i saw young master admitted to the bar. the court-house was crowded, for an exciting trial was on, but a kind-hearted bailiff let me take a seat wherein i could hear every question asked by the committee of examiners. i knew that he could answer them, and i felt not the slightest fear, but my heart stood still as he tripped over a point almost absurdly simple. i noticed that he had just cast his eyes toward the gallery, and looking that way at the instant of his petty stumble, i beheld a tall and graceful girl, standing with her head leaning against a post, looking at him, and i knew that his divinity had confused him. but he recovered himself, and i saw old master swell with pride and old miss wipe her eyes. i was in hopes that they would give him an opportunity to make a speech after the examination, but there was no occasion for his oratory, so i walked out to wait for him at the door. old master and old miss came out to wait also, not caring to push themselves behind the bar among the lawyers, and indeed too proud to let[pg 205] the neighbors presume that there had been any anxiety concerning the result. presently young master came out with the girl whom i had seen standing in the gallery. the old people shook hands with her when they had shaken hands with him, and upon me the young woman turned her beautiful eyes. "oh, this is your faithful boy," she said, speaking to bob, but looking at me. "i am glad to see him out and looking so well."
she had ridden a horse, but young master requested the favor of taking her home in his buggy. she said that such an arrangement would please her greatly, and her eyes danced with the delight of the thought. i brought the buggy and was told to sit on the shelf seat behind to lead her horse. she bade the old people an affectionate good-bye, and out the turn-pike we drove, along the stretches of red clover and underneath majestic trees. in the distance to her home, three miles or more, there lay a charm, and they did not suffer the spirited horse to trot. the day was warm, the leather curtain raised, and i could hear distinctly the words that passed between them. i could see that he had not more than hinted at his love for her. her beauty dazzled him and made him afraid. he would have talked of books, but she leaped lightly[pg 206] from that subject, and from this i inferred that her mind was not well stored with the knowledge gathered by the busy men of the past. but she was bright and her talk like herself was spirited and pretty, and her observation was minute. she had seen everything about the court-room, an old lawyer with a spot of ink on the sleeve of his linen coat, a tattered book on the floor, a handful of trash swept into a corner.
"the stars shine on all that lies beneath them," said master, a fine tribute to her eyes, i thought; and she must have thought so, too, for she gave him a laugh that rippled like our creek of a morning when the wind is low. but she protested against his gallantry with a sternness that could not have belonged to her light nature, a plea to him to repeat it, which he did. to his ardent nature, frivolity was a foreign commodity upon which a heavy import tax was laid. he could be argumentative, oratorical, gay, serious and bright for hours at a time, but the silly though pretty chatter which our social life is supposed to dash as spray between the masculine and the feminine mind was far beyond him. in nearly all affairs he was too intense for the perfectly balanced mind. and on this day he strove repeatedly to fasten the young woman down to seriousness, that he might estimate her mental strength, i perceived;[pg 207] but she flitted about like a humming bird, no sooner attracted by one flower than allured away by another. still the perfect femininity of her wit, or that which might pass for it, was captivating. a strained and tiresome novelette, now almost forgotten, was then an imported rage, and she had not escaped the infection. she spoke of characters that bob knew nothing of and was surprised at his frank acknowledgment of ignorance.
"a young man of your standing can't afford not to know that character," she said. "society demands it of you, and i believe i would pretend to know," she added, laughing.
"we always meet society's demands when we pretend," he replied. "people don't ask us to know a thing but to assume that we know it and not get caught. i haven't had time to sip negus," he went on after a pause; "i have been too busy with drinking a stronger draught. i sit in the glow of the great books, but pass by the little twinkling lights, for i know that soon they must go out."
"or, in other words," she spoke up, "you tread upon a snow-drop while gazing at a sun-flower."
this remark, and i acknowledge its aptness, was so pleasing to her that she laughed the music of self-compliment; [pg 208]and the lambs in the grass-land lifted their noses out of the sweet tangle of clover to look at her. i was so close that when she leaned back once a wayward wisp of her hair swept across my face, more like a breath than a tangible touch, it was so silken and soft. i studied the almost imperceptible grain of her pink, plush skin, i was so near her, and yet to me she was so strangely unreal. to look upon her surely was a delight, but turning away and shutting my eyes to recall her features, she seemed a memory far off and shadowy. i could have given her a sort of worship, the romantic adoration compelled by a naiad reposing on a moss-bank at the source of a tinkling stream, but i could not have felt for her the surging passion of a human love. there was nothing supernatural in her grace; in her movement there was the soft and unconscious suppression of a cat's agility; and her bosom bespoke a strong instinct of motherhood, and yet to me she was vaguely unnatural. she was wanting in heart.
a powerful love looks upon itself as hopeless; upon it must be thrown that sort of a light, to complete its deliciousness; and i saw that my master's love was powerful, but i could not see that it was hopeless. she might never give him a woman's complete [pg 209]devotion, i argued, for i did not believe that her nature could comprehend his finer forces, but i felt that she would give him her hand and what she supposed to be her heart.
"do you mean to surrender your life wholly to law books?" she asked, giving him a glance in which i could see a charming fear.
"oh, no. to my mind a law book without poetry behind it is a heap of helpless dust. at first i must agree to take almost any case that may chance to come along, but after a while i will scorn all but the causes that admit of an orator's effort."
"oh, that will be lovely!" she cried. "and to think that you entertain yourself and then get pay for it. however, if i were a man, i think i would be a preacher. preachers are nearly always so nice and clean and they say such pretty things to women."
"it was my mother's ambition that i should be a preacher, and i'm sorry now that i did not gratify it," he said.
"oh, charming of you to say so, mr. gradley. you see i don't let such a compliment get away from me. i might have pretended not to see it, and—and i believe i would if i had thought a moment. then i could have made you repeat it. but really it is[pg 210] better for you to be a lawyer than a preacher. you have so much fire. everybody says you are going to make your mark, and when you got into that trouble lately some one said it would ruin you, but father said it wouldn't. he killed a man once. why, people have to kill men who try to kill them, don't they? but we won't talk about that. are you going to the pic-nic over at fletcher's grove?"
"i hadn't thought about it. are you going?"
"i don't know, but i'd like to, ever so much."
"then go with me."
"oh, that would be delightful, and i will be ready when you call for me. do you dance?"
"i think," said he, "that i might have courage enough to rob a stage-coach or to fight a duel in a dark room, but i'm afraid that i couldn't summon the nerve to get out before a number of people and try to dance."
"oh, you wouldn't mind it at all. just as soon as the music strikes up you forget all about yourself. but isn't it dull about here? nothing to do but to sit about and wait. last year i visited an aunt who lives in connecticut, and i had such a nice time. everyone there is so active. but, after all, i was kept angry a good deal over the negro question. i never[pg 211] did get so tired of hearing a subject dinged upon. they hate us and can't help showing it; and they actually believe that one of these days they'll come down here, and, as they express it, turn the negroes loose. they believe we keep them chained together all the time; and that hateful book, 'uncle tom's cabin,' is their bible. have you ever seen it?"
"my uncle brought a copy with him and i read it," bob answered. "i don't care for its principles, whether they are true or false—literature being its own principle—but to me it bears the mark of a political pamphlet that has happened to make a hit, strong with prejudice but hasty and slip-shod in expression. to me there is no art in it, no imagination but all sermon. the characters are unreal, standing in the light of a red fire; they are talking-machines, grinding out music-box melodies, set homilies; but the subject is powerful and the book needs no art to give it force. and many a year will pass before we hear the last of it."
"why, mr. gradley, you can take an interest in light books after all. i was afraid that you were determined to keep yourself chained to the venerable masters of—of—what shall i say?—venerable masters of profound thought. that will do, won't it?"
[pg 212]
"very appropriate, i assure you, but 'uncle tom's cabin' can scarcely be classed as a light book. it comes in a light garb but its nature is most serious."
the horse shied at a piece of paper fluttering in the road, and with a little scream she seized the lines. he asked her if she would give them back when she should find that no longer was there any danger, and laughing rhythmically and with blushes she returned the lines to him.
"no, apology and no embarrassment," said he. "it came of woman's instinctive sense of protection, of her responsibility at a time of peril."
"now you are making fun of me, mr. gradley. oh, boy (turning to look at me). what's his name? dan? oh, yes. how's my horse coming on, dan? well, for pity's sake, if he hasn't turned him loose."
the horse was grazing some distance down the road, and without waiting to beg pardon for my stupid neglect of the charge intrusted to me, i jumped down to run after him. master and the young woman did not wait for me, but drove to miss potter's home, now but a short distance away. as i came up leading the horse toward the gate, where master and miss potter were standing, old man potter came walking out. he was effusive in his welcome, swearing upon his life[pg 213] that never was he gladder to see a man. "ah," he said, looking at me, "and this here is the boy that we all have heard such a good report about. a likely young feller, mr. gradley, and i don't reckon you'd care to sell him."
"no, sir," said bob, assuming to be gentle but looking his contempt for the coarse old fellow. but mr. potter could interpret no looks of contempt; he was too busy surveying me from head to foot.
"yes, reckon you do think a good deal of him, and i wouldn't wonder but it would take a right putty piece of money to buy him."
"i could not be induced to part with him, sir," master replied.
"yes, sir, got a right to think a good deal of him. goin' to learn him any sort of trade? strong enough to make a good blacksmith. owned one about like him once. swapped him for a woman and a child."
"why, father," the daughter spoke up, "dan is mr. gradley's body servant."
"yes, i know," said the old fellow, his cold and speculative eye still bent upon me, "but it wouldn't be out of the way to learn him how to do something. comes in mighty handy sometimes and we never can tell what mout happen."
[pg 214]
the girl winced at the word "mout," unmistakable symbol of the white trash, and smiling to cut a blush in two, she said: "you observe, mr. gradley, that father doesn't care how he talks. he fell into the habit of imitating a queer old fellow who lived near us and now he does it unintentionally. let us go into the house?"
"yes, come on," old potter joined in. "jest as cheap inside as out, and it ain't as tiresome settin' as standin'. boy, (giving his eye to me again) go round to the kitchen and tell them to give you something to eat."
"we haven't time to stop," bob interposed. "we expect several friends at dinner, and—"
"jest as well eat a snack with us," the old fellow broke in. "jest as cheap and it won't take nigh so long. i reckon i've got as fine a piece of mutton as you ever set your teeth on—sheep that i didn't want to part with but an infernal dog came along this morning and grabbed him and cut his throat as slick as a whistle—and we know how to cook mutton at our house. come on."
he continued to urge his hospitality, and to praise the sheep that had been killed by a dog, and the girl pleaded with her eyes; and i thought that bob would[pg 215] waver, he smiled so and bowed so many times, but in the end he was firm, and bade me turn the buggy around. even then, with his foot on the step, he lingered to speak another word, though never seeming to utter what came into his mind. at last we drove away, and the moment my back was turned, the girl was only a shadow lying across my memory; and it worried me. i could look at as delicate a thing as a flower and in my mind could reproduce its form and its hue, but that woman was a blur to her own image.
