Never more to part, Nellie WildwoodNever more to long for the spring.
Never more to part, Nellie WildwoodNever more to long for the spring.
and I thought of Hattie and Jessie and tried to believe that they too were sharing in the comfort and contentment of our fire.
George, who resembled his uncle David, and had much of his skill with the fiddle bow, had brought his violin with him, but when father asked Frank to playMaggie, air ye sleepin', he shook his head, saying, "That's Dave's tune," and his loyalty touched us all.
Quick tears sprang to mother's eyes. She knew all too well that never again would she hear her best-beloved brother touch the strings or join his voice to hers.
It was a moment of sorrow for us all but only for a moment, for Deborah struck up one of the lively "darky pieces" which my father loved so well, and with its jubilant patter young and old returned to smiling.
It must be now in the Kingdom a-comin'In the year of Jubilo!
It must be now in the Kingdom a-comin'In the year of Jubilo!
we shouted, and so translated the words of the song into an expression of our own rejoicing present.
Song after song followed, war chants which renewed my father's military youth, ballads which deepened the shadows in my mother's eyes, and then at last, at my request, she sangThe Rolling Stone, and with a smile at father, we all joined the chorus.
We'll stay on the farm and we'll suffer no lossFor the stone that keeps rolling will gather no moss.
We'll stay on the farm and we'll suffer no lossFor the stone that keeps rolling will gather no moss.
My father was not entirely convinced, but I, surrounded by these farmer folk, hearing from their lips these quaint melodies, responded like some tensely-strung instrument, whose chords are being played upon by searching winds. I acknowledged myself at home and for all time. Beneath my feet lay the rugged country rock of my nativity. It pleased me to discover my mentalcharacteristics striking so deep into this typically American soil.
One by one our guests rose and went away, jocularly saying to my father, "Well, Dick, you've done the right thing at last. It's a comfort to have you so handy. We'll come to dinner often." To me they said, "We'll expect to see more of you, now that the old folks are here."
"This is my home," I repeated.
When we were alone I turned to mother in the spirit of the builder. "Give me another year and I'll make this a homestead worth talking about. My head is full of plans for its improvement."
"It's good enough for me as it is," she protested.
"No, it isn't," I retorted quickly. "Nothing that I can do is good enough for you, but I intend to make you entirely happy if I can."
Here I make an end of this story, here at the close of an epoch of western settlement, here with my father and mother sitting beside me in the light of a tender Thanksgiving, in our new old home and facing a peaceful future. I was thirty-three years of age, and in a certain very real sense this plot of ground, this protecting roof may be taken as the symbols of my hard-earned first success as well as the defiant gages of other necessary battles which I must fight and win.
As I was leaving next day for Chicago, I said, "Mother, what shall I bring you from the city?"
With a shy smile she answered, "There is only one thing more you can bring me,—one thing more that I want."
"What is that?"
"A daughter. I need a daughter—and some grandchildren."
Transcriber's NoteSome inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document has been preserved.Typographical errors corrected in the text:Page 21 McEldowney changed to McIldowneyPage 61 Winneshiek changed to WinnesheikPage 80 Winneshiek changed to WinnesheikPage 80 Winnesheik changed to WinnesheikPage 164 arroya changed to arroyoPage 202 luminious changed to luminousPage 250 Canon changed to CanyonPage 259 missing word "he" insertedPage 270 buffetted changed to buffetedPage 294 maneuvres changed to manoeuvresPage 309 these changed to thosePage 316 turretted changed to turretedPage 328 Douglas changed to DouglassPage 334 gratitud changed to gratitudePage 362 "of" added between "all us"Page 364 unwieldly changed to unwieldyPage 376 Harpers changed to Harper'sPage 378 Proverty changed to PovertyPage 383 gratuitious changed to gratuitousPage 391 Kurd's changed to Hurd'sPage 393 discusssions changed to discussionsPage 410 Harpers changed to Harper'sPage 414 wearyful changed to wearifulPage 418 Harpers changed to Harper'sPage 418 other changed to othersPage 443 Harpers changed to Harper'sPage 448 that changed to than
Transcriber's Note