"We haven't settled yet; Clara Belle's afraid to do it, and
thinks I could manage better. Will the ring cost much? Because,

of course, if it does, I must ask Aunt Jane first. There are
things I have to ask Aunt Miranda, and others that belong to Aunt

Jane."
"It costs the merest trifle. I'll buy one and bring it to you,

and we'll consult about it; but I think as you're great friends
with Mr. Simpson you'd better send it to him in a letter, letters

being your strong point! It's a present a man ought to give his
own wife, but it's worth trying, Rebecca. You and Clara Belle can

manage it between you, and I'll stay in the background where
nobody will see me."

Ninth Chronicle
THE GREEN ISLE

Many a green isle needs must be
In the deep sea of misery,

Or the mariner, worn and wan,
Never thus could voyage on

Day and night and night and day,
Drifting on his weary way.

Shelley
Meantime in these frosty autumn days life was crowded with events

in the lonely Simpson house at Acreville.
The tumble-down dwelling stood on the edge of Pliney's Pond; so

called because old Colonel Richardson left his lands to be
divided in five equal parts, each share to be chosen in turn by

one of his five sons, Pliny, the eldest, having priority of
choice.

Pliny Richardson, having little taste for farming, and being
ardently fond of fishing, rowing, and swimming, acted up to his

reputation of being "a little mite odd," and took his whole
twenty acres in water--hence Pliny's Pond.

The eldest Simpson boy had been working on a farm in Cumberland
County for two years. Samuel, generally dubbed "see-saw," had

lately found a humble place in a shingle mill and was partially
self-supporting. Clara Belle had been adopted by the Foggs; thus

there were only three mouths to fill, the capacious ones of
Elijah and Elisha, the twin boys, and of lisping, nine-year-old

Susan, the capable houseworker and mother's assistant, for the
baby had died during the summer; died of discouragement at having

been born into a family unprovided with food or money or love or
care, or even with desire for, or appreciation of, babies.

There was no doubt that the erratic father of the house had
turned over a new leaf. Exactly when he began, or how, or why, or

how long he would continue the praiseworthy process,--in a word
whether there would be more leaves turned as the months went

on,--Mrs. Simpson did not know, and it is doubtful if any
authority lower than that of Mr. Simpson's Maker could have

decided the matter. He had stolen articles for swapping purposes
for a long time, but had often avoided detection, and always

escaped punishment until the last few years. Three fines imposed
for small offenses were followed by several arrests and two

imprisonments for brief periods, and he found himself wholly out
of sympathy with the wages of sin. Sin itself he did not

especially mind, but the wages thereof were decidedly unpleasant
and irksome to him. He also minded very much the isolated

position in the community which had lately become his; for he was
a social being and would ALMOST rather not steal from a neighbor

than have him find it out and cease intercourse! This feeling was
working in him and rendering him unaccountably irritable and

depressed when he took his daughter over to Riverboro at the time
of the great flag-raising.

There are seasons of refreshment, as well as seasons of drought,
in the spiritual, as in the natural world, and in some way or

other dews and rains of grace fell upon Abner Simpson's heart
during that brief journey. Perhaps the giving away of a child

that he could not support had made the soil of his heart a little
softer and readier for planting than usual; but when he stole the

new flag off Mrs. Peter Meserve's doorsteps, under the impression
that the cotton-covered bundle contained freshly washed clothes,

he unconsciously set certain forces in operation.
It will be remembered that Rebecca saw an inch of red bunting

peeping from the back of his wagon, and asked the pleasure of a
drive with him. She was no daughter of the regiment, but she

proposed to follow the flag. When she diplomatically requested
the return of the sacred object which was to be the glory of the

"raising" next day, and he thus discovered his mistake, he was
furious with himself for having slipped into a disagreeable

predicament; and later, when he unexpectedly" target="_blank" title="ad.意外地；突然地">unexpectedly faced a detachment
of Riverboro society at the cross-roads, and met not only their

wrath and scorn, but the reproachful, disappointed glance of
Rebecca's eyes, he felt degraded as never before.

The night at the Centre tavern did not help matters, nor the
jolly patriotic meeting of the three villages at the flag-raising

next morning. He would have enjoyed being at the head and front
of the festive preparations, but as he had cut himself off from

all such friendly gatherings, he intended at any rate to sit in
his wagon on the very outskirts of the assembled crowd and see

some of the gayety; for, heaven knows, he had little enough, he
who loved talk, and song, and story, and laughter, and

excitement.
The flag was raised, the crowd cheered, the little girl to whom

he had lied, the girl who was impersonating the State of Maine,
was on the platform "speaking her piece," and he could just

distinguish some of the words she was saying:
"For it's your star, my star, all the stars together,

That makes our country's flag so proud
To float in the bright fall weather."

Then suddenly there was a clarion voice cleaving the air, and he
saw a tall man standing in the centre of the stage and heard him

crying: "THREE CHEERS FOR THE GIRL THAT SAVED THE FLAG FROM THE
HANDS OF THE ENEMY!"

He was sore and bitter enough already; lonely, isolated enough;
with no lot nor share in the honest community life; no hand to

shake, no neighbor's meal to share; and this unexpected public
arraignment smote him between the eyes. With resentment newly

kindled, pride wounded, vanity bleeding, he flung a curse at the
joyous throng and drove toward home, the home where he would find

his ragged children and meet the timid eyes of a woman who had
been the loyal partner of his poverty and disgraces.

It is probable that even then his (extremely light) hand was
already on the "new leaf." The angels, doubtless, were not

especially proud of the matter and manner of his reformation, but
I dare say they were glad to count him theirs on any terms, so

difficult is the reformation of this blind and foolish world!
They must have been; for they immediately flung into his very lap

a profitable, and what is more to the point, an interesting and
agreeable situation where money could be earned by doing the very

things his nature craved. There were feats of daring to be
performed in sight of admiring and applauding stable boys; the

horses he loved were his companions; he was OBLIGED to "swap,"
for Daly, his employer, counted on him to get rid of all

undesirable stock; power and responsibility of a sort were given
him freely, for Daly was no Puritan, and felt himself amply

capable of managing any number of Simpsons; so here were
numberless advantages within the man's grasp, and wages besides!

Abner positively felt no temptation to steal; his soul expanded
with pride, and the admiration and astonishment with which he

regarded his virtuous present was only equaled by the disgust
with which he contemplated his past; not so much a vicious past,

in his own generousestimation of it, as a "thunderin' foolish"
one.

Mrs. Simpson took the same view of Abner's new leaf as the
angels. She was thankful for even a brief season of honesty

coupled with the Saturday night remittance; and if she still