
th ere sur e e nough ? O h ! if she cou l d onl y t ell
th e gi rls that Ross F arn ham l ov e d h e r ; that h e
h ad s ele ct e d t he ring of b e trothal ; that she
would som e day b e his honored wife ! Why
should th e re b e any s e cr e cy i n th e ir l ov e m ak
ing ? He was f r ee t o ch oos e h e r b ef ore t he
whol e worl d
You ought to b e wi t h some good C h ri stian
woman w ho would l ook upon you as a child
with a soul t o sav e Mrs Monroe has proved
al ready that she i s n ot a fit protection f or any
”
young girl continu e d Lucia warmly
“
Sh e h as lost h e r interest in me sinc e sh e
find s that I wil l never be a graduate of her
”
school said Jennie l aughing
A t any rat e
I e arn my bread an d bu tter which is more than
she can do I do n t think she takes very m uc h
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AGA IN S T FA TE
86
.
in t e r e st in my sou l or any oth e r sou l in he r
”
dominion
You ar e f ond of the pomps and vaniti e s Of
th is wicked world and need the most caref ul
”
r e strai ni n g i nfluenc e s answered Lucia
J e nnie flush e d up and t he t ears came into h e r
”
eyes
Pomps and v ani ties she r e peated bi t
“
t e rly
I have seen s o m uch of them I thi nk
there n e v e r was anyone who had such an a p p re
wealth and luxury and beautiful
cia t ion of
things who w a s s o compl e tely depri ved Of them
W hy girls when I see b e autiful ladi e s stepping
e l egant carriage s dr e ssed in rich and
ou t of
e xpensi ve things an d e v erybody bowi n g and
smiling to them i t seem s ust l ike a glimps e of
”
H e av e n and lik e H e aven i t is d enied to m e
The two girl s look e d at her a moment i n sor
Th ey kn e w of h e r past They
row f u l silence
had all grown up together They were all edu
ca t e d thought f ul girls bu t of the three Jenni e
was the youngest and most fiip p an t L u cia had
a great d eal of mental force and cultur e but her
h eart and feelings were regulated by a rather
severe judgment She was the first to break th e
transi e nt sil e nce
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R
OM A N C E
A ND
You
R E A L ITY
87
.
”
are a materiali st Jennie sh e said
“
pr e s e nt l y
You s ee only with the eyes of the
fl e sh I f you cou l d l ook deeper w ith a mor e
spiritual perception you might behold all the
d ef ormities those silken robes cover You might
”
se e e nvy hatred and malice lurki ng beneath
”
“
I dare s ay answered J en n I e I ndi f f erentl y
“
Unfortunately I su f f er and fee l in th e flesh !
I am quit e sure I should be a better C hristian
in silk and vel vet than i n rags taking all acces
I hat e poverty !
sori es into consideration
”
“
Well we none of us l ov e it said Lucia ;
but I can i magine a greater poverty than any
us have ever known A splendi d pov e rty
Of
”
that degrades and destroys its possessor
Mr Winne having smok e d his pip e out h e r e
came in with a sugge stion Of games and put an
end to the conversation B e f ore doing this h e
had stepped to the front door in answer to a
summons f rom the bel l A m an stood on th e
steps and a handsome carriage had stopped at
the curbstone
”
?
I S Mi ss Ar mstrong ready to r e turn home
asked t he m an respectfully H e was e vid e ntly
t h e dri v e r
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AGA IN S T FA TE
88
.
Mi s s A rm stron g wi ll r e main h ere with her
”
f ri e nds to night
an swered Mr W inn e in a
“
decid e d voic e
Has Mrs Monro e s e nt
c lear
”
f or her ?
”
“
—
Ye s no sir I had ord e rs to call f or h er
stam m e re d th e m an
”
“
Well she wi l l r e main with u s to n ight
w a s Mr Winne s r e ply and th e m an shu f f led
d own the s t eps said a f e w words to som e on e
i n th e carriage an d i t roll e d away rapid l y with
t he dri v e r i n hi s p l ace B e f ore i t w e nt how
ever Mr Winne kne w whose ring it was that
f or a mom e nt flash e d i n the ga s light on th e
firm whi te hand that h el d the carriag e door
He d id no t sp e ak Of i t afte rwards and J e nni e
did not know how n e ar Ross F arn ha m had been
to her F or that las t night she was h e r Old Se l f
al ong with th e gir l s
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AGA IN S T FA TE
0
9
.
h is darl ing child But one day it was r e veal ed
—
him
that
she
w
as
dead
that she had died
to
th e day she reached the ci ty of a sudd e n attack
heart disease Wh en satisfi ed of the tru th
of
th e father shout e d and clapped his hands for
j oy ! P eople thought h e had gone m ad and
piti e d h im but h e smi le d at th e ir pity and said
To think that all t he tim e I have been worry
in g and f ret ting about her she was safe with th e
an gels
O h how glad her mo t her wil l be wh e n
I go home and t ell he ;
I think th e re are many f ath e rs who m ight
f e el as thi s one did that their children would
h ave bee n better cared f or had they died before
the s truggl e for life began Yet as the grand
l esson of triu mph can only be learned through
th e severe di scipline Of trial the worl d is the
fitt e st schoo l Th ey who h ave f allen by the
wayside and pe ri sh ed ne e d no l ong e r our help
n or ou r tears
I t i s f or thos e w ho hav e fal l en
and n ot peri sh e d w ho stre tch ou t imploring
hands f or ou r care o ur sympathy i n th e i r
extremity who have loved m uch and su f f ered
much — it is for them t he C hrist of to day
p leads
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T H E CLU B HO U SE
91
.
A t thi s v e ry mom e nt the toi l s
of
sin
are
cl osi n g in upon som e w e ak soul Th e p ra c
ticed hand Of vice is leading some w e ary lonely
vi ctim into the short brigh t road to perdi t ion
I t i s not the church n or t he Sunday school that
is need e d here ; i t i s the m ot h erly C h ristian
hand irrespecti v e of creeds or c on dit ion s t he
gentle womanly voic e to warn and save
Ross F arnham f or i t was he rode a w ay fr om
Mr Winne s door i n an exceedingly ill humor
He had sent regrets to a brillian t party f or th e
purpose Of escorting Jennie home and regaling
h imself with an hour of her pleasant talk and
he w as n ot accustom ed t o finding his wishes
disreg a rded and obstruction s in hi s way Th e
coo l manner i n which Mr Winne had consti
t ut e d himsel f J en n ie s guardi an annoyed him
and h e was still mor e vexed with hims e l f f or
n ot h aving informed Jennie i n advance of
his
inte ntion of calling
He fel t sure that sh e
would hav e gone with hi m despit e of any int e r
f e r e nc e of of ficiou s fri ends for h e kn e w sh e was
infl ue nce d by the gl amour of a first l ov e and h e
sigh e d to him s elf and envi e d h e r t he bliss f u l
possessio n
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AGA IN S T FA TE
92
.
He drov e to a fashionable cl ub h ous e on
Wabash ave nue an d w a s soon comfortably s eated
i n th e lounging room a bottle of win e at hi s
e lbow his fe e t in embroider e d slipp e rs and
a costly gold topped meerschaum s e nding up
clouds of perf umed smoke as h e mused and
l ooked into th e gl owing grate fire
O ther gentl e men loung e d and smoked and
presently on e cam e in and dre w a chair cl os e
t o him
“
A h ! g ood e vening Bates gl ad to s e e you
What wil l y ou have cogn ia c very good Here
”
t
f
e
llow
he
ca
l
l
e
d
m an apparently
o
u
o a
y
a waiter w ho was l eaning at the corner of t he
m an t el his arms fo l ded tightly ov e r his ch e st
”
’
“
Bring this gentl eman s order
Th e man straight ened himsel f up look ed
fix e dly in t h e f ace of th e speaker flash e d a
glance of strange intell igenc e at him and
walked away
”
“
“
What a l out ! e xclaimed F arn ham
He
must be a new s e rvant and y e t I am positi v e
”
I hav e seen that cadaverous face before ?
”
“
Th e f ellow soon returned accompanied by
who s e t th e refreshments i n
a second wai t e r
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AGA IN S T FA TE
94
.
her look ou t M e an to s e t h er up lik e a qu een
eh
”
“
I h ave n t d ecided
answered F arnham
“
coolly
It s a sight of t rouble but I think
”
i n this case th e game i s well wo rth the candle
”
“
I feel a sort of in t erest said Mr Bates
l e aning h is head back and puf f i ng out clou ds of
pu rple sm oke while h is eyes closed tranquilly
“
becau se — hem hem — there s a girl in the
store who came from th e same pl ace She i s
handsome too as a picture and lik e all of th e m
at first high strung and full of notions ; but
she ll g e t over it They all do ; only Margaret
Holm es — who would have thought it —has
turned a bit jealou s and shows fight if I go
n e ar the Bartlett girl I can manage however
”
I hav e h ad more di f ficult tasks than this
”
“
Ther e is one means that s eldom fails said
Ross F arnham deliberately holding up the long
slim n ecked bottle at his e lbo w and looking
through its half measure Of crystal rosiness
”
“
You mean wine answered Bates app rov
“
in gl y
Ye s that i s certain i f you can onl y
ge t them to taste it Do you remember that
pr e tty li ttle C lara ; th e g irl that fioore d half our
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T H E CLU B HOU S E
95
.
set l ast winter ? Wha t a time Jack Wood had
getting that g irl to tast e a glas s of wine Sh e
carried h im to the verge Of insanity wi th her
in nocen t fl irt a t ion s and then coolly laughed at
hi m for h is folly She n e ver turned giddy in
the least till he finally by strategy of som e
sort got her to drink a glass of champag n e
A fter that she went to d e struction fast enough
She m ade a desperate tri al t o re f orm and th e r e
were good wom e n t o hel p her but it wou l d n t
She could not live wi thout ex ci t e m ent and
do
l uxury Her f ri ends wou l d not speak to h e r or
her and sh e took th e short e st rout e to
ow n
”
perd ition
”
“
What becam e Of h e r at l ast ask e d F arn
ham knocking the ashes from his ci g ar
“
Died ! and by her ow n h and She had an
interview with Jack Wood the day before she
poi soned herself and they s ay s he j ust made his
h air stan d up with frigh t at the sole mn w ay
sh e talked
You know he r eformed and i s n ow
”
th e exemplary head of a family
”
“
I do n t s ee as h e was to blame particularl y
s aid F arn h am taking a long draught from his
I t has al ways been a man s
r e pl e ni shed glass
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96
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
pri vi leg e to ask an d a woman s to ref us e H e
g ave her al l she cou l d ask — w e al th e as e an d
”
l uxury
“
Y e s ; all but an hon e st name I suppos e
”
th e re is som e t h ing in th at b eyond ou r sophistry
”
“
A n honest nam e ! G r e at G od !
Ross F arn
ham grew excited and thr ew away his cig ar
H ow many thousands of wom e n have dragge d
o u t th e ir l iv e s in p e nury and hardshi
to
pr
e
p
serve an honest n ame and what good did it ev e r
do th e m
Do e s the world ri se up and s eeing
th rou gh their pitil ess mak e shifts gi v e th e m of
i ts bounty
A r e they n ot misused and hunt ed
and maligned by the v e ry champions of virtue
Their hon e s t wag e s are cu t down al l av en u e s Of
’
empl oyment are ove rfille d th e wolf i s at th e
door not on e wo lf but an hundr e d and th ei r
compensation i s an hon e st name
“
Th e r e is somethi n g in that w e do n ot und e r
stand F arnham Bu t we both know th e re are
wom e n w ho wou l d starve to death by inches ti l l
th e mi serable tortur e d body gave up its l as t
cl aim ra th e r than surrend e r on e iota of the spir
It i s an in stinct stronge r than li f e
it s purity
w ith t he m
Such wom e n cannot b e te m pte d
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T H E CLUB HO U S E
97
.
You
kno w how cruel the world is to th e woman
Wh o steps aside from the narrow path of vi rtue
I t does not ask what her tem ptation m ay be
It
”
is of small account beside her di sgrace
”
“
P erhaps you are right ans we r e d F arn
ham yawning
I kno w this ; they have th e
w orst of i t here ; but if ther e is a h e reafter and I
f or on e believe there i s there will be a heavy score
to s e ttl e agai nst u s
I am going to my punis h
men t with my ey e s Op e n for I ne ver beli e v e d
th at of two r e sponsibl e human beings wi th
equal attributes i n the sight of Heaven on e w a s
to have all th e pri vil eg e s an d th e oth e r all th e
penal ti e s If I go scot f ree in t his world I shall
have my turn i n th e n e xt ; but if a class of
hum an beings ar e born into th e worl d pre
ordai n e d to destruction I am bu t th e in s t rn
”
m ent of f ate
“
We ll I should nev e r add hypocri sy to my
other sin s I am no t a praying member i n a
church and y ou kno w what my home life has
be en I should never use unfair m ea ns to in
duce any girl to place herself under my p rot ec
tion There are w omen respectabl y m arri ed in
this city to day who can tes tify to that It is a
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AGA IN S T FA TE
98
.
question t hat involves a n i mm e nse amount Of
speculative thought a n d no on e has e ver reach e d
”
a sa t isfac t ory solution
“
Then it is u seless f or us to begin N ow he r e
”
“
i s a girl F arnham spoke in a low tone who
i s as lovely as a G recian model She has educa
tion r e finement and so f ar good principles
though no fixed character Sh e w as di ssatisfi e d
with her country home and her fa rmer l over and
the po verty of her surroundings She h a s an
unsatiated thi rst for the beautiful She admires
Sh e
a l l the precious things wealth can bestow
wants luxury diamonds and cashmere vel vets
and laces l eisure instead of toil and by G sh e
s hall have them !
He had spoken i n a low tone but the man
s tanding motionless among the shado w s heard
every word Taking some t hing from the breast
O f his coat he again folded h is arms and stood
motionless as before
”
“
?
She does not exp ect you to marry her
Bates
a sked Mr
N OW i n my case there can
be no delusi on of that sort Wi th you i t i s only
n atural that any girl
u m ight honor with your
o
y
attention should aspire to a matrimonial ri g ht
”
t o y our name
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A GA I N S T FA T E
I OO
.
m an Who w a s he and what was his object in
assaulting Mr F arnham ?
Meanwhi l e the man l ay prostrate an d u n con
scious The pi stol which he h a d aimed at hi s
enemy s heart w as still clasped tightly i n hi s
hand ; his eye s were clo sed hi s face was pallid
and his bre ath came i n great gasps In this
s tate he w a s lift ed to an improvi sed stretcher
and carried of f to a remote hospital until such
tim e as he should die or get well enough to b e
b e indicted for murder
I f Ross F arnham knew him in that moment
h e m ade no sig n A silken handkerchief had
be e n bound tightly abo u t his ow n arm I t was
only a flesh wound aft er a ll and he had denied
t o e v e rybody w ho asked him any knowledge of
t he man or of his intentions Ther e were plenty
of p e ople pr e s e n t who cou l d concei ve of su f f icient
reason why a m an of his reputation should b e
in dang e r of an attack upon hi s l ife but th ey
consider e d silence the ir best policy
The next morning the daily pap e rs published
gl owing accounts of Mr F arn h am s bravery in
repulsing a n assassin and rel egated th e wou l d
be m u rd e rer t o certa in p u ni shm ent as soon a s
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T H E C LU B H O U S E
101
.
his
wound e d lungs shoul d becom e su f ficiently
healed A t this knowing people smiled a n d re
“
mark e d that Law and j ustic e w e re two di f f e r e nt
”
insti tution s
,
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C HAPTE R ! I I
MRS
.
M
O N R OE
.
S H US B A ND
’
.
was known to the worl d as such h i s
id e ntity bein g completely swallow e d
up in that of hi s wife How could it
be o ther wi s e ? He was n ot pre sid e nt of th e
B W A S n or l e ad e r of a s e cr e t soci e ty that
had processions in a c ell ar and wore paper
cambri c robes n or tr e asur er of a Dorcas sewing
cl ub that did e verythi ng but s e w n or corre
s on d e n t of a poli tica l reform
organ
He
h
ad
p
n e v e r b e en invit e d to deliver addresses to the
working women n or solicit aid f or th e u n f or
t u n a t e or for the re f orm of the f all e n
He w a s
m e rely an app endage to Mrs Monroe fu rni shing
her wit h a fresco e d roof paying her bi l ls an d
readin g her n ame i n a newspaper r eport as the
ag itator of some n e w sch e me for a hospital or a
prison He had n e ver read h e r boo k on co
op e rati v e housek ee ping but he thought almost
E
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( 1 02)
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 04
.
she always avoided and that h e sel
He was a thin slend e r man wi th
d om enjoy e d
hal f concealed by a chestnut
a nervous mouth
moustache He looked j ust the sort of m an to
He had n ot forc e of
b e moulded by a woman
c har a c t er enough to emphasi z e h is o w n Opinions
He preferred to do right and li ve u p to hi s ow n
bu t was willing to sacrifice princi
c on vic t ions
les
to
p
e
ac
e
His
wife
had
frequently
t
old
p
him that he ought to have m arried a Dora
C o pp e rfield — a home body a pleasant sort of
idi ot and h o w f e rve n tl v he some t imes w ished
that he ha d
He w a s vi siting in hi s wife s roo m n ow
where he always felt like an i n tru d er a lthough
he repos e d n ightly when at home beneath the
embroi dered quil t with a wax C upid dangling
withi n a n inch of his nose O n this night h is
heart yearn e d for companion ship and he so u ght
hi s wife with the forlorn hope that she might
care to amuse and entertai n him He fou n d her
rea ding a statistical looking pap e r cutting out
sentences and marking a nnotation s on the m ar
gin She w a s handsom e ly dr e ss ed and looked
q ueen l v and imposing
a
‘
tei e a-tete
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M R S M O N R O E S H U SB A N D
’
.
M aria
105
.
”
he commenced throwing him self
“
into a chair hung with rich embroidery what
”
ar e y ou reading ?
‘
“
A n article headed What to do with our
daughters
I find som e excellen t things in i t
and I mean to write a paper on the subject and
”
read i t at our next m aternity m eeting
“
We have n t any daughters I did n ot know
”
that you cared about such m atters
”
O ther people have daughters Mr Monro e
a nswered his wife l oft ily
“
Yes ; and i t i s about them I would like to
I saw that ki t chen girl of yours — w hat
s peak
i s her n ame — fl a u n t in g down street when I
came in a n d I think sh e ne e ds a little motherly
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c a re f
’
M rs
Mon roe l ai d down her paper
I ll
turn her ou t of the house to morro w I told
her I should if sh e went out another evening
To think what I rescued that girl from and n ow
”
thi s is her grati tude
“
You c ann ot expect to have all the v i rtu e s
I do n ot see how i t
f or three dollars a week
would improve matters either t o turn h er ou t
You might easi l y int e re st your
on t h e streets
“
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1 06
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
self enough in her to know where she i s and
how she passes her t ime
I suppose philan
th rOpy at home i s a s necessary as i n chari tab le
”
instit u tion s
“
Did you come up here on purpose to s ay
”
that Mr Monroe ? asked his wife in a hard
disagreeable voice I n talking to her h usband
there w a s none of that ef f usi veness that charac
“
te riz e d her with acquaintanc e s
Because if
o u take so m uch in terest in Sarah you migh t
y
l oo k afte r her yourse l f
A
The m an did n ot res e nt the insult Naturally
af f ectiona te and home loving thou gh warped
aside by adverse influences he longe d to night
with a homesickness that w a s pai n for th e
c o m an
of
a
congenial
n a ture
p y
\
Will you play Be z ique ? he asked presen t ly
as his w ife resumed her readin g
She consented ungraciously and so an ho ur
passed and the clock struck n i n e
”
“
Where i s Jennie ?
asked Mr Monro e
putting the cards in t he cribbage box
“
She has been spending the day at Mr
Winne s wi th some friends I expect she wil l
”
s t ay al l night unless Ross should call for her
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 08
.
pursuits Now there is my l ecture on physical
cu l t ure I have o f f ered to let h e r read i t at dif
ferent places
s h e has really a fine voic e
but
s h e has no self reli a nce
There i s nothing p ro
re s s iv e about her
Sh
e
has
been
ta
u ght at h e r
g
m o t her s apro n s trings and has jus t on e set of
”
ideas
“
It is a pity she had n ot staid th e re H e r
b e auty and ignorance are both against her h ere
You wom e n who a re always meddling with re
How
f orm s never u se th e material a t hand
many of you inter e st yourselv e s in the souls
un d er your ow n roo f ? It is the unkno w n
”
he athen y ou l abor to co nvert
Mr Monro e sel d om denounced h is wife s th e
He had
orie s as bi tterl y as he did t o nigh t
m arried her at a v e nture and lost That there
were circumstances i n her p a s t life n ot to her
credi t he di d not care to know He knew t oo
m uch as i t was He was m aster i n his ow n
h ouse in only o n e way He paid the bills an d
the servants run the domestic machi nery ou th e
they co o pera ted to
c o Operati ve plan ; tha t i s
se e that their respec t i ve households did n ot
wan t
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M R S M O N R O E S H U SB A N D
’
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A s h e went
of
1 09
.
her room preparatory to
putting on hi s overcoat to spend a social even
ing elsewhere hi s wife looked aft er him
H ow
I hate you ! w a s the t hought upperm ost in he r
mi nd Before his footsteps had d ied away on
th e pavement she w as writing a n articl e on the
tyranny of marriage w hich other di ssati sfied
women shoul d read and applau d
She did not care wh e re nor how h e spent hi s
time so th at he did n ot interfere wi th her sel f
i shl y l az y l ife She felt no moral obligation to
m ake hi s home happy and comfortable and t o
m inister to his wants wi th her ow n hands Ne
ce s s ity had not driven her to her present pursuits
f or brea d and bu tter
A whole s ome cours e of
physical labor would soon have cured her of any
tendency to in validism S h e had elected herself
as champion of her sex and yet i t was true that
she had turned a young and thoughtless gi rl in t o
the s t reets at midnight b e ca use Mr Monro e re
turning late from a club s u pper had m e t h e r in
the hall and att e mpted t o ki ss h e r ! I t was a
very repreh en sible act no doubt in on e deni ed
l egitim ate caresses but the punishment f or i t
shou l d have been V i si ted on hi m alon e
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CHAPTER XI
J
UDA S
II
I N PE I TI COA TS
’
.
‘
.
HE
morning a fter Thanksgiving day
Jennie awoke and found that it w as
very late The other two girls had
ri s e n without di sturbing her their t ime being
l imi ted to certai n hours ; and when s he went
down to the breakfast room she found Mrs
Winne alone w ith the children lingering over
the toast and co ff ee and looking very much a n
noyed When Jennie entered with e xcuses f or
h er late a ppe a rance Mrs Winne handed her the
morni ng p a per
”
You w ill find some news th e re sh e sai d
“
coldly
I think you are interested in th e mat
ter Who do you think the man i s that Ross
F arnham sho t last nig ht
Jennie h e ard bu t on e sentence
Ross F arn
” —
ham ! Shot ! Last night !
th e room spun
round and all the world turned dark Th e co l or
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I I2
'
A GA I N S T FA T E
.
aff airs
I do n t be l ieve Ross F a rn h am has an y
idea of marrying y ou an d you ought not to
accept his attentions I wish y ou had never
gone to Mrs Monroe s I f I wer e you I wou l d
”
go home again
“
Home !
Jennie s h ut her eyes and con
j ured u p a V i sion of the old unpaint ed tumble
down house the dilapidated fa rm and the days
that were all like Sundays wi th the toil worn
pair who could gi ve her nothing bu t th ei r love
and to w hom life had been on e perpetual rainy
day N 0 ! She could n o t go home !
M rs Wi nne gave her some good advice at part
ing for which sh e thanked her a n d then s e t out
for Mrs Monroe s The day was bright and
cold the air pure a nd invigorating but Jennie
walked steadily along her eyes bent on the
g round She was taking a practical look at life
and trying to expunge all the blue and rose color
A s she walk e d along
f rom its n eutral gray
thu s she looked prettier and mor e bewi tchi n g
than ever N ot th e most studied coqu e try could
h ave made her face so attractive as t h e p re t ty ai r
perplexity that d rew her cherry lips in tO a
of
deliciou s C upid s bow and arched her dark a n d
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JU D A S
P E TT I C O A T S
IN
1 1
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3
dainty ey ebrows i nto a sinuou s li n e and s e n t the
long quivering lashes down ward l ike p e nci l
lings on the clear r ed of h er cheeks A coars e
bright shawl was wrapped about h e r slen der
form on e end falling over her should e r H e r
plain straw hat had a red wing j aun tily s e t in th e
vel vet band and wi th al l the lights an d co l ors
of h e r dress an d of h e rs el f s h e resembled som e
rar e tropical bird So thought Ro ss F a rn ham
as he looked after her hi s heart full of adm ira
tion and — would you call i t lov e ? S h e had
pass ed him s o clos e that h e r flutte ring silk e n
hai r had brushed hi s arm — the arm carri e d in a
sling — but she e ither did n ot or would n ot se e
h im He turned and l ook e d aft e r h e r for a m o
ment with a surpri s e d air an d t h e n wi th a
rapid m otion o r two w as at her side
”
“
Miss A rm stron g l i f ting his h at as sh e
turned at the sound of h is voic e ar e you s o
”
pre occupied that y ou cannot see your fri e nds ?
J e nnie look e d at him without any of h e r usual
pretty embarrassm e nt ; but th e sight of h is
wound e d arm touched her vi sibly H e r hear t
b eat so violently she could wi th di f ficu l ty S p e ak
”
“
I am in a great h urry she said
I t is
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 14
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l ate an d M rs Monroe will n eed m e ; b e sid e s
M r Fa rn ham I have s e en th e paper and — and
my fr i e nds think
then suddenly chan g
“
ing to an anxious natu ral tone Was it Re ub e n
Harlow w ho shot you Mr F a rn h am ?
”
I pres ume i t was he repl ied i ndi f f e re ntl y
”
“
I did no t notice the f ellow part icularly
”
—
Was h e w as h e ki lled ? in a horror
stri cken voice
“
! i l l e d ! n o ! no ! n ot hal f so bad as t h at
I
wil l see that he wants nothing since you ar e s o
in t e rested i n him ; and I assure you hi s hurt is
n ot more serio us t h an m ine
O nly n o on e care s
”
i n the least that I am hurt and he sigh e d
d e spondently
“
Your f ri e nds wi ll all care Mr F arnham but
I hav e known Re uben Harlow since I w as a
l ittle child and I cannot bear to think he shou l d
”
l ose his life for m e ; I am not worth it
Ross F arn h a m thought she w a s worth that
and a great d e al more as he looked in to her shy
brown eyes filled wi th tears of th e de e pest con
A sudden impulse came over him to
t rit ion
rel e ase himself f rom th e bonds of his s e t and own
h e r be f or e the worl d as hi s chos e n wife But
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1 16
A N S T FA TE
AG I
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’
that made Je n n ie s f oolish h e art thri ll with
joy
Th ey blam e m e f or what h appened last night ;
but I did n ot e ven know until then that R e u
b e n Harl ow w a s i n the ci ty
T ell m e Mr F arn
ham h ow did i t happen What was th e quarr el
”
abou t ?
“
I shall not te ll y ou on e word if you talk i n
that w ay
C all me Ross ; not that cold Mr
F arn h am Th e re i s nothing to t e ll really only
that Mr Ha rl ow did m e the great honor of being
j ealou s of me an d int e nded th en and there to
put i t ou t of my pow e r t o l ove anybod y I
mer el y def end e d mysel f by a r e turn shot Wou l d
J
e
nnie
if
I
had
be
e
n
kill
e
d
ou have car ed
?
,
y
”
A n swer me tru l y darlin g
He looked i nto h er troubled eyes wi t h a t e n
d e rn e ss that w a s magneti z ing
She felt t h e
i n fluence of that l ook an d hastened to break i t
“
I
! i l l ed ! O h Ross ! W hat am I saying
cannot bear t o think that any l ife migh t hav e
been l ost f or such a foolish giddy girl What
would my fath e r and mother say ? I can never
be anything to Reuben Harlow n or t o anyon e
e lse I am a poor girl work in g f or m y livi ng
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JU D A S
I N P ETTI CO A T S
1 1
.
7
an d I n eed to be mor e care f ul than those w ho
hav e home and f riends to car e for them My
f amily h av e always be e n honorable and r e sp ec t
”
able if they are poor
Ro ss F arn ha m though t he h ad n e ver admir ed
h er s o much as at that moment Her eyes wer e
fill ed with the sw ee t de w of humility a n d wh e n
”
I am a poor girl
sh e repeated the assertion
s h e look e d u
at
hi
m
wi
t
h
a
pride
that
rivall
e
d
p
h is own A lmost he w a s ashamed of himsel f
A lmost he determined to l et th is litt l e wi l d
flower bloom unp l ucked or else t o wear i t in his
bosom that all the worl d m ight s ee Th e n th e
hydra headed s e rp e nt of selfishness reared itsel f
in hi s sight an d hi s spasm of goodn e ss was o v e r
”
You are ti red and d e press ed h e said kindly
“
Do not l e t any narrow mind e d cons e rvative
set of people sway y ou into their narrow groov e
of thought an d action
A s f or mysel f I am wi ll
ing to die i n your servi ce
I cheri sh this
wounded arm as a soldier do e s his medal of
honor A m I presumptuous ! G ood bye till I
”
s ee you a a n
He
lifted
his
hat
looked
at
h
e
r
g i
with a hal f sad smi le and turn ed back at h is
cousin s door
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1 1
AGA IN S T FA TE
8
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It w a s all very fine acting but how w a s Jenni e
to know ? Sh e had never been to a theatre and
by no compari son could decide the real from t h e
Wh e n Ross F arnham l ooked at h e r in
i de al
t hat way h e r world w a s conquered
Mrs M onro e was not exact ly in good humor
w h en Jennie reached home The B W A S
correspondence had got i nto a snarl The treas
u re r had report e d f ourt e en cents 011 b an d aft e r
a three o cl ock l unch which the society had in
dul ged in but on demand i t was found to b e
only eleven cen t s Th ree h ad be en feloniously
abstract e d Every member looked at every other
member wi th suspicion when the af f air was
known and sent in a f our page letter of remon
strance to the P resident A ll the lett e rs had ar
rived in one mail that morning while the presi
dent was taking her tea and toast in bed an d they
had li terally overwhelmed h er Jennie tried to
sort ou t the letters an d put them i n shape
e xpecting every moment that M rs Monro e
would allude to the account in the m orni n g
papers Sh e did not however for t he s uf h
cient reason that she knew nothing about it
If Mr Monro e h ad see n t h e int elligence h e
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A G A I N S T FA T E
I 20
.
osting hi m hi s life with your baby face and
c hildi sh ways
Who is this man who tri e d t o
”
shoot h im down like an assassin ?
“
It i s Reuben Harlow He has been in th e
city f or som e time but I did not kno w i t till
l ast night
He has no right t o watch me or any
on e w h o i s s e en in my company
I do n t s ee
h ow you can blame m e M rs Monroe for w hat
”
h as happened
“
I do blam e you for al ways thrusting your
s elf into notice wh e n Mr F a rn h a m is here
I
h ave tried my best t o m ake you think of high e r
Obj ec t s i n life than the admiration and atten t ion
of gentlemen
Let m e tell you Ross F arnham
will never m arry y ou He will wring all the
s w eetness from your life a n d throw i t away an
utter wreck If you have learned to love him
unlearn i t as soon as y ou can You will have
no recom pense in thi s w orld I wi sh y ou had
”
n e ver seen him
A h ! if she had only told Jenn ie h e r ow n story
then told i t no t i n bi t terness and anger but
i n wom a nly sorrow and hum ility what aft er
h ours of anguish m ight have been spared her
J ennie answered none of the accusations
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JU D A S
IN
P E TT I CO A T S
12 1
.
ainst
her
but
went
about
h
e
r
duties
f
r t he
o
g
d ay wi thou t a word
Her heart was full to
o v erflowi n g and sh e saw everything through a
“
mist of tears
He loves m e not ; he loves m e
n o t and I have given my heart to him beyon d
”
recall she kept thinking over and over She
w a s glad when M rs Monroe was dr e ss e d an d
”
“
ready for the m aternity meeting
I wond e r
“
s h e thought
if they wi l l discuss m e amon g
”
th e m
She wen t back up stairs i nto the empty room s
and began putting them i n order They wer e
full of carved bea uty an d embroidered sentiment
but am ong them a human soul was bei n g rent
a n d torn
any
an d i t w as valued the least of
“
thi n g there
What shall I do ; what shall I
”
do ?
the girl w a s sayi n g to herself repeatedly
a s sh e folded splendid robes and lai d t hem away
I t seemed already a s if d isgrace had overta k e n
her She fini shed her duties and then thr e w
h erself into a chair and tried to think
Mrs Monroe had a very comfortabl e time at
the ma t ernity me e ti n g She prayed fervently
”
“
f or the dear children com mitted to our car e
a n d was very graciou s to e v e rybody
Sh e di d
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A G A IN S T F A T E
I22
.
g o to th e o f f ice f or her husband but on he r
way home she picked up h er cousin us t partin g
f rom som e ladies who had gushed sympathetic
al ly over him They h ad a long confidential
tal k b efore they r e ached home and there wer e
trace s of an g ry tears on Mrs Mon ro e s enamell ed
c h eeks wh e n she stepped fro m h e r carriage
Ross did not go i n t o the house He gave hi s
cousi n s coachman a dir e ction and drove away
They s topp e d near the corner of Eigh t eenth
stree t and Wa b as h avenue
”
You can return hom e said Mr F arnham
placing a lib e ral d ou eem in th e m an s hand
He w alk e d on until he cam e to a handsome mar
ble fron t hou se w hich looked as if i t were S hut
U
and
fors
all
the
shutt
e
rs
b
e
ing
clos
e
d
ak e n
p
and the bars dropp e d
He rang the silver
h andled bell and aft e r a very bri ef delay the
door was opened by a small boy black and sl ee k
”
Is your m istress in ? asked Mr F a rn ham
f ollowing hi m in t o the darkened parlor
”
“
Ye s sir ; mi ssis is up stairs
”
Then gi ve her thi s and he laid his card in
the outstretched ebony p alm
Th e b oy grinned b acked o ut of t he room an d
n ot
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 24
.
Th e woman w ho ent e r e d w a s about tw e nty
ei gh t y e ars old tall and sl e nder and dark wit h
flashing bl ack eyes and stormy brows Her
cheeks were redder than nature i ntended th e m
to be and h e r dress was t oo el aborat e f or a hom e
toilet Her f e atures wer e small and regu l ar but
worn by car e or dissipation Sh e start e d wh e n
s h e saw the wound e d arm
”
Have you com e for m e to nurs e y ou s he
asked in a voic e not inharmon ious but l acking
“
cultur e
I s aw thi s morning y ou w e re in
”
trouble Wh o i s it abo u t thi s tim e ?
“
That is what I came to talk about H e l e n ; I
”
f el t su r e that I could trust y ou
”
“
Do n t be t oo sure sai d the woman mock
in gly whil e a sudden gl eam li gh t e ned her bad
dark ey e s
You hav e n ot bee n h e re f or a l o n g
”
time ; bu t I know where you have been
“
Do y ou ? Then i t i s unnecessary f or m e to
tell you I came h e re on business t o day Do
thi s hous e or
ou care to rene w th e lease of
y
”
shall I l e t i t to another t enant ?
“
You did n ot come here to day t o a sk m e
th at Ross ; you are trying to frigh te n me but i t
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JU D A S
is
of
P ETTI CO A T S
IN
12
.
5
u se W e h av e too many mutual in te r
”
e sts at stake to quarrel
I am gl a d y ou think s o H elen N ow l is ten
an d I wi ll tell you the r e ason of my present
v isi t
You wi ll find it to your in t erest to serv e
”
me faith f u lly
Th ey held a l ong con f e re nce the natur e of
th e s e page s wi ll i n du e tim e r e v ea l
no
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C HAPTER ! I V
F E A TH E R
HE
DI D N OT
.
WE AR
.
had lef t her situation It happen e d
i n thi s way : Mr Bat e s had decided i n
his own mind that something definit e
m ust be done to forward hi s wicked project i n
regard to Eva therefore the morning after his
encounter with Ross F arnham he decided to
approach the subj ect as nearly a s he dared by
inviting her to accompany him to t h e theatr e i n
the evening A n e w p l ay by som e local geni us
was a ttracting attention and Eva had unguard
expressed
in
hi
s
hearing
a
wi
s
h
to
s
e
e
it
e dl
y
Taking an opport unity when he h ad som e ord e rs
to give concerning the stock h e i n vited h e r in a
whi spered communication that caus e d he r cheeks
to redde n consciously for she f elt that the ey e s
of the
other employees w e re u pon h e r Sh e
n e v e r could tel l what answer sh e did mak e but
VA
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( 1 2 6)
I2
A G A I N S T FAT E
8
.
came n e ar f or Eva s r e tu rn A f orlo rn woman
who had b een trying to ge t a s itu a tl on f or at
l east a y e ar , and had bai ted the wolf at he r door
with bits of s e wing odd j obs of n ursing an d
a strange combination had b ee n in
C opying
wi th a flu sh e d face to s ay that she had secure d
a job f or the w i n te r of makin g wat e rproo f s at
forty c e nts each
“
Why I wou l d h av e taken th e m at twenty
”
“
five cents sh e said
rather than n ot have had
them I can make two a day easily by sittin g
nights
at
the
bu
tton
holes
I
d
e
clare
I
had
u
p
to come and tell y ou of my good luck The
”
L ord do e s s ee m to remember u s someti m e s
Margaret Holmes sm iled sadly as the rusty
alpaca dress of h e r visi tor vanis h e d f rom si g ht
”
“
“
I wonder s h e mused aloud
if He do e s
care that we su f f er and lack every good t hing in
l ife and if it is really true that He sees our
compensation and knows that our sorrow
e ndures only f or a day
I am sure when I was
a girl all my impulses were good and I had
such a since re beli e f that G od would tak e care
e unti l
then she clasped her hands ov e r
of m
h e r thin f ace flushed wi th fever
until i t was
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A
F EA TH ER
HE
N O T WEAR
DI D
1 29
.
O h G od h ow true that hom el y s e n
tence is that ou r l ives are m ade up of just tw o
‘
regrets : I wish that I had and I wish that I
had n t
I wonder if I had my l i f e to live o ver
if I should do any bett e r
again
Just t h en a pl e asant l ooking little woman
whose room was next door l ook e d i n and asked
“
I thou ght you r
M argaret if sh e f el t bett e r
“
I m e t he r
room mate was h e re sh e said
early thi s afte rnoon an d suppo s e d sh e w a s
”
coming home t o sit wi th y o u
“
M e t Eva ! I thi nk y ou must b e m istak e n
”
She cannot l e ave the stor e until six
“
O h no there was no mis take
Sh e w as
wal king very slowly and l ooking about h e r ; b u t
I observ e d he r p art icu~
s h e did not notic e me
”
l a rly sh e had such a l ov el y color
Margar e t Hol me s said no mor e and t he cal ler
went in to he r ow n room Wh e n th e door had t
closed and she was al on e Margare t sank back on:
the l oung e w he r e sh e h ad lain all day and
clasp e d h er hands i n p e rpl e xi ty
“
What h as happen ed to ta ke he r out of the
store thi s aft e rnoon ? Has he ta k e n advantage
of thi s on e day s abs e nce to f urt he r his in f ern al
too la te
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9
1
AGA IN S T FA TE
30
.
sche m e s
H e shal l not He shall not
I h av e
swor n to my own soul to s a ve this girl f rom the
fate that sooner or later i s o f f e red to them all
I t i s time she was here now ; i s that her step
Yes i t was Eva came in with an excit e m e n t
She asked
i n her manner t hat w as not natural
Margaret how her headache was w i thou t lookin g
a t her ; moved her things restlessly from one
pl ace to a n other and finally w ent down to supper
wit h out alluding to the fact that she had left the
s tore earlier th a n u sual
M a rgaret asked no questions Sh e felt hu rt at
t his first w ant of confidence i n h er surprised
and grieved at Ev a s changed m a nner and
distress e d beyond measure at what i t implied ;
bu t s he d e em e d it wisest to be silent f or th e
p resen t
Eva merely made a preten se of su pper to
c ompose her mind over the events of the day
She had left the store at three a n d walk e d all
the way home first ho w ever loitering through
the principal streets which were gay w i th el e
dressed
l
adies
The
s
t
ores
were
trimmed
a n tl
y
g
f or the ho l idays and presented a very bri g ht
app e arance It was li ke a n enchanted city to
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1
AGA IN S T FA TE
32
.
ar e going to do som e wrong thin g t h is ni gh t
”
What i s it ?
E va had intend e d to put he r of f or if obli ged
to reveal anyt h ing to be hard and d efiant ; bu t
she could n ot dissembl e as she looked into th at
f ac e b eh ind whi ch an awfu l s h adow s ee m ed
l urking — the shadow of d e a th l —it was s o
She l ed Margar e t back to
w hite and solemn !
th e l ounge an d kn ee ling b e side her pillowed t he
hot h e ad on her arm s while she told her wi t h
sobs of fe eling the truth !
W he n sh e had finished Margare t Holm e s aro se
”
“
G i ve m e your h at and shawl
f rom the loung e
“
and you r bl ue v ei l quick ! W e
sh e said firm l y ;
are th e same hei ght H ere h el p m e arrange t he
v e il N ow child pray G od I m ay be p e rmi tt e d
”
to be your d el i ver e r
She passed ou t of the room and down th e
stairs to th e hal l door A s sh e opened i t sh e
Sh e
s a w a carriag e drawn und e r the l af n p s
moved quickly toward it th e cold air cut tin g h e r
thin fram e lik e a kni f e
“
I was so af raid y ou wou l d not com e H ow
”
did y ou m anage ? ask e d a well known voice
within So far the disguis e answer ed
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A
FE A T H E R H E
W EAR
DI D N OT
1
.
33
Th e driver held th e door op e n and th e vei le d
and di sguised figur e S prang in and th e next
mom e nt th e h orses moved rapidly away
”
You ar e s h iv e ri n g
said Mr Bat e s f or it
“
was he ;
let me wrap this carriag e robe aroun d
ou
You
w
e
r
e
s o good to come
Did
Mar
g
ar
e
t
y
”
Hol m e s susp e ct anything ?
He had not consid e re d i t necessary t o remov e
h is arm af ter e ncircling th e tr e mbling f orm wit h
th e f urry robe and he n ow end e avored to t u rn
the unwillin g f ace toward him and w as trying t o
l ook throu gh the obscurity of the b lu e v e i l wh e n
a f e veri s h hand wi thdrew it and a worn whit e
Thrown e ntirely of f his
f ac e con f ronted him
guard he uttered a fi e rce oath and glare d an g ri l y
a t her ; then he mutte r ed sull enly :
You ar e det e rmin e d i t seems to cross my
path I do n ot kn ow W hat your r ea sons are bu t
I shall put i t ou t of your pow e r to watch m e any
f urther ; I wil l su f f er no spy on my actions y ou
least of al l I r e quir e your servic e s n o l o n ge r
”
in any capacity
”
Defy me if you c h oose answ e r e d M arg ar et,
“
firmly ; I a m what you made me It s ee m s
you do not fear m e any l onger ; for mys e l f I ask
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1
AGA I N S T FA TE
34
.
nothing ; I accept my dismissal ; but i f y ou e ver
dare to o ff er your wicked atten t ion s to thi s youn g
girl whom I have saved to night from villainy
s h e does n ot dr e am of
I will denounc e you to
the w orld you decei ve and the family y ou so
wickedly wrong
You n eed to fear me ; my
ruined li f e shal l haunt y ou yet a dark sp e ctr e of
you r own conj uring Something tel l s m e that
thes e ar e my last words t o y ou ; rememb e r th e m
”
when y ou come to die !
Sh e s t opp e d the carriag e got out and wal k e d
h ome with a w e ariness of body she did n ot n otice
and a pain at her h eart that was l ik e mortal
agony as she e nt e r e d th e portal s of th e Hom e s
Wh e n sh e l eft i t again it w a s f or a l onge r
journey
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1
AGA IN S T FA TE
36
.
eloved wife — with the right to receive and
r e turn his caresses and to c l aim hi s af f ection
She had loved him since
b e f ore the whol e world
t he hour she first m e t him ; lov ed him with that
w i l d all absorbing lov e that on l y a f e w women
t h ank H e aven are capable of cherishing In
h e r eyes he w a s as a G od a m ong other men She
believed him good and true O f the d ark and
s i nful b
ways
of li f e Jennie knew nothing ; she
y
had only a n amel ess sort of horror f or vi ce which
w as n ot clearly comprehended
Sh e had performed to day the highest act of
h e roi sm of which her undevelop e d n atu r e was
c apab l e when s h e spoke as she did to Ross F arn
h am
I t had cut her to the heart at the time
a n d i t hurt he r n ow to think of i t
That sh e
c ould hav e b ee n cruel and unkind t o h im w hen
h e bore a wounded arm in her def en se ! He had
s o often to l d her he l ov e d her not in any mere
c omplimentary term s but i n low sweet words of
burning elo quence utt e red at stolen opportuni
t i e s and by s o many of thos e tender caressing
ways which are th e small change of the agents of
s in o r the true declarations of a lovi n
g h e art ;
but of m arriage he had n ot spoken ; that was h e r
b
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ON
TH E B R I
N!
1 37
.
in f e renc e She wonder e d why Mrs Monro e
had chan ged so i n her treatm e nt of her ; wh y sh e
h ad grown co l d an d capricious an d often very
unk ind
She l eaned h e r head w e arily on h e r hand
wh e re should she turn for help
Then cam e
over he r lik e an inspiration th e memory of what
her m other h ad done wh e n torn by doubts and
pe rp le xiti e s ; s h e h ad prayed Prayer wi th youth
seems more of a pleasant habit than a necessity
Yout h and h eal th ar e all —
s u f ficie n t
until th e
dark days come to turn t h e lo n ging hearts
he aven w ard
Jennie thought that G od mu st
h el p her if sh e asked i t of him ; she r e membered
wh en a l ittl e girl sh e had prayed once for a d oll
and i t came ; s he did not reflect that earthly ears
had h e ard her p e tition an d e arthly l ove suppli e d
th e want N0W sh e threw herself on her kn e es
an d prayed wi th al l her heart and yet the spirit
“
Not Thy will bu t m in e b e
of her prayer was
done ?
Ye s ! th ere is
I s th e r e any h el p i n prayer !
str e ngth an d p e ace That the Infinite G od wi ll
change any Of Hi s plans f or you r asking or f or
min e i s hard to b e liev e ; w e have al l pl e ad e d to
ow n
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I 38
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
retai n o ur treasu res even wh ile they pass ed b eyon d
o u r grasp ; w e ask G od to take care of us h e re
and He does not bu t j ust where ou r i mperfect
work i s dropped He takes i t up an d com pletes
i t i n Hi s time and way We s e e only the sorro w
and the s in ; H e s ee s th e comp e n sation M ore
we know not
Jennie aros e f rom he r kn e es com f ort e d i n some
vague w ay ; then she thought of the l ittl e book
sh e h ad promised her m oth e r to r ead an d s h e
w e nt down on her kn ees again and searched her
trunk for i t It was not to be f ound and af ter a
l i ttle time sh e rememb e r e d l osing i t as sh e left
h ome She hop ed her mother wou l d n e ver know
of h e r de f e ction in th e matter
Sh e was still sitting th e re s till thinking
trying to work ou t some rule of conduct wh e n
M rs Monroe returned V ery tired very cross and
wi t h an unusual amount of headache and indis
position Jennie hurried to assi st h e r wipin g
a w ay al l traces of tears and worry from h e r ow n
fair fac e Sh e had many gentle fondling ways
and although sh e could not o f fer any real demon
s t ra t ion s of love t o her mistress th e re wer e tim e s
whe n her h e art yearn e d f or sympathy and w e nt
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I
AGA IN S T FA TE
40
.
”
“
C om e he r e sh e said as Jenni e cam e i n to
”
t h e room I have somethi ng to say to you
She di d not seem i n any hu rry to s ay i t but
soaked h e r handkerchi ef in camphor and app li ed
it to her h e ad ; t hen she r e su m ed the am moni a
Jennie wait ed with the feel i ngs of a naughty
child w h o expects a chidin g
“
I am goin g to send you away exclaim ed
Mrs Monro e breaking the silence abru ptl y
and I think it b e s t you should go at once H e re
are te n d ollars all I o w e you ; I suppose you
can stop wi th your fri e nds until you find another
”
place
”
“
Send me away ! repeate d J e n n ie m echan i
“
cally
O h ! Mrs Monroe what have I done
that y ou s e nd me ou t of your house without a
moment s notice ? I have tri ed to plea se you
and you h ave said you liked me and now oh
what w ill my m other say !
”
I cannot help it answered Mrs Monroe
She had reasons f or not wishing to pro l ong th e
“
intervi e w
Mr Monro e thinks I k e ep too much
help and you are quite too vain and giddy to
”
stay wi th me I cannot h ave a sc ene she add ed
h er voic e ri sin g t o a shri e k ; my n erves are n ot
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ON TH E
BR
I N!
14 1
.
trong You choos e to se t people talking abou t
you and m u st bear the cons equ enc e s I hav e
tried to do my duty by y ou G o right to your
f ri ends bef ore it i s any dark e r
You can send
”
f or your tru n k t o morrow
Jennie f ell down b e side th e l ounge an d cl asped
th e large white cru el looking hands heavy wi th
j ew elled rings in her small dimpled ones
”
“
“
O h dear Mrs Monroe sh e pleaded do le t
m e stay with you ; I will work for nothing A t
l east let m e stay till I can find another place ; I
have no fri ends to stay with even to night ; what
would th e Winnes think of m e ? I will not be
”
any m ore trouble to y ou if you will le t me stay
”
Yo u are di stressing me dr e ad f ul l y answer e d
the champion of h e r sex loosing h er han ds and
pushing back th e kn eeling girl
I consi der i t
my duty to s e n d y ou away for your ow n good ;
now go at once or I shall cal l f or Esther to
”
compel y ou t o le ave
”
“
You n ee d n ot said Jen me quickly rising
“
P roud cruel woman ! I wi ll n e v e r
t o h er feet
ask anoth e r f avor of y ou and I h ope G od m ay
d e al with y ou as you h av e d e al t w i t h m e thi s
”
night
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 42
.
Sh e we nt into her room and was soon re ady
to depart A s she passed down th e stairs s he
h e ard E s thé r and Sarah laughin gin the kitchen
and turn e d to go down and say good by e to them
but t hei r probable questions dismayed her
”
“
“
What could I tell them sh e thought ; that
I a m turned o ut of th e hous e But what is i t
”
for ?
The door closed behind h e r She stood on the
granit e steps and look e d up and down the str e et
B u sin e ss men from the city w e re dri ving past
goin g home to th e ir wi v e s and ch i l dren ; they all
l ooked comfortable and happy I n th e w e st a
g reat bank of clouds was pil e d hi gh and sti ll
tinted r ed from the suns e t The lamps wer e
light e d and but f e w pe opl e w e re walkin a n d
they were hurryin g al on g homeward Jenni e
yearned wi th a n ach ing heart f or the old farm
hous e f or the two there wh o loved her beyond
doubt or cavi l and s he made up h e r m ind quick
ly to go back to them
A ny home poverty coul d
give w as b e tter t h an thi s homel e ssn e ss and h e r
h eart turned cold and h ard to t he woman u p
stairs
”
“
Ye s she thought to h e rs el f I will go to
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C H A PT E R X V I
TA N G LE D
TH R E A D
S
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.
A RG A R E T
H O LMES w as
ill
T h e inmates of the Home walk ed about
on tip t oe and spoke in subdu e d w h is
pe rs as they passed th e sick girl s door Many
of them had n o t lik e d her particularly and a few
h ad s h un n ed her ; bu t now they all thought of
her only as a helpless w oman fighting a cru el
foe that was likely to worst her in th e encounter
She had taken a d e adly cold on that nigh t when
sh e went o u t to save Eva ; she had forgotten to
change th e thin slippers she wore and her fever
i sh frame al ready s u perinduced to illness could
no l onge r resist the aggressi ve pow e r of disease
Her life had b e en so long on e of denial and
hardship th at i t seem e d usel e ss to call together
th e r e mnant of its was te d f orces to repel this
l ast fierce i nvader Th ere seemed nothing to
take h old of n o hope in th e futur e of this l ife
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( 1 44)
6
I
the
he
d
s too
s t reet
!
.
on
the g ra n i te
—
P g e 1 42
a
.
s tep s
and
looke d
up a n d
1 46
AGA IN S T FA TE
h ad
You
d e ar
bet te r send
.
f or
h e r f riends my
,
”
.
”
—
—
—
I
I beli e ve sh e
has n t any repli e d
Eva between her sobs
So much the b e t t er then ; t here W
i l l b e fewer
l eft t o m ourn She m ay last this way several
days ; gi v e the mixtur e when she needs a drink
and keep h e r qui e t Do n t cry my dear ; death
i s n ot the worst thin g that can happen to us
He was r e treating to the door bu t came back
“
C an I do anythin g furth e r ? Would a littl e
m oney
”
“
“
Thank you
answe red Eva qui e tly ;
we
”
have enough
A nd the rath e r pompous but
r e ally g rand old gentl e man of a past school
bo we d him sel f o ut
So E va had nothing to do but watch a n d w ai t
She pu t the sick room in perfect order w rote a
l i ttle note home to her m o ther saying sh e had
l eft the store and gave her reasons why and then
s a t motionless for hours listening to the fit f ul
breathing that sometimes almost stopp ed and
then grew loud and hard O ccasionally a low
tap would summon her to the door to answer an
”
“
eage r how is s he ? with a sorrowfu l shake of
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TA N G LE D T H R E AD S
th e
1 47
.
head Sometimes th ere would b e giv e n a
gl ass of lemonade or of cordial for the sick gi rl
or a single hot hou se flow e r bought at a sacrific e
of some small comfort
Towards night of th e third day M argaret
Holmes stirr e d uneasily and at l ast opened h e r
heavy eyes with the ligh t of recogn ition in them
She did not sp e ak for a long time but looked at
e very object i n the room and then at Eva lon g
and tenderly with a gaz e that w as all absorbing
Her eyes had grown large sin ce her sickness and
A color was
n ow they se e med bright an d dark
st e aling i nto her pale sunken cheeks and Eva
wept with oy at the change
you ar e
Yo u are b e tte r dear Margaret
going to get well O h how glad I am to s ee
”
y ou look like this
“
M a rga ret smil ed ever so fai ntly
Yes I am
I shall soon be well
b e tt er I feel stron ge r —
”
Eva dear how l ong hav e I been sick ?
“
O ver t w o weeks O h Ma rgaret y ou hav e
been s o ill ; w e were all worried abou t you an d
now to think you ar e s o m uch b e tte r —i i is too
”
good news I m ust go and tell them all
”
“
W ait said Margaret ; wai t till to morrow ;
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 48
.
good n e ws will k ee p Now I want to se e Mrs
P ain e and while she i s h e re you must go out
and tak e a l on g walk ; but do n ot go n e ar that
”
s tor e
Eva prote ste d t h at she di d n ot ne e d any f resh
air but Margaret h eld her point through weak
n e ss that would not b e denied So M rs P aine
th e kind matron of the Hom e t ook Eva s place
wh ile sh e we n t ou t to walk
A t first Eva did n ot know which w ay to turn
I t w as th e day before C hristmas and a light fall
of snow had fro z e n into a white compact mass
Over which the flying sl eighs skimmed like birds
Eva follow ed them with her eyes and n oted the
rosy cheeks and happy l ooks of the occupants
and h e ard th e m usic of the j angling snow mad
bell s and th e l au ghter of h e arts delirious wi th
p le asure ; but envied th e m not It s ee med as if
Sh e had
sh e never co uld b e unhappy again
e scaped the foul disgrace of a tarnis h ed n am e ;
he r f ri end was gi v e n back to h e r from th e d ead
Eva was n ot a pious girl in the common a ccep
t a t ion of that word but sh e wou l d have b ee n
l ittle b e tt e r than a h e ath en if h e r h eart h ad n ot
gon e ou t in gratitud e to th e prot e cting S piri t of
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1
A G A IN S T FA T E
50
“
.
Do n t know Miss ; b ut sh e s e nt h e r of f all
i n a mi nut e and we have never se e n her since
”
and her trunk and all her things are here yet
”
I m ust s ee Mrs Mo nroe s aid Eva m aking
a motio n to e nter th e hous e
“
I do n t think you can Miss if i t s abo u t
”
he r But I 11 take up your message if you like
“
Tell h e r I m a friend of J enni e A rmstrong s
and would lik e to hav e her address I wou l d
”
l ik e to s ee h e r and ask th e question mysel f
I m sur e you can t se e h e r Miss unless you
w as sent here from the G ood Sa mari tans or the
Home f or the Fal l en or the Du s trial Schoo l
that mak e s a di f f er e nc e ; then you d be a per
i shin fel ler being and she d give you tracts
and let y ou work f or your board I 11 go ri g ht
”
up n ow Miss
The v oluble Sa rah soon return e d with a gri n
on her face
She do n t kno w noth in about h e r ; she do n t
want to know nothin abou t her She plucked
h e r li k e a brand a burn in and n ow sh e s washed
her hands of her foreve r Tha t s th e mess ag e
”
word f o r word Miss
Eva was full of fiery i n dignation
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T A NG LE D TH R EA D S
1
.
51
I Wish I could see that w oman she said ;
“
I shoul d j us t lik e to tell her what I think of
he r I b e li e ve if J e nni e A rmstrong has gone
”
wrong i t is her doing
A nd she turned her
back indignantly upo n the closing door
Sh e turned h e r ste p s in the direction of Lucia s
boarding place Sinc e Margaret s illness she had
n ot seen m uch of Lucia ; inde ed there had aris e n
a slight coolness be t we e n th em f or Luci a dis ap
pro ved of Margaret and the Home both She
r e cei ved Eva in her ow n room however pleas
if
not
cordial
l
y
She
kne
nothing
a n tl
w
f
o
y
Jenn ie beyond the fact of her disapp e aran ce of
which s h e had rec e ntly h e ard
A nd you never looked after her to see what
had b e come of her
O h Lucia how could
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u?
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I ha ve nothing to do with i t Eva I could
n o t go about the streets looking after her
She
knew what the consequences m ust b e as well as
any on e My brother thinks that she i s some
where m t h e ci ty un der the prot e ction of that
Mr F arnham but he w il l n o t say anything about
it ; a n d he has forbidd e n my ever sp e aking to h er
”
again
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1
AGA IN S T FA TE
52
.
O h Lucia is n t it dr e adful ! He must h av e
d ecei v e d her for I am sur e Jennie was always a
she might have been a li t tl e thou gh t
ood
girl
;
g
”
l ess but y ou know Sh e was pur e an d i nnoc en t
“
Humph ! answered Lucia coldly
Th at
You kn ow
d oes n t make her any bett e r now
we warn e d her that ev e ning at my brother s b ut
i t seems i t did no good for sh e disapp e ar e d on l y
a day or tw o afte r
and n o on e has s ee n h e r
”
s ince
”
“
It will kill h e r mo ther sai d E va wip in g
“
the tears away that were falling fast
Hav e
”
they heard about it i n Newton ?
”
“
Yes replied Lucia ; bu t h er pare nts do
n ot beli e ve it yet and no one has the he art to
t e ll them They are waiting for Reub e n Harl ow
to return whi le he i s lying betwee n life and de at h
at some hospi tal in the ci ty we could not find
That girl ought to su f f er som e of
ou t where
”
the mi sery s h e has caused
That girl ! Why do you not rath e r say that
man ! If J e nni e has gone wrong and things do
l ook rather against her Ross F arnham i s the on e
to blame I believe now that Mrs Monroe was
acting as an agen t f or him wh e n sh e sen t for
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AGA IN S T FA TE
54
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.
word against her L ucia and I must go right
back to her A nd oh do send word to me if
you hear anything of Jenni e I am going ho m e
as soon as Margar e t recovers ; the city s t ifl e s me
and all I e arn i s eaten u p by expens e s so that at
the end of a year I should be no better off fin an
I wo u ld
c ially tha n if I had s taid in Newton
rather have only two calico dre sses a y e ar there
”
than silks and v el ve ts here
”
“
What a strange girl ! said Lucia to herself
as Eva clos e d t h e hal l door af t e r her and sh e
“
w e nt back to h e r own cosy room
I canno t
und e rstand why those girls have s o much trouble
I do n t believe it i s true that sho p girl s have
p e culiar trials And Jennie was not a s hOp girl
but had every chance to improve and cultivat e
her mi nd H ow could she be s o infatuated as to
believe in that Ross Fa rn h a m ! Yes s he must
have been na t urally bad !
With these thoughts Lucia dismissed the
subject and turned her attention to the disco v ery
did wi t h himself after hi s
of what P hilip I I
wife s death
C alm passi on l ess ruled by her head and not
by her heart w ith an intense self esteem tha t
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TA N G L E D T H R E A D S
I
.
55
never could be temp t ed to l w er i t self how could
Luci a Winne a ppreci a te the sen si ti ve w eakness
the tender loving trusting nature of another
woman ? S he did not crave love A t som e time
probably a proper o f fer would be made her by
some on e she cou l d highly esteem and respect
and af ter sh e should be married d e corousl y there
would be time enough for sentiment if indeed
any such we akness was necessary Such wome n
are i n valuable to the worl d In life and i n death
they are eulogi z e d ; thei r cal m philosophical
natures cre ate no troub le and accept non e But
to th e wayward tor t ur e d r e stl ess soul of the
av e rage sinner th ey are abou t as soothi n g and
co m f ortable as rocks of adamant
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C H APT E R XV I I
M
“
AR GAR ET S S T O R Y
Bey on d th e
.
’
s
m il in g
an d
.
th e w ee p i n g
”
.
HEN Eva lef t L ucia sh e wal k e d rap id l y
toward th e Hom e aware that she had
b een abs e nt l on ge r than sh e had in
t e nded and anxio us le st M arg ar e t shoul d ne e d
he r She hurri e d on unti l she r e ach e d the door
when s he saw the M atron of the Home looking
f or her with eyes w e t with t e ars
”
O h is she wors e ? Will she di e ? ask e d
Eva wildly
”
“
I am afraid s he will
repli ed the kind
he arted little woman wi t h whom Margaret had
“
al ways been a favorit e
Perhaps that i s n t th e
worst thing that could happen to her ; but it
does seem s o dreadful to die away from hom e
and friends and among strangers I believe s he
is an orphan but th e r e must be somebody belong
”
in g to h e r
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1
AGA IN S T FA TE
58
.
put on your wrapper You can l ie and r e st
whil e we tal k I am going to tel l y ou my ow n
story
“
I was born in Belleville a littl e town in
Main e ; my father was the practicing physician
of the p l ace and h e made a comfortable fortune
e nough to keep u s all respectably
My ow n
mother was dead but I could n ot rem e mber h e r
and my step mother a good kind j udicious
woman filled her pl ac e admirably
I never
pre j udice a gainst step
c ou l d understand the
m oth e rs ; m in e w a s th e bes t aud truest friend I
e vh
r had and wh e n s h e died I mourned her as
though she had been mine by nature i ns t ead of
adoption
“
In on e year I lost her my f ather and every
dollar in the world ; the last was the result of an
endorsement My elder a n d only brother a boy
of good impulses and kind h e art but easily l e d
by others had got into a wild way of li ving and
in some m anner became i nvolved i n a disgr a ceful
bank robbery H is share of the matter being
di scovered my fath e r e ndorsed hi s not e f or t he
amount ; th e note was n e ver paid a n d my father
sacrificed every dol l ar to m ee t th e demand He
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M A R GA R ET S S T O R Y
’
1
.
d ied
59
shortly after of a m alignant fever an d the
m other soon followe d him
I t was seven o r
ei gh t years ago that i t all happened
“
I was then eighteen years old without a
relat i ve in thi s country ; my father was E ngl ish
and our kindred were all beyond the sea I came
wi th a family to C hi c ago because I was ac
a nd I wan te d to get away
u a in t e d wi th them
q
from those who k new of our fallen fortunes My
brother Horac e I have never hear d from but
p resume he went to E nglan d ; i f he ever v isite d
B ellevi lle he coul d have foun d no clue to my
whereabouts for I was angry and could not
tolerate h i s memory mu c h as we ha d loved each
other i n childhood Ah i f the gr eat G od should
d eal with us a s we deal w i th fellow sinner s i t
will go hard wi th many of us at the closing
accoun t ! T here were c i rc umstan c es i n the poor
boy s life I did not take in to c onsi d eration My
father was wrapped up in his pr o
fession ; my
brother had been influen c ed by inj udicious frien d s
to dislike our step mother an d rebel agai nst her
authori ty ; I was at school and he ran away
from home with two other boys the scapegrace
sons of r i ch fa t hers when only seventeen yea rs
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 60
.
old
My father felt hi s disgrace keenly and
would not expostulate with the recreant boy or
try to win him back ; and hi s bank exploi t was
the last we ever heard of h im B ut now I must
tell you about myself G ive me o ne spo o nful
from that tumbler my lip s are so dry
“
C hild I have oft en wondered why G od made
one s e t o f people b lack and another whi te ; one
weak and an other strong ! P erhaps I s hall know
soon but I a m not sure that the knowledge will
compensate for a wasted life I began fair
enough ; perhaps I was too strong in my own
strength I worke d hard for meagre wages and
kept m y honesty and in mg rity but demanded
that the worl d should appreciate both The world
just rolled i t s chariot wheels o ver me A few
good people h eld out dry theological husks for
my moral digestion but s o ciety ignored m e ; I
had culture bu t not wealth I craved plea s u re
but Just the glad some side
n o t sinful pleasure
of life Well — it mu st be told — m y employer
o f f ered me all ; not in so many words ; not by any
base contract ; but by little acts of attention and
kin dness and by making my work less ; by draw
i ng me gradually into the social char m of his
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 62
.
of those who kne w me ; to see the hideo usness
of my s i n as they s aw i t
C hild when y ou came something d rew m e to
O
h
how
glad
I
ou
a m that I have been per
y
m it t e d t o watch over you
I have told you my
s tory a s a warning Be thankful for the d ry
bread of an hone s t life for the homelie s t n a r
row e s t path in which ever w o m an walked for t he
garb t hat will m ake you a fright i n i t s plainness
rather than fo r the purple and fine line n for
which you mu s t s ell your b irthright
E va
d arling y o u will n o t l o ve me le ss n o w that you
kn o w what my life ha s been now that you under
stan d the manifold te m ptation s that crowd the
life of a young and th o ughtle ss girl wh o must
c o pe single handed with the D evil of Sensu
”
ality ?
Margaret Holmes lay back exhau s ted on her
pillow and E va dropped the invig o ra t ing c o rdial
b etween her pale lips t ill life and s trength
seemed again to return V ery lo v ingly too s he
ki s sed her uttering sweet soothing words of
h 0pe and enco u ragement
Margaret smiled
faintly and drew E va s fair head down on t he
p illow
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M A R GA R ET S S T O R Y
’
1 63
.
How long how d ark the way has been ! But
i t seem s lighter now ; where I faile d on ce I
might fail again E va are you warm are you
quite ea sy dear ?
! ui te And oh so happy Marg aret because
”
you are better You will soon be well ag ain
”
“
Yes sai d Margaret ; very very soon An d
”
now dear child try to sleep
I t did not nee d much tryin g on E v a s par t
T he weight of anxiety was lifte d from her heart
an d she fell asleep in Margaret s arms The
older woman did not sleep s o soon ; the n i ght
l amp burning low cast fantastic shad ows about
the room and i t seemed to her e xci te d fancy that
they to o k upon them a weir d resemblance to
undefined forms that came near an d looked at
her and wrung their shadowy hands And then
the light dropped lo w er and the pale yellow
moonlight filled the ro om and Margaret s soul
was filled wi th a strange ineff able peace and
sweetne s s
Her weary eye s cl o sed on all the
dim o u tline s the weird and S hifting shadows
the v exing perplexing my s teries of life an d
with her head bowed upon E va s she too sle p t
I t was broad dayli ght when E va felt herself
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 64
.
shaken an d aroused fro m s weet sleep and
pleasant dreams The Matron was bending over
her crying She turned quickly and looked at
Margaret ; her face was white and pea ceful S he
was st i ll sleepin g !
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I
AGA IN S T FA TE
66
.
through a sea of t ears
A stron ger natu re
woul d have been ne r ved to b rave ry an d in dep en
d en c e by such inj usti ce but she was as hel pless
i n these wide no i sy streets as any c hil d She
was not even sure tha t she kn e w the way to Mr
Wi nne s ; the houses loome d up like giants i n
the twilight and the st r eets seemed to wander
and m i x themselves up i ne x t ric ably A tear fell
and reste d on her l i tt l e c o l d han d s ; an oth er a n d
another followe d She c ould not see her way
now fo r the hot bli n d ing shower ; she s t umbled
at a stone COp in g an d wo ul d have fallen had not
some one caught he r A n a r m was e x ten d e d
a w kwardly but su r ely an d a c hee ry voice cried :
‘
Why you poo r c h i l d ! out al one at this t i me
of day o r night r ather and cr yin g too ? Why
what has hap p ened you p oo r fo r l o r n little girl !
Are you l ost in the st reets ?
Then as both her
little col d han d s we r e gathe r ed into h i s warm
“
ones the res c uer mu rmu r ed : Jenn i e d arli ng
What is it ?
The arch hypocrite ! how dared he !
Jennie gave one look to assure her se lf that it
was indeed Ross Farnham and then she th rew
herself recklessly fool i shly but oh so blissfully,
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OV E R
1 67
.
i nto hi s arms an d fell i nto convuls i on s of c ry i ng
”
My darli ng ! my darling ! he whi s p e red the
wo rds over and over to her and then told her
soothingly that his carriage wa s near He had
seen her i n passing and kne w the forlorn dro o p
ing figure ; and he would take her wherever she
wanted to go only fi rst s he m ust ac company
him and ha v e a warm comfo r table supper an d
tell him all about her trouble an d h ow i t had
happened
N ow why d i d not her mother s G od send one
of Hi s mi nistering angels to save her ; to whisper
one word of warning to rescue this innocen t
soul fro m the temp t er s power to S how her how
dark an d deep and awful was that chasm on
whose fl ow er wreathed brink sh e stood ? Answer
me theologians wh o reason t hat
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“
W i th A d
W
i
a
e s nne
m
d
’
s
al l
l
fa l
”
.
Wh y did the tempter prevai l ?
Her mother was praying for her ; her poor
mother who h ad s acri ficed so much i n parting
from her ! Thi s girl s s oul wa s of i tself pure
and s tainle ss ; s he had no concepti on of S in as
yet ; she wa s going to her doom wi th the blin d
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I
68
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
“
faith an d t r ust of a lovin g chi l d as thousands
o f inno c ent gi rls have gone befo r e her as thous
an d s of i nno c ent girls w i ll follow ! A n d yet,
t he C hr i stian says G od l ives !
H e d oes ! S tronger than s i n He shall u l t i
m ately rescue every soul from i t s bond age ; in fi
nite in e xi sten c e He shall draw all essence of
being to Him an d i n that g ra c ious P resence i t
shall grow and live forever and ever
I do n ot know why I stoppe d to say this
unless t he theme ins pir ed me I di sl i ke mora l
sandwi c hes ; they are not always p alatable
Jennie followe d Ross F arnham very willingly
and it nee d s no bri l l i ant i magination to reali z e
the transitio n fro m the c o ld shi vering lonesome
streets at n i ghtfal l to the warm comfortable
lighted car ri age that wou l d sp eedi bear the m
to cheeriness an d safety They d rove to a popular
and fashionable r estau r ant and were soon seated
in a lu x urious room at a t able spread with a
d elicious su pp er T he anchorite m ay turn up
h i s ho ly nose at creature comforts but I never
yet sa w a famished sinner that could not be
b rought to his knees qui c ker by a hot meal or a
smo k in g d raught than by any amoun t of t racts
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A GA IN S T FA TE
1 7o
.
And n o fire came down fro m Heaven to con
s u me h im !
Jenni resi s t ed bravely
She bel o nge d to a
family that believed i n moderate drinking and
u nfort u nately had not instilled that h o rror of
intoxica t ing liquors that i s a princi p le in i t s el f
She had never tasted wine and i t seemed a n
unwom a nly thing to do
O h Ro s s drink it for me ; indeed I canno t
h e ar to t aste i t
Le t m e play with mine What
a lovely lovely color ! Amber i s n t it ? How
”
pure and sparkling !
”
“
Je n nie s ai d Ros s Farnham i n his d anger
“
tones
D o you love me
o u sly seducti ve
”
d arli n g ?
”
answered the girl WI th
0 d knows I do
unwo n t ed earne s tne ss The s mile faded from
her f ace and great tears stood i n her loving
e
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eF .
Do you love me better than any one i n the
wo rl d ?
”
Better ! Yes ! oh yes !
Better than father or mother friends or
”
“
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“
,
ki Idre d ?
”
”
‘
Yes Ross ; I do
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OV
ER
I
.
7
I
it aft er me be t ter tha n father or mother
”
friend s o r kindred
And s he repeated the Sen tence word fo r wo rd
”
“
An d now darling taki n g her wine gla ss in
“
his hand i f y o u love me pledge m e wi t h t his ;
”
you will prove y ou r l oyalty my own
I t wa s d o ne ! She lifted t he golden l i quid
and touched i t t o the tender chri sm of her lips
and then s e t the empty gla ss on the table before
her
Ross F arnham took a shining dia m ond circlet
fro m hi s ves t p o cke t and slipped i t on t he dainty
white forefinger guarding i t there wi th a plain
heavy g o ld band
“
Mine ! he whispered fondly gathering the
gi rl i n hi s arm s
Say
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CHAPTER
THE
“
Th e
d
ee p
d
RET
UR N
ti
amn a
on
!
I !
H ONEE
h is
of
t
.
.
a k in
g
of f
”
.
H E train upon which E va Bartlett w as
returning to her home i n N ewton
stopped w i thin a stati on of that place
for din n er She was weary and lonely and gladly
left the close cars for the hurried meal She ha d
changed somewhat in ap pearance was th i nner
an d paler the result of watchi ng by the sick be d
of her friend I t was for Margaret E va wore
such deep black purchase d out of respect to her
memory and fro m real tru e af f ection not S i mply
because she i nherited her friend s savings
She returned to the car feeling reste d an d
refresh e d by the change ; as sh e stood on the
pla tform she noti ced a feeble loo ki ng man who
ga z ed a bo ut h i m as i f uncertain of his surrou n d
ings Something in hi s appearance struck her
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( 17 2)
A G A IN S T FA TE
I 74
.
And now tell me
his voice sank to a fierce
whi s per and he gra s ped her arm till sh e w rithed
”
“
wi th the pain
where i s J ennie ?
To have s aved her life at that m o ment E va
could no t have s poken a w o rd nei ther c o uld she
l oo k at the mi serable father ; s he kept her eyes
fixed upon the car window that looked wet and
blurred as in a rain s t o rm and yet the s u n s hone
”
“
?
Where i s Jenni e
he re p eated earnestly
“
You must know something ab o u t her I s s he
d ead ?
”
“
Yes !
E va wa s driven now to desperation
“
Yes Mr Armstrong she i s dead ; dead to y ou
”
A n d she
and to all o f u s who loved her !
c overed her face with her hands and wep t
”
“
O h my G od ! then i t is true i t i s true
“
groane d the heart bro ken man
May my
bitterest curse
“
E va laid her hand upon hi s lips
H u sh !
D o not cu rse your child Mr Armstrong Try
and think the best of her t hat y ou can ; we all
believe that it w as the cruelest treachery that
betrayed her into that m a n s hands She m u st
have a place in your heart when
You do no t know what you are talking
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R ETUR N
TH E
HOME
1
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75
”
a b out
i nterrupted Mr Armstrong harshly
I t w i ll kil l her mother ; she has ad d ed the
vilest disgrace to our poverty ; we have at least
been re s pectable bu t we can never hold our head s
up again O h if we could ha v e buried her i n
decency and honor though i n a pine cofli n and a
”
Potter s field i t would have bee n h appiness
T he father broke ou t i nto the fiercest in v ec
t ive s again s t the de s troyer of his child and E va
sat frightened and s ilent unti l the cars reached
N ewton and she saw her mo t he r a n d the c hil d
ren waiting for her At another time she would
have felt some con sequence from the change in
her ci rcumstances perhaps and reali z ed that sh e
was n o w able to m aintain her family in comfo rt
but all thoughts of herself were merged in sym
pathy for those unhappy paren ts As she stepped
on the p latform a sad whi t e face caught her
attention ; to avoid those wistful agoni z ed eyes
she t u rned quickly away and dre w her mother
and the d elighted c hildren one si d e
”
“
I t is Mrs Arm s trong she whispered to her
mother ; I would not see her for the world
”
I s n t i t awful that look on her fa ce ?
”
She would not see you
replied her mothe r
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1
76
AGA IN S T FA TE
.
She has no t spoken to any one sin c e the news
came Mr Armstrong wen t up to meet you fi rs t,
”
E va I s i t true ?
“
Yes ! but d o not talk of i t here be f o r e the
ch i ldren I can hardly believe i t myself C h
m o ther I could have told him of her death so
”
m uch easier
Mr Armstrong met hi s wife and drew her arm
through his
”
D id y o u walk down Mary ? he asked in a
steady voice
“
Yes Ri chard T his is not all you have to
”
say ; where i s Jennie ? Wh ere i s our child ?
“
N ever speak her name to me again Mary
We have no chil d ! our children are i n Heaven
”
—
She oh G o d ! i t cannot be true
And the
m an s hook with the agony of the thought
His wife looked up into his face All light
of i ntelligence had died out of hers
”
“
Richard she asked presently i n a low voi ce
”
“
i s it true ; is Jennie lost ?
“
Yes i t i s true ! all true ! Di d I not say you
should never m ention her n ame ? May the curses
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Hush Richar d !
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You mu st not curse ou r
I
A GA I N S T FA TE
78
.
F al s e to her mother fal s e to herself false
”
to G od ! I have lived too long ; let this end i t
A m omen t later there wa s a loud report
O h coward ! wh o could leave a weak woman
to bear a double burden of grief and s ha m e
while you slept i n a da s t ard s grave ! Wa s i t
from you the daughter inherited the weakne s s
of loving t o o well ? Wa s i t the s in o f the father
v si ted upon the child ?
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i
C HAPTE R XX
RE
O
AR D
REW
TH E
'
0 G od ! 0 G od ! t o
n ly
A n d g et
U p on
AP I NG
a
t
a s on e
! Da
b os om w
h
il y
e re
.
to
th e
o
.
d
d
l y my h
ld l v
d d
c ry
f or b rea
a
ea
o
e
’
ea
8
”
.
T wa s a beautiful Spring day and the
street s of C hicago were crowded wi th
a throng of pe o ple — men intent on
bu s ine s s ; women intent o n plea s ure ; wi th a n
undercurren t of s truggling hum anity of ei ther
sex T he stores were gay with Spring goods
and the fashi o nable resort s were s urro u nded by
elegant carriages fr o m which well dressed ladies
de s cended comfortably an d lu xurio u sly by the
aid of s leek c o achmen
I t was m atinee day at the theatre s ; at the
”
prominent o ne they were playing C amille
and a p o pular s tar had attracted all classes t hither
T he hou s e wa s crowded ; v i rtue an d vice outbi d
each other E ven the boxes those bate n oirs of
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1
A G A IN S T FA TE
8o
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theatrical m anagers were all taken I n on e of
t ho s e b o xes sat a y o ung an d beau tiful woman
wh o dre s sed in the heigh t o f ele gan t fa shion
wa s t he attracti o n of all eye s ; sh e looked like a
queen of so cie ty except that she wa s al o ne and
un attended She had occ u pied that sam e b o x a
number of time s lately and the elegance o f her
costume had n o t failed t o ar o u s e the ad m i ration
and envy of every woman wh o saw i t She wa s
never overdre ss ed ; there wa s not the slightest
shade of over color n o t a flower or rib b on too
many ; her dres s wa s a c o m b ination o f s ilk and
velvet exqui s itely fitting her slender for m T he
hand that held the go ld and pearl l o rgnette
was faultle ss ly glo v ed ; the o n e t hat lay idly
in her lap revealed a diamond tha t s hone like
a star
I t was not al o ne her elegant t o ilette t hat drew
attenti o n t o her b u t her s u b t le fa s cinating
bea u ty whi ch wa s heightened no t m arred by
the shadow of pen si veness I t was a fresh tinted
girlish bea uty without any hard line s ; there wa s
enough of character to reveal a thinking soul
beneath and a charming air of culture and
refinement to redeem i t from mere prettiness
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1
A G A IN S T FA TE
82
.
How c oul d they be when they were never
received ?
T hen she had sought out t he ho s pital where
Reuben Harlo w still lang uished from hi s wou n d ;
but he would n o t s ee her He wa s t o o ill the
nurses s aid when her n ame was t aken in She
se n t hi m s ome rare flowers and in t he centre o f
the basket b id a tiny note begging pi teously for
some word of her dear mother The s ick m a n
was asleep when the flowers ca m e ; hi s old mo t her
wa t ched be s ide him h o lding t he flowers on her
lap agains t the t ime of his awaking When he
ro used from the short S leep in which he fo und
occasional brief rest from the pai n of hi s woun d ed
lungs he murmured a name faintly :
”
“
Jennie ! Jennie darl i ng ! I s i t you ?
T hen he awoke fully and saw the flowers
”
“
“
T ake them away he said sternly ; throw
them i n the street ! I thought I was home again
and she wa s t here with her wicked bea uty and
her s oft s miles and her fo n dne s s be t raying a n d
deceiving ! But what am I saying ? She could
not help it poor child ; fate wa s again s t her
B u t throw the flower s away mother ; they wo ul d
”
kill me !
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R
E AP IN G T H E R E W A R D
1 83
.
her p leading li ttle appeal was cast as id e
unnoticed and hearing n o word from i t she
“
thought sadly Reuben hates m e and n o won
d er !
Bu t it had n o t mattered s o m u ch then ; she
had Ro ss love and wa s no t that compen s ation
enough for pu tting her soul i n peril and lo s ing
all her friends ?
Jennie gave the great world no chance t o sn u b
her wi th i ts j eers and frowns ; she walked al o ne
O n ce S he met Mr Winne and Lucia face to f ace ;
she was s o glad to see one from the old life that
she s t opped before she tho ught C ould S he ever
forget wi th what s corn Mr Winne drew hi s sister
away ! H ow t hankful sh e wa s t hat they c o uld
not s ee t he hot bl o od dy e her cheek s and fo re
head after t hey had passed and then s he had
swept o n v elve t dre s sed lace cr o wned and bean
tiful a targe t for the i m per t inen t admira t ion of
men and t he gra t ui t ou s ins o lence o f women
Wa s s he happy ? N O no ; a tho u s an d ti mes
no ! She wa s walking a deliriou s mea s u re t o the
strain s o f enchan t ed m u s ic ; her s ense s were
ca ptiva t ed and conscience slept I t needed bu t
a touc h to aro u s e her and a single tear of
So
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1
AGA IN S T FA TE
84
.
n t rit i o n would forever dissolve he r pearl of
l ove
She was co n scious on thi s d ay at the theatre
Helen Stearn s the
o f living in a world alone
w oman in wh os e care Ross had placed her ha d
no reason to like her and the re w a s n o thing in
With those like herself
c ommon between them
s h e would not associate ;
with the respectable
a n d vi rtuous
she co ul d not Somehow she
w a s weary of i t all
S he had sold herself for
l ove an d only gol d en fetters remai ned
She
c la s ped her han d s desperately abo v e the gold
a nd
pearl opera glass and looked about the
house
F ashionable young men — rich loafers — had
d roppe d in to no t e who wa s present and lea n ed
kid gloved an d moustached ab o u t the d o or s
“
commenting rudely upon the beauty of Mr s
”
F arnha m
as they superciliou sly s tyled her
S h e could not hear them but she no ted the
g lances they exch a n ged and felt more than ever
her isolated position Why was not Ross there
to protect her for at least there was prote c tion
from in sult in hi s presence ; and then she recalle d
the fact that he was seldom wi th her in those
co
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A G A IN S T FA TE
86
.
and m u ttered and s hook her head Whe n
Jennie turned at her touch the woman scanned
each feature closely pa ss ed her thin hands o v er
the v elvet o f her dre s s and asked in a wei rd
whisper :
Have you s een Jennie ? She is l ost !
T he coachman thr us t her away and helped hi s
mistre s s i nto h e r carriage where s he sank un con
sci o u s on the cush ion s S he had s tood face to
face with her mother !
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CHAPTER XXI
LO S T
AN D F
.
OU ND
.
HE
wa s o nly a poor old w o man sick
weak an d craz ed ; the boy s jeere d at
her on the street a n d walked in ro u gh
and ragged procession after her? Occasi o nally
when ou t of s ight o f a policeman they threw
sticks and s tone s at her which wounded the p oo r
old crea t u re s limb s an d brought tear s in t o her
weak faded eyes ; b u t S h e never re s i s ted the m o r
m ade a c o mplaint sh e o nly walked o n and o n
wearily alway s in a circle of stree t s She pa ss ed
by m e n an d b o ys wi th co m pre ss ed clo s e S hut
lips but e v ery y o ung girl s he met s he would try
t o s t o p and wo uld cling t o her and be s eech her
i n s uch a pitiful t o ne :
Have you seen my child ? Have you seen
Jennie ? O h you m u st h ave seen her ! Let me
tell y o u how s he look s
She s s o pret ty ; o h
s u ch l o vely dimples and a face like a baby s ;
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( 1 87 )
1
AGA IN S T FA TE
88
.
and o h ! the sm alle s t prettiest hands an d such
a gay happy smile I tell you you m u s t have
seen her ; she s lost ! D o y o u hear ? I must
find her
I mu st take her ho m e to her father
he s wai t ing fo r her She s l os t b u t I m her
mother I 11 find her Ah dear lady help me
to find her I tell you she i s lo s t ! l o st ! los t !
Her v o ice as she went on would gradually
ri se to a shrie k and she would beat the air wi th
her pale hands and the n the gri m g u ardian s of the
peace would drag her away and l o ck her u p in a
cell of the sta t ion ho u s e where she would s tretch
her thin hands through the i ron gra t ings and
chan t the same weird s tory t o every pa ss er b y
till the o f ficials wearied of her and finding her
friendles s and penniless turned her ou t again
She was worn almost as thin as a s hadow ; her
scan t gray hair floated over her s h o ulder s like
spectral fan ta sies of fa s hion and her few ragged
clothes were pathetic i n thei r appeal for s vm p a
thy As sh e walked she constantly m u tt ered and
shook her head and moaned to her s elf She had
traveled many mile s tha t weary d ay fo llowing
s ome fal s e clue of her craz ed brain when she
laid her han d on the shoulder of the beautiful
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AGA IN S T FA TE
I 90
.
she wandered back agam I nto th e den s e heart of
the ci ty u ntil she fo und her s elf at t he beautiful
theatre once m o re I t was all S parkle and lig ht ;
all gli t ter ! glitter ! Han d s o m e c arriages r o lled
u
l
t
o
the
d
oo
r
and
s
plendidly
dre
ss
ed
adie
s
g
o
t
p
o u t all s i l k and lace and dia m o nd s wi t h s weet
smile s and dain t y manner ! She watched fo r the
lady i n the p u rple vel vet t he l ov el y lady wi th
the great dark eye s ; bu t the p o m p o u s c o ach m en
ordered her r udel y ou t o f the w a y and threat
ened her wi th thei r whip s
She becam e c o nfu s ed and frigh t ened ; the
nd
lam p s turned int o a s ea o f fire ; a n d L e n
then so m eb o dy t o uched her so m ebody wou nd
tender l o ving ar m s about her and a s the cold
night air s ee m ed t o creep ab o u t her lips and
c h e ck s with a care ss and the s tar s came d o wn to
m eet the ci ty ligh t s and all wa s a drear chaos of
voice s and light s and far of f m u s ic — then Oh
then s o m eb o dy recei v ed her falling weight in
t he cl os e s t l ovin ge s t e m brace and clinging ar m s
were thr o wn fo n dly ab o u t her
I t wa s o nly a girl in a coar s e dre s s and a red
shawl ; b u t she had fo un d Jen nie ! Mother an d
c hild had met at la s t
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C HAPTER XXII
TH E
dI
Sai
W it
Ye t
I
N A R R OW
t
t
s c
ou
a
o
a m ru n a
M y f a ul
ATH
h t I w ld
my G d I d i d ;
n ot s o ?
n es s ,
P
.
s in n o
m ore !
,
ga i n
u p on t h e s c o re :
an n ot b e h i d
”
.
Y E A R of harrowing experience s ha d
pa s sed — what n eed to tell of them
S ince Jennie had given up all sinful
luxuries and left a few farewell w o rds fo r Ross
F arnham that I thi nk he will rem ember in his
dying h o u r She had not looked upon his face ;
She heard the story o f doom and s aw herself as
s h e really was in the eyes o f the world
O h such a bi tter han d t o hand fight with
poverty ; such a Ten d in g snarling gnawing wolf
at the d oor to bai t wi th fl esh and blood an d no
ravens to c o me as they did to E lij ah T hrough
i t all too there was a sad de s olate dying m other
mercifull y in s en s ible to mere bodily dis c omfort,
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A GA IN S T FA TE
‘
1 92
.
but haunted by spectre s o f the past ; dai ly
hourly wr i ng i ng her da ughter s heart by allu
sion s to her wrong doing
Oh what n eed of a future place of p u nish
ment ! I s there any boiling caldron where the
fire is ho t ter than the white heat o f rem or s e ? I
think Jennie walked into frequen t p i t s o f red
s ulph u r at thi s peri o d of her life The s e were
her dyi ng m other bro u ght to this terrible pass
by her daughter s weakness and her dead father
N ight and day he stood before her stern v in dic
tive unforgiving N 0 n eed of a ury to convict
her o r of a frowning j udge t o read her sentence
Her o nly meri t was that she wo re her crown of
thorns wor t hily T here was n o crying over the
life sh e had relinqui s hed with i t s ease and
l u xury ; she accepted all the hard ships of her lot
a s s teps upward and toiled day after day at
whatever she co u ld find to do until health and
strength both failed her She could not leave
her s ick mother s o her work mu st be taken ho m e
wha t e v er i t m ight be I t see m ed at thi s time
that if only one of her old friends would come
to her rescue i t woul d be like a hand extende d
from Heaven
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 94
.
i t at half price T here was no more to be said ;
the obligations of p ov e r tv at half price were not
to be gain s aid ; but Jennie wondered h o w much
longer body and soul could be kept together
Was i t s urpri s ing then that she was qui te
dishear tened ? She had eaten n o fo od s ince the
morning and s he wa s weary in flesh an d S piri t
O h dear Savi or w h o wa s t tem pted an d l o nely
d o st T hou see T hy children at such time s and
know how pitiful i s their fate ?
As S he walked al o ng with d o wncast eyes she
n early ran over a little mother who was t run d
ling a peramb u lator along wi th on e baby in i t
Jennie lifted
w hile another toddled at her side
her eye s and began an apology and then suddenly
stop ped short i t was M rs Winne ! She almost
s miled in her c old despair on s eeing the nervous
ha s te with which the w o man drew her skirts
aside and gathered her little brood a b out her as
though vi olent hand s were about to be laid on
them T hen for a momen t t he two stood and
looked at each other the woman who had home
hu sband children and a n h o nest na m e and the
wom an who had lost all Heavens ! how souls
lost or saved can l ook out of human eyes !
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N A RR OW PA T H
TH E
195
.
Jennie could not help appealing to her at that
supreme moment of her mi sery ; but at the first
inti mation of speech Mr s Winne seemed to pale
and shrink in extreme displeasure and surprise
and then she trundled her O f fs pring away and
hurried home to tell Albert of the shameless
audacity of that miserable gi rl !
T he blow struck home I will not deny that
Jennie hated Mrs Winne fiercely at that mo
ment and wi shed she coul d recall her to tell her
so T hen she tried to forget her u tterly and
accept this penance as another o ff ering to the
Moloch of her fate
When she reached the shabby entrance that led
to her poor re t reat s ometh i ng rose up before her
and she started back appal le d What w as it
gh o st or spiri t ? She gave a quick involuntary
cry of convulsive fear as she s aw the wreck of
Re u ben Harlow ! Her first tho ught was that he
would kill her and s he bowed her head not
daring to look up until his voice re assured he r
There was no attempt at g reeting
”
“
I have seen your mother he said calmly ;
”
“
and S he knew me
”
O h Re uben ! cri ed Jenn i e in d istress ;
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 96
.
“
why did you come here ? I heard that you
were — you were
She hesitated
“
Dying ? Well yes I am ; b u t I am a lon g
time about it Sometimes I think I m ust ha v e a
do z en lives I hang on so Well I could n t save
you Jennie ; I t ried but fa t e was again s t me
Still I felt that you might need me and I came
as soon as they would let me ; and I a m s o glad
”
I did
G lad ! Jennie wondered what he could be glad
about She was fast losing her bea uty
sorro w
an d su ff ering do not perpetuate the bloom of
youth
and as to his love ; oh surely that mus t
be dead n ow She wai ted
”
“
I am glad he continued c oughing feebly
“
at i n t er v als t o know that you are safe O h
Jennie child w as it worth while to gain the
whole world and lose yo u r own soul ! You do
not thi nk so or you would n o t be here O h
thank G od that I fin d you in honest rags rather
than in th e purple and fine linen of sin ! O h i f
m y hand had not failed ; if his p erfidious sou l
had
”
Hush ! Reuben said Jennie solemnly with
“
a far away look i n her da rk s ad eyes
I loved
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AGA IN S T FA TE
1 98
.
I m u s t fo reg o m y revenge o r leave i t to Him
wh o has s aid V engeance i s mine I will repay
O h he will be p u nished never fear ! Have y o u
seen h im s ince since y o u left him ?
”
No an s wered Jennie wearily ; her strengt h
“
wa s fast failing her
T hat is not t o speak t o
him B ut Reuben let us not talk of him ; I
cann o t bear it I will only tell y ou th is I l o ved
him better than m y own soul ; I l ov e h im n o w
My heart breaks with loneline ss when I think o f
Bad a s I a m and
h im ; you s e e I a m n o t cured
u nfit to be the as s ociate of g oo d pe o ple who are
C hri s tian s i n the sight of G od I am hi s wife
an d I s hall be at the j udgment day
Reu ben Harlow groaned J u st s o he loved
her and to what had i t brought him ? To ruin
de s olation and death ! And yet he was as n o th
ing in her s ight
He held o ut hi s hand i n
farewell but she di d not o f f er to take i t
”
“
G ood bye he sai d hoar s ely ; I have only
a little while t o live ; let me help y ou i f y o u
I am going back t o the old place
n eed me
Pr o m ise me Jennie by the memory of the years
when we were s o happy together that y o u will
send to me if y ou want me while I li ve ; but
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TH E
N A RR OW PA T H
I 99
.
i f if I must g o soon — oh G od how can I say
good bye forever !
“
N ot forever Reuben ; and indeed I would
ask you first of all the world to befriend me
G ood bye and G od bless you Reuben ; if He
”
will hear me
And Reuben walked feebly away cough i n g
and tottering l ike an old m an Jennie lo o ked
after h i m and hot tears of anguish rolled down
her ch eck s T he ni ght had darkened an d the
stars were shining faintly in the blue sky far
far above her There was only a small square
of Heaven visible but how calm and peaceful it
looked ! How often Sh e had watched tho s e same
stars from the old farm hou se and m used upon
the beautiful far of f world she longed to see an d
know And how had i t served her ?
Tears blotted ou t the stars and the heaven s
and she went into the house an d groped her
way to t he two poor room s she and her mother
occup i ed
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C H APTER
TH E
“
O SPE L
G
N ot G od h a d w rou g
H ad
s en
d id
Th gh
Sh e
th
n ot
f
n
wa
OF
ht h
PE
er n
w
ACE
h pl
er
d i gt
e ar, a l on e
XI II
a
o an d
.
w oe ,
ess
f ro
i th
H im ,
an
s ou
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.
d d d l w d im
m m
t h b l w t h t k ill d h
m
m m
h
vi g g i f d h m
h im l y l l t h b i tt
bl m
F m h im h s k d h
h il d
ou
s en se
F ro
an
Fro
an
On
er
!
a
w e re
e
e r c ra
a
n
e
r e
er
e
s
,
a
o
ro
E
ea
e a
e
er c a
an
a
e re
a
s
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e,
e,
e,
er c
”
.
D better rouse yourself, M i ss
’
It
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8
”
’
them undertaker s men a coming
They were bringing in a pine co f fin
with much unnecessary noise and shu f fling an d
had forgotten the mechanica l grace o f lifting
their hats from their heads a s they pa s sed over
thi s poor thresh o ld
Jennie arose slowly from beside the white
sheeted form and walked wearily t o the window ;
her face was white and drawn b u t tearle ss How
could she weep that the weary life was ended in
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( 200)
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 02
.
”
I t s the funeral he manes said that person
“
com ing forward
As ye refused to have any
wake perhaps ye won t mind he vin any p ra s te
”
or funeral Mi ss
”
“
“
No s aid Jennie hoar s ely
there will be
no funeral ; you can send he re th i s afternoon
”
for the the body That is all
The m an was accustomed to s traits of all kinds
in life and i n death ; it di d not matter whethe r
the clay was coarse and c o m mon o r lovely an d
refined ; to get it Out of the way as speedily a s
possible wa s hi s sole object But here was some
thing he did no t like to encounter this white ,
fixed despai r of the living He tried to think
of s omething consoling to say and finally
remarked :
I f i t would make you feel any better Miss
there s a minister li ves down by the Lake w h o
would co m e willingly and say a prayer or two
at the time of the f un ral He s a mighty nice
sort of man and doe s n t bel o ng to any p a rtic u
lar church ; but i s a real wide awake C hristian
”
on a pretty big scale
Holy Mother ! he manes the man that p ra che s
”
in the t hea y tre ejaculated Mrs Lannigan
“
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TH E
G OS P E L
P EAC E
OF
2 03
.
T hat s because no other place will hold the
p eople who go to hear him He 8 what they call
a s y m pathetic preacher and makes every one fee l
as i f he d been a s S infu l and as mi serable as they
”
are He will do you good Mi s s if any one can
”
Thank you answered Jennie passi vely ;
p erhaps he would no t care t o come ; but if he
wi ll he may at le ast o f f er a prayer not for the
”
dead but for the living
She had heard thi s p reacher ab s orbed as she
had at the time been i n sinful pleasures and an
unholy love ; s he had never forgotten his words
but s he re m embered him as p o pular gi fted and
prosperous
Would he condescend to vi s i t
poverty and sin ?
He came that aft ernoon ; a s light dark man
with a pleasant face and a wonderful magneti s m
of manner Jennie was bending over the thin
white face of her mother taking that final
a on iz e d l ook that m ust last the hungr
heart
so
g
y
long so long when a hand tender and ki ndly
as a woman s fell upo n her head and a low
pe rsuasive voice said :
“
Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe
”
in G od believe al s o in Me
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AGA I N S T FA TE
2 04
.
stood erect c almed hushed by that low
Reverently the minister ap
c ontrolling voice
roach e d the dead and gaz ed for a m om e n t i n
p
s ilen c e ; then he looked about the room
T here
were present the u ndertaker s men Mrs Lan
nigan — her prej udi ces revealed in her face
two or three dirty slatte rnly women who h ad
d ropped in and looked half sober half a gressive
g
and the t all s l e n der
a n d wholly in c ongruous
beautiful girl wi th the manners of a lady the
plain bla ck dress of a nun an d a face of desolate
Then he bowed his head in prayer
a ng ui s h
I wi sh I could reproduce hi s words here ; but
the fire on the altar i s dead They did their
work however Jennie felt a peace s u ch a s she
had never before known steal over her s oul ; Mrs
“
”
Lannigan forgot the man was not a p ra s te
and c rie d alou d ; wh i le every heart there was
touched as by a divine influence
After the prayer the minister talked to them
I t was n ot prayer it was n ot preaching j ust a
f ew comforting te xts a revelation of G od as the
F ather instead of the Judge
”
“
“
Man he said had com e to u s in all ages
an d o f f ered us a D ei ty fashioned after the nearest
She
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 06
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Sure he s pake s as well as any p ras te I ever
”
heard s aid M rs Lannigan w iping her eyes and
s h u fil in
o
ut
of
the
room
after
the
bearers
and
g
the c o f fin lea v ing Jennie alone to the de s olation
of a dwelling v acated by death
T he mini s ter s hook hand s wi th her and went
his way He had treated her j u st as he woul d
have treated any other s o rrowing human s oul
i rre s pective o f surrounding s He knew she was
under the ban of sin but what particular si n he
d id not ask n or care to know ; he cam e t o her as
a messenger from G od bringing glad tidings of
great joy if sh e would but receive them
T hat night a reaction s et in and Jennie raved
with fever Mrs Lannigan and her se t did what
they could for the I ri s h heart has a fountain of
ki n dness d o wn in its depth s Tho s e poor scrub
wo men t o ok care o f Jennie as well as they kne w
how and when s he ar os e like a ghost fro m that
sick bed they tried to find w o rk for her
D id you ever try to find work in a large city
where the supply of laborers constantly exceeds
the demand ? I f you are a woman young deli
c ate and without friends you will find the battle
a tough one There are thousands of such cases
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T H E G OS P E L O F
P EAC E
2 07
.
i n this great city of women young weak and
helpless who have drifted here fro m the green
fields of the country and fought the demon of
want toil and hardship till they went down and
were lost t o s ight fo rever There i s no Young
Wom en s C hri stian Association
T he h o m es of the rich open their doors wide
to the Ross F arnham s of society bu t they are
shut and barred t o his victim V ery good T he
way of the tran s gres s or s hould be hard B ut
what about those who have not yet become trans
re s s ors
who
are
he
s
i
tating
over
the
fatal
plunge
?
;
g
They should not be dependent upon the caprices
of one woman or m any An as s ociation o f the
strongest and best women i n the city women
above petty personal feelings above the strife of
p ar ty preferment and i nfluenced by the divine
principles of humani ty S hould be formed to
warn help and save not the fallen but the
falling ; not to tell the story with illu s tration s at
every soc i al gatheri n g but to do so much tha t
there wi ll not be a story to tell ; to supplemen t
every s aving deed with another till they re ach
t he s kies
T he ch u r ch c annot do this work,
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 08
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nei ther can the Sta te ; I t i s for loyal C hristian
womanhood to accompli sh
T he ne x t chapter i n Jennie s true story m ay
sound like a burlesque ; i t i s but a fai thful trans
crip t ion of what actually occurre d at a veritable
m eeting
I t i s n o t intended to cast an y slur
u pon the p ublic conventions o f women but ther e
are good people who will readily test i fy t o the
faithfulness of the report
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’
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C H APTE R XX IV
IN
S OL E M N C O N C L AV E
.
.
H ER E wa s a mee t ing of the B W A
Society in one of the publi c hall s of
the city N otice s had appeared in the
evening and morn ing papers announcing it
stating that it was to b e held in the interest s of
reform and calling u pon all thinking women to
come forward and endorse i t by their pre s ence
T he aftern o on named found a large audience
co m posed of women prominent in all pu blic
work ; women who seldom went anywhere but to
church ; literary women busines s women and
fashi o nable w o men ; wi th also a number of
earnest thinki ng women who s eldom found time
to attend such a gathering bu t hoped for m uch
g o od from t hi s There was also a sprinkling of
men reformers free thinkers lawyers and poli
t icia n s
They all looked curi ous and un com f or
table as though they did not kn ow wha t they
were there for
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 10
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A very pretty woman i n green silk point lace
and diamond s s at wi t h the other wo men on the
pla t fo rm and nodded and s mil ed approvingly as
one and another s h e had invi t ed t o be presen t
came in Thi s wa s t he Hon Mrs Bliss who
wa s a leader in society a s well a s an enthu siastic
member of the B W A S
Ha v ing never
worked any herself she felt called upon to a d vo
cate the cau s e o f working women
Her soft
complexi on an d tran quil features seemed cast i n
the mould o f an eternal smile — simper her
enemie s called i t ; however she made a charming
centrepiece for the pl at f orm and when she claspe d
her hand s i n mimic feeling the diamond s
sparkled beau tifully
T he meeting wa s called to order by the P resi
dent of the Society Mr s Monroe who made a
brief address announcing that it wa s s t rictly a
wome n s m eeting and would the gentlemen
plea s e to wi thdraw ?
Up o n thi s ab o u t a do z en arose looked very
m uch aba s hed and filed ou t noi selessly a s if
afraid of waki n g somebody The doors were
closed and the P re s ident w as about to proceed
to busines s when S he discovered a young man
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 I2
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well ; but they did not care t o add their names
ju s t yet A few appended straggling signatures
and felt as if they were signing a new E manei
patiou docu m ent
When Mrs Monroe sat down a m o dest l o ok
ing woman in a quiet suit of gray wi th whi te
hai r ha n de d back under a ! uaker s bonnet arose
and said :
“
I t seems to me i t would be a pleasant and
kindly thing to prevent t h o se women from t he
n ecessi ty of falling
I f thee would make m ore
familiar acquain tance with these yo u ng w o rking
g i rls and hedge them abou t with s ocial com p an
ion sh ip of their own kind and help them t o the
innocent pleasures of life thee would help them
to preserve thei r p u ri ty and I hold that would
be better than wading into a pi t to help them
”
out
”
“
I secon d that said an earnest voice from
“
the gallery ; espe ci ally if we have helped dig
the pi t as so many of u s have into which they
”
are fallen
And I claim that it i s eas i er to save ten girls
”
from falling than to reform one who has fallen
ad ded another
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IN SO LE M N CO N CL A V E
2 13
.
“
”
That i s not the object of this meeting said
the Pre sident
I t i s the sick who need a physi
I
cian
”
Mrs P residen t shrieked an old lady wi th
a very high forehead and a sanctimoniou s wh i ne
”
“
I th ink I p erce i ve a man I n the galle ry !
Had she announced the presence of a royal
Bengal ti ger it could not have produced a m ore
d ecided sensation
Though nothing had been
said or was likely to be said that migh t not be
spoken upon the house —
top the air of mystery
that enveloped the meeting made i t presumable
that someth i ng dread ful was coming At this
an nouncement one h al f of the audien ce sprang
to their feet in alarm an d everybody stared at
T he man p roved to be a very comely
th e gallery
young wo m an in a reform d ress and sh e was at
once invited to a seat on the platform
T he next speaker wa s a benevolent looking
elderly woman who wi shed to present a special
case
”
“
“
I t i s that of a you n g girl she said who
came here from the country and lived with some
woman — she did not give me her name — who
betrayed her in the basest manner She was
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 14
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totally ignorant o f the ways of the worl d a
mere child i n year s and the only child of poor
paren t s wh o expected m u ch fro m her She wa s
be trayed by thi s woman int o the hands of a
libertine relative wh o had been cared for u nder
her father s poor ro o f ; the m an did n ot cast her
but i t wo u ld have come t o the same t hing
of f
in the end He deluded her for awhile wi th the
old sophistry about mere form ali ties and a s s he
was extre m ely beau tiful he main tai ned her in
magni ficence
“
T he awakening came when she found her old
m o th er wandering about the s t ree t s in rags and
in s ani ty looking for her lo s t child and learned
that her father had died by hi s ow n hand upon
hearing of her disgr ace She took her mother
to p o or l o dging s resigned all that her lover had
be s towed upon her and went t o work to make an
hone s t living After a dreadful s truggle during
which no friend she had e v er known before would
speak t o her her mo t her died and she her s elf
has j u st ri s en fro m a bed of s icknes s where s h e
wa s n ursed and tended by s o m e common laboring
people — poor i n all b u t kindness
I know there are ladie s here to day who can
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 16
.
—
resent
the lady who wa s presenting her case
p
N eed I say that thi s girl was Jennie Arm s trong !
When Jenni e looked up and saw Mrs Monroe
i t see m ed to her as if she must turn and fly if
T he woman who ha d
e ven into great darkness
so treacherously befrien d ed her ; who had been
bribed as she now believed to betray her !
T he ladies crowded about her and a sked a
multi t ude o f que s ti o ns som e of whi ch bro u ght
the hot flu s h of sensibili ty to her cheeks T hey
m eant i t kindly en o u gh and intended to t ry and
help her ; bu t there seemed to be no deci s ion of
purpose E ach one felt obliged to ask permi ssion
o f her hu sband o r of some relative befo re sh e
could gi v e t he s tranger a home O ne lady a
pr o minent member of a then prominen t ch u rch
o f fered to con sult her mini s ter an d abide by his
deci sion ; sh e was a pretty vain impulsive
woman who did about as sh e plea s ed making
liberal donation s t o t h e ch u rch gi v ing fine pres
ents t o the mini ster s wife and wearing larger
diamonds and m o re o f the m than any member
of her s ocie ty She made up i n appearance what
s he lacked in in t elligence and the C h u rch smiled
at her follies and did good wi th her m o ney She
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I N SO LE M N
h ad
C
O N C L AV E
2 17
.
come here to day ou t of respect fo r Mrs
Bli ss and she felt really grie v ed for the young
irl
who
looked
so s orrow stricken ; s he summed
g
in
her
own
mind
the
c
u
a st of f dresses she would
p
bestow upon her and she was sure the C hurch
wo u ld act handsomely i n the matter
Mr s Monroe felt that she m ust say something
I t was expected of her ; but all the bitterness of
her nature seemed to surge up an d cho ke her
On e lady who had been regarding her fixedly
a n d had noted her a g i tat i o n
now said
Perhaps Mrs Pres id en t you know some
thing of this ca se and w i ll advise us what to d o
”
w i th the gi rl
T here i s no cruelty so mal i gnan t a s that of a
Mrs Monroe had m uch at stak e
s mall nat u re
it had been her i ntention from the moment
Jennie en tered n ot to take any step toward
acknowle dging a past acquaintance ; that she felt
might not b e credi table to herself in all eyes
N ow that she was called upon an d must speak
S he chose to say
”
I know her to be confirmed i n ways of sin
I t was the one blow too m uch Perhap s she
thought Jennie would n ot dare resen t it T he
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A G A IN S T FA TE
2 18
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gi rl sprang to her feet and walked u p the a i sl e
with fla shing eye s and confronted th e speaker
I n these year s s he had learned to s peak with
digni ty a n d clearne s s T he refor m er s ank back
:
in her chair and her feature s a s sumed a n air Of
s t o ny defiance
How dare y o u in s u lt m e so ! cried the girl
looking at her a s if in her fre nz y she might
“
spring up o n her
I m ay be bad —I ce rtainly
h ave been — b ut I a m a tho u sand time s better
than y ou ! What i s y o u r m arriage t o y ou but a
lie — but perj ury ! I have not m urdered the
i nnocen t a s you have d o ne ! I ha v e never turned
helple ss girls into the s treets t o further a ba s e
purp os e and then taun ted them with the s in I
helped them to c o m m it ! You help the fallen !
You lead people t o a higher life ! I tell you i t
i s y o u and s uch a s you t hat bring discredit on
the charitie s o f bet t er wo m en ! I f I were home
le s s houseles s and s tar v ing — a s G od kn o w s I
am — I
wo u ld ne v er t o uch t he bread that y o u
o f fered m e o r sleep under a roo f that y o ur chari ty
”
had pr o c u red me !
She w a s whi ter than a n y dead woman when she
s at d o w n mentall y and phy s icall y exhausted A
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C H A PT E R X X V
MRS
.
OW
GR U ND Y
AN D F
A TE
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.
indeed Provi dence seemed to b e
friend Jennie Mrs Bailey proved to
be very kind in her way demanding
but light ser vice of her and wa s always pleasant
and considerate She knew j us t w hat J e n n ie s
past hi story had been and wa s i nclined to lay al l
the blame where i t j u s tly belon ged ; but o n thi s
p o rtion of her life Jennie was m u te and Mrs
Bailey had tact enough to let it alo n e She was
rather fon d of a foolish good looking hu s band
wh o believed everything she told him n o matter
how improbable and she liked all other gen tle
m en well enough to fl irt vigorously w i th them
u pon all possible occa s ion s
Whatever en tangle
ments she got i nto she came o u t of wi th flying
colors hel ped by the infantile innocence of he r
face and the endor s ement of the C hurch She
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MRS
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G R U NDY
AND
FA TE
22 1
.
was very m uch i n love with l i fe and the world
which had u s ed her well
”
I 11 0p e y o u are co m fortable sh e said look
ing i n upon Jennie the first day of her engage
“
m ent
This is the co o le s t room in the hou s e ;
bu t I dare s ay y ou fin d it warm s ewing I t hink
you m ay rip of f all the lace upon that pink s ilk ;
I have several yard s of new point to tri m it
with and you will find the b uttons in my w o rk
ba sket ; they were fift een dollars a do z en and are
perfectly lovely When you fini sh t hat you
m ay do the knife plaiting fo r tha t vi olet
”
O rgandi e I shall be ou t an hour or more
When she wa s left alone Jenn ie threw down
her work and began a slow walk up and down
the room The work was u tterly and wholly
di sta s teful to her and a dreadful weariness
seemed to have taken po s session of her much
of which was due to ill health Wo uld she
never be well again and strong enough t o work
wi th comfort ? She walked t o the elega nt m irror
shrouded i n costly lace and l o oked at herself
Heavens ! how like a penitent she looked in her
coarse blac k dress She held up her hands ; how
whi te and thin they were ! A ring she wore
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AGA IN S T FA TE
222
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her mo ther s wedding ring just a small worn
circlet of gold nearly dr o pped of f her finger
Thi s sort of life wi t h i t s hardships a n d s neers
and s nub s was wearing her ou t ; but sh e had an
inner consci o u sness that she was doing right ;
s h e had tried to be true to herself
She would
live down that s hort and fatal past that had
branded her with infamy She wen t back to her
sewing an d worked t o m ak e up for lost time
She s ewed till her back ached an d her face
flushed and it was very hard to breathe ; and
still she sewed on
”
“
Why not ? s h e though t bi t t erly
Better
women do it e v ery day and who p ities or cares
”
for them !
A few day s after this when Mrs Bailey was
absent on one of her frequent shopping excur
sion s her brother from the N orth Side ca m e in
and a s he was accustome d to do went through
the house looking for his si ster seeking her at
last in the front room u p stairs where Jennie
was sewing He was a bachelor the eldest of
the family and a man who had seen the w o rld
i n all i ts phases He was so sure of finding his
sister in her favorite room that he walked i n
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AGA I N S T FA TE
2 24
.
When ! why at the la s t reception ; I danced
with him He dances elegantly ; b ut then he i s
And sh e smiled inno
an elegant gentleman
ce n t ly into her brother s face
“
Well you need not fall d o wn and worship
him if he is Ross is well enough as we fellows
go but hi s reputati o n i s beginning to be a l i ttle
shaky even with u s and you know that mean s a
great deal Tom i s s uch a g o od fellow he never
kn ows any harm of anybody ; bu t I won t s ee
my s i s ter i mpo sed on by any one wi th a char
”
acter like Ros s F arnham s
T hank s dear ; your sister appreciates your
go o d intentions but you know I meet many s uch
men i n society and m ust be agreeable to them
We ladies are not supposed to know of thei r
”
li ttle peccadilloes
There you are mi st aken A lice Such men
are not common ; societ y men are not all u n prin
c i l e d r ow s and even among them Ross F arn
p
”
h a m i s de s pised
Yet I hear he i s going to m arry that pretty
and accomplished Mi ss Badger an only daughter
”
an d an heiress
“
C ertainly ; you lad ies al ways ex al t su ch a
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MRS
m an
G R U N DY
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AND
FA TE
22
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5
i n to a hero T o be a libertine or a brigand
i s s u re to make a man su cc essful in laying siege
”
to yo ur hearts
“
Nonsense F rank you are jealous You
know you were i n love wi th I da Badger yourself
— all the gentlemen are ” retorted hi s S ister
“
Perhaps
Well she had the bad tas te to
select Ross and I su rrender gracefully G ood
”
bye Alice I m of f
And he walked away
humming a lively air
At the first corner he stopped and looked back
“
I t i s n t j us t the thing for Al i ce to have that
girl i n the house ; I won der if she kn ows any
thing about her How cu t up the poor thing
look s ! I wonder if F arnham does a nyth i ng for
her ; i t i s ro ugh I m u st say I will think abou t
”
it before I speak to Alice
I wonder h ow long it will be before she will
”
com e up and say I am no t wanted thought
Jennie w h o knew h o w vacillating M rs Bailey
could be at time s
I t s eemed now as if there might be a respite
for the poor girl fr o m the fate that faced her ;
but the second week of her engagement brought
a social m orning call from a wealthy member of
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A GA I N S T FA TE
2 26
.
the C hurch who was a dragon of vi rtue herself
and t o lerated no lap s es of it in o thers She had
been present at the m eeting of the Society when
Jennie m ad e her bri ef speech and she had taken
s ides with Mr s Monroe and heard that lady s
version o f Jennie s ba s ene s s and ingratitude
Mrs B ailey wh o had no idea of th i s being a
special visi t ca lled to the girl to show Mrs
Hol t o n up s tair s and i n a few moment s the
visitor entered the s ewing room very h o t and
f l u she d an d exceedingly pompou s
Mrs B ailey hastened to bring fo r w ard the
coole s t and m os t c o mfo rtable chair in the room
and her caller wa s ju st ab o ut t o settle her s elf in
i t when her cold gray eyes lighted on Jennie
sewing m eekly without even raising her head
There was i n stan tly a storm of indignant prote s
t a t ion a s Mrs H o lton appealed to M rs Bailey
t o know if thi s was an intentional in s ul t
”
“
T hat girl ! s hrieked Mrs H olton looking
Do you
in i mminent danger of apoplexy
know who s he i s and then br i ng me — me
”
i nt o the very sam e room with her !
“
D ear M rs Holton ! gasped Mrs Bailey ; for
t hi s was a C hur c h pilla r worth half a milli on
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22
AGA IN S T FA TE
8
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dreadful
C an we not do something for her
”
among s t u s ?
”
“
C ertainly
responded the matron with
“
great digni ty ; there i s the Refuge and the
G oo d Shep herd in s titu tion s for ju s t s uch case s
I m yself will rec o mmend her as a s uitable
”
applicant
I f Mr s Bailey h ad been a woman of s piri t
she w o u ld at thi s moment have turned the H on
Mr s Hol t on out o f her hou s e and rem anded
Jennie back to her work ; but she w a s b o u nd
hand and foot by the golden chain s of con s erva
t ism and she was loyal to her tyrant
So she
meekly said :
“
She would n ot live a week in either place ;
b ut she might get work where t hey did n o t
”
know about her pa s t life
Well I have d o ne my duty a s D i rectress of
our Society I f y o u conti nue to harbor thi s girl
under your roof we shall feel i t to be ou r duty
as mothers and c o nsi s tent church memb ers t o
keep our young people from all contact wi th her
and you will find dear Mr s Bailey your own
positi o n a ve ry unpleasant one
”
“
I am going away in a week said Mrs
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MRS
.
G R U NDY
AND
FA TE
2 29
.
Bailey ,
who anticipated her departure i n h o pes
“
of conciliating her mentor and shall have no
further need of her s ervices She has behaved
well since she has been here and done he r w ork
faithfully ; but perhap s i t is better a s y ou s ay
the influence may be wrong I s hall of course
”
a c t upon your advice and am greatly obliged
She close d the front door as her V i s i tor sailed
m ajestically down the steps and went back to
fin d Jennie She discovered her in the small
b edroo m allotted to her u s e thrown face down
ward upon the bed crying bi tterly
”
“
I s n t it a shame ! exclaimed Mrs Bailey
O f c o urse you heard every word she said ; that
horr id wom an ! But we all h ave to do j ust as
she s ays N ow what will you do ?
O h said Jennie sitting up and wiping the
“
tears from her drenched face I m u st look for
another s ituation of cour s e ; I do not expect to
stay here You have been very ki n d to m e I t
i s very har d li ving in thi s way wi th no friends
”
of my own and I am s o s o wretched
And
Jennie began to s ob again
”
“
I tell y o u what began Mrs Bailey a s a
“
su d den thought to o k pos s e s sion of her ; go and
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A GA IN S T FA TE
30
.
see our mini ster He is a beautiful man ; such
whi te hands and so consoling ! I f any one can
help you he can and he is v ery benevolent I
w ill see h i m to nigh t at prayer meeting and say
that you will be there t o morr o w evening ; he
will be at hi s s t u dy in the church then I am
”
so glad I though t o f him N ow will you go ?
”
“
Yes s aid Jennie whose soul still found
comfort in the echoes of that other minis te r s
”
“
I will go
w ords of comfort
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AGA IN S T FA TE
32
.
quilted silk dre s sing g o wn s and poured o ut
all the s ecret s orrow s of their heart s into the
When he ma de
c onfessional of his gen tle ear s
hi s m ini s terial calls Mr s A t o ld him how S he
hated Mr s B and he ca s t o il o n the tro u bled
waters
When his health failed he met hi s
p e o ple in his s tudy at the church
Here Jennie s ought him Her c o u rage nearly
failed her when she s to o d in the door way but
she felt that if ever a po o r s infu l m ortal needed
help sh e wa s that o ne ; s o s h e tapped lightly on
the s t u dy d o or and waited with a fearful heart
She w as thankful that he knew s he was coming
and would have tho u ght over her need s befo re
hand and be ready to throw som e light o n he r
d ark shadowed path
I n re s ponse t o her tim id knock he opened the
door and she saw that he was al o ne He
e x tended his han d such a beau tiful hand soft
whi te an d s upple — and smiled ki ndly all the
while looking over her sh o ulder in a nervous
frightened m anner i nt o the church corridor
b eyond feebly lighted by a di m lamp A s soon
a s sh e entered he locked the door and in answer
t o J e n n i e s look of surpri s e said :
an d
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T H E G OS P E L O F G U S H
2
.
33
I do not wish to be interrupted There i s a
ch oir m eeting in the church to night and if any
of the members saw you come i n there wo uld be
a d o z en excuses m ade t o get in here N ow if
you please I am ready to hear your s to ry
“
My s tory ! echoed Jennie s u rpri s ed and
h ur t ; I thought you knew i t ; that Mr s Bailey
had told you
“
He smiled pleasantly
Mr s Bailey i s so
romantic and s o m uch the creature o f feeling
that I alway s find it i mpo s sible to discriminate
between the real and t he imaginary i n her
stories I f you will gi v e me an o utline of your
l ife I will s e e what can be do n e for you
She told him all trying to forget that i t was
anything else bu t s oul talking to so ul ; ye t s he
l acked the inspiration which his pre s ence S hould
have given her T his emissary o f our Blessed
Ma s ter had neither sinned nor su f fered ; hi s face
was s mooth and seamless ; no i ndenture s from
t h e crown of thorn s had gi ven character to his
brow ; no s tormy sur ges of feeling had paled his
cheek H ow could he appreciate this girl s
te m ptati o n and sorrow ! How c o uld he sympa
t h ize with the an guish that o ppre ss ed her !
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A GA I N S T FA TE
34
.
He heard her through kin dly listening with
passive emotion to the whole sad s tory of he r
temptati o n and fall the deat h of her father an d
mother her own repentance and the world s
scorn
He was accustomed to gushing con fi
deuces of S in and folly while a jeweled white
hand would be laid softly upon hi s shou lder to
empha s i z e the story an d a sparkli n g shower of
repentan t tears w ould follow and the next day
a check for the dear pasto r to u se toward some
favorite project But this poorly clad sorrowing
girl wa s of another sort She had a fineness of
organi z ation that would o f f er a life of atonement
for a year of sin How should he deal with one
who was so di f f erent from the lambs of h is
own flock !
A ray of light reached the perplexed pa s tor
I t ca m e from the key hole of the st udy d o or
He rose nervously an d hung his handkerchief
o ver the knob A s he d i d so there was a s udden
rustling without
“
T here was a member of the choir on he r
”
knees there he said looking very nervous and
“
uncomfortable
D o you think any one s a w
you co ru e in ?
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A G A IN S T FA TE
36
.
him t o do something for Jennie
When
i n f ormed that she w ould neither see Ro s s no r
receive aid from him the minister felt that he
was released from further intere s t i n the matter
and sat down to a lu x urious di n ner a s Mr
F arn h a m s guest wi th a clear conscience and a
good digestion
O n the even t of the pastor s birth day a f e w
weeks later a superb silver mounted dressing
case was sent in with Ross F arnham s compli
men t s !
V erily the laborer i s worthy of his hire !
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CHAPTE R XXVI
VI RTUE
I
.
O
PR TE C T E D.
IN i s sweet ! Whatever bitterness i t
m ay leave at the last i ts first taste
is s ugared to the p alate I t i s not till
the draught reaches the soul an d strikes i ts
deadly blight there that the victim feels i t i s a
fearful poi s on All the ways to S in are m ad e
allu ring —brigh t wi th pleasure blooming with
light and full of gay company The narrow
path i s hard to walk in : I t is full of sel f d enial ;
t he bramble s cut an d tear the fai nti ng fle s h ; the
jeers of those who are going t he other way
make a constant din ; but at the end are the
E ternal Heig hts and to him that overcome t h it
shall be given to be a pillar i n the temple of
I have always thought that pas s age
G od
should read to b e? that overc o meth since it
i s woman alone who m ust walk in the pre
scribed path
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( 23 7 )
2
A GA IN S T FA TE
38
Upon
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is narrow path Jennie had ente red
w eary hungry s o rrowful and alone
Where wa s Reuben all this ti m e ? Back agai n
at the hospi tal wearing ou t in t he s truggle
for breath He lo s t all trace o f J ennie when
she left Mrs La n n igan s At last he wrote to
E v a Bartlett a sking her to help h im find her
and E va gladly went to work t o make a home
for Jennie an d wrote her view s o f the matter to
Reuben
I t was then decided that upon hi s
death which was certain at n o v ery di s tant time
and mi gh t o ccur at any m o m en t that Jennie
sh o uld li v e wi t h Mrs Harlow on the old place
and take charge o f hi s mother during her life
ti m e if she would I n any case half o f hi s
e s tate wa s willed to her that she might not
want Yet all this ti m e the poor girl had not
where to lay her head
At last an o ther chance among the great whi rl
oo
of
bread
s
eekers
drifted
wi
t
hin
her
reach
l
p
She an s wered an adverti s ement for a seamstress
and was taken upon trust wi th s carcely a question
asked her T his wa s n o t from any C hrist like
goodne s s of heart i n the people who employed
her T o them a seamstres s wa s a mere machine
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AGA IN S T FA TE
2 40
.
shall have And we are going to E urope on a
bri dal tour and wi ll s tay t here un til we are tired
”
of it A nd he i s s o fond of me !
“
Re ason s enough ! Why ha s he n ever mar
”
ried before ? He is quite an old bachelor s aid
her friend
”
“
He never loved before was the triumphant
“
answer
He ha s confessed all his sin s to me
and is going to join the church — our church
you kn ow — and live a new life He s been a
pretty gay boy I can tell y ou b u t I will take
”
care of hi m now
Amid such chatter as this Jennie sat and
sewed listened and wondered if Heaven would
ble ss such an ill assorted union a s t hi s Appar
a n t ly i t did
She earned her bread here The bride elect
was haughty and shrewish and berated her
m other the s ervant s and the seamstre s s At
night when Jenni e wen t d o wn the stairs she
would feel n umb with rep ressed m isery and the
long lonely walk to Mrs Lan n ig an s — for she
was again a lodger u nder that humble roof
wa s beset wi th p eril T he temptations — some
ti me s h o rri ble an d gro t esque s ometime s s ugared
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V
I R T U E P R O TE C TE D
24 1
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an d e n gagi ng — w hich co m e to young and beau
tiful women who go along the streets un p ro
t e cte d followed her to the thre s hold of her poor
home O nce a spectral figure glided up to peer
in to her face
Jennie remembered her I t was the woman
who had watched her upon the night of her
arri val i n the city T he tawdry painted c rea
ture who had fl it te d athwart her v i sion like a
warn ing was dressed thefiin gorgeou s silk and
now she was in rags her beauty and grace gone
with her diamonds to keep h er from starving
”
“
“
I kn ew i t s he chuckled
H e t i re d of
you j ust as he di d of me — of them all Oh
”
—
it s a bonny sight
ha ! ha ! Look here !
She
held up two s k eleton arms and t hen with a wild
s c ream fl itt ed away in to the darkness
On e even i ng there came over her such a dre ad
ful loneliness such a longing for human help
and sympathy that S he ventured to go and cal l
o n Lucia Winne to learn somethi n g of Reuben
of E va an d the rest She bent her steps toward
’
Lu ci a s board ing plac e and i n a short ti me was
followi ng a servant to her room
I t was a
pretty place filled wi th light an d bloom an d
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A GA IN S T FA TE
2 42
.
Lucia was seated co s ily at a t able wri t ing She
tu rned a s the girl ann o unced a ca lle r
”
“
Jennie ! s he exclaimed ; the name pas s ed
her lip s befo re S he c o uld st o p i t and s he i m m e
“
d ia t ely added
How dared you come here ?
”
What would my brother say ?
I wan t ed t o se e y o u Lucia t o let you know
I am living right now and have been fo r a long
”
ti m e C an y ou ne v r fo rget nor forgi ve ?
e
asked the poor girl wildly
”
You should have thought o f that before
“
Yo u had t he
a nswered Lu ci a in an icy tone
and
I had Jennie but y o u
s ame chance E v
a
w illfully cho s e to do wrong and you ought to
s u f f er
I can never associate wi th you again I
cannot help you u p wi t hout pulling myself
”
down
”
“
I f you had su f f ered w h at I have returned
“
Jennie
cold hunger sha m e and s corn you
m igh t think I was su fficiently puni shed Lucia
for t he disgrace I brou ght upon tho s e who loved
an d trusted me But Luci a my mother forgave
me with her la s t breath I have never injured
”
you S urc ly you can forget m y past
“
I cannot Jennie s o do not ask i t I f you
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A G A IN S T FA TE
2 44
.
at once taken into the roo m where Jennie and
the o thers were s ewing t o inspect the bri dal
fin e ry
I t happe n ed that she wa s a distan t rela
tive of Mr Monroe and a co rdial hater of Mrs
M o n roe as she was of all S hams She was a
shrewd s en s ible Scotch girl wh o had made a
flattering s ucces s with her pen an d was q u ite
the fashion in society Agnes M c Don a ld kne w
the pale s eamstre ss t he moment she s a w her b u t
by no word nor l o ok did she betray the kn o wl
edge At a mo m ent when they were left alone
together for Agne s s tayed t o lunch Jennie
thre w down the work S h e w a s vainly trying to
finish a n d cla s ping her hands in pas s ionate
entreaty looked into the h o nest kindly face
O h Mi ss McDon ald p l ease do not say that
y o u ever saw m e before nor betray anyth ing
abou t my past life T he s e pe ople do n ot kn ow
or care anything about me but if they did know
I might b e wi thout a situa t ion again ; and I
”
must have bread !
”
D inna ye fash yoursel s aid Agnes M cDon
“
al d coolly
I f they never find ou t till they
learn i t frae me they ll bide a weary while
An d i t s lit tle they re likely to ken at the last
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V I R T U E P R O TE C TE D
245
.
And a s for your sin — we re all t r uly sinners
more or less Just ye pu t it behind ye till ye re
asked for it at the Last D ay ! D i n na ye fash
ab o u t i t any m air
Homely w o rds but so comforting Jennie
smiled into the h o nest kindly face with her eyes
full of tear s and stitched on the rest of that day
with a lighter heart fo r the few kind word s that
h ad been given her
J en n ie s dark spe c tre of fate was aga i n near
i n g her I t was strange that not once du ring
the weeks she worked there w as the n ame of I da
Badger s a f fian ced husband spoken i n her p res
ence I t was the mere s t chance as hi s visits
were almost daily b u t the room s u s ed fo r sewing
w ere i n a remote part o f the large house an d
the conver s ation ca rried on there was chiefly of
the wardro be I f she had pictured him at al l
i n her mind i t wa s as an elderly man of rather
i mposing appearan ce T he pe t abbreviation by
which hi s lady love m enti o ned hi m meant little
or n o thing to her
One evening as Jennie cam e down the stairs
into the spacious hall on her way to the side
door by whic h S he al w ays came and went s he
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A GA IN S T FA TE
2 46
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foun d t he upper ho u s emaid hurriedly lightin g
the hall la m p The gas was turned of f or w a s
obs t inate and sh e wa s perplexed wi th i t while a
vigorous ring at the fron t door was still u nan
“
Would ye mind opening t he do o r
sw ere d
”
Miss ? she asked regulating the fla m e i n the
“
frosted glas s globe
I t s Miss I da s gentle
”
m an and he do n t like to be kept waiti n g
Jennie opened the door and stepped back t o
admi t the gentleman As he entered the soft
light fell up on hi s fa ce and she gave a stifled
cry I t was Ro ss F a rnham !
He caught her arm fiercel y as he s aw who i t
was and wi th white s e t lips looked s ternly into
her death stricken face
”
“
What are you doing in thi s ho u se ? he
asked deepe n ing the i n tensity of hi s strong gri p
un til i t seemed as if the frail
u pon her arm
bone must be crushed i n hi s hand
How dare
”
he said drawing her int o the
y ou come here ?
vestibule beyond the curiou s eye s o f the servant
“
D id you attempt to p alm of f any wretched
”
story u pon her ?
Jenn i e looked i nto hi s hand so me face O h
how han dsome i t w as E v en when distorted by
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CHAPTER
N O TH I N G
“
t
Do s k n ow th e
It
Al
as
sou n
!
th
F or
d
ol
b ot h
t h e too
-
V
B UT LE
d
o
III
.
AV E S !
e n s t ory ?
t it
d
d
f th m m t p i h
h l v th y h d
s so s w e e
ey ,
!
!
s ou n
,
e
muc
,
o e
s so sa
us
er s
,
”
a
e
,
.
N old old tumble down house the
windows of which had long been
nailed up
set roun d wi th lila c s
that were in ful l bloom filling the night air
w i t h their fragrance The tender hu sh of a st ar
l i t sky pure an d peaceful as the s m ile of G od
bent over it an d wi thin a soul wa s going up
from its thral d om
S he lay up on her own little bed p repared fo r
her by E va s loving hands as soon as sh e
re cei ved poor Reuben s frantic letter saying that
he ha d found her and was bringing her home !
S o pretern aturally long she had lai n there
wasted and shado wy wi th that awf fiH m m ob ility
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( 248 )
N O T H ING BU T
E AV E S
L
2 49
.
of feature — battling wi th her last enem y all
her beauty gone and a gaun t hollow despair in
her great eyes Ross F arnha m should have see n
hi s work then
T o what p i t sh e had sunk ; from what d e p ths
he had rescued her ; what her s trange or shame
ful experiences had been if i ndeed he knew
Re uben never told He had bro ught her to the
old farm house becau s e sh e babbled of i t in ces
m
E
ven
now
S
he
was
mur
uring
snatches
s an t l
y
of song i ntersperse d with shril l bur s ts of laugh
t er an d words of impass i oned prayer
“
S he has been this way ever s i nce I foun d
”
her he said i n a low husky voice wiping the
great drops of per s pi ration fro m hi s w asted face
“
She imagines s h e i s home with the ol d folks
a gain pick i ng flower s in t he field or that she s
going through some awful s cene s i n the city
yonder ; or — or she s talking to him C urse
hi m ! I sometimes doubt that there is a G od
”
when I s ee such m e n as he l iV e an d prosper
“
D o n t Reuben ! I t will all be r i ght and
c lear a s noonday to u s by and b y
Poor Jennie !
I t i s nearly over She cannot la s t through t he
”
n igh t
A n d we had planned s o much fo r her !
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2
AGA IN S T FA T E
50
.
T hi s i s best s aid Reuben hoarsely
I
”
can d i e con te nted when I know she i s safe
He burst into a V i olen t fi t of coughing and
E va approached the sick girl on tip toe Bu t
t here was no n eed of caution ; she was too far
gone for earthly sounds to d i sturb her
”
“
Jennie she said s tooping ge ntly over the
”
“
dying girl
do you know me ?
There was no an swer Jenny was su rrounded
by the s hadowy phan tom s evoked from a past
that was fas t leavi n g her forever
”
“
He said I would f i nd her i n the morning
“
She rep eated i t over and over
He sai d n o
soul was ever lost !
Reuben stooped over her and loo k ed into the
dull face She see med to kn ow him ; her eyes
moved ever so l i ttle and she whi spered a single
word
forgive
F or all answer he clasped the cold hands i n
h i s and pressed h i s trembling lips upon them
T he night wore on Her breath was so c old
s o cold
She m urmured from time to time
He said I would meet her i n the morn i ng
She was thinking of the m inister who h ad
p rayed over her m o t her
”
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