At once she walked rapidly out of the gloom of the woods into the brighter light and made her way, somber and forlorn, across the fields.
Amos took her place upon the broad stump. He saw her reach the kitchen door, he saw the light gleam. It was possible that Matthew and Millie were away—was she then alone, poor, poor Ellen? He would go down and speak to her further; he should not have let her go uncomforted, he who meditated upon religious matters, who translated holy books! But suppose that Matthew and Millie should return, Millie with her sharp, cunning eyes! Besides, he knew that he could not help Ellen, she would not listen.
Then, the devil tempted him. Grandfather's plan for her was a mistaken one, she would never bind herself to conventual life. In the Normal School whither he had gone to learn elementary Latin there had been many lady teachers, confirmed in singleness, faithful to their duties and to their various denominations, and useful to the world—it was not wrong to think of Ellen bound to education! He rose and went home, meaning to speak in her behalf.
But between the time of that bold intention and this evening, misgivings troubled him. If he were listened to he would be helping to send Ellen into the world. She wished to go farther away than the Normal School, farther away than Lancaster or Harrisburg, and about the safety of the world beyond he had grave doubts. She might even go to New York where, every one said, wickedness was rampant. There was no telling where she might not go!
Presently a solution presented itself. It was possible to learn much from books; he had gained all his information from that source, and from books he would learn about the present condition of the world. Before speaking to his uncle he would acquaint himself with contemporary writings and be governed by their character. In Harrisburg there was a State library from which he occasionally secured books by mail, and he had sometime ago announced to Grandfather his intention to apply there in person for a new volume. At Christmas, when school closed for a week, he would be his own master. When he had come to this determination his mind was easier and he was able to proceed with his translation.
His preparations for departure consisted of earnest prayer and the packing of a frugal lunch. When he found that he could conscientiously ask the blessing of God upon his undertaking his spirits rose. As for the material preparations, prices in city restaurants were high and wastefulness was wicked.
The day which he had selected dawned bitter cold; the fire in the cottage did not burn well and the pinched and blue countenance of Grandfather distressed him. But Grandfather would listen to no sympathy.
"My trials are small beside those suffered on this spot."
The landscape showed bleak and gray in the dawn; the lighted windows suggested not the cheerfulness of evening and of family gatherings, but unwilling rising in cold rooms, the breaking of ice in pitcher and bowl, the torturing operation of milking with stiff hands. Wheels creaked over the frozen snow, and horses puffed like chimneys. Amos was not warmly dressed; he had never, in fact, been dressed warmly enough to meet winter storms. Having climbed into the trolley car, he tried to restrain his tears while circulation returned to his frost-bitten fingers. He looked fully the part of a shivering Saint Francis. A traveling man, wrapped in a fur-lined coat, and cursing inwardly the luck which had kept him overnight in the village, stared.