The old tavern, and other stories

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Chapter I. The Bare-footed Boy

A BOY Stood digging his toes into the sand, wiping the tears from his eyes, and wondering of the future. His father had been buried the previous day, and that morning his mother had told him he must look out for his own dinner and supper, as she could not provide them.

“ His father was a lazy, shiftless fellow, drinking just enough to keep himself poor as poverty. It don’t seem as though his family were any better off for having him ’round ; but they kept off the town, and that is more than they will do now. The children will have to be put out, and Fm willing to do my part toward providing for them by taking the oldest boy. I guess I can make him pay for his board and clothes. Fm on my 'way now to see the selectmen about it. They have a meeting at Patten’s to-day, and I want some help through haying.”

Abner Hanson, the bare -footed boy, clasped his hands tightly, and listened as for his life, while Mr. Grimshaw, from whom he was concealed by a clump of alders, thus talked of his father and himself. He was o

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“ the oldest boy whose services were to be secured, and for a moment he wished he could die and so be out of all trouble. The next moment, however, he realized that something must be done to avert the fate which threatened him.

Mr. Patten lived two miles away by the road, but there was a short cut through the woods and across the brook, on a fallen tree, and he could easil^ outrun Mr. Grimshaw*s old horse. He had no time for deliberation ; but, as he ran, he resolved to take his fortune into his own hands and do the best of which he was capable.

“ Where are the selectmen } he asked, when he reached Mr. Patten’s house ; and, upon being told, he swung himself through an open window and stood before them, as he said hoarsely : Don’t send me to Mr. Grimshaw’s. I can take care of myself and more, too. Try me and see. He is coming. I heard him say so ; and ”

The sentence was left unfinished. The boy had fallen to the floor in a dead faint. When restored to consciousness, although unable to rise from the lounge on which he had been placed, he whispered :

“ Mr. Grimshaw is coming ; 1 hear his wagon rattle. Don’t send me to live with him. I can take care of myself.”

“ Of course you can take care of yourself,” replied Mr. Patten assuringly. “ Mr. Grimshaw has nothing to do about it ; so just lie still and rest. - By and by you and I will have a talk, and make up our minds what is best for you to do.”

Mr. Grimshaw made known his errand, only to be

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lold that the town had no authority to dispose of the boy in question, who was quite able to provide for himself, and would doubtless assist his mother in caring for the younger children.

Abner Hanson heard this estimate of his character ; and in the hours he was resting, with closed eyes, new hopes and ambitions awoke within him. When at last he arose to go, Mrs. Patten said to him kindly :

‘‘ Stay and have dinner with us.”

“ I shall be glad to, if I can earn it ; but I never mean to take another cent's worth that I don't earn,” he replied. ‘‘ I am going to earn my own living, and I am ready to begin this minute.”

Then this minute it is, Abner. I want some wood split up fine, and I should like it as soon as I can have it.”

The boy did not stop to think how he hated splitting wood, or how he complained when his mother asked him to do it ; but, setting to work with a will, he had some ready for the stove in the shortest possible time.

''He earned his dinner, after which he ate it with great relish.

Have you a mind to earn your supper? ” then asked Mrs. Patten ; and being answered in the affirmative, Abner Hanson was sent into the garden to pull weeds.

He had never known so long an afternoon, and many times he was tempted to throw down his trowel and run, but he persevered until called to such a supper as he had seldom eaten.

“ How much do you think you have earned this afternoon ? ” asked Mr. Patten, who had carefully inspected his work, and could guess something of the effort it had cost him.

I don't know, sir, but I hope I paid for my supper,” replied the boy.

• ‘‘You did, and more too. There is a basket and a pail on the kitchen table you can take home to your mother, and you can tell her you have done nobly to-day. What are you going to do to-morrow 1 Remember, my boy, there is always to-morrow to be considered."

“Yes, sir ; and I want to work to-morrow."

“ Then come here, if nothing better offers. I have all the help I really need, but I can keep you busy at something."

Mrs. Hanson hardly cared or thought where her boy spent the day, so long as he made no demands upon her. Indeed, she never cared much for anything beyond the immediate wants of the hour. While her husband had failed to provide suitably for his family, she had also failed to make the most of what he had provided.

“ So you've come back," she said in an indifferent tone, as she heard Abner’s footsteps.

“Yes, mother, and brought you something, too," he replied. “ Come and see. Here are meat and potatoes and flour and milk, and I earned them, Mr. Patten said I did. I had my dinner and supper besides, and these are for you and the children.”

“ Who’d have thought it ! I”m most sorry, now, for what I told Mr. Grimshaw. He came here and said he’d give you your board and a suit of clothes if you'd work for him through haying, and I told him you’d go."

“I sha'n't do it, mother, if you did tell him so. You told me yesterday morning I must look out for myself,

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and I’m going to. I’ll help you, too ; but I won’t work for Mr. Grimshaw.”

Well, well, Abner, do as you are a-mind to. You always did, and I suppose you always will. But I gave my word, and I don’t know what he’ll say.”

‘‘You gave your word to me first, mother.”

“ I suppose I did ; but I didn’t know how you’d take it.”

“ I took it just as you said, and I’m going to live up to it. I’ll talk to Mr. Patten about it the first thing to-morrow morning. I am so tired, I must go straight to bed, and be sure you call me as soon as it is light enough to see.”

If the afternoon had been long, the night was all too short for the tired boy, who needed to be reminded that he was going to Mr. Patten’s before he could fairly rouse himself from sleep.

For the second time Mr. Grimshaw found his plans set aside ; and after threatening both mother and son with a suit for breach of contract, he went his way

CHAPTER II. THE sheriff’s SALE

For the third time in a score of years, the old tavern on the hill was advertised to be sold at auction. A hundred acres of the best land in town belonged to the estate of which it was a part ; and yet many prophesied that it would sell for a merely nominal sum. Strange scenes had been enacted in the large, low rooms, until people came to regard the house as sure to bring misfortune to its owner.

Notwithstanding this, however, there was a large attendance on the day of the sale. Men estimated the cost of erecting new buildings, and it was evident that they would bid cautiously. But at length a stranger appeared among them, whose whole appearance indicated that he was there with a purpose ; and it was not long before the property was declared sold to Samuel Redfield.

‘‘You’ll be likely to tear down the house and build to suit yourself, won’t you.?” said an old man, looking sharply at the purchaser.

“ The house suits me as it is,” was replied. “ I always thought it pleasant and convenient.”

“ Then you have seen it before,” continued the first speaker. -

“ Yes, sir ; I saw a good deal of it when I was a boy/*

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‘‘Be you the Sam Redfield that was bound out ta old Martin to pay a liquor bill ? ”

“ I am, sir/*

“You didn’t stay here but about a year. Got tired of hard work and hard fare, didn’t you ? ”

“Yes, sir, I did ; and I thought I’d take matters into my own hands.”

“You’ve made money since then ? ”

“ I’ve made enough to pay cash down for all I have bought to-day.”

“Well, I am glad of it. Going to keep tavern.? ”

“ No, sir ; I am going to bring my wife and children here, and make this our home, while I see what I can do at farming.”

“ Is your mother living .? ” asked the old man, whose curiosity seemed to increase with the information he obtained.

“ I am the last of the family,” said Mr. Redfield. And here the colloquy was interrupted.

Before night it was known throughout the town that Sam Redfield had bought the old tavern and was coming there to live. This recalled the history of his boyhood, and furnished a topic for general conversation.

Thirty-five years before, when the hard-hearted man to whom he was bound called him to his morning’s work he had failed to appear, and since then nothing had been heard of him in the vicinity.

“ He had a hard time when he was a boy, but he looks as though he had come out all right,” remarked Mr. Patten. “Anyway he has paid for what he bought, and we are going to have him for a neighbor.”

“Was he a real poor boy, poor as I am.?” asked

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Abner Hanson, who was greatly interested in all he had heard of this man.

‘‘ He was poorer than you ever thought of being,*' replied Mr. Patten. “ Why, he was as bad as sold by his father to pay an old liquor bill, and he was shamefully abused every day he lived with Simon Martin. I don't suppose he got half enough to eat, unless he stole it, and he wasn't decently clothed any time of year. In summer, that didn't make so much difference, but in winter he must have suffered with cold. All that happened when I was young, and didn't think much about such things. But it wouldn't be allowed now. ‘ Old Martin,' as everybody called the tavern-keeper, was thought to be rich, and he managed about as he pleased. There were strange stories told of his boys ; and after he went away from here, folks said he was poor as the poorest. He deserved to be poor, if ever any man did."

“Was he a drunkard } " asked Abner.

“ A perfect sot, the last of the time he was here ; and his boys followed his example. He was one of the worst drunkards that ever lived in town, and I have Jieard my father say he was the smartest boy in the center district school, though he never seemed to have any feeling for anybody but himself. He and Zeke Redfield were great cronies, but in the end he got Zeke so much in his power he did the thinking for both. Sam was more independent and started out on his own hook to come back when he pleased."

“ I wish I could work for this Mr. Redfield," said the boy, whose admiration for the man constantly increased. “ I like to stay here, but you told me you didn't need

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me, only you keep me busy, so I can earn something/’

“ Perhaps you could get a chance with him if you should apply for it ; and now is the best time to ask him. I heard him say he should have the grounds cleared up and put in order as soon as possible. Somebody else may be before you in looking for a job, unless you speak quick. I advise you to see him before you go home to-night.”

Abner Hanson stayed to hear no more ; and while the west windows of the old tavern glowed in the rays of the setting sun, Mr. Redfield paused in his walk to and fro on the piazza to listen to the request of a bareheaded, bare-footed boy who wished for a chance to work and earn a living.

“ What can you do ” asked the gentleman.

“ I don’t know, sir, because I never tried many things,” replied the boy, adding frankly : I’ve been lazy and shiftless, but now I am going to do just as well as I can.”

“ What made such a change in your habits } ”

“I had to change. Father died, and mother said I must look out for myself. Father wasn’t much good, and perhaps, if he had lived, I should have been like him. Now I mean to be just as different as I can be. He drank liquor, but I won’t taste a drop if I’m killed for it.”

‘‘A good resolution, my boy. Stick to it, and ninety chances out of a hundred you’ll get ahead in the world.”

“Was that the way you got ahead, sir.? ”

“ That was one thing that helped me, though it took a good deal of hard work besides.”

H

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“I’m willing to work hard, and I wanted to work fof you, because folks say you used to be a poor boy.”

“ Come here to-morrow morning and I will find you something to do. We will see how we can get along together for a week. But stay ; what wages do you expect.? You will have to board yourself. I intend to sleep in my house to-night, and I shall make my headquarters here, but I can not undertake to provide for two. I am a pretty good cook on a small scale, but might make a failure if I attempted too much. So you must look out for your own board.”

“Yes, sir, I can. Mother cooks good things now. 1 can have breakfast and supper at home, and bring my dinner with me. What time shall I come in the morning .? ”

“ Come early.”

“ And please, sir, what would you call early .? ”

“When the birds begin to sing,” replied Mr. Redfield with a smile. “ I must make a long day to-morrow.”

“Yes, sir ; I will help you all I can.”

“ Then good evening. I shall expect you.”

The next morning he found the boy curled up in the warmest corner of the piazza, with an old woolen shawl around him, fast asleep.

“I didn’t mean to oversleep,” said Abner, rubbing his eyes, and too much confused to know where he was.

“ I didn’t mean you should catch me napping, but you did,” said the gentleman. “You came earlier than I expected.”

“ The birds were just beginning to sing when I got here. Mother made me take this shawl, so I could

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keep warm. I wanted to be in season. Please^ sir what shall I do first?

Upon being told, Abner Hanson began work for Mr Redfield, so happy in his good fortune that he half fancied he could never again be tired.

Chapter III. The Scarred Face

It had been a dark, rainy day, and the lowering clouds threatened a darker night. Mr. Redfield had gone for his family, and there was no one about the house except Abner Hanson, who was preparing to go home, when he thought he saw some one moving among the shrubbery at the foot of the garden.

Who could it be ?

He hastened to assure himself if he had been mistaken, and there, evidently attempting concealment, was the most wretched-looking object he had ever seen. An old man, with grizzly beard and long, matted hair glared at him with almost the ferocity of a wild beast.

“ What you want here 1 ” he growled, rather than spoke. What you want down here. A man has a right to stay out-doors in this part of the country, hain't he.?’^

I suppose so ; but it aint very comfortable outdoors such a day as this. You don’t calculate to stay here all night, do you ? ” said Abner, with some hesitation.

“ That aint anybody’s business but mine,” responded the man, angrily.” You can go right away and take care of yourself. I don’t want any of your help.”

The Scarred Face, 17

‘‘But you ought to go somewhere and get dry. You must be wet to your skin.'*

“I calculate to be wet ; I never want to be dry. You better be looking out for your own skin. You needn’t slay here another minute. I know what I’m about. I fell down, a ways back,” remarked the man, glancing at his mud-stained garments. “ I aint more than half drunk, so you needn’t stand there looking at me.”

Having no excuse for remaining longer, and being again summarily dismissed, Abner Hanson started for home, thinking, as he went, of this strange interview. His mother had seen too many strolling vagabonds to attach much importance to the presence of the man in the garden ; but when, a few days later, Mr. Redfield returned, and the story was again told, there was a more interested listener.

“ Had the man a scar on his face ? ” this gentleman asked quickly.

“ Yes, sir ; it looked as though there had been a great gash across his left cheek. He kept his hat pulled down *on that side ; but it got caught in the bushes, so it came off, and I saw his face.”

“ And you say you never saw him or heard of him after that ? ”

“ No, sir. I came over as soon as there was any light the next morning, but he was gone. There were tracks up to the back piazza, but I couldn’t tell where they went to afterwards.”

“ Perhaps the man slept on the piazza that night ? ”

“It didn’t look so, sir; but perhaps he did,” said Abner ; and the conversation was closed.

Later, Mr. Redfield asked him if he had opened % 2 i8

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window or been in the house while left alone on the premises.

No, sir,'* answered the boy promptly. “ I just worked around as you told me. I hadn't any business to open a window."

“I believe you, Abner," responded the gentleman, and walked away without further comment.

Many people wondered at this confidence. Mr. Grimsliaw found occasion to remark that there was every opportunity for a boy to do a large amount of small stealing.

Notwithstanding all this, however, Abner Hanson gained in the respect and esteem of his employer. He came in the morning, performed his allotted tasks faithfully, and returned home in the evening, having his board, in addition to his wages, after the family arrived.

With one member of the family, his uniform kindness and consideration soon made him a great favorite. Paul Redfield, the only son, had been so injured by a fall ' that he could not walk ; and nothing so delighted him as to be drawn about the grounds by ‘‘ good Abner," who moved so carefully, and took him to the very nicest places.

“When will you have a birthday.^" he asked one afternoon, as he was resting in the shade, while Abner was at work not far away.

“Next week, Wednesday," was replied. “I shall be thirteen years old then."

“ Why, I shall have a birthday then," exclaimed Paul. “1 shall be six years old, and it is two whole years since I got hurt. The doctor said if I came into the country I should be getting stronger all the time, and I

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do. Sometimes it seems as though I could almost step 1 wish I could. I want to go to school. Don't you "

“ I don't know. I never cared much about school, and I couldn't go now, if I wanted to. I must work every day, so as to take care of myself and help mother."

‘‘ Perhaps you are such a good scholar, you don't need to go, but I can only read and count. 1 can't do half as much as Lucy can, and she is only eight years old. Can you add figures, Abner.?"

“ Some ; but I never went to school much, and when I did go, I didn't study as I ought to."

“ Can you read real well .? " continued Paul.

No, I can't," answered the boy, who, perhaps for the first time, was ashamed of his ignorance.

Then I guess you and I better read together sometimes. I have got some papers with real nice pictures and stories, and I know you would like them."

‘‘But, you know, I must work. Your father pays me for working, and when I get through I must go home."

“What do you do Sundays.?"

Not much; only eat and sleep. Mr. Patten says I ought to go to meeting and Sunday-school ; but my clothes aint fit, and, besides, I should be ashamed not to know any more. They study the Bible in Sunday-school, and I never studied it any. I wish I was more like other boys."

“ So do I wish I was, and I hope I shall be sometime, but father says I must do the best I can just as I am, so I try. You come over here next Sunday afternoon, and we'll sit out here, if it is pleasant, and read the Bible together. Perhaps I can tell you something about it you don't know. You can wear the same clothes you do every day, and we will make believe we are having a Sunday-school/’

Again Abner Hanson took a step upwards, as he realized that there was a world far removed from that in which he had lived ; and when allowed to carry some papers home, he thought himself rich indeed.

“There’s something besides working with two hands and just earning a living,” he said half aloud. “I’ll find out what it is, too,” he added more emphatically.

That evening he surprised his mother by calling for the Bible, and sitting up an hour later than usual puzzling over hard words and strange truths.

“ I know now what makes the difference between folks,” he remarked as he was about to retire. “ Paul Redfield says we ought to live as the Bible tells us to. Some folks do, and some folks don’t, and that makes the difference. Didn’t you always know that, mother? ”

“ I suppose I did,” answered the woman, who 'bund it difficult to realize that the boy before her Wc ^ truly her son.

He was impatient for Sunday ; and when it i ;rived, wished the morning away that he might go to M , Redfield’s to read with Paul, who had been encour; ged by his parents to divide his store of books and pap( rs with Abner. The little girls, too, thought of the pleas int boy who was always ready to help them, and wished to help him in return.

He was a poor reader, but Paul had patience his blunders and his ignorance, so that he really made ‘'ome progress in knowledge.

“ Oh, dear ! there is ever so much to be donw. and only one head and one pair of hands to do it all,” he

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said, when it was time for him to go home. I find out new things I want to do all the time.*’

“And 1 hope you will keep on finding them,** responded Mr. Redfield, who had come out to see how the reading progressed. “Times are pretty hard when there is nothing new to be expected. You have made a good start in the world, for a poor boy, Abner. All you liave to do now is to keep on working steadily, and remembering that the dear Lord cares for you. Will you remember that, my boy **

“ Yes, sir. Though I never knew much about it until Paul told me.**

“ I hope you will know more about it, and feel it, too. I didn’t learn that blessed truth until I was several years older than you are. I had a harder life than you know anything about, yet through it all I had cause for thankfulness. I had good health, and after I went from here I was paid enough for my work to meet my expenses, although sometimes I was obliged to limit my expenses to a very small amount.**

Chapter IV. The Curse

Mr. Faulkner, a gentleman who had been living West for several years, was visiting in his native town and inquired concerning the old tavern on the hill.

It is owned by one who lived in the house between thirty and forty years ago,” was replied to his question.

It can not be one of the Martins,” said Mr. Faulkner. “The old man died long ago, and his boys must be too poor and miserable, if they are alive, to own property anywhere. I haven’t heard a word of them for twenty years, but there was a curse on the house, and especially on the Martin family.”

“ That is what everybody says,” responded the man who had watched the fortunes of this house for half a century. “ Every owner of the tavern has come to pov erty and ruin. When Molly Briggs went there after her boy, and old Martin told her it was none of her business how much liquor he sold, she tried to reason with him. But when he swore he would sell her boy liquor if he had to do it over the mouth of hell, she cursed him until he trembled with fear. He kept his word, however, and Austen Briggs died a drunkard when he was less than thirty years old.”

“ No wonder the house is cursed. The wonder to me is that any one could be found to purchase it.”

“It is a wonder, but the present owner came back ( 22 ;

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after having been away thirty-five years, and bought the whole estate, even to the mountain pastures. You remember that Zeke Redfield bound his boy Sam to old Martin, to pay a liquor bill.”

‘‘I do remember it, and I remember, too, that everybody was glad when he ran away. It can’t be that he has bought the old tavern.”

“ He has bought it, and settled down there. The house has been thoroughly cleaned, painted and papered from garret to cellar, but with the exception of the barroom, Mr. Redfield has made no other changes. He bought it cheap and paid cash down. There were not many who cared to bid against him when it went above what the land was worth, and for my part I am glad to have him back here. He is a good citizen, a Christian, and a thorough-going temperance man.”

‘‘ He ought to be a temperance man. He saw enough liquor drinking when he was a boy, to make him hate it. I used to pity him. Old Martin was a hard master, and people who knew more about it than I did said that when the old man’s sons were drunk they abused him worse than their father.”

“There is no doubt of that. There were strange things done in that old tavern. More than one farm was mortgaged, when the owner had been drinking too freely and then sat down to a game of cards. More than one poor woman lost her home in a way she couldn’t understand, and men found themselves in old Martin’s power without knowing exactly how they came there. Molly Briggs was not alone in cursing house and landlord, and when he was sold out under the hammer, nobody pitied him.”

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‘‘ What became of his money ? ”

went for his boys. They were the worst kind ol spendthrifts. They got into more scrapes than many people knew, and their father paid some heavy bills to prevent them from being shut up. Bill was the worst one, but so far as I know he has never been in prison. After their father became poor, the rest of them got their deserts behind the bars ; and he would, if there hadn’t been a woman to help him along. It is the most astonishing thing in the world, Mr. Faulkner, that such men often find women who cling to them through everything.”

It is astonishing, Mr. Barker, and the worst feature of it all is, that children are born to them who are almost sure to inherit the father’s depraved appetites. You say Bill Martin has a wife. Has he children.?”