The Brick Moon, and Other StoriesHale, Edward Everett
Science
The Brick Moon, and Other Stories
Hale, Edward Everett
Short stories; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
When Matty returned and held a consultation with him,
the question was, whether to follow the books of account
to Georgetown, where Mr. Bundy was understood to be still
residing, or to the neighborhood of the Arsenal, in the
hope of finding Mrs. Gilbert, Mrs. Lichtenfels, or Mrs.
Butman, as the case might be. Readers should understand
that these two points, both unknown to the young people,
are some six miles asunder, the original notary's office
being about half-way between them. Beverly was more
disposed to advise following the man. He was of a mind
to attack some one of his own sex. But the
enterprise was, in truth, Matty's enterprise. Beverly
had but little faith in it from the beginning, and Matty
was minded to follow such clue as they had to Mrs.
Gilbert, quite sure that, woman with woman, she should
succeed better with her than, man with man, Beverly with
Bundy. Beverly assented to this view the more willingly,
because Matty was quite willing to undertake the quest
alone. She was very brave about it indeed. "Plenty of
nice people at the Arsenal," or near it, whom she could
fall back upon for counsel or information. So they
parted. Matty took a street car for the east and south,
and Beverly went his ways to the Bureau of Internal
Improvement to report for duty to his father.
This story must not follow the details of Matty's
quest for the firm of "Gilbert, Lichtenfels, or Butman."
Certain it is that she would never have succeeded had she
rested simply on the directory or on such crude
information as Mrs. Munroe had so freely given. But
Matty had an English tongue in her head,--a courteous,
which is to say a confiding, address with strangers; she
seemed almost to be conferring a favor at the moment when
she asked one, and she knew, in this business, that there
was no such word as fail. After one or two false
starts--some very stupid answers, and some very blunt
refusals--she found her quarry at last, by as simple a
process as walking into a Sunday-school of colored
children, where she heard singing in the basement of
a little chapel.
In a few words Matty explained her errand to the
Superintendent, and that it was necessary that she should
find Mrs. Gilbert before dark.
"Ting!" one stroke of the bell called hundreds of
eager voices to silence.
"Who knows where Mrs. Gilbert lives? Is it at Mrs.
Butman's house or Mrs. Lichtenfels'?"
Twenty eager hands contended with each other for the
honor of giving the information, and in three minutes
more, Matty, all encouraged by her success, was on her
way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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