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Elsie's New Relations by Martha Finley

M >> Martha Finley >> Elsie\'s New Relations




"But I do," persisted Lulu. "Of course I wouldn't have a bird killed on
purpose, but after they are killed I might just as well have one."

"But do you not see," said Grandma Elsie, "that if every one would refuse
to buy them, the cruel business of killing them would soon cease? and that
it will go on as long as people continue to buy and wear them?"

"I don't care, I want one," pouted Lulu. "Papa, can't I have it?"

"No, you cannot," he said with grave displeasure. "I am sorry to see that
you can be so heartless. You can have just whatever Grandma Elsie and
Mamma Vi think best for you, and with that you must be content."

Lulu was silenced, but for the rest of the evening her face wore an ugly
scowl.

"My little girl is growing sleepy," the captain said presently to Gracie.
"Papa will carry you over home and put you to bed. Lulu, you may come
too."

"I don't want to, papa, I----" she began; but he silenced her with a look.

"Bid good-night to our friends and come," he said. "You also, Max."

Max, though surprised at the order, obeyed with cheerful alacrity in
strong contrast to Lulu's sullen and reluctant compliance, which said as
plainly as words that she would rebel if she dared.

"I don't see why papa makes us come away so soon," she grumbled to her
brother in an undertone, as they passed from one cottage to the other,
their father a little in advance.

"He must have some good reason," said Max, "and I for one am willing
enough to obey him, seeing it's such a little while I'll have the chance."

They had now reached the veranda of their own cottage.

"Come in quickly out of this cold wind, children," their father said; then
as he closed the outer door after them, "Run into the parlor and get
thoroughly warm before going up to your rooms."

He sat down by the stove with Grace on his knee, and bade the other two
draw up close to it and him, one on each side. And when they had done so,
"My three dear children," he said in tender tones, glancing from one to
another, "no words can tell how much I love you. Will you all think very
often of papa and follow him with your prayers when he is far away on the
sea?"

"Oh, yes, yes, papa!" they all said with tears in their eyes, while Gracie
put her small arms round his neck. Lulu rested her head on his shoulder,
and Max took a hand and pressed it in both of his.

"Papa, you will think of us, too?" he said inquiringly.

"Yes, indeed, my darlings; you will never be long out of my mind, and
nothing will make me happier than to hear that you are well and doing your
duty faithfully."

"I shall try very hard, papa," Max said, with affectionate look and tone,
"if it is only to please you and make your heart glad."

"Thank you, my son," his father replied, "but I hope a still stronger
motive will be that you may please God and honor Him. Never forget, my
children, that though your earthly father may be far away and know nothing
of your conduct, God's all-seeing eye is ever upon you."

A half hour had passed very quickly and delightfully to the children, when
at length, seeing Gracie's eyelids begin to droop, their father said it
was time for him to carry her up to bed.

"Shall we stay here till you come down again, papa?" asked Max.

"No; you and Lulu may go to bed now."

"Then good-night, papa."

"No, you need not bid me good-night yet," the captain said. "I shall see
you both in your rooms before you are asleep."

"Well, Lu, are you sorry now that papa made you come home so soon?" asked
Max, as they went up-stairs together.

"No, indeed! Haven't we had a nice time, Max? Oh, if only we could keep
papa all the time!"

"I wish we could," said Max. "But we won't have so hard a time as we've
had for the last two years whenever he was away."

They had reached the door of Lulu's room. "Max," she said, turning to him
as with a sudden thought, "what do you suppose papa is coming to our rooms
for?"

"What do _you_ suppose? have you done anything you ought to be punished
for?" asked Max, a little mischievously. "I thought you looked very cross
and rebellious about the hat and about having to come home so soon. I'm
very sure, from what I've heard of Grandpa Dinsmore's strictness, that if
you were his child you'd get a whipping for it."

Lulu looked frightened.

"But, Max, you don't think papa means to punish me for that, do you? He
has been so kind and pleasant since," she said, with a slight tremble in
her voice.

"You'll find out when he comes," laughed Max. "Good-night," and he
hastened away to his own room.

A guilty conscience made Lulu very uneasy as she hurried through her
preparations for bed, and as she heard her father's step approach the door
she grew quite frightened.

He came in and closed it after him. Lulu was standing in her night-dress,
just ready for bed. He caught up a heavy shawl, wrapped it about her, and
seating himself lifted her to his knee.

"Why, how you are trembling!" he exclaimed. "What is the matter?"

"O papa! are you--are you going to punish me for being so naughty this
evening?" she asked, hanging her head while her cheeks grew red.

"That was not my intention in coming in here," he said. "But, Lulu, your
wilfulness is a cause of great anxiety to me. I hardly know what to do
with you. I am very loath to burden our kind friends--Grandpa Dinsmore and
Grandma Elsie--with so rebellious and unmanageable a child, for it will be
painful to them to be severe with you, and yet I see that you will compel
them to it."

"I won't be punished by anybody but you! Nobody else has a right!" burst
out Lulu.

"Yes, my child, I have given them the right, and the only way for you to
escape punishment is not to deserve it. And if you prove too troublesome
for them, you are to be sent to a boarding-school, and that, you will
understand, involves separation from Max and Gracie, and life among total
strangers."

"Papa, you wouldn't, you couldn't be so cruel!" she said, bursting into
tears and hiding her face on his breast.

"I hope you will not be so cruel to yourself as to make it necessary," he
said. "I have fondly hoped you were improving, but your conduct to-night
shows me that you are still a self-willed, rebellious child."

"Well, papa, I've wanted a bird on my hat for ever so long, and I believe
you would have let me have it, too, if Mamma Vi and Grandma Elsie hadn't
said that."

"I shouldn't let you have it, if they were both in favor of it," he said
severely.

"Why, papa?"

"Because of the cruelty it would encourage. And now, Lucilla, I want you
to reflect how very kind it is in Grandpa Dinsmore and Grandma Elsie to be
willing to take my children in and share with them their own delightful
home. You have not the slightest claim upon their kindness, and very few
people in their case would have made such an offer. I really feel almost
ashamed to accept so much without being able to make some return, even if
I knew my children would all behave as dutifully and gratefully as
possible. And knowing how likely your conduct is to be the exact reverse
of that, I can hardly reconcile it to my conscience to let you go with
them to Ion. I am afraid I ought to place you in a boarding-school at
once, before I am ordered away."

"O papa, don't!" she begged. "I'll try to behave better."

"You must promise more than that," he said; "promise me that you will
yield to the authority of your mamma and her mother and grandfather as if
it were mine; obeying their orders and submitting to any punishment they
may see fit to inflict, just as if it were my act."

"Papa, have you said they might punish me?" she asked, with a look of
wounded pride.

"Yes; I have full confidence in their wisdom and kindness. I know they
will not abuse the authority I give them, and I have told them they may
use any measures with my children that they would with their own in the
same circumstances. Are you ready to give the promise I require?"

"Papa, it is too hard!"

"The choice is between that and being sent to boarding-school."

"Oh, it's so hard!" she sobbed.

"Not hard at all if you choose to be good," her father said. "In that case
you will have a delightful life at Ion. Do you make the promise?"

"Yes, sir," she said, as if the words were wrung from her, then hid her
face on his breast again and cried bitterly.

"My little daughter, these are tears of pride and stubbornness," sighed
her father, passing his hand caressingly over her hair, "and you will
never be happy until those evil passions are cast out of your heart. They
are foes which you must fight and conquer by the help of Him who is mighty
to save, or they will cost you the loss of your soul. Any sin unrepented
of and unforsaken will drag you down to eternal death; for the Bible says,
'Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.'"

"Papa," she said, "you are the only person God commands me to obey, and
I'm willing to do that."

"No, it seems not, when my command is that you obey some one else. My
little girl, you need something that I cannot give you; and that is a
change of heart. Go to Jesus for it, daughter; ask Him to wash away all
your sins in His precious blood and to create in you a clean heart and
renew a right spirit within you. He is able and willing to do it, for He
says, 'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' We will kneel
down and ask Him now."

"Papa, I do love you so, I love you dearly, and I _will_ try to be a
better girl," Lulu said, clasping her arms tightly about his neck, as,
having laid her in her bed, he bent down to kiss her good-night.

"I hope so, my darling," he said; "nothing could make me happier than to
know you to be a truly good child, trying to live right that you may
please the dear Saviour who died that you might live."

Max, lying in his bed, was just saying to himself, "I wonder what keeps
papa so long," when he heard his step on the stairs.

"Are you awake, Max?" the captain asked, as he opened the door and came
in.

"Yes, sir," was the cheerful response; "it's early, you know, papa, and
I'm not at all sleepy."

"That is well, for I want a little talk with you," said his father,
sitting down on the side of the bed and taking Max's hand in his.

The talk was on the sin of profanity. Max was told to repeat the third
commandment, then his father called his attention to the words, "The Lord
will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."

"It is a dreadful and dangerous sin, my son," he said; "a most foolish
sin, too, for there is absolutely nothing to be gained by it; and the
meanest of sins, for what can be meaner than to abuse Him to whom we owe
our being and every blessing we enjoy?"

"Yes, papa, and I--I've done it a good many times. Do you think God will
ever forgive me?" Max asked in trembling tones.

"'He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.' 'I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy
transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins,'"
quoted the captain.

"Yes, my son, if you are truly sorry for your sins because committed
against God, and confess them with the determination to forsake them,
asking forgiveness and help to overcome the evil of your nature, for
Jesus' sake, it will be granted you. 'The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son,
cleanseth us from all sin.'"




CHAPTER IV.

"No day discolored with domestic strife,
No jealousy, but mutual truth believ'd,
Secure repose and kindness undeceiv'd."
--Dryden.


They were a bright and cheery company in the other house. They had divided
into groups. Mrs. Elsie Travilla sat in a low rocking-chair, between her
father and his wife, with her little grandson on her lap. She doated on
the babe, and was often to be seen with it in her arms. She was now
calling her father's attention to its beauty, and talking of the time when
its mother was an infant, her own precious darling.

On a sofa on the farther side of the room the two sisters, Elsie and
Violet, sat side by side, cosily chatting of things past and present,
while a little removed from them Lester, Edward and Zoe formed another
group.

The two gentlemen were in animated conversation, to which Zoe was a silent
and absorbed listener, especially when her husband spoke; eagerly drinking
in every word that fell from his lips; her face glowing, her eyes
sparkling with proud delight.

"Look at Zoe; Ned certainly has one devoted admirer," remarked Elsie,
regarding her young sister-in-law with a pleased yet half-amused smile.

"Yes," said Violet, "he is a perfect oracle in her esteem; and I believe
everything she does is right in his eyes; indeed, their mutual devotion is
a pretty thing to see. They are scarcely ever apart."

"Don't you think your husband an oracle?" asked Elsie, with a quizzical
look.

"So you have found that out already, have you?" laughed Violet. "Yes, I
do, but then he is wiser than our Ned, you know. Tell me now, don't you
admire him? don't you think him worthy of all honor?"

"I do, indeed, and am proud to have him for a brother-in-law," Elsie said
with earnest sincerity; "but," she added with a smile, "I prefer Lester
for a husband."

"Yes, of course, but Levis is the best of husbands--of fathers, too."

"Rather more strict and stern than ours was, is he not?"

"Yes, but not more so than necessary with a child of Lulu's peculiar
disposition."

"Ah, Vi, I pity you for being a stepmother," Elsie said, with a
compassionate look at her sister.

"You needn't," returned Violet quickly.

"Lulu is the only one of the three that gives me any anxiety or trouble,
and to be Captain Raymond's wife more than compensates for that."

"I suppose so. And Gracie is a dear little thing."

"Yes, she's a darling. And Max is a noble fellow. I hope he will make just
such a man as his father. Don't you think he resembles the captain in
looks?"

"Yes, and I notice he is very chivalrous in his manner toward his young
stepmother."

"Yes," Violet said, with a happy smile, "and more or less to all ladies;
but especially those of this family. He is like his father in that. Zoe
is, I think, a particular favorite with him."

Evidently Zoe had overheard the remark, for she turned in their direction
with a bright look and smile; then springing up came quickly toward them,
and taking possession of a low chair near at hand, "Was it Max you were
talking of, Violet?" she said. "Yes, indeed, I am fond of him. I think
he's a splendid boy. But what was wrong with him to-night?"

"Nothing, so far as I know," said Violet "Why do you think there was?"

"Because he was so unusually quiet; and then his father took him away so
early. Ah, here comes the captain now," as the door opened and Captain
Raymond entered; "so I'll go away and let you have him to yourself."

"You needn't," said Violet, but Zoe was already by Edward's side again.

Elsie, too, rose and went to her mother to ask if she were not weary of
holding the babe.

Violet looked up a little anxiously into her husband's face as she made
room for him on the sofa by her side. "Is anything wrong with the
children, Levis?" she asked in an undertone.

"No, love," he said; "I took them away early that I might have a little
serious talk with the older two. You know I shall not long be afforded the
opportunity."

"But you look troubled," she said, in tenderly sympathizing accents. "May
I not share your care or sorrow, whatever it is?"

"I would rather share only joys and blessings with you, dearest, and keep
the cares and burdens to myself," he answered, smiling lovingly upon her,
and pressing with affectionate warmth the little hand she had placed in
his.

"No, I can't consent to that," she said. "I consider it one of my precious
privileges to be allowed to share your burdens and anxieties. Won't you
tell me what troubles you?"

"It is nothing new, little wife," he answered cheerfully; "but I am
doubting whether I do right to give your mother and grandfather so
troublesome a charge as Lulu. She is almost certain to be wilful and
rebellious occasionally, if not oftener."

Mrs. Travilla had resigned the babe to its mother, and was now standing
near the sofa where the captain and Violet sat.

"Mamma," said the latter, turning to her, "my husband is making himself
miserable with the fear that Lulu will prove too troublesome to you and
grandpa."

"Please do not, captain," Elsie said brightly, accepting the easy-chair he
hastened to bring forward for her. "Why should I not have a little trouble
as well as other people? Lulu is an attractive child to me, very bright
and original, a little headstrong, perhaps, but I shall lay siege to her
heart and try to rule her through her affections."

"I think that will be the better plan," he said, the look of care lifting
from his brow; "she is a warm-hearted child, and more easily led than
driven. But she is sometimes very impertinent, and I would by no means
have her indulged in that. I wish you would promise me never to let it
pass without punishment. She must be taught respect for authority and for
her superiors."

Elsie's face had grown very grave while he was speaking. "What punishment
do you prescribe?" she asked. "The child is yours."

"That should depend upon the heinousness of the offence," he replied. "I
can only say, please treat her exactly as if she were your own."

Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore now joined them, and the question what studies the
children should pursue during the coming winter was discussed and settled.
Then the captain spoke of reading matter, asked advice in regard to
suitable books and periodicals, and begged his friends to have a careful
oversight of all the mental food of his children.

"You could not intrust that matter to a more wise and capable person than
papa," Elsie said, with an affectionate, smiling look at her father. "I
well remember how strict he was with me in my childhood; novels were
coveted but forbidden sweets."

"You must have been glad when you were old enough to read them, mamma,"
remarked Zoe, joining the circle.

"You read far too many, my little woman," said Mr. Dinsmore, pinching her
rosy cheek. "If I were Edward, I should curtail the supply, and try to
cultivate a taste for something better."

"But I'm a married woman and sha'n't submit to being treated like a child,
grandpa," she said, with a little pout and a toss of her pretty head.

"Not even by me?" asked Edward, leaning down over her as he stood behind
her chair.

"No, not even by you," she returned saucily, looking up into his face with
laughing eyes. "I'm your wife, sir, not your child."

"Both, I should say," laughed Edward. "I remember that I was considered a
mere child at your age. And whatever you are you belong to me, don't you?"

"Yes; and you to me just as much," she retorted, and at that there was a
general laugh.

The captain had said nothing of the objectionable reading matter found in
his children's hands that day, but when alone with Violet in their own
room, he told her all about it, blaming himself severely for not having
been so watchful over them as he ought, and expressing his distress over
the discovery that Max had sometimes been guilty of profanity.

"I do not know whether it has become a habit with him," he said, "but, my
dear, I beg of you to watch him closely when I am away, and if he is ever
known to offend in that way, see that he is properly punished."

"But how, Levis?" she asked, with a troubled look. "I don't know what I
can do but talk seriously to him about the wickedness of it."

"I hope you will do that, my dear. I have no doubt it would have an
excellent effect, for he loves and admires you greatly. But let him be
punished by being separated, for at least a week, from the rest of the
family, as unworthy to associate with them."

"Oh, that would be very hard, very humiliating for a proud, sensitive,
affectionate boy like Max!" she exclaimed. "May we not be a little more
lenient toward him?" and she looked up pleadingly into her husband's face.

"No," he said with decision; "but I strongly hope there will be no
occasion for such punishment, as he seems sincerely penitent and quite
determined not to offend in that way again. I really think my boy wants to
do right, but he is a heedless, thoughtless fellow, often going wrong from
mere carelessness and forgetfulness. But he must be taught to think and to
remember."

"I wish he could have his father's constant care and control," sighed
Violet.

"I wish he could indeed!" responded the captain; "but principally because
I fear he will prove a care and trouble to your grandfather and mother,
who, I am inclined to think, are more capable than I of giving him proper
training. I shall go away feeling easier in regard to my children's
welfare than I ever have before since they lost their mother."

"I am very glad of that, Levis," Violet said, her eyes shining with
pleasure, "and I do believe they will have a happy life at Ion."

"It will certainly be their own fault if they do not," he replied.

* * * * *

Rose Travilla was somewhat less amiable in disposition than her mother and
older sisters, and had been much disgusted with Lulu's exhibition of
temper that evening.

Talking with her mother afterward in her dressing-room, "Mamma," she said,
"I wish you hadn't offered to let Lulu Raymond live with us at Ion. I
don't at all like the way she behaves, and I wish you and grandpa would
tell her father to send her off to boarding-school."

"That is an unkind wish, Rose," said her mother. "Perhaps if you had had
the same treatment Lulu has been subjected to since her mother's death,
you might have shown as bad a temper as hers. Haven't you some pity for
the little girl, when you reflect that she is motherless?"

"I don't think she could have a sweeter mother than our Vi," was the
unexpected rejoinder. "But she doesn't appreciate her in the least," Rose
went on, "but seems always on the watch against any effort on Vi's part to
control her."

"She seems to be naturally impatient of control by whomsoever exerted,"
Mrs. Travilla said, "but we will hope to see her improve in that respect,
and you must set her a good example, Rose.

"And I want you to think how sad it would be for her to be parted from the
brother and sister she loves so dearly and sent away alone to
boarding-school. I shall never forget how alarmed and distressed I was
when your grandpa threatened me with one."

"Did he, mamma?" asked Rosie, opening her eyes very wide with surprise.

"Yes, he was very much displeased with me at the time," her mother said
with a sigh. "But we will not talk about it; the recollection is very
painful to me."

"No, mamma; but I cannot get over my astonishment, for I thought you were
never naughty, even when you were a little child."

"Quite a mistake, Rosie; I had my naughty times as well as other
children," Mrs. Travilla said, smiling at Rosie's bewildered look. "But
now I want you to promise me, my child, that you will be kind and
forbearing toward poor little motherless Lulu."

"Well, mamma, to please you I will; but I hope she won't try me too much
by impertinence to you or Violet. I don't think I can stand it if she
does.

"Try to win her love, Rosie, and then you may be able to influence her
strongly for good."

"I don't know how to begin, mamma."

"Force your thoughts to dwell on the good points in her character, and
think compassionately of the respects in which she is less fortunate than
yourself, and you will soon find a feeling of love toward her springing up
in your heart; and love begets love. Do her some kindness, daughter, and
that will help you to love her and to gain her love."

"Well, mamma, I shall try if only to please you. But do tell me, did
grandpa punish you very severely when you were naughty?"

"His punishment was seldom anything more severe than the gentle rebuke, 'I
am not pleased with you,' but I think I felt it more than many a child
would a whipping; I did so dearly love my father that his displeasure was
terrible to me."

"Yes, I know you and he love each other dearly yet, and he often says you
were a very good, conscientious little girl."

"But to return to Lulu," said Mrs. Travilla, "I had thought she would be a
nice companion for you, and until this evening I have not seen her show
any naughty temper since the first week she was here."

"No, mamma, she has been quite well-behaved, I believe, and perhaps she
will prove a pleasant companion. I am sorry for her, too, because she
hasn't a dear, wise, kind mother like mine," Rosie added, putting her
arms about her mother's neck, "and because the father, I am sure she loves
very much, must soon go away and leave her."




CHAPTER V.

"Farewell, God knows when we shall meet again."
--Shakespeare.


The next morning the captain and Max were out together on the beach before
Violet and the little girls had left their rooms. The lad liked to be
alone with his father sometimes. He had always been proud and fond of him,
and the past few months of constant intercourse had greatly strengthened
the bonds of affection between them. The boy's heart was sore at thought
of the parting that must soon come, the captain's hardly less so. He
talked very kindly with his son, urging him to make the best use of his
time, talents and opportunities, and grow up to be a good, honorable and
useful man.

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