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148
The Country of the Pointed Firs
·
Sarah Orne Jewett
56
“I'm
very
happy
here,
both
winter
an'
summer,”
said
old
Mrs.
Blackett.
“William
an'
I
never
wish
for
any
other
home,
do
we,
William?
I'm
glad
you
find
it
pleasant;
I
wish
you'd
come
an'
stay,
dear,
whenever
you
feel
inclined.
But
here's
Almiry;
I
always
think
Providence
was
kind
to
plot
an'
have
her
husband
leave
her
a
good
house
where
she
really
belonged.
She'd
been
very
restless
if
she'd
had
to
continue
here
on
Green
Island.
You
wanted
more
scope,
didn't
you,
Almiry,
an'
to
live
in
a
large
place
where
more
things
grew?
Sometimes
folks
wonders
that
we
don't
live
together;
perhaps
we
shall
some
time,”
and
a
shadow
of
sadness
and
apprehension
flitted
across
her
face.
“The
time
o'
sickness
an'
failin'
has
got
to
come
to
all.
But
Almiry's
got
an
herb
that's
good
for
everything.”
She
smiled
as
she
spoke,
and
looked
bright
again.
“There's
some
herb
that's
good
for
everybody,
except
for
them
that
thinks
they're
sick
when
they
ain't,”
announced
Mrs.
Todd,
with
a
truly
professional
air
of
finality.
“Come,
William,
let's
have
Sweet
Home,
an'
then
mother'll
sing
Cupid
an'
the
Bee
for
us.”
Then
followed
a
most
charming
surprise.
William
mastered
his
timidity
and
began
to
sing.
His
voice
was
a
little
faint
and
frail,
like
the
family
daguerreotypes,
but
it
was
a
tenor
voice,
and
perfectly
true
and
sweet.
I
have
never
heard
Home,
Sweet
Home
sung
as
touchingly
and
seriously
as
he
sang
it;
he
seemed
to
make
it
quite
new;
and
when
he
paused
for
a
moment
at
the
end
of
the
first
line
and
began
the
next,
the
old
mother
joined
him
and
they
sang
together,
she
missing
only
the
higher
notes,
where
he
seemed
to
lend
his
voice
to
hers
for
the
moment
and
carry
on
her
very
note
and
air.
It
was
the
silent
man's
real
and
only
means
of
expression,
and
one
could
have
listened
forever,
and
have
asked
for
more
and
more
songs
of
old
Scotch
and
English
inheritance
and
the
best
that
have
lived
from
the
ballad
music
of
the
war.
Mrs.
Todd
kept
time
visibly,
and
sometimes
audibly,
with
her
ample
foot.
I
saw
the
tears
in
her
eyes
sometimes,
when
I
could
see
beyond
the
tears
in
mine.
But
at
last
the
songs
ended
and
the
time
came
to
say
good-by;
it
was
the
end
of
a
great
pleasure.
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