Books: A Modern Cinderella
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Louisa May Alcott >> A Modern Cinderella
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Thank Heaven for the immortality of love!
for when all other means of salvation failed, a spark
of this vital fire softened the man's iron will until
a woman's hand could bend it. He let me take
from him the key, let me draw him gently away
and lead him to the solitude which now was the
most healing balm I could bestow. Once in his
little room, he fell down on his bed and lay there
as if spent with the sharpest conflict of his life. I
slipped the bolt across his door, and unlocked my
own, flung up the window, steadied myself with a
breath of air, then rushed to Doctor Franck. He
came; and till dawn we worked together, saving
one brother's life, and taking earnest thought how
best to secure the other's liberty. When the sun
came up as blithely as if it shone only upon happy
homes, the Doctor went to Robert. For an hour
I heard the murmur of their voices; once I caught
the sound of heavy sobs, and for a time a reverent
hush, as if in the silence that good man were
ministering to soul as well as sense. When he
departed he took Robert with him, pausing to tell
me he should get him off as soon as possible, but
not before we met again.
Nothing more was seen of them all day; another
surgeon came to see the captain, and another
attendant came to fill the empty place. I tried to
rest, but could not, with the thought of poor Lucy
tugging at my heart, and was soon back at my
post again, anxiously hoping that my contraband
had not been too hastily spirited away. Just as
night fell there came a tap, and opening, I saw
Robert literally "clothed and in his right mind."
The Doctor had replaced the ragged suit with
tidy garments, and no trace of that tempestuous
night remained but deeper lines upon the forehead,
and the docile look of a repentant child. He did
not cross the threshold, did not offer me his hand,
--only took off his cap, saying, with a traitorous
falter in his voice,--
"God bless you, Ma'am! I'm goin'."
I put out both my hands, and held his fast.
"Good-bye, Robert! Keep up good heart,
and when I come home to Massachusetts we'll
meet in a happier place than this. Are you quite
ready, quite comfortable for your journey?
"Yes, Ma'am, Yes; the Doctor's fixed everything;
I'm goin' with a friend of his; my papers
are all right, an' I'm as happy as I can be till I
find,--"
He stopped there; then went on, with a glance
into the room,--
"I'm glad I didn't do it, an' I thank yer,
Ma'am, fer hinderin' me,--thank yer hearty; but
I'm afraid I hate him jest the same."
Of course he did; and so did I; for these faulty
hearts of ours cannot turn perfect in a night, but
need frost and fire, wind and rain, to ripen and
make them ready for the great harvest-home.
Wishing to divert his mind, I put my poor mite
into his hand, and, remembering the magic of a
certain little book, I gave him mine, on whose
dark cover whitely shone the Virgin Mother and
the Child, the grand history of whose life the book
contained. The money went into Robert's pocket
with a grateful murmur, the book into his bosom
with a long took and a tremulous--
"I never saw my baby, Ma'am."
I broke down then; and though my eyes were
too dim to see, I felt the touch of lips upon my
hands, heard the sound of departing feet, and
knew my contraband was gone.
When one feels an intense dislike, the less one
says about the subject of it the better; therefore
I shall merely record that the captain lived,--in
time was exchanged; and that, whoever the other
party was, I am convinced the Government got
the best of the bargain. But long before this
occurred, I had fulfilled my promise to Robert; for
as soon as my patient recovered strength of memory
enough to make his answer trustworthy, I asked, without
any circumlocution,--
"Captain Fairfax, where is Lucy?"
And too feeble to be angry, surprised, or insincere,
he straightway answered,--
"Dead, Miss Dane."
"And she killed herself, when you sold Bob?"
"How the Devil did you know that?" he
muttered, with an expression half-remorseful,
half-amazed; but I was satisfied, and said no more.
Of course, this went to Robert, waiting far
away there in a lonely home,--waiting, working,
hoping for his Lucy. It almost broke my heart
to do it; but delay was weak, deceit was wicked;
so I sent the heavy tidings. and very soon the
answer came,--only three lines; but I felt that the
sustaining power of the man's life was gone.
"I thought I'd never see her any more; I'm glad
to know she's out of trouble. I thank yer, Ma'am;
an' if they let us, I'll fight fer yer till I'm killed.
which I hope will be 'fore long."
Six months later he had his wish, and kept his
word.
Every one knows the story of the attack on
Fort Wagner; but we should not tire yet of
recalling how our Fifty-Fourth, spent with three
sleepless nights, a day's fast, and a march under
the July sun, stormed the fort as night fell, facing
death in many shapes, following their brave leaders
through a fiery rain of shot and shell, fighting
valiantly for God and Governor Andrew,"--
how the regiment that went into action seven hundred
strong came out having had nearly half its
number captured, killed, or wounded, leaving
their young commander to be buried, like a chief
of earlier times, with his body-guard around him,
faithful to the death. Surely, the insult turns to
honor, and the wide grave needs no monument
but the heroism that consecrates it in our sight;
surely, the hearts that held him nearest see through
their tears a noble victory in the seeming sad defeat;
and surely, God's benediction was bestowed,
when this loyal soul answered, as Death called
the roll, "Lord, here I am, with the brothers
Thou hast given me!"
The future must show how well that fight was
fought; for though Fort Wagner still defies us,
public prejudice is down; and through the cannon
smoke of that black night the manhood of the
colored race shines before many eyes that would
not see, rings in many ears that would not hear,
wins many hearts that would not hitherto believe.
When the news came that we were needed,
there was none so glad as I to leave teaching
contrabands, the new work I had taken up, and
go to nurse "our boys," as my dusky flock so
proudly called the wounded of the Fifty-Fourth.
Feeling more satisfaction, as I assumed my big
apron and turned up my cuffs, than if dressing for
the President's levee, I fell to work on board the
hospital-ship in Hilton-Head harbor. The scene
was most familiar, and yet strange; for only dark
faces looked up at me from the pallets so thickly
laid along the floor, and I missed the sharp accent
of my Yankee boys in the slower, softer voices
calling cheerily to one another, or answering my
questions with a stout, "We'll never give it up,
Ma'am, till the last Reb's dead," or, "If our
people's free, we can afford to die."
Passing from bed to bed, intent on making one
pair of hands do the work of three, at least, I
gradually washed, fed, and bandaged my way
down the long line of sable heroes, and coming to
the very last, found that he was my contraband.
So old, so worn, so deathly weak and wan, I
never should have known him but for the deep
scar on his cheek. That side lay uppermost, and
caught my eye at once; but even then I doubted,
such an awful change had come upon him, when,
turning to the ticket just above his head, I saw the
name, "Robert Dane." That both assured and
touched me, for, remembering that he had no
name, I knew that he had taken mine. I longed
for him to speak to me, to tell how he had fared
since I lost sight of him, and let me perform some
little service for him in return for many he had
done for me; but he seemed asleep; and as I
stood re-living that strange night again, a bright
lad, who lay next him softly waving an old fan
across both beds, looked up and said,--
"I guess you know him, Ma'am?"
"You are right. Do you?"
"As much as any one was able to, Ma'am."
"Why do you say 'was,' as if the man were
dead and gone?"
"I s'pose because I know he'll have to go.
He's got a bad jab in the breast, an' is bleedin'
inside, the Doctor says. He don't suffer any,
only gets weaker 'n' weaker every minute. I've
been fannin' him this long while, an' he's talked
a little; but he don't know me now, so he's most
gone, I guess."
There was so much sorrow and affection in the
boy's face, that I remembered something, and
asked, with redoubled interest,--
Are you the one that brought him off? I
was told about a boy who nearly lost his life in
saving that of his mate."
I dare say the young fellow blushed, as any
modest lad might have done; I could not see it,
but I heard the chuckle of satisfaction that escaped
him, as he glanced from his shattered arm and
bandaged side to the pale figure opposite.
"Lord, Ma'am, that's nothin'; we boys always
stan' by one another, an' I warn't goin' to
leave him to be tormented any more by them
cussed Rebs. He's been a slave once, though
he don't look half so much like it as me, an'
was born in Boston."
He did not; for the speaker was as black as the ace
of spades,--being a sturdy specimen, the knave of clubs
would perhaps be a fitter representative,-- but the dark
freeman looked at the white slave with the pitiful, yet
puzzled expression I have so often seen on the faces of
our wisest men, when this tangled question of Slavery
presents itself, asking to be cut or patiently undone.
"Tell me what you know of this man; for,
even if he were awake, he is too weak to talk."
"I never saw him till I joined the regiment, an'
no one 'peared to have got much out of him. He
was a shut-up sort of feller, an' didn't seem to
care for anything but gettin' at the Rebs. Some
say he was the fust man of us that enlisted; I know
he fretted till we were off, an' when we pitched
into old Wagner, he fought like the Devil."
"Were you with him when he was wounded?
How was it?"
"Yes, Ma'am. There was somethin' queer
about it; for he 'peared to know the chap that
killed him, an' the chap knew him. I don't dare
to ask, but I rather guess one owned the other
some time,--for, when they clinched, the chap
sung out, 'Bob!' an' Dane, 'Marster Ned!
then they went at it."
I sat down suddenly, for the old anger and
compassion struggled in my heart, and I both longed
and feared to hear what was to follow.
"You see, when the Colonel--Lord keep an'
send him back to us!--it a'n't certain yet, you
know, Ma'am, though it's two days ago we lost
him--well, when the Colonel shouted, 'Rush on.
boys, rush on!' Dane tore away as if he was
goin' to take the fort alone; I was next him, an'
kept close as we went through the ditch an' up
the wall. Hi! warn't that a rusher!" and the
boy flung up his well arm with a whoop, as if the
mere memory of that stirring moment came over
him in a gust of irrepressible excitement.
"Were you afraid?" I said,--asking the question
women often put, and receiving the answer
they seldom fail to get.
"No, Ma'am!"-- emphasis on the "Ma'am,"
--"I never thought of anything but the damn
Rebs, that scalp, slash, an' cut our ears off, when
they git us. I was bound to let daylight into one
of 'em at least, an' I did. Hope he liked it!"
"It is evident that you did, and I don't blame
you in the least. Now go on about Robert, for
I should be at work."
"He was one of the fust up; I was just behind,
an' though the whole thing happened in a minute.
I remember how it was, for all I was yellin' an'
knockin' round like mad. Just where we were,
some sort of an officer was wavin' his sword an'
cheerin' on his men; Dane saw him by a big
flash that come by; he flung away his gun, give a
leap, an' went at that feller as if he was Jeff,
Beauregard, an' Lee, all in one. I scrabbled
after as quick as I could, but was only up in time
to see him git the sword straight through him an'
drop into the ditch. You needn't ask what I did
next, Ma'am, for I don't quite know myself; all
I 'm clear about is, that I managed somehow to
pitch that Reb into the fort as dead as Moses,
git hold of Dane, an' bring him off. Poor old
feller! we said we went in to live or die; he said
he went in to die, an' he 's done it."
I had been intently watching the excited
speaker; but as he regretfully added those last
words I turned again, and Robert's eyes met mine,
--those melancholy eyes, so full of an intelligence
that proved he had heard, remembered, and reflected
with that preternatural power which often
outlives all other faculties. He knew me, yet
gave no greeting; was glad to see a woman's face,
yet had no smile wherewith to welcome it; felt
that he was dying, yet uttered no farewell. He
was too far across the river to return or linger
now; departing thought, strength, breath, were
spent in one grateful look, one murmur of submission
to the last pang he could ever feel. His lips
moved, and, bending to them, a whisper chilled
my cheek, as it shaped the broken words,--
"I would have done it,--but it 's better so,--
I'm satisfied."
Ah! well he might be,--for, as he turned his face
from the shadow of the life that was, the sunshine
of the life to be touched it with a beautiful
content, and in the drawing of a breath my
contraband found wife and home, eternal liberty
and God.
NELLY'S HOSPITAL
Nelly sat beside her mother picking lint; but
while her fingers flew, her eyes often looked
wistfully out into the meadow, golden with
buttercups, and bright with sunshine. Presently she
said, rather bashfully, but very earnestly, "Mamma,
I want to tell you a little plan I've made, if
you'll please not laugh."
I think I can safely promise that, my dear,"
said her mother, putting down her work that she
might listen quite respectfully.
Nelly looked pleased, and went on confidingly,
"Since brother Will came home with his lame
foot, and I've helped you tend him, I've heard a
great deal about hospitals, and liked it very much.
To-day I said I wanted to go and be a nurse, like
Aunt Mercy; but Will laughed, and told me I'd
better begin by nursing sick birds and butterflies
and pussies before I tried to take care of men. I
did not like to be made fun of, but I've been
thinking that it would be very pleasant to have a
little hospital all my own, and be a nurse in it,
because, if I took pains, so many pretty creatures
might be made well, perhaps. Could I, mamma?"
Her mother wanted to smile at the idea, but
did not, for Nelly looked up with her heart and
eyes so full of tender compassion, both for the
unknown men for whom her little hands had done
their best, and for the smaller sufferers nearer
home, that she stroked the shining head, and answered
readily: "Yes, Nelly, it will be a proper
charity for such a young Samaritan, and you may
learn much if you are in earnest. You must study
how to feed and nurse your little patients, else
your pity will do no good, and your hospital become
a prison. I will help you, and Tony shall
be your surgeon."
"O mamma, how good you always are to me!
Indeed, I am in truly earnest; I will learn,
I will be kind, and may I go now and begin?"
"You may, but tell me first where will you
have your hospital?"
"In my room, mamma; it is so snug and sunny,
and I never should forget it there," said Nelly.
"You must not forget it anywhere. I think
that plan will not do. How would you like to
find caterpillars walking in your bed, to hear sick
pussies mewing in the night, to have beetles clinging
to your clothes, or see mice, bugs, and birds
tumbling downstairs whenever the door was
open?" said her mother.
Nelly laughed at that thought a minute, then
clapped her hands, and cried: "Let us have the
old summer-house! My doves only use the upper
part, and it would be so like Frank in the storybook.
Please say yes again, mamma."
Her mother did say yes, and, snatching up her
hat, Nelly ran to find Tony, the gardener's son,
a pleasant lad of twelve, who was Nelly's favorite
playmate. Tony pronounced the plan a "jolly" one, and,
leaving his work, followed his young mistress to the
summer-house, for she could not wait one minute.
"What must we do first?" she asked, as they
stood looking in at the dusty room, full of
garden tools, bags of seeds, old flower-pots, and
watering-cans.
"Clear out the rubbish, miss," answered Tony.
"Here it goes, then," and Nelly began bundling
everything out in such haste that she broke
two flower-pots, scattered all the squash-seeds,
and brought a pile of rakes and hoes clattering
down about her ears.
"Just wait a bit, and let me take the lead,
miss. You hand me things, I'll pile 'em in the
barrow and wheel 'em off to the barn; then it
will save time, and be finished up tidy."
Nelly did as he advised, and very soon nothing
but dust remained.
"What next?" she asked, not knowing in the
least.
"I'll sweep up while you see if Polly can
come and scrub the room out. It ought to
be done before you stay here, let alone the
patients."
"So it had," said Nelly, looking very wise all
of a sudden. "Will says the wards--that means
the rooms, Tony--are scrubbed every day or
two, and kept very clean, and well venti-some-
thing--I can't say it; but it means having a plenty
of air come in. I can clean windows while Polly
mops, and then we shall soon be done."
Away she ran, feeling very busy and important.
Polly came, and very soon the room looked
like another place. The four latticed windows
were set wide open, so the sunshine came dancing
through the vines that grew outside, and curious
roses peeped in to see what frolic was afoot. The
walls shone white again, for not a spider dared
to stay; the wide seat which encircled the room
was dustless now,--the floor as nice as willing
hands could make it; and the south wind blew
away all musty odors with its fragrant breath.
" How fine it looks! " cried Nelly, dancing
on the doorstep, lest a foot-print should mar the
still damp floor.
"I'd almost like to fall sick for the sake of
staying here," said Tony, admiringly. "Now, what
sort of beds are you going to have, miss?
"I suppose it won't do to put butterflies and
toads and worms into beds like the real soldiers
where Will was?" answered Nelly, looking
anxious.
Tony could hardly help shouting at the idea;
but, rather than trouble his little mistress, he said
very soberly: "I'm afraid they wouldn't lay
easy, not being used to it. Tucking up a butterfly
would about kill him; the worms would be apt to
get lost among the bed-clothes; and the toads
would tumble out the first thing."
"I shall have to ask mamma about it. What will
you do while I'm gone?" said Nelly, unwilling
that a moment should be lost.
"I'll make frames for nettings to the windows,
else the doves will come in and eat up the sick
people.
"I think they will know that it is a hospital,
and be too kind to hurt or frighten their neighbors,"
began Nelly; but as she spoke, a plump white dove walked
in, looked about with its red-ringed eyes, and quietly
pecked up a tiny bug that had just ventured out from
the crack where it had taken refuge when the deluge came.
"Yes, we must have the nettings. I'll ask
mamma for some lace," said Nelly, when she saw
that; and, taking her pet dove on her shoulder,
told it about her hospital as she went toward the
house; for, loving all little creatures as she did, it
grieved her to have any harm befall even the least
or plainest of them. She had a sweet child-fancy
that her playmates understood her language
as she did theirs, and that birds, flowers, animals,
and insects felt for her the same affection which
she felt for them. Love always makes friends,
and nothing seemed to fear the gentle child; but
welcomed her like a little sun who shone alike on
all, and never suffered an eclipse.
She was gone some time, and when she came
back her mind was full of new plans, one hand
full of rushes, the other of books, while over her
head floated the lace, and a bright green ribbon
hung across her arm.
"Mamma says that the best beds will be little
baskets, boxes, cages, and any sort of thing that
suits the patients; for each will need different care
and food and medicine. I have not baskets
enough, so, as I cannot have pretty white beds, I
am going to braid pretty green nests for my
patients, and, while I do it, mamma thought you'd
read to me the pages she has marked, so that we
may begin right."
"Yes, miss; I like that. But what is the ribbon
for?" asked Tony.
"O, that's for you. Will says that, if you are
to be an army surgeon, you must have a green
band on your arm; so I got this to tie on when we
play hospital."
Tony let her decorate the sleeve of his gray
jacket, and when the nettings were done, the
welcome books were opened and enjoyed. It
was a happy time, sitting in the sunshine, with
leaves pleasantly astir all about them, doves cooing
overhead, and flowers sweetly gossiping together
through the summer afternoon. Nelly wove her
smooth, green rushes. Tony pored over his pages,
and both found something better than fairy legends
in the family histories of insects, birds, and beasts.
All manner of wonders appeared, and were explained
to them, till Nelly felt as if a new world
had been given her, so full of beauty, interest, and
pleasure that she never could be tired of studying
it. Many of these things were not strange to
Tony, because, born among plants, he had grown
up with them as if they were brothers and sisters,
and the sturdy, brown-faced boy had learned
many lessons which no poet or philosopher could
have taught him, unless he had become as child-like a
s himself, and studied from the same great book.
When the baskets were done, the marked pages
all read, and the sun began to draw his rosy
curtains round him before smiling "Good night,"
Nelly ranged the green beds round the room, Tony
put in the screens, and the hospital was ready.
The little nurse was so excited that she could
hardly eat her supper, and directly afterwards
ran up to tell Will how well she had succeeded
with the first part of her enterprise. Now brother
Will was a brave young officer, who had fought
stoutly and done his duty like a man. But when
lying weak and wounded at home, the cheerful
courage which had led him safely through many
dangers seemed to have deserted him, and he was
often gloomy, sad, or fretful, because he longed
to be at his post again, and time passed very
slowly. This troubled his mother, and made
Nelly wonder why he found lying in a pleasant
room so much harder than fighting battles or
making weary marches. Anything that interested
and amused him was very welcome, and when
Nelly, climbing on the arm of his sofa, told her
plans, mishaps, and successes, he laughed out more
heartily than he had done for many a day, and his
thin face began to twinkle with fun as it used to
do so long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she
chatted like any affectionate little magpie, till
Will was really interested; for when one is ill,
small things amuse.
"Do you expect your patients to come to you,
Nelly?" he asked.
"No, I shall go and look for them. I often
see poor things suffering in the garden, and the
wood, and always feel as if they ought to be taken
care of, as people are."
"You won't like to carry insane bugs, lame
toads, and convulsive kittens in your hands, and
they would not stay on a stretcher if you had
one. You should have an ambulance and be
a branch of the Sanitary Commission," said
Will.
Nelly had often heard the words, but did not
quite understand what they meant. So Will told
her of that great never-failing charity, to which
thousands owe their lives; and the child listened
with lips apart, eyes often full, and so much love
and admiration in her heart that she could find no
words in which to tell it. When her brother
paused, she said earnestly: "Yes, I will be a
Sanitary. This little cart of mine shall be my
amb'lance, and I'll never let my water-barrels go
empty, never drive too fast, or be rough with my
poor passengers, like some of the men you tell
about. Does this look like an ambulance, Will?"
"Not a bit, but it shall, if you and mamma
like to help me. I want four long bits of cane, a
square of white cloth, some pieces of thin wood,
and the gum-pot," said Will, sitting up to examine
the little cart, feeling like a boy again as
he took out his knife and began to whittle.
Upstairs and downstairs ran Nelly till all
necessary materials were collected, and almost
breathlessly she watched her brother arch the
canes over the cart, cover them with the cloth,
and fit an upper shelf of small compartments, each
lined with cotton-wool to serve as beds for
wounded insects, lest they should hurt one another
or jostle out. The lower part was left free for any
larger creatures which Nelly might find. Among
her toys she bad a tiny cask which only needed a
peg to be water-tight; this was filled and fitted
in before, because, as the small sufferers needed
no seats, there was no place for it behind, and, as
Nelly was both horse and driver, it was more
convenient in front. On each side of it stood a
box of stores. In one were minute rollers, as
bandages are called, a few bottles not yet filled,
and a wee doll's jar of cold-cream, because Nelly
could not feel that her outfit was complete without
a medicine-chest. The other box was full of
crumbs, bits of sugar, bird-seed, and grains of
wheat and corn, lest any famished stranger should
die for want of food before she got it home. Then
mamma painted "U.S. San. Com." in bright letters on
the cover, and Nelly received her charitable
plaything with a long sigh of satisfaction.
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