His little mother

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>r.tJU I JlAIN?il-J-.lC

COSYCORNeR SeRI€S

^ -^1

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* Cosy Comer Series "

HIS LITTLE MOTHER

KV

MISS MULOCK

AUTHOR OF " JOHN HALIFAX, GKNTLKMAN," ETC.

Illustrated by Etheldred B. Barry

BOSTON

JOSEPH KNIGHT COMPANY

1896

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57) ^/

JULY 10. Ib4j

:...^Y

Copyright, 1895

BY

Joseph Knight Company

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As,.

lUySTRATIOf^

His Little Mother .... Frontispiece,

Headpiece to Part I I

"The Trio settled Themselves to entire enjoy-
ment OF THE SIGHT " 12

" Two RATHER FORLORN FIGURES " .... 23

Headpiece to Part H 25

" Dorcas laid it aside, and opened Cyprian's " . 37

Tailpiece to Part II 44

Headpiece to Part III 45

" Dorcas with Her Two Children, One in each

HAND " 58

Tailpiece 65

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

PART I

TEN YEARS OLD

1^ I ^ HEY sat close together — a rather
W I isolated little pair, boy and girl,

apparently brother and sister — at the
merry tea-table of a children's party.

Children's parties then were not ex-
actly what they are now. We used to
be invited at four o'clock, and we always left
at half past eight — on our feet, generally — for
our toilets were not of a kind which would
startle the streets of that innocent country town.
We had short sleeves, certainly, and compara-
tively low necks, but tippets and long white
linen gloves made all right, and our frocks
descended comfortably to the ankle. Besides
which we wore beautiful white frilly "trousers"
— or plain ones of the same material as the
dress. Hats, too, which really covered the
head, and were tied down, gypsy fashion, over

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2 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

a bush of curls — if our hair would curl ; "if not,
it was plaited into tails — the more the better.
I remember on state occasions my mother used
to plait mine into six, three on each side, tied
with bright ribbons, of which I was exceedingly-
proud.

This little girl — perhaps she had no mother
to be conceited about her hair, for it was only-
divided into two tails, not very carefully plaited,
and tied with rather shabby brown ribbon.
Neither she nor the little boy was quite as well
dressed as the rest of the young party ; but they
were neat and clean, and, though not exactly
blooming children, were interesting, if only
from the way they seemed to hang together, as
though accustomed to depend upon themselves,
or rather upon one another, for everything.

At least, so it seemed to the lady who watched
them — one Miss Waldershare, a rich and lonely
woman, glad of any interest, especially when it
came in the shape of a child. She was only a
passing visitor in the town, and had come almost
accidentally to the party, where she had nobody
belonging to her. Neither had these two little
people, apparently. All the other young guests
had come with mothers, aunts, or nurses ; but
these, Miss Waldershare had observed, had
walked in, walked up-stairs to take their things

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 3

off, and walked down again, hand-in-hand, quite
alone.

The two little faces, unlike, and yet with a
certain family look which satisfied her as to
their relationship, touched her more than all the
merry faces round the table. Particularly so
when dangerous dainties circulated round it, and
the boy would look appealingly to the girl, who
smiled back either a **No'* or a "Yes.'* But
both were given smilingly and accepted obedi-
ently. He was a big, handsome boy, much
bigger and handsomer than his sister, with a
soft, good-natured, rather weak expression :
whereas she was small, dark, thin, with sharp,
firm features ; an ** old '* face rather, which
might almost have been called plain but for the
look of love in her eyes, and the sweet decision
of her' mouth. All the better, since the boy,
pretty as he was, seemed of an undecided na-
ture ; as if it were almost a relief to have some-
body to settle everything for him.

So at least thought Miss Waldershare, amused
to notice how character shows itself even at ten
years old.

"You are about ten, I suppose, my dear,'*
said she to the little girl, "and a sensible girl
you are, too, not to let your brother eat too
much plum-cake. And he is a good boy to mind

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4 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

what you say," added she, patting the handsome
head, which had dropped disconsolately when,
for the third time, the tempting dish was al-
lowed to pass.

"We are both ten, ma'am" (children were
always taught to say "ma'am" and "sir" in
those days), "we are twins, though I am so
little, and he is so big and tall. I am obliged to
be very careful what he eats. He is not as
strong as he looks, and he does not like being
ill or taking physic."

" Nobody does, I think. But he is a lucky
boy to have such a wise little sister."

" I am his little mother," answered the child,
in a grave, old-fashioned way. " Mamma told
me I was to be his little mother till she came
back again."

" Is she away from home, then ? "

" A long way from home — in India. She
has been gone two years and a month. It will
be four years and eleven months before she and
papa are back again."

" Four years, ten months, and two weeks —
we counted yesterday, Dor," corrected the little
boy — to which the sister assented, looking
quite pleased, and saying that " he was always
so good at arithmetic."

" And what was it he called you ? " asked Miss

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 5

Waldershare, more and more interested, yet not
liking to seem too curious, as she thought the
ordinary reticence of politeness ought to be ob-
served with children as much as with grown-up
folks.

The little girl laughed. " Oh, Dor — or Dor-
mouse — or Dor-beetle — I have lots of names.
But my right name is Dorcas. Rather ugly, is
it not } But then his is a very pretty one —
Cyprian. Mamma said he was always to be
called Cyprian in full. She is very fond of him.
She thinks there never was such a boy." This
was said in a confidential whisper, as the child's
heart warmed instinctively to the motherly,
childless heart of her questioner.

Somebody now called upon Miss Waldershare
to start a game, and she was separated from her
two small friends, and swamped in the general
vortex for an hour or two ; at the end of which
time, however, she had contrived to find out all
that was to be found out concerning Dorcas and
Cyprian.

Their parents, though remotely connected
with the little town, where everybody knew
everybody, had never been seen there, having
gone to Calcutta, or Benares, or Bombay — no-
body .was quite sure where — leaving behind
these children with three old ladies, distant re-

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6 HIS LITTLE Mother.

lations, who resided here. The giver of the
party scarcely knew the names of her small
guests — they were merely '*the next-door chil-
dren/' invited " for kindness."

And, though both their hostess and every-
body else was really kind to them — or would
have been, had they mixed themselves up easily
with the rest — still, to the very end of the
evening, Miss Waldershare noticed a certain
forlornness in the little pair, who went about to-
gether, or sat close together, hand-in-hand, as if
unused to general society, and belonging spe-
cially to one another, and not to anybody else ;
so much so that even she, generally so success-
ful in shaking up a party together, found them
a difficult element to deal with.

First, the boy was so exceedingly shy that
there was no doing anything with him. He
would not, or could not, play at any gam.e —
not even simple **hunt the slipper," or merry
"kiss-in-the-ring." He refused absolutely to
give or to "cry" a forfeit ; and when, tempted
by the fun and laughing, he was at last lured
into blind-man's-buff, he somehow got into
everybody's way, and being accidentally knocked
down, burst into such a piteous howl that he
was obliged to be carried off at once up-stairs.

There, ever so long after. Miss Waldershare

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

found him, with his faithful little sister sitting
patiently beside him, in the deserted bedroom.

" Is he hurt ? " the lady asked, anxiously.

"Oh no ; only he had rather stay here."

" But why should you stay, my little girl ?
You like fun ; I saw you playing very merrily.
Go back to the rest."

" Without Cyprian ? " said Dorcas, with wide-
open eyes ; as if such an idea produced in her
mind simple astonishment. ** Oh dear, no ! He
does not like being alone. Mamma told me
never to leave Cyprian."

"That settles the point," said Miss Walder-
share, smiling; and went down-stairs again.
But several times she returned, and tried to
coax the little fellow back to the gay party be-
low. However, he was either too shy, or too
sulky, or too much accustomed to have every-
thing his own way, with his " little mother " for
his devoted slave ; for though once or twice he
yielded to persuasion so far as to go to the top
of the stairs — being evidently of a soft and
yielding disposition — still he always came back
again, and sheltered himself behind his sister,
as if, though so much less than himself, she was
his natural refuge.

For Dorcas, she did her utmost, poor little
woman, to get him into a better mind ; and

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8 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

when all failed — and the boy's gentle obstinacy
and hesitating sweetness were most difficult to
make anything out of — she soothed him, she
comforted him, she apologized for him. Finally,
when all the kindly inquirers left him and her
together, she sat beside the little fellow in the
somewhat dreary bedroom, listening to the
noisy rout down-stairs, for very nearly two
hours.

"Would you like to go and have a dance?
They are dancing, you hear ? '*

Dorcas looked up at Miss Waldershare with a
world of grateful pleasure in her eyes. She was
not pretty ; but she had that sort of airy, well-
set figure which seems made for dancing. Al-
ready her little feet were beating time to the
music.

" Do go, child,*' said the kind lady. ** Run
away ; I will stay with your brother."

Poor little ** Dor '' was almost off — the music
was playing such a lovely tune, nearly as entic-
ing as that of the Pied Piper of Hamelin —
when she felt her dress caught by Cyprian's im-
ploring hand.

She sat down again. ^^ He doesn't dance —
he doesn't like it. Thank you — no. Perhaps
I had better stay with Cyprian. It will soon be
time for going home. Mamma said we were

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 9

never to be out after dark, on account of
Cyprian. He catches cold so soon."

*' But this is a warm summer night," began
Miss Waldershare, feeling inclined to argue the
point ; and doubtful of the wisdom of allowing
one child to sacrifice everything to another
child. Still, there was something so pathetic in
this literal obedience to the wishes of the far-
away mother — this entire devotion to a rather
trying little brother — that the kind stranger
lady, unto whom it had pleased Heaven to give
neither the sweetness nor the bitterness of
family duties, held her tongue and remonstrated
no more.

When next time she went after them — for
amid all the fun and frolic down-stairs she was
haunted by a vision of the little forlorn twins
sitting in the deserted bedroom all alone — she
found her birds were flown.

Dorcas, she learned, had quietly crept away
with her little brother, not waiting for supper ;
though she had been seen standing for several
minutes at the hall door till she could say good-
by " politely " to the hostess.

"Mamma said we were never to go away from
any visit without thanking the lady of the house
for our pleasant evening," she had explained to
somebody ; and been laughed at a good deal
for her " old-fashioned " ways.

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lO HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

JJo doubt, the family thought, she learned
them from those three prim elderly ladies with
whom she must lead such a dull life, " to say
nothing of that fanciful, disagreeable little
brother, to whom she gives up everything, ap-
parently never thinking of herself at all. Poor
little soul !

But Miss Waldershare, who had seen many a
child who thought of itself a great deal, who
was everybody's pet, from whom nobody ever
expected anything — and certainly never got it
— turn out to be not only the most unpleasant
but most unhappy of young people, did not al-
together pity ** Dor." The child had at least —
so one of the other children said — " somebody
to make a fuss over."

But having a firm belief in compensation —
also some sadly humble belief in herself as an
instrument of the same — for there are those to
whom Heaven seems to deny all personal joys,
in order that they should be better able to make
other people happy — Miss Waldershare set her
benevolent wits to work to invent some small
pleasure for these two children, whose pleasures
were so few.

Fate, kindly seized upon, often turns kind.
The very next day every vacant wall in the town
broke out into an eruption of huge handbills,

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. II

announcing that Signor Bianchini, the cele-
brated pyrotechnist, would on a certain evening
have a grand display in the High Street ; and
would end by walking — under patronage of the
Worshipful the Mayor — from one of the win-
dows in the Town-hall to a window opposite, on
the tight-rope, amid a shower of rockets and
Roman candles.

Now, the noble art of pyrotechny was then in
its infancy, and Blondin the Great had neither
been born nor thought of. Consequently, the
little town was much excited ; and on the rumor
being spread that the hero of the day was no
other than a certain Jem White — who had once
fled the town in disgrace for throwing crackers
and squibs on Gunpowder Plot day, to return in
honor and glory as the celebrated Signor Bian-
chini — a touch of romance added to the inter-
est. All the towns-people, high and low — the
low in the street, and the high upon every
available shop-front and first-floor wii^dow — as-
sembled to witness the show.

Miss Waldershare, putting off her departure
for a day, engaged a tiny room with a balconied
window, over a bookseller's shop ; and thither,
after much perturbation and great hesitation on
the part of the three old ladies, she succeeded
in carrying off her little friends, Dorcas and

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12 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

Cyprian Hall. There, by seven o'clock on a
July night, she established herself, with the
twins one on each side of her, which arrange-
ment, however, was soon modified.

" May he come beside me, ma'am ? If there
should be a — a noise — fireworks do make a

noise some-
times, I think ?
— he will like to
be closer beside
me. He is rather
timid, you see,"
added, with a
half -apologetic
- air, the *' little
mother."

She was not
timid — not -even
when the balcony gave a sudden crack, and
* with involuntary instinct she used all her small
strength to push Cyprian back upon the safe
window-ledge, remaining outside herself. But
it was a false alarm, though it frightened Miss
Waldershare a little, and Cyprian very much —
until there was proved to be no danger, and the
trio settled themselves to entire enjoyment of
the sight.

What a sight it was ! One of the many chil-

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 1 3

dren who saw it remembers it still : even after
five-and-forty years ! the proud delight of sitting
up till eleven at night, and being initiated into
the mysteries of the nocturnal world — the
streets, lit with oil-lamps (gas being still un-
known there), the houses, dim and tall, and the
quiet starry sky overhead, such a contrast to
the noisy crowd below. Then that black plat-
form, whence all the wonderful show was to
come — what dozens of young eyes gazed on it
in eager suspense! till, punctual to the ap-
pointed minute, there shot forth, with a whiz,
a whir, and a glare, the first rocket. Up it
went — making everybody jump, and Cyprian
utter an audible cry — up like a live creature,
flying, or rather shooting, right into the sky, no
one could exactly see where, till it fell down, in
a shower of fiery rain, on the very heads of the
crowd, who screamed and laughed, and ran
hither and thither ; trying, some to avoid, some
to snatch at the blazing sparks.

Another, and another, and another — each ris-
ing higher and falling steadier than the last ;
then a grand illumination of " Roman candles,"
showing all the faces of the people below, and
lighting up the architecture of the old Town-
hall, which the townsfolk were so proud of.
Finally, a most wonderful set piece — a wheel of

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14 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

light, which kept turning and turning, every mo-
ment more rapidly, throwing out a shower of
sparks all round.

" The most beautiful thing we ever saw in all
our life — isn't it, Cyprian ? '* cried Dor. " What
can it be?"

" A Catherine-wheel,*' said Miss Waldershare,
smiling at the *' we " and the "our life " in the
singular number — so natural to the twins.

"A Catherine-wheel?" repeated the sister,
meditatively. " I wonder has that anything to
do with St. Catherine ? Mamma had a picture
of her leaning against a wheel. She was so
pretty — but with a sweet, sad kind of face,
something like mamma's."

" You have a pretty mamma, then ? " said
Miss Waldershare, ignoring the other adjective.
" And you have heard of St. Catherine — and
very likely about Raffaelle, who painted her ? "

" Oh, yes," brightening up extremely. " I
like to read all I can about painters, for I am so
fond of drawing. I often try to draw. Mamma
says I shall learn properly some day, and then I
can teach Cyprian."

" Does Cyprian like reading ? "

"N — no," with a slight hesitation. "Indeed
he has not time for reading. He learns Latin,
you know. So I read for both of us, and then

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 1$

I can tell him anything interesting. It saves
him so much trouble/'

" I don't like trouble, and I can't imagine how
anybody could like reading," said Cyprian, with
his most attractive smile.

*' But he likes writing, and he writes so well
— small hand — and a great deal better than I,"
eagerly said the little sister. " And he can read
written-hand beautifully — makes out every word
in mamma's letters. If you knew how delight-
ful are mamma's letters — as interesting as a
story-book. We get one every mail, and we
look for it days before it comes. It has been
coming for a week now. Perhaps we shall find
it when we get home to-night."

"I hope so," said the lady, with a slight
tremble in her voice. Never, either as child or
woman, had Miss Waldershare got any mother's
letters.

** If it does come, and if she cared to call to-
morrow, perhaps we might let her see it," whis-
pered Cyprian to his sister, who slightly hesi-
tated, as if that were a privilege too great for
any mortal creature.

" To-morrow, my dears, I shall be miles and
miles away. I shall not see you for a very long
time, I fear."

"What a pity ! Because I shall tell mamma

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l6 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

all about you — we always tell her everything —
and if she knew how kind you have been to us
both, she would let me show you her letters.
But I should like to ask her first ; and it will be
six months before we get the answer."

** Of course it will/' said Miss Waldershare,
thinking of the great gulf of time and space
between mother and children — of the letters
received ignorantly, months after date, on both
sides — and of how sad it was, that with such
tender love between children and parents, the
one should grow up, and the other should grow
old in such a long separation that when they did
meet again it would be almost as strangers.

" But come, my dears, the fireworks are be-
ginning again. And there is Signor Bianchini
on the tight-rope. See how beautifully he bal-
ances himself with that long pole. Would you
like to be a tight-rope dancer, Cyprian ? "

" He is to be a gentleman, and go to college,
and then go out to India to papa," said Dorcas,
with a little touch of pride. And when the
boy, boy-like, clapped his hands with delight,
watching the ci-devant Jem White make his
perilous journey over the upturned heads of the
crowd, the more sensitive girl shuddered, and
turned pale.

" Would you like to go in, and not look any
more ? " said Miss Waldershare, kindly.

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 1/

" No, thank you; something might happen —
Cyprian riiight overbalance himself. No, I would
rather stay by Cyprian/'

And though still white and trembling, she did
stay till the very last. But, besides the buns
and oranges, a glass of wine had to be admin-
istered to the child before she was able to walk
home. She seemed but a fragile little thing,
despite her spirit and — only the word was not
known in those days — her *' pluck.*'

The last of the fireworks shot up — a sheaf
of flame, hissing and crackling — above the
Town-hall and the old church-tower, right into
the silent stars ; there was a shout of ecstatic
cheering from the crowd, and a final ** sending
round the hat," which ceremony had been gone
through several times already, from window to
window, Dorcas apologizing sadly that she had
no penny to drop into it — *' But mamma told
us that papa was not rich, and that we were not to
spend more pennies than we could help." And
then the signer bowed his thanks — in a the-
atrical attitude, beside the very biggest of
Catherine-wheels — and the crowd began to
separate. The night's delight was ended.

Miss Waldershare walked through the fast-
thinning street with her two prot^g^Sy one in
each hand. Cyprian, no longer shy, was chat-

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1 8 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

tering like a magpie, but Dorcas, who had
hitherto done the talking, now began to be si-
lent, evidently very tired. Her friend would
have liked to take her up and carry her; she
was strong enough and the child small enough I
but Dorcas was so astonished at the idea that
she gave it up, and merely helped the poor lit-
tle girl as well as she could till they reached the
Terrace.

" I will just wait and see if you have got your
letter, and then I will bid you good-by. I am
going away to-morrow morning," said Miss
Waldershare, with a slight regret at her heart.
Her life was almost as solitary as that of these
little people.

" Is that the children ? Bring them in at once
to me," said a sharp voice behind the sleepy
maid-servant who opened the door.

" Oh, Miss MofFatt, is that you ? - Have you
got mamma's letters ? "

" There are letters."

"I am so glad!" said Miss Waldershare.
She kissed the two children, and walked quickly
away.

By one of those accidental delays which visit
us all, she, however, did not leave next morn-
ing. Business — other people's business, of
course — rose up, which detained her nearly a

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. IQ

week-; and being rather troublesome business,
her mind was so full of it that she hardly gave
a thought to the twins, Dorcas and Cyprian,
till, coming home from church, she passed the
end of the Terrace, and saw two little figures
walking down it, slowly and quietly, hand*in-
hand, two little black figures, so far as her
short sight enabled her to judge, which made
her at first think it could not possibly be they.
Nevertheless, she felt a strong inclination to
call and say good-by over again — for she was
going abroad, on a mission of mercy, with a sick
friend, and it might be months, nay years, before
she was in England again.

So she sent up her card, asking to see ** little
Miss HalL*'

The servant, looking rather surprised, showed
her into an empty parlor, where she waited sev-
eral minutes, and then the two poor little chil-
dren, still hand-in-hand, walked in.

Truly, "poor" children, having sustained the
utmost loss a child can know.

They were dressed in black from head to
foot — not even a v/hite collar — and their faces
were very grave, Cyprian's being rosy still, but
out of Dorcas's every ray of color had departed.
Her eyes looked as if she had been crying all
day long, and the voice she spoke in, though
quiet, was forced and strange.

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20 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

" How do you do, ma'am ? It is kind of you to
come and see us."

" My poor little girl, what has happened ? "

** Mamma is dead ! " cried Cyprian, with a
burst of tears.

" Yes, our mamma is dead," said Dorcas, but
without crying. She seemed to have wept all
her tears away.

" But — the letter ? "

" It was from papa. He said mamma had been
dead a week. That is two months ago. So it
is two months and a week since we had any
mamma. I can't understand it at all," added
the boy, shaking his head in a forlorn sort of way.

His sister put her arm round him, and drew
him to her, at which he began sobbing afresh.
In truth, they all wept together; Miss Walder-
share never thinking till afterward how strange
it was that she, who had had no tears for many
a year, should shed them now, over a woman
whom she had never seen and scarcely heard of.

She wondered what kind of person the father
was, and even went so far as to ask if she might
see his letter.

"Oh yes "(no hesitation now). "But I re-
member Miss Moffatt has it. She said she
should keep it, lest papa might forget his prom-
ise, and take us away from here."

" Would you wish to go ? "

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 21

" Oh no. It doesn't matter. The Miss Mof-
fatts are very kind to us. Everything goes on
as usual, except for mamma's letters. She has
been a year away, and this is the first time the
mail ever came in without bringing us one of
mamma's letters."

The child spoke in a dull, sad, almost com-
plaining tone ; evidently even she did not yet
realize — how difficult it is for any of us to real-
ize ! — that sudden pause of death-silence.

"Did your mamma ever say — had you any
idea — ? " began Miss Waldershare, and stopped.
What use was it to question ? The plain, hard
fact was there — the children were motherless.

" And you are going abroad, too > " said Dor-
cas, when she had sat a good while, holding the
kind hand whose firm clasp was the only way in
which Miss Waldershare could express sym-
pathy. "We shall never .see you again. It
will be just like mamma's going — only you have
no little children to leave behind."

" No, nobody."

" Mamma would not have left us if she could
have helped it — she told me so ; but she had
to go with papa. She said so once — I was not
to tell Cyprian, and I almost forgot it myself
till now — it seemed so impossible ; but she
said — " Dorcas hesitated.

"Said what, my dear ? "

Digitized by LjOOQ IC

22 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

" That even if she died we were not to mind,
as she would not be much farther away from us
than when she was in India, perhaps not so far.
What did she mean ? "

Miss Waldershare tried to explain ; tried to
put into the child's heart, without giving any
impression of fear or pain, that heavenly conso-
lation of the continual nearness of the dead, of
the narrow barrier that for all pure and loving
souls exists between the life here and the life
everlasting.

*' I understaitd," Dorcas said, at last. " And
that is why we were to remember what she used
to say to us, and do what she wished us to do,
just as much as if she were here beside. us. It
will be much the same now. Do you hear what
the lady says ? Do you understand her, Cy-
prian } "

Poor Cyprian ! He had ceased crying now,
and was squatting on the hearth-rug, playing
with two kittens, quite merry and content.
None the less, possibly all the more, did Miss
Waldershare say, "Poor Cyprian!"

Her time was limited, and she rose to go.

" But I shall not forget you, dear. I shall
write to you now and then."

" Oh, how nice ! We never get letters from
anybody, except mamma.** Here came a sudden

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

23

shudder of recollection and a wild look, almost
of despair. " I forgot. We shall never have
any more letters from mamma. What shall we
do ? Oh, Cyprian, Cyprian ! **

That cry, so shrill, so full of intolerable agony,
made the little boy spring to his feet.

" Dor — Dor, what is the matter ? Please be
quiet. You frighten me so — you make me so
miserable."

Then the sister, with a violent effort, checked
what was growing into an almost hysterical
scream. She put her arms
round Cyprian, and hid her
face on his shoulder till the
sobs ceased, and she lifted
up her face, deadly white, in-
deed, but quite composed.

"Yes, he is right; I must
be quiet. He has nobody to
take care of him but me now.
Thank you. Miss Walder-
share, and we shall be de-
lighted to get your letters.
And Cyprian shall write — he writes so very
well, you know," with a faint smile, as she put
up her lips for a farewell kiss.

It had not quite vanished, that piteous smile,
even when Miss Waldershare caught her last

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

24 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

glimpse of the twins, standing watching her
down the Terrace, with their faces pressed
against the window-pane. Two rather for-
lorn figures, with their mourning clothes, and
grave, sad looks ; but they were two — and they
stood close together, hand-in-hand, as usual.
Also, Cyprian had his head safely nestled into
the shoulder of his "little mother."

The dead mother — could she have beheld
them — might have felt that life was not alto-
gether hopeless to her children.

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^^N5^V«^^^5^?^-

TVEMTYYEAR50LD

MISS WALDERSHARE did not return
to England for ten years.
Part of that time she spent with her friend,
very peacefully, even happily; and when the
invalid needed her no" more there were many
others who did need her. That sweet, sunny
nook of southern France was always full of sick

Digitized by LjOOQ IC

26 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

and sorrowful folk, come to die, or to watch
their beloved die, beside the blue Mediterra-
nean. Consequently, this rich and kind-hearted
English lady, who had no home ties, never
wanted — who ever does want.? — an object,
whereon to expend her time, her money, and
her sympathies. And this was well. Sad she
might sometimes be ; but she was never either
idle or lonely ; as in truth no woman ever is,
unless she wishes to be the one, and deserves,
by her unlovableness, to be the other.

Miss Waldershare thus lingered on, year after
year, in the place whither she had accidentally
drifted, until it almost became a second home.
She might never have come home at all — that
is, to England — had not business called her to
the little town where she had happened to be
born, but where, nevertheless, she had not a sin-
gle living tie. And in ten years even her few
acquaintances there had so entirely disappeared
that there was not a house she cared to go to.
She put up at the inn. And in spite of what the
cynic writes about the man who, going through
life, finds "his warmest welcome at an inn,*'
this well-beloved maiden lady was so accustomed
to find every door open to her and every face
a friendly face, that the inn appeared just a lit-
tle solitary, even dull.

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 2/

Having transacted her business, she wandered
about, noticing how many new houses had
sprung up on the. skirts of the old town; but
the place itself remained unchanged. There
were the same names over the shops in the
High Street ; the usual market went on just be-
low the Town-hall, from the windows of which
Signor Bianchini had taken his memorable tight-
rope promenade, watched by herself and the lit-
tle twins, Dorcas and Cyprian Hall, on the night
of the fireworks. The fatal night — how long
they must have remembered it ! — when, on com-
ing home, they got the news of their mother's
death.

"Poor little souls!** she thought, recalling
that time. Familiar as she was with sorrow,
the expression of the children's faces, as she last
saw them looking out of the parlor window that
Sunday afternoon, had never gone out of her
mind. "But they cannot be children now.
They must nearly be grown up by this time. 1
wonder what has become of them."

For though she had faithfully written, and re-
ceived, at long intervals, several letters in return,
not from Cyprian — "he had so little time," his
sister said — but from Dorcas, still ten years is
a long period to keep up any correspondence, es-
pecially a foreign one, and with such very small

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28 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

correspondents. Miss Waldershare was scarcely
surprised when it gradually ceased. Two years
at least had passed since she had had any tid
ings of the young Halls.

She was a shy and sensitive person, curiously so
for a middle-aged woman of good position, whom
nobody would have expected to have any doubt
of herself at all. But she had — though circum-
stances rather than natural temperament had
caused this. She never liked to intrude her-
self upon anybody, especially the young, and
was only too ready to accept the fact that people
had forgotten her. Therefore, even when she
passed the end of the Terrace where the twins
used to live, she hesitated, and was some min-
utes in making up her mind to knock at Miss
Moffatt's door.

There it was, the brass plate with " The
Misses Moffatt '* — who had begun by keeping a
school — staring her in the face. She lingered,
looked round, might even have gone back again,
but that a lady and gentleman crossed the road
to her. He tall, fair, handsome ; the girl hang-
ing on his arm (people usually walked arm-in-
arm in those days) small, dark, and decidedly
plain. Miss Waldershare might have recog-
nized them had she not forgotten the lapse of
time. But they knew her at once, and called
her by name.

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 29

"We had no idea you were in England.
When did you come ? Why did you not let us
know?" said the young man, impulsively; and,
in spite of the incipient beard, she recalled at
once the pretty boy-face of Cyprian Hall. His
sister — yes, of course, it was his sister — his
** little mother'* that used to be. She looked
like it still — being both graver and older in ap-
pearance than her twin.

"Then you have not quite forgotten me.?"
said the lady, pleased, as most middle aged la-
dies are, at being recognized after so long a
time.

" Oh ! Dor knew you at once. Dor never
forgets anybody."

And though Dor scarcely said a word, leav-
ing all the talk to her brother, who seemed to
have a great gift that way, the pleasure in her
eyes, and the warm grasp of her hand, proved to
Miss Waldershare the truth of that character.
Yes, Dorcas Hall looked like a person " who
never forgot anybody."

"You will come in, of course? It is just
tea-time ; and Miss Moffatt will be glad to see
you, or any friend of ours. There is only one
Miss Moffatt now. The other two are dead;
poor old dears ! so Dor and I have almost the
house to ourselves — except for Mr. Moffatt, a

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

30 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

nephew of theirs ; but he is a great scholar, and
as quiet as a tame cat. Bless me ! I hope he
didn't hear me. There he is.'*

And Cyprian nodded to a half bald head,
with bright eyes, which eyes had evidently been
watching them from the window.

" Very quiet, but a good fellow, for all that,"
continued the youth, with a slightly patronizing
air. " He and I shall be off to Oxford in two
months more, and then Dor will have to make
the best of it alone."

Dor smiled, as if quite accustomed to " make
the best of it," and they entered the house to-
gether.

When she took Miss Waldershare up-stairs to
arrange her dress a little — for the "old maid "
was just a shade " particular" as to her appear-
ance — Dorcas explained, with a look of proud
pleasure, that her brother was just going up for
his matriculation examination.

'* Papa was a long time in consenting ; he
was never at college himself, and does not see
why a young man should go at all, especially
one who might be a Calcutta merchant. But
Cyprian does not want to be a merchant, and
does not care to go out to Calcutta."

" No, indeed," cried Cyprian, meeting them
on the staircase and overhearing; '*papa has

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 3 1

married again^ and there is a horrid lot of chil-
dren. I had much rather stop at home with
Dor. She makes me work — that is, if anybody
could do it. But Tm an idle fellow — I shall
never do much, anyhow; shall I, Dor.? ** said he,
with that charming frankness and engaging con-
trition which, in some people, seems equivalent
to doing what they ought to do. They feel as
if confessing a fault were almost as good as
amending it.

" You will do more by and by," said the sis-
ter, with a sad expression flitting through her
smile. ** Cyprian has had a great deal to con-
tend against, Miss WaldersJiare. Papa could
not afford to send him to a public school, so he
was obliged to get educated here ; and when at
last he went to a clergyman to study — he — he
came back again."

" Was sent back," laughed the young fellow,
with charming candor, which, however, sent the
hot blood into his sister's face. "But I am
sure if I told the whole story to Miss Walder-
share she would agree with me that it was a
confounded shame."

"Tea is waiting," said Dorcas, hastily, and
then introduced the bald-headed man — not such
a very old man either — as "Mr. Moffatt, from
Oxford, who has been so very kind to Cyprian,"

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32 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

" Kindness itself! " added Cyprian. " I am
sure, if I pass, it is his coaching I have to thank
for it."

"You must pass," said Mr. Moffatt ; and " He
will pass," said Dorcas.

" Oh, don't lecture ! I hate lecturing. But
I mean to be such a good boy — some day."

That day, however, had been evidently long
of coming. Not that he was in the least a
"naughty" boy. On the contrary. Miss Wal-
dershare liked him extremely, and could quite
understand how everybody liked him too. He
had that invincible attractiveness, born of a
pleasant inward conviction that he did attract,
which makes some people so charming. They
throw themselves on you with the simplicity of
a child to whom no one has ever said a hard
word ; they are quite sure of your regard — so
sure that you have not the heart to refuse it.
Before she had been an hour in the room with
him. Miss Waldershare felt a weak consciousness
that, were he to ask her, she would do almost
anything for young Cyprian Hall.

And his "little mother."

" Yes, I am still his * little mother,' " Dorcas
answered, smiling, to some question which Miss
Waldershare put on bidding good-by — not a
farewell at all, for she had been already per-

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 33

suaded by Cyprian to remain in the town a few
days longer ("just to comfort poor Dor after I
am gone/* said he, with a pleasing conviction
that she would want comfort, and that nobody
could make up to her for the loss of himself —
which, perhaps, was not untrue). ** He needed
a * little mother * more than most boys ; and,
besides, mamma told me to take care of him."

"Mamma said that" — '* Mamma wished
that," seemed, even after all these years, to be
the invisible law of right to the orphans, evi-
dently as completely orphans as if they had
been left without either father or mother. And
Dorcas, with her silentness and somewhat care-
worn face, much older looking than that of her
twin, seemed to have taken upon herself all the
duties and anxieties of a mother.

Altogether, Miss Waldershare quitted the lit-
tle household — where Miss Moffatt, its nominal
head, had never once appeared (she was an in-
valid, and Miss Hall managed everything) — with
a somewhat heavy heart. The brightest bit,
however — she being of a rather '* sentimental"
turn — was in the fancy she took for Mr. Mof-
fatt's honest countenance, and the pleasure she
had in watching how he seemed to do every-
thing he could think of for quaint, plain, gentle
Dorcas Hall.

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34 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

She saw a good deal of both him and the
twins during the next two days, and after Cy-
prian had started for Oxford in the highest spir-
its, and without a doubt concerning his "exam.,'*
she and his sister had much talk together. But
Dorcas was not very confidential, not even on
the subject of Cyprian. In all she said there
seemed to be some arrikre pensh^ a sense of
past disappointment and future doubt, almost
amounting to fear, which, putting together frag-
ments which she rather betrayed than told, gave
a still deeper uneasiness to the older and more
experienced woman.

Cyprian did not much care for reading; found
study difficult ; his sister had taught herself
Latin, a bit of Greek, and even something of
mathematics, in order to teach him. He had
never had any systematic education of any kind
— well, that was not his fault, but Miss Walder-
share knew that real students, true workers, who
mean to make their way in the world, whether
boy or girl, will, when they get into their teens,
begin to educate themselves. And self-educa-
tion is perhaps the soundest of all.

But Cyprian was twenty, and had not begun
earnestly to study yet. If he passed even the
preliminary examination for Oxford, it would
be, Dorcas was forced to own, chiefly owing to

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 35

the excellent and gratuitous " coaching " given
him for the last eight weeks by Mr. Moffatt.

" But oh ! Miss Waldershare, you see how
much my poor boy has had to fight against ! "
pleaded the sister, in fond deprecation. "Even
his good looks and his winning ways have been
dangerous to him, because everybody is always
admiring him and inviting him out. Yet he is
as steady as a rock — never gets into any ill-
ways, late hours, or the like, and he is always
so easily led, and so good and affectionate. To
part from him will be dreadful, but I shall be
content if I know he is all right, and if I can
sometimes go and see him — Oxford men like to
have their sisters visiting them, Mr. Moffatt
said; only it must be pretty sisters — not such
as me."

Miss Waldershare asked, gravely, " if it were
Mr. Moffatt who said that } " because she her-
self thought the little dark-eyed face and dainty
figure made up a sister quite well-looking
enough for any college " man."

" Well, then," said Dorcas, laughing, " I
really will go up next Commemoration. It will
be so grand to take a walk with Cyprian in his
cap and gown ! How handsome he will look —
how proud mamma would have been ! Mamma
always said Cyprian must go to Oxford."

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36 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

So talked they — the elder and the younger
woman — in the dim evening light ; waiting for
the letter — there were no telegraphs then —
which was to bring the important news.

At last it came: two letters arrived — the sec-
ond being from Mr. Moffatt. Dorcas laid it
aside, and opened Cyprian's.

Only one line — Miss Waldershare could see.
She saw also that Dorcas's poor little hands fell
helplessly on her lap — she had instinctively sat
down — and then were clasped together in a
mute acceptance of the inevitable.

" I always expected it — he could not help it.
He says he did his best. My poor boy ! "

"Poor girl!" Miss Waldershare felt inclined
to say; but she said nothing — only kissed her
silently. Then Dorcas leaned her head on her
friend's shoulder and wept bitterly.

"Tears won't do," she said, at last, drying
them. " He will be here to-night, no doubt —
or to-morrow morning — for he will have to go
out to India at once. Papa said he must, if he
failed in his matriculation. He has lost only too
much time already ; and we are wholly depend-
ent upon papa. Oh, my poor boy ! "

She wrung her hands, oblivious of everything
— even of the second letter — which Miss Wal-
dershare proposed to open and read.

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HIS LITTLK MOTHER

37

Digitized by LjOOQ IC

38 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

" Dear Miss Hall, — * Plucked ' is a hard
word, but Cyprian must not let his courage
sink. Many a man has succeeded in the world
after being plucked. Perhaps, after all, he is
scarcely fit for university life, and this may be
for the best in the end. Try to believe so —
though I know it is hard. We shall be with you
almost as soon as this letter.

** Yours sincerely, James Moffatt.*'.

" How kind he is ! " said Miss Waldershare,
** YeSj very kind." I

And so he was — as kind as Miss Waldersharl
herself — for the two took counsel together over
the helpless sister many a time during the mel-
ancholy days which ensued, when it was neces-
sary to arrange everything for Cyprian's depart-
ure, and for the parting of the twins, literally
for the first time in their lives — except that brief
attempt at tutoring of which everybody had
said as little as possible.

So great was the despair of both at first that
Miss Waldershare suggested Dorcas's going out
with him to India.

The girl shook her head. " No ; it would be
too expensive. It would vex papa — he only
sent home money for one. Besides " — with a
sad casting down of the eyes — " papa does not
want me. He never did want us, you know."

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

HIS LITTLE MOTHER.- 39

Miss Waldershare asked no explanation of
what was evidently some family difficulty. She
saw that Cyprian must go, and Dorcas stay be-
hind — at least for the present. It was very
sad — so sad that, being more accustomed to go
to the house of mourning than to the house of
feasting, she put off a grand London visit, and
remained still a few days more in the dull little
town, where she knew not a creature but these,
her sorrowful friends.

It was a terrible time. Most people nowadays
know it — have witnessed or gone through it —
when some young member of the family has to
be sent away abroad — an agony sharp as death
even under the best of circumstances. Coming
nearer and nearer each day to the fatal day was
almost, as Cyprian declared, " like going to be
hanged."

He felt it very much at first, poor boy ! grew
quite thin and white, and could never look at
Dorcas without the tears coming into his eyes.
But by and by the excitement of preparation
comforted him a little. He became such an
important person in his little circle, and even in
the town, where seldom such a thing was heard
of as a young man ** going out to India.*' Even
his outfit created a secondary interest, and also
his trunks, which the shop-keeper exhibited at

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

40 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

the door, marked, in white letters, " Cyprian
Hall, Esq., Calcutta." There was a pleasant
and consolatory side even to this cruel parting.

"But it shall not be for long, that I am deter-
mined on ! " said Cyprian, with great energy.
"As soon as ever lam settled I will send out for
Dor, and we will live together — bachelor brother
and maiden sister — and be as happy as the day
is long ; won't we, * little mother * ? "

She half smiled, half sobbed at the word.
" Cyprian always sees the bright side of things
— and he is right. Don't you think so. Miss
Waldershare ? "

" Yes," answered the elder woman, but thought
also how little he thought who it was that had
invariably madie life turn its sunny side to him,
if possible, even though somebody else had to
walk in the shade.

So much so that even the last day was not
such a very dreary day at the Terrace, where
Miss Waldershare paid her final call at least
forty-eight hours before Cyprian's departure.
With her constitutional shyness, she thought it
best not to stay to the very end, not being a
relative, nor exactly a "friend of the family."
And, judging by herself, she considered that,
after the two were really gone — Mr. Moffatt
was to see the poor fellow off from Liverpool,

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 4 1

and then come iack, e7i route for Oxford, with
the latest news — after that it would be easier
for Dorcas to be left quite alone.

Therefore she bade the twins a cheerful good-
by, reminded them both how young they were,
and how the world was all before them, and
their lot in their own hands, to do what they
liked with it almost ; for at twenty, with health,
strength, work to do, and the capacity and will
to do it, what young man or young woman need
feel hopeless or forlorn t She ** preached '* a
little, yet feeling all the while how vain " preach-
ing '* is, and how each young soul must buy its
own experience in its own way.

And then she kissed and blessed them both
— poor young things ! — now going through the
sharpest experience of their existence, and feel-
ing their anguish with all the passionate inten-
sity of youth, to whom every sorrow appears at
the time like a sorrow eternal.

She understood this — and them : the solitary
woman to whom life was no longer a vista of
the future, but a dream of the past. And then
she went away, walking rather slowly and sadly,
and trying hard to believe all the hopeful things
she had been saying a few minutes before to
both Cyprian and Dorcas, when she was over-
taken by a quick footstep : it was Mr. Moffatt*s.

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

42 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

** Allow me to walk home with you/* he said.
•*Oh," seeing she hesitated, "that is no matter!
They don't want me."

A fact which Miss Waldershare could not
deny — which, indeed, she had noticed, and been
almost sorry for : feeling that the twins did not
half appreciate the kindness of a friend so much
older than themselves, and so familiar that they
both took his devotion for granted. But she,
who knew the world better, respected it as a
thing only too rare.

He walked on beside her, talking a good deal
about them both, or rather about Cyprian. He
did not seem to consider Dorcas as a person to
be discussed at all — not even her sorrow, which
she bore so silently that her friends instinctively
were silent too.

"Do you think there is the making of a man
in that boy?*' said Miss Waldershare, at last,
when they were face to face at the hotel door.

" I hope there is — I think there is — if only
he falls into good hands. There are some
people, you know, who make themselves and
their career ; others are made by circumstances
or influences. It remains to be seen under
what category we may place Cyprian Hall."

" And Dorcas ? " said Miss Waldershare,
looking fixedly in the eyes of the good, honest

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 43

man — a curious, penetrating, half-sad. but ex-
ceedingly tender look, not unbefitting a kind
old woman who had once been young.

Mr. Moffatt's sallow face blushed all over, but
he unhesitatingly returned the gaze.

"Dorcas cares more for that boy's little
finger than for any one alive. I know that.
Still, I shall take care of her. I am a poor man
— a very poor man— but I shall manage some-
how to take care of her."

" I believe that," was the cordial answer.
" God bless you. Good by."

Six months after this, business again called
Miss Waldershare to her native town, and of
course she went at once to the Terrace to see
Dorca? Hall. Only to look at her, having
already heard by letter all the news of Cyprian ;
exceedingly good news, so that she was hardly
surprised at the gentle content of his sister's
face, and the more than usually hopeful tone in
which Dorcas spoke of him and everything.

" Papa " — that long invisible, seldom-named
father — - had been quite glad to see his eldest
son ; he was growing elderly, with a lot of young
children. Cyprian might become of the greatest
use to him. Cyprian had taken kindly to busi-
ness, found it rather "amusing" than other-
wise, and liked the gay Calcutta life, where, no

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

44 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

doubt, he was as great a favorite as he had al-
ways been everywhere. He was poor, certainly,
for his father only allowed him a clerk's salary,
probably all he deserved at first, but he hoped
to " make it do,'* and to earn more by and by.

" And what does he plan about bringing you
out to him ? You must have a dull life here
with Miss Moffatt, and he knows it. What does
he say ? "

" Nothing," answered the sister, casting down
her eyes. Then, suddenly, in the old apologetic
way, "I did not expect anything else. Cyprian
used to leave me to do all the planning. He is
content with the present. He never looks
ahead in any way. I know that."

" But, surely, as soon as he can, he will send
for you or fetch you } "

Dorcas again cast down her eyes, and a vivid
blush overspread her face.

" Perhaps — Mr. Moffatt might not quite like
me to go."

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Part in

THIRTY YEAR5 OLD

HE second decade of Miss Walder-
^y share's acquaintance with the twin
brother and sister differed a little
from the first one. It flew faster — years do
fly much faster between twenty and thirty than
between ten and twenty. How then must it be
between fifty-five and sixty-five? — which she
was now : no longer an " elderly," but an old
lady.

A fact which she had at last learned patiently
to recognize. Like other active, energetic, and
unselfish women, she had resisted fate to the

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46 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

last ; maintained her youth and her bright-heart-
edness ; refused to succumb to many a cruel
shock ; resolved to " die with harness on her
back.*' But the wear and tear of life gradually
overcame her. After one bad illness she sud-
denly found out that she could not revive as
heretofore — that she had grown, to all intents
and purposes, an old woman.

After that she had to learn to be quiet, to let
others do her work instead of doing it all her-
self ; content if she were still the head, though
not the hands as well ; and more than content,
thankful, to see the young rising up to do her
duties for her, and to work in her stead, against
the time when her place should know her no
more.

Something on this wise she wrote to her friend
Dorcas Hall. For they had long become

" A pair of friends
Affectionate and true,"

in spite of the difference in their ages, and the
great gaps of time that intervened between their
meetings, owing to the busy life of both. But
they corresponded regularly ; and Dorcas's sim-
ple history, as told in her letters, became the
strongest interest Miss Waldershare had. Es-
pecially so, when for this active woman all the
pleasures of existence slowly dwindled down to

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 4/

her own house and garden ; and at last, during
the winter months, to the limits of four silent
walls.

Dorcas's letters — they are now arranged and
labelled and packed together in a box, to go
some day possibly to some rightful owner, if
not consigned previously, by still tenderer hands,
to that safest receptacle of all treasures — the
fire. They began immediately after Cyprian
left for India, and were full of him and his doings.
Sometimes his letters were enclosed therein —
bright, clever, funny, but by no means confiden-
tial epistles, if, indeed, he had had anything to
confide, even to his " little mother." At first
they came every mail, then less frequently, then
they stopped entirely for a while ; and Dorcas
had to deaden her anxiety by the brief tidings
she got of him through father and step-mother.

After that — sudden, startling news ! Cy-
prian was married — actually married ! at the age
of two-and-twenty ; unknown to any one, and to
a girl whom nobody had ever heard of. He had
met her at some hill-station — a mere child of
sixteen — most charming, in spite of a slight
touch of the despised Hindoo blood shining
through her beautiful brown face. So said Cy-
prian, who had fallen madly in love, and in three
weeks brought her home to Calcutta as his bride.

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48 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

But the father — irritated, and not without
cause, at such an imprudent proceeding — turned
him adrift, thus depriving him of his clerk's
salary, the only income he had.

" Yet he is so clever — has so many friends
— he will speedily find other work," wrote the
sister, trying to look on the bright side of things.
And it was so, for Cyprian seemed always to
fall on his feet. But the breach between him
and his father was made — and made for life.

This was Dorcas's agony ; not the marriage :
she forgave that. In the heart of the ''little
mother " jealousy — sisterly jealousy — was im-
possible.

** He was sure to fall in love ; and to marry
early was the best thing that could happen to
him. I always told him so. Cyprian could
never do without a woman to take care of him.
Only I wish he had waited till he had just a lit-
tle more money — and — I wish he had not
vexed papa ! For all else — look at her likeness.
Isn't it a sweet face ? My pretty * sister ! '
How could he help loving her ? And after all,
dear friend, don't you think that love is best ? "

Whether Miss Waldershare did or not — that
Dorcas did, she knew. For James Moffatt had
just persuaded her to wait indefinite years, till
the Fellowship he now held should result in a
College living.

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 49

" We are not like Cyprian " — and her friend
fancied she could almost have seen the smile,
half-tender, half-amused, yet just a little sad,
with which Dorcas always spoke or wrote of
Cyprian — " we can wait. Papa will never need
to be angry with us.** Which, indeed, was not
likely, as Mr. Hall, senior, had always been too
indifferent to his daughter to feel either pleas-
ure or displeasure at any of her proceedings.

So time went on ; and Dorcas still lived with
Miss Moffatt — upon a very small allowance, ap-
parently ; for she began to supplement it in va-
rious silent ways, especially in selling her draw-
ings, which were remarkably good for an amateur.
It was a dull life, except in the long vacation,
when Mr. Moffatt came to share her devoted
care of his infirm old aunt, and to speculate with
her on the chances of that College living which
was to open all paradise to these simple souls.
But more than one living fell in, and was given
to somebody else — somebody more "pushing,"
or with more College influence than honest
James Moffatt. Year after year went by, and
he was still a Fellow, and Miss Hall a spinster
— travelling through her twenties as she had
done through her teens — complaining to no
one and troubling no one. Few even knew that
she was engaged — she and James being both

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50 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

silent people, who preferred not to perplex any
one with their affairs.

Thus she drifted on, till she had ceased to feel
herself a girl any more, and one day told Miss
Waldershare, with a sort of pathetic amuse-
ment, of somebody who had called her a " born
old maid.'* This was about the middle of the
ten years. Very soon after, she arrived, quite
suddenly and unexpectedly, at Miss Walder-
share's door, dressed in deep mourning, looking
pale and grave, but with a strange smile, not
at all of hopeless misery, creeping about her
mouth.

" I come to you in my trouble," she said ; ** I
wanted to consult you — James would not un-
derstand — it is only a woman that would under-
stand."

"What — what has happened.?" looking in
dread at her black dress. " Not — not Cyprian ? "

"No; his wife — poor Issa. She has died,
and left him with twins. Think ! twins —
brother and sister — just like Cyprian and me
— only a month old ! "

And then her self-restraint of many hours
gave way, and Dorcas burst out weeping in her
friend's opened arms.

It was a very sad story, to which, elderly and
prudent woman as she was. Miss Waldershare

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 5 1

could not refuse her sympathy. Rash and
foolish as the young couple had been, they had
paid for their folly in keen suffering. At the
last, the poor dying mother would have wanted
the commonest comforts of life, but for the kind-
ness which even strangers often show to one
another in India.

** And what of the babies ? Surely your
father will relent now, and take the poor help-
less babies ! "

" N — no,*' said Dorcas, looking down. ** In
fact, Cyprian would not have let them go. He
preferred sending them, in charge of his wife's
ayah, to me.'*

" To you ? Good heavens ! "

"Oh — you could not say I am not to take
them ! My poor little babies — Cyprian's own
children. Where should he have sent them ex-
cept to me ? I was his * little mother,' you
remember ? "

" But the burden — the trouble — the ex-
pense even — in case he does not send money
enough to maintain them."

" He will, or, if not, I can work," said Dorcas,
calmly. " I do work as it is. It will be merely
keeping the money here instead of sending it."

Here she stopped, blushing so violently that
Miss Waldershare turned her head another

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52 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

way. But she bad only found out a fact long
guessed, that every penny the sister earned and
could spare went out to the poor young couple
in India.

" God bless you, my dear ! If you come for
my advice, it is — just follow your own. But —
Mr. Moffatt?"

** James is a man who always does his duty —
he will never hinder me in doing mine,'* was the
answer, given with much proud confidence.

" Well, and when do your twins arrive ? "

" Cyprian put them on board a merchant-
vessel, in charge of the captain and his wife.
They may arrive any day. Only think — me
with my two babies, my dear little twins !"

" You foolish girl ! and how do you intend to
manage them ? "

" Doesn't somebody — yourself, I think — say
that any woman with common sense and a
motherly heart can soon learn how to manage
a baby ? "

So, caught in her own trap, Miss Walder-
share ceased to look ** severe," and entered
heartily into the joy, almost extinguishing grief,
that filled the heart of Cyprian's ** little mother,"
in having these motherless babies to take care
of. The burden of them — and Miss Walder-
share foresaw how heavy it was likely to be,

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 53

for willing shoulders never lack a weight — was
wholly forgotten in the inexpressible pride and
delight.

So the two spinsters, young and old, made
every preparation for the reception of the
babies, feeling as happy as children with a new
doll. It was foolish, perhaps, but natural, con-
sidering the sort of women they were ; women
whom it often pleases Heaven to make child-
less, if only for the sake of the many children
in this world who are, outwardly, or in reality,
motherless.

And when at last the twins arrived — two
poor little skinny things, with great dark eyes
and brown, wizened faces, not at all like whole-
some English babies — their aunt's pride in
them knew no bounds ; for were they not her
very own flesh and blood — Cyprian's children,
bearing his name ? And as they began to
improve in looks, they were not unlike him —
or she fancied so. Her happiness in them was
something absolutely inexpressible.

And when, after a month or two, the ayah
sailed for India — no slight relief — she took
them entirely under her own charge, and,
despite the forebodings of neighbors and friends,
made a most capital nurse. Instead of dying,
which everybody fully expected, the twins —

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54 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

" Miss Hall's twins," as they were somewhat
oddly called — were, though still brown and
thin, as nice and even as pretty children as any
on the Terrace — nay, in the whole town. Even
old Miss Moffatt was proud of ** our children ; "
and in her second childhood rather enjoyed
having the silent house filled with young voices
and the sound of pattering feet. Especially as,
being thoroughly healthy, happy, and well
cared for, the twins were almost always good.
Their education, begun by their aunt at two
months old, and never intrusted to any one but
herself, was certainly no failure, as many a grave
matron had prognosticated it would be, in
smiling over the proverbial perfection of '* old
maids* children."

** Trouble ? " wrote Dorcas in answer to some
questions of Miss Waldershare's — " the poor
little things are no trouble at all. I never
amuse them — I teach them to amuse themselves.
* Two kittens and a ball of worsted ' — the grand
remedy for low spirits — why my * kittens ' are
far the best, and they never hinder work '*
(the work which she now owned had become
vitally necessary). '' * Auntie busy — must not
interrupt auntie,' they say, settle together in a
corner of my painting-room — their * den ' we
call it, and there they play together for hours.

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 55

I keep an eye — or half an eye — upon them,
and that is all ; they never trouble me. ' They
are such good little children/*

It did occur to Miss Waldershare that a good
nurse generally makes good children, and that
those who complain of unruly ones might often,
if they looked within, find better cause to com-
plain of themselves. But she said nothing.
There is a common but shrewd proverb, **The
proof of the pudding is in the eating,"and certain-
ly no one could see the merry, wholesome, easily
managed children and their contented aunt,
and not feel that, however she did it, she con-
trived to make both them and herself thoroughly
happy, without interfering with the happiness
of anybody else. Even Mr. Moffatt, though at
first a trifle jealous, soon became quite satisfied.
For he saw her satisfied ; with her heart full of
love, and her life full of duties, which, though
not always easy, were always sweet.

And Cyprian ? —

Cyprian's letters — which Miss Waldershare
sometimes got a sight of — were clever and
charming as ever, and became gradually less and
less sad. He was not of the temperament that
grieves eternally, even for a lost wife. And
presently he found plenty of .work to do ; though
it was hard work, and such small pay, Dorcas

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56 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

said, that it was " fortunate " she herself was
able to maintain the twins entirely. Dressed
very plainly, and brought up simply, they were
yet children whom any father might be proud
of ; and so would their father be, she hoped,
when he came home.

" Papa's coming home " — the ideal " papa"
whom the twins were constantly told of, and
. taught to believe in with a passionate admiration,
as soon as their little minds could take in any-
thing — was now the dream of Dorcas's life.

" If I could see him once again ! — give his
children into his arms, and watch him with them
— he used to be so fond of children, and such a
favorite with them, as he was with everybody.
It is very hard for him to be parted from his
pretty twins — many things have been very
hard for him ; but I think all is brightening.
He is much better off now than he was. Poor
Cyprian ! "

In spite of the advancing prosperity, which
showed itself, if not in regular payments, in very
valuable Indian presents to herself and the chil-
dren — she still called him " poor Cyprian ! "
But — it was a curious fact — she never by any
chance called Mr. Moffatt " poor James ! "

No, not though he worked hard and had few
pleasures : his Fellowship barely gave him

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. $7

enough to live on, and the College living still
hung afar off " in the clouds/' But he trusted
Dorcas, and she trusted him ; they wrote con-
stantly, and met occasionally, whenever they
could. And what is it that makes happiness ?
I think, not prosperity ; not even the attainment
of all one wishes, but the power of enjoying
what one has. A clean heart, a quiet conscience,
a loving and faithful soul — these, in spite of
outward circumstances, will create a happy, at
least a not unhappy life. Therefore, I refuse
to consider James Moffatt and Dorcas Hall al-
together miserable.

Miss Waldershare, seeing this, ceased to be
needlessly miserable concerning them. In truth,
as the years slipped by, her restless anxiety over
those she loved somewhat abated. She learned
to trust Heaven a little more, and herself a little
less ; to believe that the Father above would
take care of her dear ones as well as she could
— possibly a little better. Therefore, though
she and Dorcas, tied by many duties, seldom
met face to face, still she rested content about
her friend, until one day, when, to her great
surprise, she got a letter from Cyprian.

** I am not quite easy concerning my sister,"
he wrote ; ** and would be grateful to you to tell
me exactly how she is. She rarely speaks of

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58

HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

herself, but now she owns to being * not strong;'
and is very anxious that I should come home.
Why ? She is young still — we are not thirty
yet** — that half-comical, yet infinitely pathetic
" we *' of twins. ** But if her health is really

failing, what should I do.-* Who would take
care of my children ? I trust to you, her faith-
ful friend, to tell me the exact truth concerning
her."

Which, having exerted all her small strength

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. $9

in a four days* visit to Dorcas, Miss Waldershare
did.

** I do not consider your sister 'failing/ *' was
the letter that went out to Calcutta by the next
mail, " but she is naturally delicate, and she has
had a hard life. Two children to bring up —
first to earn the money, and then to spend it '*
(Miss Waldershare- could be severely candid
when she thought right), ** a feeble old lady to
take charge of, and the anxiety of a doubtful fu-
ture ; being torn in two, as it were — for when
Mr. Moffatt does get the living which is prom-
ised him, and seems very near now, what is she
to do.^ No man likes to enter on married life
burdened with another man's children. Yes,
my dear Cyprian, though not failing now, she
may fail. I do think it would be right and best
for you to come home.'*

Having written thus strongly, and without
delay — for she felt these things ought to be
said, and who was there to say them but her-
self.'* — Miss Waldershare was a long time be-
fore she heard any further ; for shortly afterwards
she fell ill, and lingered weeks and months in
that sort of semi-existence when everything but
the things close at hand seems to grow dim, and
she began to understand clearer how, by and
by, the outside world and all its interests might

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60 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

fade away from her altogether, almost without
pain.

She had been a little surprised that Dorcas
Hall never came to see her, never offered to
come ; though writing regularly, and telling all
the news about everybody, except herself. But
these letters, so sweet and cheerful, as well as
punctual, took away all suspicion that anything
was wrong.

More especially as each letter brought brighter
tidings. Mr. Moffatt had at last got the ex-
pected living in Derbyshire, such a pretty neigh-
borhood, and a prettier parsonage — everything
they could both desire. And Cyprian was com-
ing home — they hoped in time for the marriage.
Also, not alone. The twins would have to wel-
come not only their unknown father, but a step-
mother — young, and, by her letters, very sweet
and good.

This last piece of news Dorcas communicated
by word of mouth, waiting beside Miss Walder-
share at the station, whither, on her way to Bux-
ton Baths, the invalid had begged to be met.
By a battalion, as it turned out — Mr. Moffatt,
Dorcas, and the little twins, now growing quite
big children.

" I have told them they must learn to say
* mamma,* and that they are sure to love her. I

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 6l

was not surprised — indeed I was quite glad,"
she added. " Cyprian needed a wife so much ;
and he has waited a long time."

" Yes, six years is a long time, and men don't
like waiting," said Miss Waldershare, rather
satirically. "There is almost no such thing
as a faithful man "

" Except James," said Dorcas, gently, as she
held out her hand to him with a smile. To the
end of her days Miss Waldershare will never
forget that look and that smile.

Somewhat to her friend's surprise, Dorcas
never referred to the question as to what was to
be done with the twins when the father came
home, or after he went back to India again.
Nor did she speak much of her own future,
scarcely of the future at all. She seemed quite
absorbed in the happy present.

** Only to think, in one week Cyprian will be
at home ! After ten years — ten long, anxious
years. He will look quite middle-aged, I dare
say. I shall hardly know him — or he me.
Oh yes, we shall, — we shall ! And I shall show
him his children, just like what he and I were
in the days when I was his * little mother.' Do
you remember .J*"

Miss Waldershare did remember ; and thought,
irradiated by this wonderful flood of joy, Dorcas,

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62 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

pale and thin as she was, looked almost like the
little Dorcas of the children's tea-party so many
years ago. They spoke of it — and of heaps
of other things — spending a most jnerry hour
together : till at last the train started, and
Miss Waldershare caught her last glimpse of
the little group standing, as they would so soon
stand on Southampton Quay — Dorcas with her
two children, one in each hand — waiting for the
ship with " papa " on board.

After that day, for more than ten days she
heard nothing of the Halls. She thought, per-
haps, they were too happy to remember her,
and, being very suffering herself, was almost
glad. When just making up her mind to write
and say so, in the tenderest and least obtrusive
way, she took up a two-days-old TimeSy and there
read, in that fatal column which we often glance
over so idly — as being no concern of ours —
the " Deaths."

"On the 24th, very suddenly, aged thirty
years. Miss Dorcas Hall."

That same day a letter from James Moffatt,
brief and subdued, full of the quiet grief of one
who knows he has half a lifetime still to work
and to grieve in, explained everything.

People have died of joy, it is said : if any one
ever did so die, it was surely Dorcas Hall.

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER. 63

As they found out afterward, she had been
ailing for some time, but said nothing ; and had
even supported, with a marvellous courage, five
days of killing suspense, when the Indian mail
became overdue ; and there were vague reports
of some terrible disaster having happened in the
Red Sea. But on the sixth day there came a
telegram from Southampton, from Cyprian :
^^ Arrived safe and well ; shall be with you this
evening^

It was too much. Uttering a cry, almost a
shriek of joy, she clasped her hands in thank-
fulness, then put them suddenly to her heart.
In a moment, without a word or moan, with the
smile still on her lips, and the telegram grasped
in her fingers, Dorcas was "away/' She had

" Taken up her crown and gone home,"

according to a sweet childish song — American
and negro — which she was fond of singing to
her little twins. All that day and night it rung
in Miss Waldershare's half-stunned brain,

" She has taken up her crown and gone home,
And the angels are waiting at the door."

But, poor Cyprian. Feeble as she was, the
very next day Miss Waldershare put herself in
the train, and went to see Cyprian.

The terrace looked exactly as usual ; just as

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64 HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

it had done twenty years before, when she
went to the children's tea-party. Old Miss
Moffatt sat at the open window, basking in the
summer sunshine, in her peaceful second child-
hood. There were no Winds down, of course ;
all had happened a week ago ; they had resumed
that old life — Dorcas was quite-t-quite ** away.*'

Miss Waldershare was shown into the draw-
ing-room, where sat writing a tall, handsome
bearded man — farther off a lady, very sweet
looking, was trying to amuse two children — her
children.

" We try to make them happy, and we shall
succeed by and by," said Cyprian, after the first
bitter half-hour. ** They are our own dear
children/'

" And such good children," added Cyprian's
wife. "I never saw such good children."

'* It is all her doing," the father exclaimed.
** You knew what she was, and what she was to
me, even when we were no older than these
twins. They will never forget her — nor I.
She has done everything for me all my life ; and
now when I might have done something for
her—"

" God has done it differently," said Miss
Waldershare, laying her hand on the shoulder
of the big, strong man, who had sunk down

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HIS LITTLE MOTHER.

65

sobbing like a baby. " Be content. He knows
best."

" I believe that. But oh my ' little mother '
— my Mittle mother!'*'

r\w/^

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Digitized by LjOOQ IC

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who did not comprehend nature. There is no mistake about the
author's being a botanist, a lover of nature's accuracies ; she has the
5kill of a collector, as.well as the music of a singer and the eye of a poet."

Published by JOSEPH KNIQHT COMPANY,

X96 SUMMER STREET, BOSTON.

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DAINTY BOOKS OF POETRY.

PIPE AND POUCH. The Smoker's Own Book of Poetry. Com-
piled by Joseph Knight. With Frontispiece illustration in
half-tone. One volume, square i6mo, ornamental cloth binding,
gilt top, $1.25 ; or full Havana colored leather, flexible, round
corners, gilt edges, $2.50.

THE SAME. Large paper Edition. Limited to 250 signed copies.
Printed on Van Gelder hand-made paper, with photogravure
frontispiece from Meissonier's "The Smoker." One volume,
i2mo, uncut edges, net, >3.oo.

Unmistakably for a man, for the man who smokes, is this dainty
book. In size it fits an outside coat pocket ; in color 'tis a tobacco-
leaf green ; and in price, modest. Even the smokmg man who doesn't
care Tor poetry, unless he makes it himself, may teel poetically in-
clined, with his pipe beside the fire, and find in this exhaustive ath-
ology some verselet suited to his tasX:^. — Philadelphia Society.

CAP AND GO>VN. Some College Verse. Chosen by Joseph
LeRoy "Harrison, i volume, square i6mo, white and gold orna-
mental binding, gilt top, $1.25. Full white morocco, $2.50.

The above book, although one of the daintiest and most artistic
publications which has yet been issued, is something more than an or-
nament. It has a distinct literary flavor and includes the best verse
which has appeared in the leading college journals.

A relief to the reader weary with distilling tears from the alembic
of the contemporaneous muse will be f urnisned by ' Cap and Gown.'
Happy, careless, witty, everything but artificial or doleful are its
moods. — The Cnautauquan.

A volume which is full of happy and exuberant youth. — Chris-
tian Register.

OUT OF THE HEART. Poems for Lovers, Young and Old. Se-
lected by John White Chadwick and Annie Hathaway Chadwick.
I volume, square i6mo, $1.25.

FROM QUEEN'S GARDENS. Selected poems of Mrs. Browning,
Jean Ingelow, Adelaide Proctor and others. Edited by Rose
Porter. 1 volume, square i6mo, $1.25.

THE TWO VOICES. Poems of the mountains and the sea. Edited
by John WnitE Chadwick. i volume, square i6mo, >i.25.
All in white cloth binding, with fancy paper sides, gilt edges.

Published by JOSEPH KNIGHT COMPANY,

196 SUMMER STREET, BOSTON.

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Digitized by LjOOQ IC

Digitized by VjOOQ IC

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