“She is not always so,” replied the boy; “but though she loves me, she makes me fear her.”
“And your father?” “Oh, I scarcely knew him, he having been dead these four years.”—“Dead these four years!” interrupted the old man, and fixing his eyes attentively on the boy. “Is it possible that I have some recollection of your features? Can it be little Lemuel!”—“Yes, yes, Lemuel is my name.”
For a few moments the old man stood motionless, and with an altered voice, his eyes swimming with tears, cried out, “My dear Lemuel, you do not recollect your grandfather! Embrace me! You have got the very features of my son! My dearest child, you was not thinking of me! My son affectionately loved me, and his son will love me also. My old age will not be so miserable as I expected, and the evening of my life will not pass without some joy. I shall depart in peace!—But I forget that by detaining you, I may expose you to your mother’s anger. Go, my dear child, for I do not wish that my joy should cost you tears. Go, love your mother, and obey her commands, even though you should not come and see me. Come and see me if you can; but do not disobey or tell a story on any account.”
He then turned to Mary, and said, though he then did not wish her to stay, for fear of offending her parents, yet he hoped she would come again. He then dismissed them, giving them a hearty blessing, and the two children walked away hand in hand.
Mary got home safe before her parents, who were not long after her, when she told them every thing that had passed, which furnished an agreeable conversation for the evening.
The next day, they all went to see the good old man, and afterwards frequently repeated their visits. Lemuel also came to see his grandfather, who was rejoiced to hear him speak, and to receive his affectionate caresses. Lemuel, on his side, was equally rejoiced, excepting when he did not meet with Mary; for then he went home sorrowful and sad.
The nearer Lemuel arrived to manhood, the more his affections for Mary increased; and accordingly, when he was old enough to marry, he would think of no other woman, though she was not rich. The old man lived to see them married and happy, and then finally closed his eyes in peace.
