Perhaps when we see the lively quality of this story, and of other sketches of this period of Harriet Beecher’s life, we may wonder what has happened to her, and may exclaim how she has changed from the profound theological discussions of the Litchfield days! Is this romantic and blithesome spirit the same one that shivered and was so stoical in the chillness of the Litchfield Hills! How shall we account for it? Well, she has come out into the great boundless west whose free spirit has set her free--that is one way to account for the change. Then, those earlier studies and tastes may be considered as her attempts to find her way in the philosophies of the human mind, a struggle from which she gradually desisted after she had hit upon a practical and satisfying view of her own, which by showing her how to discharge each day’s duty, fulfilled her needs. We must recall, too, who were her favorites among the few great romantic writers that she was able to find in her father’s sermon-barrels. “The Arabian Nights,” “Don Quixote,” and above all, Sir Walter Scott were her great discoveries in Dr. Beecher’s garret. We must remember how well she loved Byron and how many times she read “Ivanhoe” through in one summer! Thinking of all this, we realize how she was being prepared to use the novel as the best expression for her thought when the time should come when she felt she must speak out something God had given to her to say. Meantime she wrote many little sketches and stories and sent them to various magazines: the _Western Monthly_, the _New York Independent_, the _Godey’s Ladies’ Book_, printed them and paid for them. In this way her training in the art of composing a story was going on steadily. CHAPTER XIII MRS. STOWE THE HOME-MAKER In January, 1836, Harriet Beecher and Calvin Edward Stowe were quietly married. A few days later they took a brief wedding journey, going by stage as far as Columbus; but the roads in an Ohio midwinter were not much to boast of, and, as a pleasant journey, the trip was not a success. They were happier when they returned to their own fireside and sat down there peacefully together. Mrs. Stowe was rather astonished to find that such a “wisp of nerve” as herself could pass through the wedding experience with a happiness that was tranquil and serene rather than overwhelming.