A Country Doctor and Selected Stories and SketchesJewett, Sarah Orne
General
A Country Doctor and Selected Stories and Sketches
Jewett, Sarah Orne
Maine -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
The next morning Miss Prince's sense of general well-being seemed to
have deserted her altogether. She was overshadowed by a fear of
impending disaster and felt strangely tired and dissatisfied. But she
did not believe in moping, and only assured herself that she must make
the day an easy one. So, being strong against tides, as some old poet
says of the whale, Miss Prince descended the stairs calmly, and
advised Priscilla to put off the special work that had been planned
until still later in the week. "You had better ask your sister to come
and spend the day with you and have a good, quiet visit," which
permission Priscilla received without comment, being a person of few
words; but she looked pleased, and while her mistress went down the
garden walk to breathe the fresh morning air, she concocted a small
omelet as an unexpected addition to the breakfast. Miss Prince was
very fond of an omelet, but Priscilla, in spite of all her good
qualities, was liable to occasional fits of offishness and depression,
and in those seasons kept her employer, in one way or another, on
short commons.
The day began serenely. It was the morning for the Dunport weekly
paper, which Miss Prince sat down at once to read, making her
invariable reproachful remark that there was nothing in it, after
having devoted herself to this duty for an hour or more. Then she
mounted to the upper floor of her house to put away a blanket which
had been overlooked in the spring packing of the camphor-wood chests
which stood in a solemn row in the north corner of the garret. There
were three dormer windows in the front of the garret-roof, and one of
these had been a favorite abiding-place in her youth. She had played
with her prim Dutch dolls there in her childhood, and she could
remember spending hour after hour watching for her father's ship when
the family had begun to expect him home at the end of a long voyage.
She remembered with a smile how grieved she had been because once he
came into port late in the night and surprised them all early in the
morning, but he had made amends by taking her back with him when he
hurried on board again after a hasty greeting. Miss Prince lived that
morning over again as she stood there, old and gray and alone in the
world. She could see again the great weather-beaten and tar-darkened
ship, and even the wizened monkey which belonged to one of the
sailors. She lingered at her father's side admiringly, and felt the
tears come into her eyes once more when he gave her a taste of the
fiery contents of his tumbler. They were all in his cabin; old Captain
Dunn and Captain Denny and Captain Peterbeck were sitting round the
little table, also provided with tumblers, as they listened eagerly to
the story of the voyage. The sailors came now and then for orders;
Nancy thought her handsome father, with his bronzed cheeks and white
forehead and curly hair, was every inch a king. He was her hero, and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account