University of Virginia Library

12. CHAPTER XII.
CLOUDS.

There are some days when the sun comes slowly up,
filling the vapory air with diffused light, in advance of
his coming; when the earth grows luminous in the broad,
breezeless morning; when nearer objects shine and sparkle,
and the distances melt into dim violet and gold; when
the vane points to the southwest, and the blood of man
feels neither heat nor cold, but only the freshness of that
perfect temperature wherein the limits of the body are
lost, and the pulses of its life beat in all the life of the
world. But ere long the haze, instead of thinning into
blue, gradually thickens into gray; the vane creeps
southward, swinging to southeast in brief, rising flaws
of the air; the horizon darkens; the enfranchised life
of the spirit creeps back to its old isolation, shorn of
all its rash delight, and already foreboding the despondency
which comes with the east wind and the chilly
rains.

Some such variation of the atmospheric influences attended
Joseph Asten's wedding-travel. The mellow, magical
glory of his new life diminished day by day; the
blue of his sky became colder and grayer. Yet he could
not say that his wife had changed: she was always ready
with her smiles, her tender phrases, her longings for
quiet and rest, and simple, natural life, away from the
conventionalities and claims of Society. But, even as,

looking into the pale, tawny-brown of her eyes, he saw
no changing depth below the hard, clear surface, so it
also seemed with her nature; he painfully endeavored
to penetrate beyond expressions, the repetition of which
it was hard not to find tiresome, and to reach some spring
of character or feeling; yet he found nothing. It was
useless to remember that he had been content with those
expressions before marriage had given them his own eager
interpretation, independent of her will and knowledge;
that his duty to her remained the same, for she had not
deceived him.

On the other hand, she was as tender and affectionate
as he could desire. Indeed, he would often have preferred
a less artless manifestation of her fondness; but she
playfully insisted on his claiming the best quarters at
every stopping-place, on the ground of their bridal character,
and was sometimes a little petulant when she
fancied that they had not been sufficiently honored.
Joseph would have willingly escaped the distinction,
allowing himself to be confounded with the prosaic multitude,
but she would not permit him to try the experiment.

“The newly married are always detected,” she would
say, “and they are only laughed at when they try to
seem like old couples. Why not be frank and honest,
and meet half-way the sympathy which I am sure everybody
has for us?”

To this he could make no reply, except that it was not
agreeable to exact a special attention.

“But it is our right!” was her answer.

In every railway-car they entered she contrived, in a
short time, to impress the nature of their trip upon the

other travellers; yet it was done with such apparent
unconsciousness, such innocent, impulsive manifestations
of her happiness in him, that he could not, in his heart,
charge her with having intentionally brought upon him
the discomfort of being curiously observed. He could
have accustomed himself to endure the latter, had it been
inevitable; the suspicion that he owed it to her made
it an increasing annoyance. Yet, when the day's journey
was over, and they were resting together in their own
private apartment, she would bring a stool to his feet,
lay her head on his knee, and say: “Now we can talk
as we please,—there are none watching and listening.”

At such times he was puzzled to guess whether some
relic of his former nervous shyness were not remaining,
and had made him over-sensitive to her ways. The doubt
gave him an additional power of self-control; he resolved
to be more slow and cautious of judgment, and observe
men and women more carefully than he had been wont to
do. Julia had no suspicion of what was passing in his
mind: she took it for granted that his nature was still
as shallow and transparent as when she first came in
contact with it.

After nearly a fortnight this flying life came to an end.
They returned to the city for a day, before going home
to the farm. The Blessing mansion received them with
a hearty welcome; yet, in spite of it, a depressing atmosphere
seemed to fill the house. Mrs. Blessing looked
pinched and care-worn, Clementina discontented, and
Mr. Blessing as melancholy as was possible to so bouyant
a politician.

“What's the matter? I hope pa hasn't lost his place,”
Julia remarked in an undertone to her mother.

“Lost my place!” Mr. Blessing exclaimed aloud; “I'd
like to see how the collection of customs would go on without
me. But a man may keep his place, and yet lose his
house and home.”

Clementina vanished, Mrs. Blessing followed, with her
handkerchief to her eyes, and Julia hastened after them,
crying: “Ma! dear ma!”

“It's only on their account,” said Mr. Blessing, pointing
after them and speaking to Joseph. “A plucky man never
desponds, sir; but women, you'll find, are upset by every
reverse.”

“May I ask what has happened?”

“A delicate regard for you,” Mr. Blessing replied, “would
counsel me to conceal it, but my duty as your father-in-law
leaves me no alternative. Our human feelings prompt us to
show only the bright side of life to those whom we love;
principle, however, — conscience, commands us not to suppress
the shadows. I am but one out of the many millions
of victims of mistaken judgment. The case is simply this;
I will omit certain legal technicalities touching the disposition
of property, which may not be familiar to you, and state
the facts in the most intelligible form; securities which I
placed as collaterals for the loan of a sum, not a very large
amount, have been very unexpectedly depreciated, but only
temporarily so, as all the market knows. If I am forced to
sell them at such an untoward crisis, I lose the largest part
of my limited means; if I retain them, they will ultimately
recover their full value.”

“Then why not retain them?” Joseph asked.

“The sum advanced upon them must be repaid, and it so
happens—the market being very tight—that every one of
my friends is short. Of course, where their own paper is

on the street, I can't ask them to float mine for three months
longer, which is all that is necessary. A good indorsement
is the extent of my necessity; for any one who is familiar
with the aspects of the market can see that there must be a
great rebound before three months.”

“If it were not a very large amount,” Joseph began.

“Only a thousand! I know what you were going to say
it is perfectly natural: I appreciate it, because, if our positions
were reversed, I should have done the same thing.
But, although it is a mere form, a temporary fiction, which
has the force of reality, and, therefore, so far as you are concerned,
I should feel entirely easy, yet it might subject me
to very dishonoring suspicions! It might be said that I
had availed myself of your entrance into my family to beguile
you into pecuniary entanglements; the amount might
be exaggerated, the circumstance misrepresented,—no, no!
rather than that, let me make the sacrifice like a man! I'm
no longer young, it is true; but the feeling that I stand on
principle will give me strength to work.”

“On the other hand, Mr. Blessing,” said Joseph, “very unpleasant
things might be said of me, if I should permit you to
suffer so serious a loss, when my assistance would prevent it.”

“I don't deny it. You have made a two-horned dilemma
out of a one-sided embarrassment. Would that I had kept
the secret in my own breast! The temptation is strong, I
confess, for the mere use of your name for a few months is
all I should require. Either the securities will rise to their
legitimate value, or some of the capitalists with whom I
have dealings will be in a position to accommodate me. I
have frequently tided over similar snags and sand-bars in
the financial current; they are familiar even to the most
skilful operators,—navigators, I might say, to carry out the

figure,—and this is an instance where an additional inch of
water will lift me from wreck to flood-tide. The question
is, should I allow what I feel to be a just principle, a natural
suggestion of delicacy, to intervene between my necessity and
your generous proffer of assistance?”

“Your family—” Joseph began.

“I know! I know!” Mr. Blessing cried, leaning his
head upon his hand. “There is my vulnerable point,—my
heel of Achilles! There would be no alternative,—better
sell this house than have my paper dishonored! Then, too,
I feel that this is a turning-point in my fortunes: if I can
squeeze through this narrow pass, I shall find a smooth road
beyond. It is not merely the sum which is at stake, but
the future possibilities into which it expands. Should I
crush the seed while it is germinating? Should I tear up
the young tree, with an opening fruit-bud on every twig?
You see the considerations that sway me: unless you withdraw
your most generous proffer, what can I do but yield
and accept it?”

“I have no intention of withdrawing it,” Joseph answered,
taking his words literally; “I made the offer freely and
willingly. If my indorsement is all that is necessary now, I
can give it at once.”

Mr. Blessing grasped him by the hand, winked hard three
or four times, and turned away his head without speaking.
Then he drew a large leather pocket-book from his breast,
opened it, and produced a printed promissory note.

“We will make it payable at your county bank,” said he,
“because your name is known there, and upon acceptance—
which can be procured in two days—the money will be
drawn here. Perhaps we had better sav four months, in
order to cover all contingencies.”

He went to a small writing-desk, at the farther end of
the room, and filled the blanks in the note, which Joseph
then endorsed. When it was safely lodged in his breast-pocket,
he said: “We will keep this entirely to ourselves.
My wife, let me whisper to you, is very proud and sensitive,
although the De l'Hotels (Doolittles now) were never quite
the equals of the De Belsains; but women see matters in a
different light. They can't understand the accommodation
of a name, but fancy that it implies a kind of humiliation, as
if one were soliciting charity.”

He laughed and rubbed his hands. “I shall soon be in a
position,” he said, “to render you a favor in returm. My
long experience, and, I may add, my intimate knowledge of
the financial field, enables me to foresee many splendid opportunities.
There are, just now, some movements which
are not yet perceptible on the surface. Mark my words! we
shall shortly have a new excitement, and a cool, well-sesoned
head is a fortune at such times.”

“In the country,” Joseph replied, “we only learn
enough to pay off our debts and invest our earnings. We
are in the habit of moving slowly and cautiously. Perhaps
we miss opportunities; but if we don't see them, we are
just as contented as if they had not been. I have enough
for comfort, and try to be satisfied.”

“Inherited ideas! They belong to the community in
which you live. Are you satisfied with your neighbors' ways
of living and thinking? I do not mean to disparage them,
but have you no desire to rise above their level? Money,—
as I once said at a dinner given to a distinguished railroad
man,—money is the engine which draws individuals up the
steepest grades of society; it is the lubricating oil which
makes the truck of life run easy; it is the safety-break

which renders collision and wreck impossible! I have long
been accustomed to consider it in the light of power, not of
property, and I classify men according as they take one or
the other view. The latter are misers; but the former, sir,
are philosophers!”

Joseph scarcely knew how to answer this burst of eloquence.
But there was no necessity for it; the ladies entered the
room at that moment, each one, in her own way, swiftly
scrutinizing the two gentlemen. Mrs. Blessing's face lost its
woe-worn expression, while a gleam of malicious satisfaction
passed over Clementina's.

The next day, on their journey to the country, Julia suddenly
said, “I am sure, Joseph, that pa made use of your
generosity; pray don't deny it!”

There was the faintest trace of hardness in her voice,
which he interpreted as indicating dissatisfaction with his
failure to confide the matter to her.

“I have no intention of denying anything, Julia,” he
answered. “I was not called upon to exercise generosity;
it was simply what your father would term an `accommodation.'”

“I understand. How much?”

“An endorsement of his note for a thousand dollars, which
is little, when it will prevent him from losing valuable
securities.”

Julia was silent for at least ten minutes; then, turning
towards him with a sternness which she vainly endeavored to
conceal under a “wreathed smile,” she said: “In future,
Joseph, I hope you will always consult me in any pecuniary
venture. I may not know much about such matters, but it
is my duty to learn. I have been obliged to hear a great
deal of financial talk from pa and his friends, and could not

help guessing some things which I think I can apply for
your benefit. We are to have no secrets from each other,
you know.”

His own words! After all, what she said was just
and right, and he could not explain to himself why he
should feel annoyed. Perhaps he missed a frank expression
of delight in the assistance he had so promptly
given; but why should he suspect that it was unwelcome
to her? He tried to banish the feeling, to hide it under
self-reproach and shame, but it clung to him most uncomfortably.

Nevertheless, he forgot everything in the pleasure of the
homeward drive from the station. The sadness of late
autumn lay upon the fields, but spring already said, “I am
coming!” in the young wheat; the houses looked warm and
cosey behind their sheltering fir-trees; cattle still grazed on
the meadows, and the corn was not yet deserted by the
huskers. The sun gave a bright edge to the sombre colors
of the landscape, and to Joseph's eyes it was beautiful as
never before. Julia leaned back in the carriage, and complained
of the cold wind.

“There!” cried Joseph, as a view of the valley opened
below them, with the stream flashing like steel between the
leafless sycamores,—“there is home-land! Do you know
where to look for our house?”

Julia made an effort, leaned forward, smiled, and pointed
silently across the shoulder of a hill to the eastward. “You
surely didn't suppose I could forget,” she murmured.

Rachel Miller awaited them at the gate, and Julia had no
sooner alighted than she flung herself into her arms. “Dear
Aunt Rachel!” she cried: “you must now take my mother's
place; I have so much to learn from you! It is doubly a

home since you are here. I feel that we shall all be happy
together!”

Then there were kisses, of which Joseph received his
share, and the first evening lapsed away in perfect harmony.
Everything was delightful: the room, the furniture,
the meal, even the roar of the wind in the dusky trees.
While Julia lay in the cushioned rocking-chair, Rachel
gave her nephew an account of all that had been done on the
farm; but Joseph only answered her from the surface of his
mind. Under the current of his talk ran a graver thought,
which said: “You wanted independence and a chance of
growth for your life; you fancied they would come in this
form. Lo, now! here are the conditions which you desired
to establish; from this hour begins the new life of which
you dreamed. Whether you have been wise or rash, you
can change nothing. You are limited, as before, though
within a different circle. You may pace it to its fullest extent,
but all the lessons you have yet learned require you to
be satisfied within it.”