Beulah - Page 75/348

Mrs. Chilton was very pale, and her lips were compressed till they

grew purple. Clinching her hand, she said under her breath: "You artful little wretch. Am I to be thwarted by such a mere child?

You shall not quit the house. Go to your room, and don't make a fool

of yourself. In future I shall not concern myself about you, if you

take root at the front door. Go in, and let matters stand. I promise

you I will not interfere again, no matter what you do. Do you hear

me?"

"No. You have neither the power to detain nor to expel me. I shall

leave here immediately, and you need not attempt to coerce me; for,

if you do, I will acquaint Dr. Hartwell with the whole affair, as

soon as he comes, or when I see him. I am going for my clothes; not

those you so reluctantly had made, but the old garments I wore when

I worked for my bread." She shook off the detaining hand, and went

up to her room. Harriet had already lighted her lamp, and, as she

entered the door, the rays fell brightly on the picture she had

learned to love so well. Now she looked at it through scalding

tears, and, to her excited fancy, the smile seemed to have faded

from the lips of Hope, and the valley looked more dreary, and the

pilgrims more desolate and miserable. She turned from it, and,

taking off the clothes she wore, dressed herself in the humble

apparel of former days. The old trunk was scarcely worth keeping,

save as a relic; and folding up the clothes and books into as small

a bundle as possible, she took it in her arms and descended the

steps. She wished very much to tell Harriet good-by, and thank her

for her unvarying kindness; and now, on the eve of her departure,

she remembered the words whispered during her illness, and the offer

of assistance when she "got into trouble," as Harriet phrased it;

but, dreading to meet Mrs. Chilton again, she hurried down the hall,

and left the house. The friendly stars looked kindly down upon the

orphan, as she crossed the common, and proceeded toward the asylum,

and raising her eyes to the jeweled dome, the solemn beauty of the

night hushed the wild tumult in her heart, and she seemed to hear

the words pronounced from the skyey depths: "Lo, I am with you

always, even unto the end." Gradually, the results of the step she

had taken obtruded themselves before her, and with a keen pang of

pain and grief came the thought, "What will Dr. Hartwell think of

me?" All his kindness during the time she had passed beneath his

roof--his genial tones; his soft, caressing touch on her head; his

rare, but gentle smile; his constant care for her comfort and

happiness--all rushed like lightning over her mind, and made the hot

tears gush over her face. Mrs. Chilton would, of course, offer him

some plausible solution of her sudden departure. He would think her

ungrateful, and grow indifferent to her welfare or fate. Yet hope

whispered, "He will suspect the truth; he must know his sister's

nature; he will not blame me." But all this was in the cloudy realm

of conjecture, and the stern realities of her position weighed

heavily on her heart. Through Dr. Hartwell, who called to explain

her sudden disappearance, Mrs. Martin had sent her the eighteen

dollars due for three months' service, and this little sum was all

that she possessed. As she walked on, pondering the many

difficulties which attended the darling project of educating herself

thoroughly, the lights of the asylum greeted her, and it was with a

painful sense of desolation that she mounted the steps, and stood

upon the threshold, where she and Lilly had so often sat, in years

gone by. Mrs. Williams met her at the door, wondering what unusual

occurrence induced a visitor at this unseasonable hour. The hall

lamp shone on her kind but anxious face, and as Beulah looked at

her, remembered care and love caused a feeling of suffocation, and,

with an exclamation of joy, she threw her arms around her.

Astonished at a greeting so unexpected, the matron glanced hurriedly

at the face pressed against her bosom, and, recognizing her quondam

charge, folded her tenderly to her heart.