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I’ve seen her crimp ’em a hundred times with my penknife, fell.over her hands, and stood up like a pretty border of snow round her neck. I ~ tell you she looked like a princess by the side of little Hetty, with her shy, brown eyes, and her dark dress, and her half frightened way.
“T didn’t go a great deal into the out-room while young Bentley was there. What with feeding cattle, getting out fence rails, and doing up the chores, I got purty well tired out afore night, and so sot down in the kitchen with the old folks; besides I had a little business of my own to attend to across the hill, that took up my Sunday nights: and maybe an evening or so in the week time.
‘My Hannah’s mother lived over in that direction; and when the gals were in the out-room with young Bentley, I naturally engaged myself best tother side of the hill. I don’t pretend to compare the gal that I married in the end to our Sarah; that wasn’t to be thought of; but she had a way about her like my oldest sister, and in all: the neighborhood there wasn’t a better house- keeper, or a kinder wife, than she made me up te the time of her death.”
Here uncle Daniel drew one hand across his; eyes, and paused a moment to get his voice. Gillian took the other hand in hers, and laid her cheek against it in a sweet, caressing way, that made the old man sob out.
“‘Oh, don’t, don’t, it goes too straight home!
Then Gillian dropped his hand quite rever- ently, and bent her eyes on the fire, afraid of disturbing him again.
“When a young fellow is in love, it’s like a dream, you know, and almost anything may happen around him without being noticed. I was too much taken up with my own feelings for any very distinct idea of what was going on at home. It sometimes did strike me that Mr. Bentley staid a good while at the homestead, and that Sarah seemed to enjoy his society very much; but it gave me no sort of uneasiness, for though the young fellow was a splendid-looking critter, and rich enough to buy out half of Rock- land county, our Sarah was a match for him, or any other man that ever wore shoe-leather. As for Hetty, dear, quiet Hetty, I never thought about her at all, she wasn’t the sort of gal, you know, to take much to the young fellows. She was so hard to get acquainted with, always keep- ing, as it were, behind her handsome sister.
“Sometimes I would just go into the out-room in the edge of evening, not to appear unsociable, and éverything seemed comfortable enough. Sometimes the girls had their knitting work out, while Bentley read to them; sometimes I found him holding the skein of yarn on his two hands, while Sarah stood before him winding it off. She had a dexterous way of twirling the ball round in the fingers of her left hand, that made it come out sloped like a lemon with a hole in the centre. Your grandma taught her the trick, and young Bentley used to torment her to show him the way it was done; but he was sure to spoil the shape of her ball, when she was ready to box his ears, and never let him off till he unwound it again.
“One evening, I remember going in after he had tangled up her yarn, so that it was impossible to unravel it. She was on her knees before the hearth, blushing and laughing, as she tried to make the thread run evenly from a heap of yarn he had left on the floor; the firelight struck through her curls till they shone like floss gold, and she now and then lifted her eyes to his in a y way that brought my heart into my mouth. It was frank and open like a child’s: but he was looking down upon her, and I didn’t like the way her eyes fell, or to see her neck and face turn scarlet when she saw Hetty and I looking so steadily at her.
Hetty seemed to be took back more than I was. To own the truth; mebby I shouldn’t have noticed it much if she hadn’t looked so white, and if her eyes hadn’t met mine with a wild sort of glitter in them that I had never seen before.
“Well, after a little, Sarah, what with breaking and pulling, unsnarled the yarn, and got up
from her knees, laughing in a forced way, and
flinging back her curls with a sarcy toss of her
head, which made me a’most want to kiss her
without another word; but lletty looked more
sober than ever, so I put on a serious face, and
says I,
“‘Well, gals, what do you and Mr. Bentley say to a sleigh-ride? The moon's out, and the sky is chuck full of stars. There’s just frost enough to give the snow a glitter, and to make the bells heard a mile off. Supposing we take a drive over the hill, and call on
“‘Oh, yes,’ says Sarah, clapping her hands, ‘it'll be an excuse for Dan to call at the Den cons’ three times this week; I thought he looked restless at tea time. What do you say, Hetty, dear?—as for Mr. Bentley, of course he goes or stays, as we determine.’
“Mr. Bentley laughed and said, ‘He was ready to follow the ladies anywhere;’ at which the gals ran upstairs to get their things, and I went to the barn to hitch up the team.
“In less than ten minutes I was at the front door, with as hornsome a span of grey horses as you ever saw, all covered with bells, and
