The Tragedy of Wild River Valley Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  It was near sunset of a lovely June day. An hour earlier Dr. Jasper hadinvited his wife to drive with him a few miles into the country,whither professional duties summoned him. These had been attended to,and they were travelling toward their home in Prairieville again.

  Their way lay along the bank of the river, which in this part of itscourse moved with majestic quiet, reflecting in its clear depths thebeautiful blue of the sky overhead, the glories of the sunset clouds,and the overshadowing trees on the hither shore. On the opposite bank astretch of white sand, a few feet in width, bordered green fields andmeadows, beyond which rose richly wooded hills.

  "It is a beautiful country," remarked Mrs. Jasper, in her soft, girlishtones. "But where now?" as horse and gig took a sudden turn in awesterly direction; "this is not the direct route home."

  "To Lakeside, my dear," replied her husband.

  "That is where the Heaths reside, isn't it?"

  "Yes; and a very attractive place it is; I want you to see it."

  "But, doctor, Miss Heath has not called upon me."

  He gave her a half-reproachful, half-humorous look. "So I am yourdoctor? nothing nearer or dearer, eh, Serena?" he said, dropping thereins on his horse's neck and bending down to look into hereyes--large, soft, dark-brown orbs shaded by heavy silken lashes.

  She was a handsome brunette, and so youthful in appearance that fewwould have taken her to be the mother of the three-year-old boy seatedon a stool between them.

  "You is my new papa, and me 'ikes you," remarked that young gentleman,rising hastily to his feet, with the evident intention of bestowing ahug upon the person addressed.

  "Sit still, Perry; you'll fall out of the gig and be killed," said hismother, putting a hand on his shoulder and forcing him down again."Alonzo, do make him behave."

  "He's going to do that of his own free will," replied the doctor,smiling down upon the little prattler. "You know you must keep quiet,my little man, if you want to ride with your mamma and me."

  "Miss Heath has not called upon me yet, Alonzo," repeated Serena, "andit is not according to the rules of etiquette for me to go there beforeshe does."

  "Ah, no matter for that, my love, since her failure to do so has notbeen for want of will, but of ability; and to please me and poorRonald, you will consent to waive ceremony in this instance, I am sure."

  "How want of ability?" she asked, with a slight pout of the full redlips; "what has there been to prevent her? 'Tis over a week since wecame to Prairieville, and the weather has been charming."

  "Yes, I know; but Miriam Heath's life is a very busy one; she is a girlin a thousand. Why, my dear, since her mother's death, two years ago,she has actually carried on the farming herself; and she is onlytwenty-one, scarce a year older than her brave soldier brother."

  "A woman farmer! odious! She must be a coarse, vulgar creature. How canyou want me to visit her, Alonzo?"

  "My dear Serena, you were never more mistaken," he said, warmly. "MissHeath is as refined and ladylike as any woman of my acquaintance."

  "That doesn't seem possible if she works in the field like a man."

  He smiled. "It is the head work she does--overseeing anddirecting--while the actual hard labor, ploughing, sowing, reaping,foddering the cattle, and so forth, is done by hired men."

  We will put in a few words the story of the Heath family, which thedoctor proceeded to tell his wife.

  The parents of Miriam and Ronald were persons of education andrefinement, native-born Americans, who shortly after their marriage hadsought a home in this Northwestern State, locating themselves on thebanks of one of those pretty little lakes so common in that region ofcountry, and within a mile of the village of Prairieville.

  When the War of the Rebellion broke out Mr. Heath was one of the firstto volunteer for the defence of the imperilled Union, while his wife,equally full of patriotic zeal, undertook to fill his place at home inoverseeing and directing operations upon their farm.

  In this she proved herself most efficient and capable; fields, orchard,and garden flourished under her sway, cattle increased in numbers andgrew sleek and fat.

  In the second year of the war her husband came home sick and wounded,to die in her arms. His eldest son, a lad of eighteen, then enlisted inthe Union army, and when, a few months later, Mrs. Heath followed herhusband to the grave, Miriam assumed the whole burden laid down by hermother--the superintendence of the farm, and, with the assistance ofher grandmother, the care of the house and of a little brother andsister many years younger than herself and Ronald.

  Serena listened to the tale with interest about equally divided betweenit and the beauties of the landscape.

  For the first quarter of a mile the road made a gradual ascent; thenthe home of the Heaths came into view--a comfortable and tastefuldwelling, on the hither side of the pretty sheet of water from which ittook its name. A grove of forest trees half hid the house from sight asthey approached, but passing that, vine-wreathed porches, lawn, andflower-garden in the foreground, and the rippling, sparkling waters ofthe lake beyond, added their attractions to the scene.

  Serena uttered an exclamation of delight. "Why, it's a sort ofparadise!"

  "A very fine situation," responded the doctor; "high and healthful.Look off yonder, my dear; there lies Prairieville, apparently almost atour feet. They have a fine view of it from the front porch."

  "And that side porch overlooks the lake?"

  "Yes. The sitting-room opens upon it, and at this hour we are likely tofind the family gathered there."

  They were there at that moment; the early tea had been partaken of andcleared away, and the grandmother with her knitting and Miriam with hersewing had seated themselves near the hammock in which Ronald,pale-faced and thin, and with his left arm in a sling, swung slowly toand fro. The two little folks were present also; Olive turning over theleaves of a picture-book, Bertie, a little apart from the others,trying to teach his dog Frisk a new trick.

  Ronald was a dark-eyed, handsome youth, but just now haggard and worn;hardly more than the ghost of himself, as Miriam had said again andagain in tremulous tones and with eyes full of tears since, less than afortnight ago, he had come home to her to be nursed back--if such werethe will of Providence--to the health and strength of which wounds andmonths of languishing in rebel prisons had deprived him.

  His return was matter of great rejoicing to each member of thehousehold, yet their joy was tempered with many a pang at thought ofhis sufferings, past and present, and of the dear parents who wouldreturn no more.

  "Grandma and Mirry," he said, breaking a silence which had fallen uponthem for a few moments, "this is paradise. What a luxury to breathethis pure, sweet air; to gaze on your flower-garden there, so full ofbeauty and sweetness; the green grass, the waving trees, and the lakebeyond! How its waters sparkle in the light of the setting sun!"

  "Yes, we have a lovely and delightful home here," responded hisgrandmother.

  "And you are one of those who appreciate their mercies, Ronald," Miriamadded, with tender look and tone.

  "I doubt if I am an unusually thankful person," he said, glancingaround at her with a patient smile; "but no one who has spent weeks andmonths shut up in a squalid, filthy prison, devoured by vermin and fedupon food a dog would turn from, could help enjoying such a change asthis."

  "Tell us some more 'bout it, Brother Ronald," pleaded a child's voiceat his other side.

  "Ah, are you there, Bertie?" queried Ronald, turning his head to lookat the speaker. "I thought you were playing with your dog."

  "I was, but he's run off, and now I'd like a story."

  "Well, what is it you want to hear?"

  "Everything."

  "Not all at once?" questioned Ronald, with amusement, stroking thechild's head with his pale hand. "But something you shall hear, nowwhile we are all together," he added. "I will tell you about the battlefought close to the house where Mrs. Jasper and her father and motherliv
ed; though she was not Mrs. Jasper then, but Mrs. Golding, a veryyoung, very pretty widow with one child, a little boy."

  "Was that where you got shooted?" asked Bertie.

  "That was the time and place where and when I received a wound thatnearly cost me my life, and I shall never forget the doctor's kindnessto me or the motherly care of the old lady; no, nor how good herdaughter was to me and the other poor fellows. I don't wonder Dr.Jasper fell in love with her.

  "I want you two to become acquainted," he added, addressing Miriam;"you are both so handsome and so nice, though as unlike as possible incharacter and in looks, that I think you can't help liking each othervery much indeed."

  "Yes; perhaps we shall fancy each other all the more for our lack ofresemblance," responded Miriam, with a quiet smile. "Suppose youdescribe her to us."

  "I will. Instead of your fair skin and dark blue eyes, she has browneyes and a brunette complexion. You are quick and sprightly in yourmovements and your talk and are full of energy. She hasn't a bit ofthat, but talks and moves with a sort of languishing grace that ischarming in her, but would not suit me in my sister. I am very proud ofyou, Miriam, and would not have you changed from what you are in anyrespect," he added, regarding her with eyes that were full of fraternalpride and affection.

  "Nor I you," she returned, tenderly pressing his hand, which she hadtaken in hers; "you can hardly feel so proud of me as I do of my bravesoldier-brother, who has fought and bled for his country. What have Iever done in comparison with that?"

  "Somebody's coming! I hear wheels!" exclaimed Bertie. "Yes, there's Dr.Jasper's gig right at the gate; and he's helping a lady out; andthere's a little boy, too."

  Miriam laid aside her sewing, and hurried out to meet and welcome herguests.

  The doctor introduced his wife, explaining that he had persuaded her todisregard the rules of etiquette and make the first call.

  "I assure you I appreciate your kindness, Mrs. Jasper," Miriam said,with a warm grasp of the little gloved hand, and an admiring look intothe brown eyes of the pretty ex-widow; "and Ronald will be delighted;he has just been telling us of all your and your mother's goodness tohim;--yours, too, doctor."

  Her voice trembled and her eyes filled.

  "It wasn't much I could do," Serena said, in her soft, languishingtones, "and though I was the biggest kind of a rebel, I couldn't forthe life of me help liking him; and so, just for his sake, you see, Iyielded to the doctor's entreaties to come without waiting till you hadcalled upon me," she added, saucily. "So won't you please take me tohim?"

  "Yes; he is just here on the porch, and will be delighted to see you,"Miriam answered, leading the way.

  Ronald would have risen to greet them, but both the doctor and Serenabade him lie still, for he was almost too weak for any other than areclining posture.

  The Jaspers were scarcely seated when there was another arrival in theperson of a young, fine-looking man of gallant bearing, whom the doctorand Ronald greeted most heartily as "Warren," and introduced to Mrs.Heath and Miriam as Captain Charlton.

  He was evidently no stranger to Serena and her boy, the latter of whomspeedily claimed a seat upon his knee.

  Through Ronald, Miriam and Charlton had heard much of each other, andthe captain had long felt a strong desire to meet the sister of whomhis young friend always spoke with great brotherly pride and affection.He had expected to be disappointed in her, but he was not; he foundsomething in her appearance, her manner, her conversation, that wasirresistibly charming.