First Fam'lies of the Sierras Part 27

The schoolmaster pa.s.sed on, and the sad little dreamer arose with difficulty, and pa.s.sed for the last time from the light of the sun.

When the schoolmaster walked by next morning the door stood open. The little girl looked in, and then ran away as if afraid. Did she see with her child vision the face of death? The Schoolmaster, perhaps fearing to compromise his character by any a.s.sociation with this singular being, hurried on after the little girl, and did not turn around or look back till he had set foot over the sill of the little log school-house on the hill. His heart was beating very wildly. He had said nothing, he had heard nothing, he had seen nothing. But somehow the man's heart was beating with a strange terror, and he wanted to turn back and enter the cabin, and speak once more to the lonely little sufferer.

The man called his school to order, however, took off his coat, hung it up behind the door, ran his two hands through his hair, time and again, but failing to pacify himself by this means, called out a little boy, and flogged him soundly.

He afterwards remembered that there was a black cat sitting in the door as he pa.s.sed, quietly was.h.i.+ng her face, yet at the same time looking intently at him out of her green eyes.

The heroes of the world are women. The women, as a rule, have done the great deeds of valor. Men, however, have written the histories and appropriated a great deal indeed to themselves.

I know very well that in a certain kind of noisy heroism man makes a great mark, and instances of valor, even in a quiet way, where man fights his battle alone and in the dark, without the observation or applause of the world, are not wanting. But the great battles, in darkness and disgrace, where death and ignominy waited, the small-great battles, the heart the battle-field, where no friend would come, where no pen should chronicle, these silent fights have been fought and won by women.

Understanding all this I can understand why the Widow chose to bear all the reproof, and let her friend, the refugee, the dreamer, the "Poet,"

live and die unknown and in peace.

The next morning as the Schoolmaster came by, with the little girl sliding up close to his legs, on the opposite side from the cabin, the Widow with a face of unutterable sadness was outside trying to tie a piece of something black to the door-latch.

The man lifted his hat, and came reverently and slowly forward.

There was no need of saying anything now. He understood it all, and after a.s.sisting her in silence to do the office of respect for the dead within, he took the little girl's hand again in his, turned to go, took a few steps forward, and then stopping and turning around, again lifted his hat and said softly to the Widow:

"I will stop at the saloon and send up some of the boys to take charge of the body and prepare it for the grave."

"No," sighed the Widow in a voice that was scarcely heard above the beating of her heart, "No, George," and she came slowly and calmly up to the man and stood there with her white face lifted close into his. "No George, you will go back to the house, and get your mother and your sister to come and help me now at the last. For it is a woman that lies dead there in that little vine-covered cabin."

The woman had kept the woman's secret. She had given her life as it were for the life of another. But now that all was over; the whole story was to be written in the single name on the little granite gravestone. It was the name of NANCY WILLIAMS.

THE END.

PUBLICATIONS OF JANSEN, MCCLURG & CO.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CATON.--A Summer in Norway, with Notes on the Industries, Habits, etc., of the People, the History of the Country, the Climate and Productions, and of the Red Deer, Reindeer, and Elk, by Hon. J. D. Caton, LL.D.

"The tone of the book is frank, almost colloquial, always communicative and leaves a favorable impression both of the intelligence and good nature with which the author pursued his way through unknown wilds. * * They are excellent specimens of terse and graphic composition, presenting a distinct image to the mind, without any superfluous details."--_New York Tribune_.

'The book of travels, which Judge Caton has presented to the public, is of a high order of merit, and sets forth the interesting natural phenomena and popular characteristics of the land of the 'unsetting sun' with great strength and clearness."--_Boston Post._

"He is, as far as we know, the first foreign traveler who has given anything like a correct statement of the nature of the union between Norway and Sweden."--_The Nation._

CHARD.--Across the Sea, and Other Poems. By Thos. S. Chard.

"This little gem of a book is one of the best instances of _multum in parvo_ that has been furnished the reading public in a long time. * * The poetry is of a kind not often seen now-a-days; it is of the soul, and reads as though given by inspiration. * * There is a mysticism in the little book, which reminds us of the 'Lotus Eaters' or 'Festus.'"--_The Alliance._

CLEVELAND.--Landscape Architecture, as applied to the wants of the West; with an Essay on Forest Planting on the Great Plains. By H. W. S.

Cleveland, Landscape Architect.

"My object in these few pages is simply to show that, by whatever name it may be called, the subdivision and arrangement of land for the occupation of civilized men, is an art demanding the exercise of ingenuity, judgment and taste, and one which nearly concerns the interest of real estate proprietors, and the welfare and happiness of all future occupants."--_Extract from Preface._

CRAWFORD.--A Few Thoughts for a Few Friends. By Miss Alice Arnold Crawford.

"There is about these poems an air of trusting faith, of gentle tenderness, as if of one who, soaring upon the confines of a better life, had longed to leave some sweet remembrance here. They stand forth from the way-side of poetic literature like some peaceful chapel robed in ivy, where the dead are strewn with flowers, and the living steal in the shadows of the evening to seek a rest from weariness and pain."--_Inter-Ocean._

FOYE.--Tables for the Determination and Cla.s.sification of Minerals Found in the United States. By James C. Foye, A.M., Professor of Chemistry and Physics, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin.

"Following Dana, our chief American authority, and gathering aid from various distinguished European writers, this brief manual aims to furnish the student with such help as is needed in order to determine and cla.s.sify the minerals of the United States. Some useful hints as to apparatus, and suitable notes upon other matters, precede the tables."--_Journal of Education._

GILES.--Out from the Shadows. A Novel; by Miss Ella A. Giles.

"Miss Giles' first work has had a very large sale, and has attracted the attention of readers and critics throughout the country. Her second book gives evidence of the ripening powers of the auth.o.r.ess, and shows the improvement which she has made as a writer, and a mastery of style and effect which are really uncommon."--_Milwaukee News._

"The characters are all well conceived, and the story is pleasantly written." _Inter-Ocean._

GILES.--Bachelor Ben. A Novel; by Miss Ella A. Giles.

"A story of great descriptive and a.n.a.lytic mastery. * * A master-piece of free and natural handling of human life, and marks a new departure in fiction, in that the hero never marries, and the author has attempted to group the sympathies of readers about an unconventional man."--_Home Journal_ (New York).

"The book is refres.h.i.+ngly guiltless of all superfluous characters. The tone is good throughout. The moral apparent."--_Chicago Times._

HALL.--Poems of the Farm and Fireside. By Eugene J. Hall.

"In vigor and pathos they are certainly equal--we should say superior--to Carleton's Farm Ballads; in humor scarcely inferior to the Biglow Papers."--_Interior._

"There is a n.o.bility of mind even among the toilers of the land too often overlooked, and for this reason we like the flavor of these poems, because they smell of the field and forest, as well as portray the inner life of society at the fireside."--_Pittsburgh Commercial._

HEWITT.--"Our Bible." Three Lectures, delivered at Unity Church, Oak Park, Ill., by Rev. J. O. M. Hewitt.

"This volume is rich in erudition and conspicuously clear in the enunciation of the objections to the orthodox idea of an inspiration which makes it infallible in all particulars."--_Chicago Journal._

LAMARTINE.--Graziella; a Story of Italian Love. Translated from the French of A. De Lamartine by James B. Runnion.

"'Graziella' is a poem in prose. The subject and the treatment are both eminently poetic. * * * It glows with love of the beautiful in all nature. * * * It is pure literature, a perfect story, couched in perfect words. The sentences have the rhythm and flow, the sweetness and tender fancy of the original. It is uniform with 'Memories,' the fifth edition of which has just been published, and it should stand side by side with that on the shelves of every lover of pure, strong thoughts put in pure, strong words. 'Graziella' is a book to be loved."--_Tribune._

MASON.--Mae Madden. A Story; by Mrs. Mary Murdoch Mason, with an introductory poem by Joaquin Miller.