To assure my readers that I am telling them what is truth, and not drawing upon the treasury of fancy for a sketch, I will first relate to them in what manner I became acquainted with the Doctor and the Widow. I was once a teacher: yes, for seven years I held sway in the school-room, and learned by severe discipline the art of self-government, and to bear in secret many a sorrow of which the cherished daughter in the domestic circle remains in blissful ignorance. Whenever I see a young lady, at the close of school-hours, turning with a weary step to her solitary room in some boarding-house, my first impulse is to go and ask her to share my own fireside, sit down at my table, and forget for a while, in my little family circle, that she is away from the loved ones of her own home.
I shall never forget my first preparations for leaving home. I was to go eight hundred miles,—a long journey in the days of stages and canal-boats. My little purse grew thin and lank under the unusual exertion. I had a trunk and a large bandbox (the latter article I have since learned to dispense with): in this was placed all the "varieties" of my wardrobe, as Parson Milton would call them; or the accessories to strengthen the arsenal, as Bonaparte termed the feminine requisites to the toilet. My little store of collarets, ribbons, and cravats, my lace capes and fancy handkerchiefs were all folded in one box, and placed inside the larger one. They were few in number; but what girl of eighteen does not cherish her own small hoard of treasures? I was to go as far as Pittsburg in the company of a lady and her brother, a boy of sixteen. Three days and nights we were to travel by stage, stopping only for meals, and occasionally an hour for rest, besides the intervals caused by changing horses. Two strangers, young gentlemen from Philadelphia, joined us at the latter city, and remained with the party to Pittsburg. Nothing, perhaps, makes people better acquainted with the disposition of their companions, than the old-fashioned mode of coach-travelling; the petty troubles and peculiar annoyances excite the mirth of some, but elicit only the grumbling of others, so that for days together we are entertained by the fun of laughter-loving girls, and gallant young gentlemen, with growling interludes from some gouty old man, or the groans of an epicure, who talks only to condemn the dinner, and curse the cooks.
I had never spent a whole night out of my bed before, and though the excitement kept me up at first, I found myself so exhausted by the middle of the second night, that it was with difficulty I could retain my seat.
One of the passengers, perceiving my situation, and alarmed by my almost deadly paleness, requested the driver to stop, and ordered a cup of tea. This, and a resting-place for my poor head, relieved me a little; but with what joy did we hail, the next day at evening, the smoky city of Pittsburg.
"Ladies, shall we have the pleasure of meeting all our little party together in the parlour this evening?" said one of the gentlemen. The next morning we were to separate, taking three different routes. We therefore cheerfully acquiesced, and Miss S. and myself repaired to our rooms to dress. What was my astonishment to find my treasures gone, and with them a valuable breastpin, the gift of my grandfather, shortly before his death! I was weary, sick, and sad; but at the earnest request of my companion, I put on a black silk dress, and felt not a little refreshed by my bath, and the privilege of using thoroughly the brush and comb, which, denied me for two days and nights, had given to my head, with its exuberance of hair, a most moppish appearance on the outside, while the brain within seemed to share the entanglement without.
But the efforts of my companions could not chase away the homesickness of the heart. The morning would find me alone in the world. Sixty miles of my journey were yet to be travelled: and, wearied in body and faint in spirit, I longed to see my dear father, and be at home again under his protection. I shrunk, too, from the duties before me: they seemed more arduous and difficult as I approached them; and with a sad feeling of my own incompetency and the lack of personal charms, which might prepossess my employers, I laid my head upon my pillow that night and watered it with my tears. Sleep! blessed, blessed Sleep! Thou dost take the burdens from the weary and fling them into the waters of oblivion; the infant, in its guileless rest, is pillowed on thy lap, and the aged lean lovingly on thy shoulder. Merciful was the great Father of all, that he did permit thee to follow Adam from Paradise, and travel with his children in this world of guilt,—thus are we permitted to forget, for a while, at least, our sorrows and our sins. Early the next morning I went on board a steamboat for Wheeling, and though shrinking and timid, I still found protection and kindness when needed; but when we arrived, at midnight, in the village of P., and I found myself alone in a large, desolate-looking room of the hotel, all the former feeling of sadness came over me, and with them an indefinable dread of the future.
I must send word to the patrons of the school that I had arrived: and fearful that their expectations would be disappointed, I could not sleep. The next morning I despatched a messenger, and two of the trustees called. They were polite, but said little, excepting what related to business; but when they left me, remarked, "We will procure a more agreeable home for you than this." I thanked them with my lips, but they little comprehended how earnestly the heart craved for a home again. The day passed, and I saw no one till the twilight shadows were creeping into that lonely room, and with them also dim visions of home and friends, bringing with them that sad heart-longing which the young feel during their first absence from home, when I was startled from my reverie by a gentle knock at my door. I opened it, and an old lady stood before me, so kind, so motherly in her appearance, and so plainly yet tastefully dressed, that my heart clung to her at first sight. If my Father in heaven had sent an angel to me, I should certainly have chosen just such a face and garb, in my present condition, rather than the white robes and bright-winged cherubs of Raphael's glorious fancy.
"Why, my dear child," said she, as if struck at once by my girlish figure and pallid face, "you must have been lonely here to-day, and you need a mother to nurse and take care of you after your long journey. My name is Warner, and I am going to take you home with me, if you will go. My brother called this morning, and my husband would have accompanied me, but he was very busy; and I was so fearful that you would be homesick, that I thought I would come and introduce myself."
My heart bounded with delight, and I could hardly speak for gratitude; and I said so little, and that in such a blundering way, that I was afraid she would not know how much relief she had brought me.
"Come, my dear, get your bonnet," said she pleasantly, "and I will send for your baggage."