Part 7 (1/2)
Frowam, into which Rodney Allison had been thrust by his captor, to the little home in Charlottesville the distance was more than three hundred miles, as the crow flies, and , threading the winding forest trails, wading and swi the hts sped across like a flash of dawn
He lifted his head--his surroundings had, for the moment, cast the spell of despair on him--and looked out He seemed to see, not the woods that hee, but his huinia Poor and shabby outside, inside, the ”living” room was as neat as soap and water and sand and plenty of scrubbing could ed He could see, ”in his mind's eye,” the faces of his mother, and Mam, and Thello; fancied he could hear the whinny hich Nat always greeted his entrance to the stable He i He knew Thello's forehead rinkled, as alorking, that Ma a melody, and his mother's face was anxious He could not know that she stood by thelooking out toward theof him and his father; nor could he see black Saive to the ”Missus” a letter, dingy and worn by its long journey across the ocean, the negro scraping and bowing as he did so
Sa: ”Squar, he says, 'Saht smart to Missus Allison wid my bes' respec's She'll be wantin'
ter read it' Spec's it's fro”
”Thank you, Sam The squire is indeed kind, and you will say that Mrs
Allison thanks him for his kindness”
”Yass'm”
To most people the arrival of any letter was an important event in those days, especially one fro vessel at best Moreover, at that time, there was only a weekly , unless sent by special er, and then on to its destination by any chance carrier, each person along the route being helpful in forwarding it
So it was not surprising that Mrs Allison eagerly opened the letter, breaking what she recognized as the Danesford seal
The ink on that letter has di years, but ti, for Lisbeth's innate grace was soh the quill pen to the neat, clear characters fashi+oned by her hand The reading of it, too, will assist the reader to a better understanding of the girl and the conditions surrounding her, and Lisbeth was a girl worth knowing, though she may yet need excuses, and those will be the
”DEAR AUNT HARRIET:--I know you keep promises and so I address you as 'aunt' I'm sure you remember one day when I came to you in tears I didn't often coet how lonely, just because it suddenly occurred to irls had ed to me You took me in your ar how nice it would be to have a little girl for a niece, and I went ho you had wanted ot a real aunt now, Aunt Mogridge, and solad it is so I' that, and would scratch it out only I somehoant you to kno I feel She is just as kind as any aunt could be, but, well, she doesn't care for the things I do, and--vice versa, as the books say Nohile I'limpse of the Old Doe is sighing because she can't have a new dress for Lady D----'s to-ht not to, because there is to be a real live duke there I have h I suppose there are various kinds
”What wouldn't I give, this dismal afternoon, to jump on the back of Moleskin and ride like the wind and hear sole behind, his black face turned white with fear lest I fall off! Instead I've been listening to old Lady Brendon retail the latest gossip She's a wheezy old lady, so fat her chairmen's faces always shi+ne with perspiration, and all she cares about is the latest gossip: 'Lord So-and-So has wagered his last farthing at White's or the Chocolate House,' until I want to say, like black Susan, 'Jolly fuss!' You should have heard Aunt Mogridge tell Lady Brendon about what a rich man papa is I used to think, to hear him talk, that if the crops failed he'd never be able to pay his debts
”I saw the king at the theatre the other night He looks just like some of the German farmers papa and I saw in Pennsylvania
They say he is very pious, and frowns on gadom, and that he is deter He doesn't look as though he'd exactly kno You should have heard hih over a little silly joke, when one of the actors sat in a chair on a make-believe baby and a ventriloquist squalled just like a baby But they says he's obstinate and the colonies can't make him yield to their demands
”People here think just as dear papa does, that England has helped fight the battles of the colonies and protect the arms in the colonies--and that they should help pay the taxes
”It's all too profound for nified young lady Indeed aunt is planning to have me introduced at court
”Ito be
It's partly Aunt Mogridge's fault Anything with a title she loves and, though she deplores the way young inia, thank Heaven--hasn't much money to squander, she boasts of his losses at 'hazard' to Lord nobury
”He was the first specimen, nobury, I mean, that I met I hadn't been at aunt's more than a day before he called I'd been awfully seasick on the voyage and the sight of hiht on another attack It see my praises to him before I arrived Well, he bowed very low and, had he reht have liked hieous; a coat of creaold es, shoes with gold buckles and the lace at his wrists and neck was so fine I was actually envious
”He began to talk right away about the theatres Of course I was so ignorant of it all that I could only listen He said I must see Garrick at the Drury Lane and I hope I may
”The little 'h heels and has his hair done up high in front You ought to see the wonderful and fearful things they do with their hair, both ladies and gentle about the theatres, though of course I had read about them at home, he seemed at a loss what to talk about, and his face looked so blank and pasty I wished old Doctor Atterbury could have been there to prescribe for his liver
”I turned the conversation to horses by telling hiht those in the Old Doland and then went on to tell hiainst orders and how he ran aithof Squire Dupont's hounds The little lord declared with a sinal Indian princess
I asked hiered his little sword; a sword on such as heBut here a on about lords and ladies when I hate the sound of their nainia where the sunshi+ne isn't strained through fog and the logs burning in the big fireplaces, are fragrant and cheerful