the town itself was one that stood at the foot of virginia's blue mountains. the house where the corners lived was on the edge of the town, facing a street which ended at the front gate. at the side of the garden another long street wound its way uphill and was called the old county road when it began to go down grade. the house was a rambling old affair which had not been painted for some years and was, therefore, of an indescribable hue. one wing was shut up, but the remainder was made excellent use of by four lively girls, of whom the eldest was nancy weston. she was variously known as nan, nance or nannie, though she greatly preferred nannette and sometimes stealthily signed herself so. when she was, as her cousin phil expressed it, "on the bias," he often delighted to tease her by calling her sharp corner, but her aunt sarah often declared that west corner suited her perfectly since from that quarter sprang up the briskest, as well as the most agreeable, of breezes.
next to nan came mary lee. she was always called by both names as is a virginia custom. after[pg 12] mary lee came jacqueline, or jack as she was called, and her twin sister, jean. mary lee was very unlike nan, and though there was less than two years difference in their ages, she seemed the older of the two. she was less impetuous, more quiet and reserved, though more self-absorbed and less thoughtful for others. neither was she so original as nan and generally followed some one's lead, most frequently that of her cousin phil lewis who was her special comrade, for mary lee adored open-air sports, especially boyish ones. nan liked these intermittently, though when she did enter into them she was liable to be more daring and impetuous than her sister.
phil lived scarce a block away and, since the confines of his own dooryard were limited, he preferred to spend much of his time within the larger range of his cousins' three acres. he and mary lee were about the same age and had many tastes in common; both were devoted to animals, and had a tendency to fads over which they became very enthusiastic for the time being. phil was a wiry, dark, little fellow quite mary lee's opposite, she being fair-haired and blue-eyed with a slow drawl in speaking. nan spoke more nervously when she was excited, though she, too, spoke with a lingering accent upon certain words. nan's[pg 13] eyes were sometimes a grayish blue, sometimes almost a hazel, and at times showed the color of deep and tranquil pools of water, an indescribable hue. their expression changed as did their color and when languidly drooped under their long dark lashes, seemed those of a sentimental romantic maid, but, when in moments of excitement, nan opened them wide, they glowed like two stars. her eyes were nan's best feature. she did not possess a straight nose like mary lee's nor such a rosebud of a mouth, but her flashing smile showed even, white little teeth, and the oval of her face was perfect.
the twins were much alike in coloring and feature, but in expression were so different that even the most casual observer could not fail to distinguish jack from jean. they had blue eyes like mary lee but were dark-haired like nan. jack was, as aunt sarah dent expressed it, "a pickle." she had a dreamy pathetic countenance and wore a saintly expression when she was plotting her worst mischief. at her best she was angelic; at her worst she was impish, and just how she would eventually turn out no one could foretell.
jean was a sweet-tempered, affectionate child, gentle and obedient. once in a while it seemed as if she felt it a duty to be naughty, but the naughtiness was always as if it were a pretense, and was[pg 14] more of a bluster than an exhibition of actual original sin. "there is no mistake that jack is full of the old adam," aunt sarah was wont to declare, "but jean always acts to me as if she wasn't quite sure that she ought to be human."
nan was overflowing with sentiment, a lover of music, books, and pictures, yet liking nothing better than to whirl in and help in domestic emergencies. she had much inventive and mechanical talent which most of the others lacked. she was usually the sunniest and most sweet-tempered of persons, but had her moody days when she "flocked by herself," and liked to brood upon sombre subjects or weave lugubrious ballads which she set to melancholy tunes. these moody moments occurred but seldom and were generally the outcome of hurt feelings after some teasing bout with one of her sisters or some contrite condition following a deserved lecture from her mother or her aunt sarah.
aunt sarah dent often came to make long stays with the family after the death of the children's father. a small life insurance and the little place at the end of the street was about all that was left to their mother. aunt sarah had a modest income of her own which she cheerfully added to the family exchequer and, therefore, her coming usually meant[pg 15] some added comforts, so they managed fairly well. a woman came in to wash and clean, but the rest of the work was done by the family with the assistance of a half-grown colored girl, and an old negro man, landy by name. it was supposed that his name in its beginning had been philander, but he had forgotten and no one else knew. he was a little bent, dried-up old darky, but was tough and wiry and could accomplish more than many younger ones of his color, whom he scorned openly.
add to the family an old mule named pete, a handsome angora cat called lady gray, and a mongrel dog whose name was trouble, and you have its membership.
it was one afternoon in late summer that nan, having been called sharp corner more times than her temper would amiably permit, had gone to a haunt much favored by herself. this was at the extreme edge of the place, a little nook where the orchard ended and a few stunted pines lapped over into the next field. the field had not been cultivated for some time and was overgrown with weeds and a young growth of pine and fir trees. it was rather a desolate spot, for the nearest house was hidden in summer by a thick grove, and the slope of the hill prevented the road from being seen from this point.
[pg 16]
creeping through the rail fence nan felt that she had placed herself outside trammeling conditions and made her way to where a fallen log, covered with moss, invited her. this was nan's piano. she seated herself upon a pile of sticks and stones which she had heaped up before the log. in front of her she had constructed a sort of rack, using a bit of wood which she had nailed to the log. against the rack she placed a newspaper clipping which she secured from blowing away by means of a pin. after a few graceful sweeps of her hands up and down the pretended key-board, she wailed forth to a silent accompaniment:
music: a lone-ly child goes wand'ring by, blue his eyes as sum-mer's sky, on his lash-es tear-drops lie, for his feet tread the dust-y av-e-nue, wea-ri-ly the whole day through home-less he and or-phaned too lit-tle ja-mie.
[pg 17]
there was more of the song but nan sang the first stanza over and over again. at the close of the performance her eyes were full of tears and her voice vibrated with emotion as she quavered forth: "little jamie." a flock of crows in the field beyond rose from the stubbly undergrowth with solemn caws and sailed off to the grove beyond. the birds of ill-omen exactly suited nan's mood. she took an ?sthetic delight in their presence. they seemed to be applauding her. she went to the other side of the log and lay down upon the dry pine needles, her head against the log and her eyes fixed upon the blue sky. her thoughts were with the verses she had cut from a country newspaper. she thought they were delightful, and her fancy brought before her an orphan boy tattered and torn but beautiful as a dream. she felt all the enthusiasm of a true composer as she hummed over the tune she had made.
"i will publish it some day," she said. "the next time everybody is busy and out of the sitting-room, i will try to write it so i will not forget it. i think, myself, that it is lovely and i ought to get a great deal of money for it, enough to buy a piano."
the possession of a piano was nan's dearest wish. the only musical instrument of which the family could boast was an old wheezy melodeon[pg 18] which stood in the sitting-room. it skipped notes once in a while, especially in its middle range, and was at once a source of pleasure and disappointment to nan. her aunt sarah declared that it drove her wild to hear nan try to pick out tunes on it, so the girl usually had to be sure of having the place to herself before she dared to make attempts at music. feeble little attempts these were, for she knew scarce anything beyond the mere rudiments. but to a great love of music she added a true ear, a good memory, and boundless ambition and perseverance.
"it will be autumn soon," nan went on to herself, her thoughts still wandering in a vague dream. "i think i like autumn best of all seasons. i'd like to write poetry about it. when i am a great musician, i will write a piece of music and call it 'autumn whispers,' and it will sound like the wind in the trees and the corn shocks. then i will write another and that will be called 'autumn secrets.' it will be about golden sunshine and shining red leaves and little pools of water in the hollows that look as if a piece of blue sky had dropped in them. i wish i could write music that would be a picture and a poem, too; it would be nice to have them all together. trouble, where did you come from? i know phil is around somewhere," she exclaimed,[pg 19] suddenly, sitting up very straight. "i don't want him to find me here. he has called me 'sharp corner' once too often to-day."
she jumped up and bending low, ran along the line of fence toward the hollow which intervened between this and the next rise of ground. trouble stood still for a moment, uncertainly looking after her, then he trotted off in an opposite direction.
pursuing her way, nan reached the small stream which ran through the hollow. ferns and mosses were here in abundance. here and there a cardinal flower flaunted its red banner. low aground trailed the hedge bindweed, and in the field beyond a slim spire of goldenrod showed itself. this attracted nan's notice. "i said it would be autumn soon," she said, "for there is the first goldenrod of the season. i must get that piece for aunt sarah, though if she has an idea of where it came from, she won't have it." she gave a hasty glance in the direction of the house beyond sheltering trees as she gained the other side of the brook to gather her ambitious spray of goldenrod, for that house set in the grove of oaks belonged to grandmother corner, whose grandchildren were strangers to her. the running brook was the barrier which they seldom crossed and, when they did, it was secretly. the big buff house was closed, the green shutters tightly fastened,[pg 20] the door boarded up and the gate locked, for its owner was abroad. with her daughter helen, she had been in europe ever since nan could remember.
sometimes nan would push her way through the hedge which surrounded the lawn, plunge through the long grass and stand staring up at the silent house where her father had been born. certain accounts given by old landy made her believe that it was of palatial magnificence and she longed to see its interior. once when the care-taker had made one of his infrequent visits, one of the lower windows was opened, and nan who had long watched and waited for such an opportunity, tiptoed up to peep in. at first she saw nothing but ghostly sheeted furniture and pictures shrouded in muslin cases, bare floors and uncurtained windows. she was about to creep away disappointed when she saw the man upon a ladder uncovering a picture. it was of a stately lady in a velvet gown, the slender fingers half hidden by costly lace, and nan gazed with all her eyes at the haughty face. was it her grandmother's portrait, she wondered. she watched till the man readjusted the covering and then she crept away dreaming of a day when she might see the original of the portrait and when she might be allowed to walk through those silent rooms again restored to their former splendor.
[pg 21]
on this afternoon, however, she did not go near the house, but followed the stream for a short distance, crossed back again and came around the other side of her own home garden where old landy was at work, talking to himself as was his wont.
"reckon dese yer vines is done fo'. clar 'em erway. no mo' beans on 'em. how co'n comin' on? get a mess offen dis row by sunday. tomats plenty. melons gittin' good an' ripe." he stooped down to tap a large melon with his bony knuckles. "she jest a bus'in' wid sweetness by 'nother week. um, um, she fa'r make me dribble at de mouf to look at huh."
"who-o-o!" came a long-drawn owlish cry from behind him.
"who dat?" cried landy, pulling himself erect from his contemplation of the melon. "whicher one o' yuh chilluns is it? hyar, yuh, jack er phil er whomsoever yuh is, git outen fum behin' dat co'n brake. i sees yuh."
a suppressed giggle from nan made known her whereabouts, and she arose up from behind the tall tasseled corn. "you didn't see me or you wouldn't have called me phil or jack, but you heard me, didn't you? did you think i was a real sure enough owl, unc' landy?"
[pg 22]
"humph! i knows ole hooty-owl better'n dat. i knows yuh is a huming varmint."
"oh, unc' landy! the idea of calling me a varmint. i am not one at all."
"den wha' fo' yuh grubbin' roun' in de gyardin' stuff lak ole mole?" he asked chuckling.
"same reason you do; to see how it is getting on. when will the watermelons be ready to eat? it seems to me they are very late this year."
"dey is late. i say dey is, but nex' week, ef de lord sees fittin', we bus' open dis one. she de fust to be pick. i layin' out to lif huh fum huh sandy baid nex' tuesday."
"and we'll have it for dinner. oh, my! i wish it were ready now. did they used to have a watermelon patch over at grandmother corner's? there isn't any now."
"how yuh so wise?"
"oh, i've been all around the place. i know just where the garden used to be."
"yo' ma say yuh chilluns ain't to ha'nt de ole place."
"i know and i don't haunt it; i just go there once in a while. i haven't been for a long, long time. i don't see, anyhow, why we can't go when it was father's home."
[pg 23]
"yuh nuvver sees yo' ma er yo' auntie cross de brook."
"no, but then——"
"den wha' fo' yuh do what dey don' do?"
"i do lots of things which they don't do and they do lots of things i don't do; that's no reason. when do you reckon my grandmother corner will come back?"
"das mo'n any huming know, i tell yuh, honey. she done taken huh disagreeables an' huh hity-tyties long wid huh. das all i kyar to know. she want de yarth an' all dat derein is, das what she want; mebbe she fin' it off yandah in dem quare countries, but she don't git back dem ha'sh words she speak to yo' pa on his las' day. dey a-follerin' huh an' a gnawin' an' a clawin' at huh heart. she cyarnt git rid o' dem wha'soevah she go, though she try to flee fum 'em."
the picture of her grandmother's fleeing from place to place pursued by bitter words in the form of skeleton-like creatures who gnashed their teeth and clawed with bony fingers took hold of nan's imagination. her mother never mentioned grandmother corner's name, and from old landy nan gleaned all that she knew of her. heretofore, what had been told her did not cause her to give[pg 24] much love to this unknown grandmother, but now she began to feel rather sorry for her. "i wish you took care of the big house," she said, "for then you could let me go in there to see the pictures and beautiful things, and i could play on the piano."
"humph! i say let you in. ef it depen' upon ole landy yuh ain' nuvver go inside de do'. nobody tell me go but onct. i ain't nuvver pass my foot ovah de do'-sill agin whilst i lives on dis yarth."
while he talked landy slashed away at the dead vines vindictively. as he clawed at them with his lean black fingers he made nan think of the bitter words which pursued her grandmother. they must appear something like landy, only more bony and wicked-looking. nan laughed at the conceit.
"'tain't nothin' to larf at," grumbled landy. "dese yer fambly q'urrels is turrble things. yo' pa know yo' gran'ma don't like be crossed 'bout de proputty, but he feel lak he bleedged to say what he think, an' she tu'n on him an' de las' word she uvver give mek him have de heart-ache. yo' ma ain' fergit dat, an' das fo' why she don' lak you chilluns to go trespassin' on de ole place. hit yo' gran'ma's an' she got full an' plenty whilst yo' pa what oughter had his share done got nothin' ter leave yuh-alls but dis little ole place. das why i laks ter mek hit smile an' see de melons grow plum[pg 25] big an' de co'n-fiel' lookin' prosp'ous. yo' gran'pa mean yo' pa to hev his shar' but de ole lady hol' on to uvvry thing whilst she 'bove groun'. nemmin', yuh-alls has full an' plenty to eat. ain' de tomats jest a-humpin' deyse'fs? yo' ma has pickles an' cans o' 'em fo' de whole wintah, dey so many."
"i like the little yellow ones best," remarked nan, who was tired of the old man's long monologue. he was given to reciting these bits of family history to her though to no one outside the family itself would he have breathed a word. "i think these make the very nicest preserves," continued nan, "and i like them raw, too. i always feel as if i were eating golden fairy fruit only they aren't sweet like i imagine fairy fruit would be." she stooped to gather a tiny red tomato from the vines at her feet. they used to call these love-apples, aunt sarah says, and they thought they were poisonous. "i am glad they found out it wasn't so," she said, popping the red morsel into her mouth. "what are you going to do now, landy?"
"gwine tek a tu'n at de fence." when landy's other occupations did not demand attention there was always the fence to turn to; something upon which to exhaust his energies. it was patched and mended beyond hope now, mrs. corner thought, and the repairs were creeping from the side to the[pg 26] front, for landy had frequently "borrowed from peter to pay paul," and when a paling was missing from the front he had always promptly supplied it from the sides, replacing it by a board, a post, or whatever came handy, so that the two side fences presented a curious style of building. white, green or gray boards took their place as occasion required. tops from empty boxes set forth some address in staring black letters, a bit of wire fence was hitched to a cedar post on one side and an old bed-slat on the other; but the fence served its purpose to keep out wandering cattle from the garden which was landy's pride. and though mrs. corner sighed when she went that way, there was no money to be spared for new fences so the old one was eked out from year to year.
leaving landy to work upon the fence, nan supplied herself with more small tomatoes and went up to the house thinking of the grandmother across seas and determining to curb her own tongue lest it lead her into such trying ordeals as the being haunted by bitter words.
