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Cornell University Library 
 PS 3537.M6376104 
 
 The old cobblestone house; a Qhost story 
 
 3 1924 012 411 397 
 
The 
 Old Cobblestone House 
 
 A Ghost Story 
 
 by 
 Charlotte Curtis Smith 
 
 1917 
 
 The Craftsman Press 
 
 Rochester, N.Y. 
 
Copyrieht 1917 
 
 by 
 
 Charlone Curtis Smith 
 
A Ghost Story 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Mrs. Charles Beaumont 
 
The Old Cobblestone House 
 
 I 
 
 There was no path leading from the old 
 cobblestone house to the road, but there was a 
 well-trodden runway between the old home 
 and the family burial ground. The front yard 
 had become a thicket of lilac bushes and of 
 sprouts from the tall old locust trees, defying 
 entrance to all humankind. Wandering grape- 
 vines and woodbine climbed over the moss 
 covered roof up to the chimneys at the gable 
 ends, going even into the garret through broken 
 windowpanes. This wild patch was naturally 
 on its way back to forest. 
 
 On the afternoon that Miss Katherine 
 Springer stood in front of the Corvine home- 
 stead, looking for the gap in the high box- 
 hedge, it was blossoming-time in May, and the 
 old house nestled in the very heart of Spring- 
 time. But there was no sign of welcome about 
 the familiar old place for her. Yet she won- 
 dered why the old lilac bushes in their luxuriant 
 
 S 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 bloom did not nod a friendly greeting, inas- 
 much as they had seen her so often when she 
 was a girl, playing within their shade. How- 
 ever, that was a long time ago. 
 
 Today as she gazed into the tanglewood, 
 looking for the green front door, with its brass 
 knocker and fan window, also, trying to catch 
 a glimpse of one of the front windows, she 
 heard a human voice, as musical as a wood 
 thrush's, sing out: 
 
 " Lady, you '11 have to come in through the 
 graveyard." 
 
 Katherine Springer was not in the least 
 startled, owing to the fact that she had known 
 for the past nine years that a family of flesh 
 and blood was living in the haunted house. 
 
 The Corvine graveyard was just south of the 
 house along the roadside. Turning her steps 
 thither, she followed a narrow, winding path 
 under weeping willows and among a tangled 
 mass of blossoming lilies of the valley and 
 flowering myrtle, until she came to the kitchen 
 porch of the old house, where a woman, with 
 an infant in her arms, was looking out of the 
 upper half of a Dutch door. 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Katherine Springer stopped short in her 
 tracks and made a formal bow. 
 
 The mother turned and handed her child to 
 some one within the room, then opened the 
 lower half of the door and stepped outside, 
 tactfully saying : " Good afternoon, perhaps 
 you prefer sitting under the apple trees. I 
 always like to sit under the sweet boughs when 
 they 're in bloom." Without waiting for her 
 caller to reply, she brushed some white petals 
 off two high backed chair seats, such as were 
 used a long time ago for extra seats in wagons ; 
 and upon these old fashioned settles the two 
 women sat down, facing each other. 
 
 Katherine Springer, with downcast eyes, 
 ventured to explain her errand : " I 'm Kath- 
 erine Springer, your next neighbor down the 
 road. Mrs. Dayton, I hope you '11 pardon me 
 for coming here, but the trustees of this dis- 
 trict asked me to call on you and find out why 
 you did n't send your children to the school." 
 
 The mother smiled graciously, saying: 
 " Alvira is doing so well with our little 
 ones — " 
 
 " Alvira ! You don't mean Alvira Cor- 
 vine ? " 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 The mother nodded. 
 
 " Why, Alvira Corvine was my teacher, and 
 she has been dead these thirty years." 
 
 " Yes, I know it." 
 
 Suddenly Katherine Springer's face flushed 
 and her heart fluttered. 
 
 The mother went on to say : " Alvira is so 
 kind and gentle with my children, and they 
 love her." 
 
 " Oh ! " gasped Katherine Springer, " I 
 can 't believe that the ghost of Alvira Corvine 
 comes back to earth to teach your children. 
 It 's dreadful, it 's un-Christianlike." 
 
 The mother looked amused. 
 
 Katherine Springer added : " And, too, her 
 method is old fashioned." 
 
 "Yes," admitted the mother, "that's why 
 I like it." Then she explained: "Before I 
 was married I taught the new method, and as 
 soon as I found out that Alvira could teach my 
 children the old fashioned way, beginning with 
 the alphabet and the multiplication table, I 
 gladly gave my children into her care and 
 under her instruction. And another thing I 
 like about Alvira's system of dealing with chil- 
 dren is that she believes in letting them run 
 8 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 and play on pleasant days; for as she says: 
 ' There 's plenty of rainy and cold weather 
 when the children can study.' And, if you 
 could see Alvira sitting by the fireside, with 
 Marion and Sally on stools around her, and 
 with little Jack on her lap, you would love the 
 little old fashioned teacher." 
 
 Katherine Springer relaxed her strained 
 attitude, and, leaning forward, said, confident- 
 ially : " I taught school when I was young." 
 
 " Surely, you sympathize with me ! " ex- 
 claimed the mother. 
 
 " I do," whispered the old fashioned teacher. 
 
 The mother put forth her hand, saying: 
 " I 'm so glad you've come to see me." 
 
 Katherine Springer, taking the hand, an- 
 swered : " I 'm glad, too. I feel as though I 
 had found a friend." Still holding the warm, 
 genial hand, she attempted to apologize: 
 " You '11 pardon my coming to inquire about 
 your children, won't you ? I did n't know that 
 you had taught school before you were 
 married." 
 
 " I 'm pleased to have you take interest in 
 the welfare of my children. I didn't know 
 that I had a friendly neighbor." 
 
 9 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Katherine Springer gently withdrew her 
 hand, and, with uphfted eyebrows, asked: 
 " You understand why the neighbors do n't 
 come to see you ? " 
 
 Mrs. Dayton laughed indifferently before 
 replying : " The haunted house ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Katherine Springer, " but I 'm 
 not one bit afraid of ghosts." Nevertheless 
 she cast a nervous glance toward the house, 
 asking : " What 's that noise I hear ? " 
 
 Looking toward the door, the mother, with 
 little concern, answered : " It 's some one rock- 
 ing the cradle." 
 
 " Is it one of them ?" whispered Katherine 
 Springer. 
 
 " The Corvine family ? " 
 
 " Yes, which one ? " breathed Katherine 
 Springer. 
 
 Hesitating an instant, the mother said: 
 " Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Nancy were in the 
 room when you came. I do n't recall which 
 one took little Peter, but I think it was 
 Phoebe." 
 
 " Do you let them take care of your chil- 
 dren ? " 
 
 lO 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 The mother rested her head against the back 
 of the chair and dropped her hands on the seat 
 beside her, saying : " I owe my life to the spirits 
 of the Corvine women." 
 
 "I — I do n't understand how you ever 
 came here to live," queried Katherine Springer, 
 with a puzzled frown. 
 
 " It was this way," said Mary Dayton. 
 " One day before John and I were married, 
 we came out here on the suburban railroad to 
 look for a home." 
 
 " I remember you," said the friendly neigh- 
 bor. " I saw you when you passed my house. 
 It was Saturday and I was making sponge cake. 
 I can see the road from one of my kitchen win- 
 dows. I wondered who you were. But I knew 
 you were from the city by your clothes." 
 
 For a moment Mary Dayton forgot her 
 home, her husband, and her four children, as 
 she recalled to mind that morning when she 
 was a betrothed young woman, walking with 
 John on the country road in the early spring- 
 time, her heart vibrating with the season's in- 
 timation, hope, promise. 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 II 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " That was a beautiful morning," resumed 
 Mary Dayton, " and I remember how at- 
 tractive your white house appeared to us. I 
 remarked that it looked so homelike. John 
 asked a man we met, if that place were for 
 sale. The man shook his head; so we walked 
 on till we came to this house. And we stopped 
 stock-still in the road and looked at it. I ex- 
 claimed : ' Oh, John, here's a cobblestone 
 house in a grove of tall locusts and old lilac 
 bushes, just my ideal of a country home.' We 
 went through the graveyard and walked 
 around the outside of the house, and John said : 
 ' No one , seems to be living here, what good 
 luck ! I wonder who owns it.' Then we went 
 into the house through the kitchen door and 
 found the interior in fair condition ; and to our 
 surprise there were valuable pieces of antique 
 mahogany in every room." 
 
 Katherine Springer raised a warning finger, 
 saying : " No one dare move a piece of that 
 furniture out of this house, either." 
 
 " I know that," replied the mistress of the 
 cobblestone house. 
 
 " And, moreover," whispered Katherine 
 Springer, " the two mahogany bedsteads, which 
 
 12 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Squire Burril paid a hundred dollars for and 
 took them to his house, were moved back here 
 on the very first night he got them home. And 
 he never attempted to take them away again." 
 
 Mary Dayton laughed, saying : " I 'm well 
 aware of the Corvine family's persistency. And 
 I admire them for it." 
 
 The haunted house, with its ghosts, was an 
 old story to Katherine Springer, yet one in 
 which she was always interested ; but just now 
 she was curious to hear more of Mary Dayton's 
 romance. So' in order that the thread of the 
 story might be taken up, she asked : " When 
 were you and John married ? " 
 
 " Not till the last day of June. John wanted 
 to be married in April ; but I was a teacher in 
 one of the public schools, and I could not con- 
 scientiously leave my scholars until they had 
 passed their examinations in June. It is n't 
 fair to put them under a strange teacher's in- 
 struction so near the close of the year. The 
 children never do so well in their examina- 
 tions." 
 
 " I understand how you felt toward those 
 children," averred the country school teacher. 
 
 13 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Yes," said Mary Dayton, " I taught to the 
 last day with just as much interest, as if I had 
 been going to make teaching my life work." 
 
 " I taught ten years," said Katherine 
 Springer ; " then mother's health failed, and 
 father was n't well ; so I gave up my school 
 and helped at home. But I was n't one bit 
 happy; I missed seeing the children every day. 
 Of course, I was glad to take care of mother 
 and father in their failing years; yet I was 
 downhearted most of the time. Taking care 
 of old people is like working in the garden in 
 the fall of the year, there is so little cheer, so 
 little hope among the dying plants that I have 
 loved all summer." 
 
 " It 's spring now," said Mary Dayton, " we 
 must n't even think of the autumn." 
 
 Katherine Springer lifted her drooping 
 head, saying : " I must n't talk of myself. Tell 
 me about your wedding, please." 
 
 " That was a simple affair," said Mary 
 Dayton. " All my interest was in the cobble- 
 stone house in the country. John and I used 
 to come out here every Saturday. He was book- 
 keeper in a bank, and he did not have to work 
 
 14 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Saturday afternoons ; and so we came out here 
 to plan how we should build our nest." 
 
 Glancing toward the open door, Katherine 
 Springer asked, under her breath : " When 
 did you first see the spirits of the Corvine fam- 
 ily prowling around ? " 
 
 " It was very singular," said the mistress of 
 the cobblestone house. " At first, we did n't 
 see any one at all. Yet every time we came 
 here we discovered that some one had been 
 working around the place, clearing up the rub- 
 bish and burning it; and then one Saturday 
 we found the garden started. We knew that 
 no one around here had done it, because John 
 could n't hire a man for love nor money to 
 work for him. When he had asked at the 
 V — Corner grocery for help, he was told that 
 no living person would do a day's work on 
 the old Corvine place. ' It 's hanted,' every- 
 body said, and that ended it." 
 
 The neighbor, with a smile and a nod, sig- 
 nified that she knew all about it. 
 
 " The state owned the place," continued the 
 mistress of the haunted house, " and when 
 John went to see Squire Burril, the agent who 
 had charge of it, he said to John : ' I '11 give 
 
 IS 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 you the farm if you '11 live in the old cobble- 
 stone house a week.' But, of course, he 
 did n't ; when he found out that we could live 
 here, he made different arrangements with my 
 husband." 
 
 "Well," said the neighbor, "You're the 
 first live people that ever spent a night in this 
 house since Eliza Ann, the last Corvine, died; 
 and that was fifteen years ago. And I 've 
 heard that the whole Corvine family comes 
 trooping over here from the graveyard every 
 night after sundown — " 
 
 At that instant, the laughter of little chil- 
 dren came floating on the breeze. Glancing 
 quickly toward the weeping willows, Katherine 
 Springer turned questioning eyes toward the 
 mother. 
 
 " The children are having a party in the 
 graveyard," she explained. " It 's Polly's and 
 Dolly's birthday. Aunt Nancy made some 
 gooseberry tarts and raspberry vinegar for 
 Marion, Sally, and Jack; and they are cele- 
 brating the birthday with the — " 
 
 Katherine Springer leaned forward, and 
 touched the mother lightly on the knee, whis- 
 pering : " You do n't mean the twins ? " 
 i6 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Yes," said the mother, " their stones have 
 the little lambs on top." 
 
 Katherine Springer straightened herself and 
 stared at the mother, while she went on talking 
 of the attachment between her girls and the 
 twins, and all the while the south wind was 
 bearing evidence of the girls' friendship. 
 
 " The twins died before I was born ; they 
 were the first wife's children. I don't remem- 
 ber them." Katherine Springer informed the 
 mother. 
 
 " Yes ? " replied the mother. 
 
 " Do the twins ever come to the house ? " 
 
 " Often ; on rainy days they play in the 
 garret with my children, and sometimes Alvira 
 teaches them in the same class with my girls." 
 
 Katherine Springer shook her head, saying : 
 " I never could get used to that. How do you 
 stand having the ghosts around your house, 
 anyway ? " 
 
 " The spirits of the Corvine family make life 
 worth while," acknowledged the mistress of 
 the cobblestone house. " I 'm not very strong, 
 from the fact that I spent so much of my life 
 in the school room, attending school till I was 
 twenty, then teaching for five years. Conse- 
 
 17 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 quently when I was married and came here to 
 live, I was n't strong enough to take care of this 
 large house. And at first, you see, I had to 
 clean the whole house and set it in order. I 
 was discouraged until I found out that I was 
 having invisible help." 
 
 " When did' you first see them ? " 
 " They come and go like shadows." 
 " But you do see them, sometimes ? " 
 "Oh, yes, I know the whole family by 
 name." 
 
 " How 's that ? " 
 
 " As I told you, at first I did n't see any one, 
 but I observed that my work was being done by 
 some one, usually at night when I was asleep. 
 Mornings when I went down stairs I found 
 everything in order." 
 
 " Tell me, how do they do your work ? " 
 " Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Nancy cleaned the 
 house — " 
 
 " I '11 wager they did ; nothing in this world 
 could keep those two maiden sisters of the Old 
 Man's from the old cobblestone house when 
 housecleaning time comes." 
 
 " That 's true. Yet I think their love of the 
 lilacs also draws them back to the old home. 
 i8 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 They spend hours among the bushes, and then 
 carry armfuls of the blossoms to the graveyard 
 and decorate their own graves — " 
 
 " My stars ! " exclaimed Katherine Springer. 
 " Do you see them as plainly as that ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Phoebe is tall and straight and 
 prim as a hollyhock, she delights in cleaning 
 more than Nancy does, for Nancy likes to 
 cook." 
 
 " Nancy is small and spry as a cricket, is n't 
 she ? " 
 
 " Yes, and loves the children. Whenever 
 she makes cakes or pies, she never forgets to 
 make little ones for the children. My girls love 
 Aunt Nancy." 
 
 Katherine Springer was eager to hear more 
 about the Corvine women, so she asked : " Do 
 you ever see the Old Man's first wife, 
 Charity ? " 
 
 " No, I 've never seen that one. Her Bible, 
 with her spectacles in it for a bookmark, is on 
 a stand in the room she used to occupy." 
 
 " I thought she would n't come back," said 
 Katherine Springer, " for when she was alive, 
 she lived most of the time in the other world. 
 Every spring she would apologize for being on 
 
 19 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 earth. Yet she was always cheerful. But, I 
 guess, consumptives are usually that way, or 
 else it was her religion that kept up her spirits. 
 She was n't at all like Sally, the second wife. 
 Have you seen her ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Sally is an angel ! She is such a 
 comfort to me. And kind to everybody. And 
 the best cook of all the Corvine women. Per- 
 haps you know that her husband Peter Corvine 
 always wants a piece of pie before going to bed. 
 Well, Sally sees that he has it, also doughnuts 
 for his breakfast — " 
 
 " Oh — oh ! " gasped Katherine Springer, 
 " the ghosts do n't eat ! " 
 
 The mistress of the cobblestone house 
 laughed heartily, asking : " Do you remember 
 old Uncle Ephraim ? Well, we do n't see him 
 very often in the summer, but the first time we 
 have buckwheat cakes in the winter, we always 
 put a plate on the table for him, because he is 
 sure to appear on that morning to take break- 
 fast with us. He claims that buckwheat cakes 
 and maple syrup ought to be immortalized in 
 our national hymn America. He claims that he 
 can make them rhyme in one of the verses." 
 
 20 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Old Uncle Eph ! " cried Katharine 
 Springer. " Oh, yes, he was the Old Man's 
 bachelor brother, a wheezy old fellow who 
 played the flute to keep from having the 
 asthma." 
 
 " Yes, that 's he. I 've wondered why he 
 never played a tune. Yet he enjoys his own 
 music, for some nights he sits at the fireside till 
 midnight, playing on his flute. And Benjamin 
 Corvine fiddles. But I do n't pay much atten- 
 tion to the family at night. John and I go up- 
 stairs early and let the Corvines have the house 
 to themselves." 
 
 " No wonder th'e Corvine ghosts let you live 
 in their house, you 're so good to them." 
 
 " They 're kind to me," replied the mistress 
 of the haunted house. " And they are likewise 
 kind to John, helping him to do all the work 
 on this farm. When we came here to live, 
 John intended to remain in the bank, but he 
 could not find a man to work for him, so he 
 gave up his position in town and went to work 
 on the farm. It 's laughable to recall how little 
 John knew about farming, but the Corvine men, 
 especially Peter Corvine, the Old Man, as 
 everybody calls him, turned in and worked like 
 
 21 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 slaves, at the same time teaching John how to 
 farm. It 's marvelous what Peter Corvine has 
 done for us — " 
 
 " Beware of the Old Man ! " cried Kath- 
 erine Springer, in a harsh voice. 
 
 " Please do n't say a word against Peter Cor- 
 vine," protested the mistress of the old home- 
 stead, "he is a good friend of ours." 
 
 " You can 't tell me anything good about the 
 Old Man, I've lived on the farm next to him 
 all my life," affirmed the neighbor. Then she 
 lowered her voice : " Do tell me how you know 
 the names of all the members of the Corvine 
 family." 
 
 " It took John and me quite a while to find 
 out the names of the Corvine family, but we 
 straightened them out after a time, by going to 
 the graveyard and reading the names on the 
 headstones, then we fitted the names to the per- 
 sons as they appeared. And after I became ac- 
 quainted with a few of the family, I asked 
 about the others. One stone has a faded 
 daguerreotype of the pretty lady set in the stone 
 above the name. So you see it was n't difficult 
 to recognize her. She is Laurinda." 
 
 22 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Oh, Rindy, Rindy ! " cried Katharine 
 Springer, tenderly, " she was my best friend. 
 And Rindy was such a pretty girl with chest- 
 nut-colored hair, and eyes to match. I wish I 
 could see her again. We went to school to- 
 gether. I always loved Rindy Corvine." 
 
 " I saw her this morning in the garden ar- 
 ranging brush for the sweet peas to run on. 
 She is always among the flowers, or else wan- 
 dering down the lane and across the meadows 
 in the moonlight." 
 
 " Rindy was so romantic, that 's the reason 
 she never married. She would n't take one of 
 the young farmers around here, because she 
 was expecting a young Lochinvar would come 
 riding out of the West to ask her to be his 
 bride ; but no such knight ever came, so Rindy 
 died, expecting him. Poor Rindy ! " Kath- 
 erine Springer brushed some apple blossom 
 petals off her lap, asking : " I do n't suppose 
 you 're ever lonely ? " 
 
 " My little ones keep me busy," answered 
 the mother. 
 
 " And you have the whole Corvine family to 
 talk to," suggested Katherine Springer. 
 
 23 
 
OLt» COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Yes, I 'm never alone," answered the mis- 
 tress of the haunted house. 
 
 Katherine Springer sighed, saying, "I wish 
 some of the Corvine family would come to see 
 me." Then she glanced shyly at Mary Dayton, 
 asking, under her breath : " Do you ever hap- 
 pen to see Nick around here ? " 
 
 After thinking a few seconds, Mary Dayton 
 answered : " No, I 've never seen him." 
 
 For an instant, Katherine Springer looked 
 disappointed, then, love kindling her eyes, she 
 said : " He has dark eyes and curly hair, and a 
 lock usually lies on his forehead sort of care- 
 less like. No ? Perhaps, he 's afraid of the 
 Old Man, — they were n't friends. The Old 
 Man did n't like Nick's way of wandering 
 through the woods and swamps and swales 
 with his gun and old Rover — " 
 
 " I 've seen him," cried Mary Dayton, "he 
 comes to the house on stormy nights and sits 
 on the bench in the chimney corner with his 
 dog. No one speaks to him. At the V — Cor- 
 ner grocery men call him the Black Sheep — " 
 
 " That 's Nick, that 's Nick Corvine ! " 
 Katherine Springer cried, excitedly. 
 
 24 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " I 've tried to' talk to him, for I feel soriry 
 for the lonely fellow," said the hospitable mis- 
 tress of the haunted house. 
 
 Katherine Springer shook her head know- 
 ingly : " He never made friends readily, but 
 after you were acquainted with" him, he was 
 good company, always telling about the wild 
 life of the woods and marshes. He spent most 
 of his time there ; that 's what roiled the Old 
 Man. He never could forgive Nick's wander- 
 ing ways; not even when Nick brought game 
 to the house when the Old Man's pork barrel 
 was nearly empty. Nick never could please his 
 grandfather." 
 
 " I understand why he is impatient with 
 Nick. Peter Corvine is an inveterate worker 
 and does not tolerate any one who will not work 
 hard." 
 
 " Aw ! " cried Katherine Springer, " Peter 
 Corvine is an old pinchpenny, burying his gold. 
 All the neighbors say he has thousands of dol- 
 lars hidden somewhere about this old place, and 
 that 's the reason he prowls around here at 
 night, scaring every body away. The Old Man 
 thinks more of his gold than he does of his own 
 soul." 
 
 ""as 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 The mistress of the haunted house became 
 lost in a train of thought, while her neighbor 
 railed on against Peter Corvine : 
 
 "My father hated the Old Man; he stole 
 land from us every spring down by the creek 
 that runs across the two farms. When the 
 stream overflowed and tore away a fence, the 
 Old Man would hurry down and put it up a few 
 feet onto our land till he stole a big piece out 
 of our pasture lot. Father and the Old Man 
 quarreled over that line fence till father died." 
 
 " I can imagine what a bitter enemy Peter 
 Corvine might be," replied Mary Dayton. 
 
 " Yes, he killed all my happiness, too," com- 
 plained Katherine Springer, gently brushing 
 the apple blossom petals off her lap, as they 
 kept falling from the branches overhead. " You 
 know how it is, a woman can 't make advances, 
 it looks bold and unwomanly. I couldn n't tell 
 Nick it was father who would n't let me ask 
 him to come to our house. I know Nick 
 thought I was to blame, but I couldn't tell him 
 how it was. If his sister Rindy had been alive, 
 she would have helped me. Rindy and I were 
 like sisters." 
 
 26 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Mary Dayton's heart was overflowing with 
 sympathy for Katherine Springer, and she 
 kept saying to herself : " What can I do to help 
 her ? " 
 
 Katherine Springer sighed, and slowly rose 
 from the seat, saying : " I wish Nick's spirit 
 would come down to my house. I often dream 
 of him. And my dream seems so real that I 
 look for some sign of him in the morning. 
 Sometimes I 've thought I saw his tracks on 
 the hearth where I saw him sitting during the 
 night. Well, it 's a good deal of comfort to 
 dream of him." 
 
 " I 've been thinking," said Mary Dayton, 
 rising, " that you might show by some act of 
 kindness and attention that you still love him. 
 Suppose, you pull the weeds off his grave and 
 plant flowers." 
 
 " How would he know I did it ? " asked 
 Katherine Springer, faint-heartedly. 
 
 "I'd tell him — " 
 
 Katherine Springer stood speechless, with 
 the thought surging through her mind : " Am 
 I so near Nick ? Can this neighbor of mine 
 give him a message from me ? " Looking into 
 Mary Daj^on's large dark-gray eyes, Katherine 
 27 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Springer saw wells of sympathy. " Will you, 
 will you tell him ?" she asked, half pleadingly. 
 
 " Yes, gladly ! " cried Mary Dayton. " I feel 
 so sorry for Nick." 
 
 " Thank you. You 're kind hearted like 
 Rindy," replied Katherine Springer, instinc- 
 tively aware that she had discovered a kindred 
 spirit. 
 
 Mary put her arm around Katherine, gently 
 persuading her to sit down again. " Tell me 
 more about Nick," she ventured. 
 
 " The Lord has answered my prayer, He has 
 given me my heart's desire," tearfully quoted 
 the solitary woman. Hesitating a moment, she 
 resumed : " My father was always repeating 
 that heathen proverb to me : ' The Lord deliver 
 me from my heart's desire and from the hungry 
 she- wolf.' But all the time I kept saying to 
 myself : ' Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for 
 him, and He will give thee thy heart's desire.' " 
 Katherine's voice quivered, yet she kept on: 
 " When I heard that the spirits of the Corvine 
 family haunted the old cobblestone house, I 
 wondered whether Nick's spirit ever came back 
 to the old home. But I would n't prowl around 
 here to find out. People would talk; and, too, 
 28 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 I was afraid of meeting the Old Man." Glanc- 
 ing toward the graveyard, she whispered : " I 
 wanted to put a gray granite cross to mark 
 Nick's neglected grave, but then again I was 
 afraid of what the neighbors might say, and of 
 the Old Man, too. But, perhaps, Nick would n't 
 like the cross; for when Rindy died, he said 
 he did n't care about headstones, he 'd rather 
 have a lilac bush on his grave." 
 
 " Then he '11 surely be pleased to have you 
 put some flowers there ! " cried Mary. 
 
 " Yes, I think he will. I have some beauti- 
 ful large pansies blooming in my garden. I 
 raised them f rcim the seed myself, starting them 
 late last summer. I '11 put some of them on 
 Nick's grave," replied Katherine, calmly and 
 tenderly. 
 
 " Pansies will please him, I know," said 
 Mary, noting the serene expression of Kath- 
 erine's face, and the blue of the sky reflected 
 in her eyes. Her hair was silvery white and 
 wavy. 
 
 Katherine continued to talk of Nick till the 
 
 lowing of the cows in the lane told her it was 
 
 milking time, yet she kept on heedless of the 
 
 hour. The sun went under a cloud, then the 
 
 29 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 cool twilight of the woods crept under the apple 
 trees. The wood thrushes began to sing. Yet 
 the lonely woman was reluctant to leave Nick's 
 home and the friend she had found there, till 
 she heard the children coming from their party 
 in the graveyard. As she rose from the seat, 
 a robin flew off its nest, scattering a shower of 
 apple blossoms over her. 
 
 " Oh, Katherine ! " exclaimed Mary, " you 
 look like a bride in her veil." 
 
 Katherine seemed pleased, shyly saying: 
 " You might mention to Nick, when you see 
 him, that I inquired after him." 
 
 " I will, certainly. Nick and I have some- 
 thing to talk about, now," said Mary, kissing 
 Katherine on each cheek, and asking her to 
 come often to the old cobblestone house. 
 
 Katherine thanked Mary, inviting her to 
 come to the white house down the road. 
 
 The affectionate leave-taking, however, was 
 interrupted by the arrival of the two girls and 
 their little brother from the graveyard. 
 
 Marion threw her arms around her mother's 
 neck, saying : " We want Dolly and Polly to 
 come over and stay all night with us." 
 
 30 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 "Not to-night," replied the mother; "you 
 and Sally have been with the twins all day. 
 Run and tell them that they may come some 
 other night." 
 
 The mother led Jack into the house, where 
 she found little Peter asleep in the cradle, and 
 the supper in the process of cooking. No one 
 was visible, till Nancy came out of the pantry 
 and went to the fireplace to look at her biscuits 
 which were browning in a "baker" on the 
 hearth in front of the fire. 
 
 When Stephen Corvine (Nick's father) and 
 his brother Richard came from the cow stable 
 with the milk, Phoebe and Nancy met their two 
 nephews at the outside cellar door and took the 
 four pails of milk. Straightway the girls re- 
 turned from the graveyard and began washing 
 their hands and faces in the basins of water on 
 the bench under the apple trees, playing there 
 until their mother called them in for supper. 
 
 As John Dayton sat down to the table, he re- 
 marked that the strong south wind would bring 
 rain before midnight. 
 
 " What a beautiful day we 've had," replied 
 his wife. Then she told him of Katherine 
 
 31 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Springer's call, omitting the romance of Kath- 
 erine and Nick. 
 
 " We must invite her here to renew her ac- 
 quaintance with the Corvine family, the women 
 will very likely be pleased to see their neighbor 
 again," John told his wife. 
 
 " I did n't suggest it this afternoon," replied 
 Mary, " for Miss Springer was somewhat nerv- 
 ous, but I invited her to come again." 
 
 During the meal, the father and mother said 
 very little, each was occupied with serious 
 thoughts ; and the children were too hungry to 
 talk. 
 
 After the children had left the table, how- 
 ever, John Dayton leaned forward, saying, 
 quietly : " Squire Burril came down to the 
 field this afternoon where I was dragging, and 
 coolly informed me that he was going to fore- 
 close the mortgage on this place Saturday." 
 
 The wife stared at her husband an instant, 
 then recovering herself, asked : " Has he for- 
 gotten the agreement he made with you last 
 spring ? Is n't he going to wait till the crops 
 are harvested and sold ? " 
 
 " He said that was only a verbal agree- 
 ment, it would n't stand ; and, anyhow, he 
 32 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 wouldn't argue; all there was about it, he 
 wanted the money on Saturday, or else he 
 would foreclose. You see, he 's always been 
 provoked because we could live with the Cor- 
 vine family. Before we bought this place, he 
 rented the land of the state and made money off 
 it. And that is the reason he took the mort- 
 gage, he was hoping some day to foreclose on 
 us. And now the time has come." 
 
 A gust of wind blew the pantry door open. 
 
 Mary pushed back her chair, saying : "It 's 
 a pity there are no heirs." 
 
 John got up, grumbling : ' A family of spin- 
 sters and bachelors." Then he said that he was 
 going out to the poultry yard to see that the 
 young chickens and ducks were safe for the 
 night, for it was going to rain. 
 
 The mother called the three children into 
 the house and took them upstairs. While she 
 was undressing Jack, Marion and Sally were 
 undressing themselves, and they kept asking 
 for Laurinda. 
 
 " Is n't Auntie going to tell us stories to- 
 night ? " Marion wanted to know. 
 
 33 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " If she does n't come, you must be good 
 children and go to sleep," their mother told 
 them. 
 
 " Dolly and Polly can tell beautiful stories," 
 said Marion. " To-day they told us one about 
 bears coming out of the woods to eat up 
 naughty children, and another story about a 
 big fish swallowing a man — " 
 
 " But we played that we were big dogs like 
 Towser and Rover, and we barked and chased 
 the bears into the woods," said Sally. 
 
 " Oh, yes," cried Marion, " we never let the 
 bears eat up the children, we always frighten 
 them away." 
 
 " Did the twins enjoy their birthday party ? " 
 the mother asked. 
 
 " Yes, mother," said Marion, " Dolly loves 
 Aunt Nancy's gooseberry tarts, and Polly loves 
 Aunt Phoebe's raspberry vinegar. Oh, we all 
 had such fun at the party ! " 
 
 " We ate our luncheon on Uncle Peter's 
 grave," said Sally. 
 
 " Yes," said Marion, " his stone makes such 
 a pretty table, the green moss grows in the 
 cracks, and the vines run all over it." 
 
 34 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " But he came and shooed us away," put in 
 Sally. 
 
 " But we did n't care," piped up Marion, 
 " for we had eaten everything up." 
 
 " Hasten, girls, I hear httle Peter crying," 
 said the mother. 
 
 " We 're all ready for bed, but saying our 
 prayers," said Marion. 
 
 The prayers of the two girls were somewhat 
 lengthy, owing to the fact that they always 
 asked a blessing on every member of the Cor- 
 vine family, who had a stone, resting in the an- 
 cestral burial ground. 
 
 In the meanwhile Laurinda had come into 
 the room and heard the request for her to tell 
 stories that evening. 
 
 Waiting for the Amen, she asked : " Which 
 one shall I tell ? " 
 
 As the girls jumped into the trundle bed, 
 they called for: "Red Riding-Hood," "Blue 
 Beard," " Jack the Giant-Killer," and " Babes 
 in the Woods." 
 
 The mother put Jack into his crib, then kissed 
 the girls, leaving them in Laurinda's care, while 
 she went downstairs to look after little Peter. 
 
 35 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Returning within ten minutes, she found the 
 girls asleep, and alone. After putting little 
 Peter in a cradle in her room, she sat down at 
 the open window for a moment to rest. The 
 sun had set, and the sky was on fire with the 
 afterglow; dark, angry clouds were scudding 
 before the wind, and showers of apple blossoms 
 were tossing about in the air like snow flurries. 
 Mary Dayton thought of all that had happened 
 during that day, such an eventful day for the 
 mistress of the cobblestone house. The condi- 
 tion of her mind resembled somewhat the wild 
 wind storm without: the threatening foreclos- 
 ure of the mortgage hanging over the old home- 
 stead was like the dark angry clouds in the 
 western sky, and the revelation of Katherine's 
 and Nick's romance was like the snow shower 
 of apple blossoms in the whirlwind. She 
 watched the thick clouds roll down over the 
 bright sky, shutting out the last rays of day- 
 light. In the dim, uncertain twilight, Mary saw 
 the figure of a woman moving about in the cor- 
 ner of the graveyard where Nick Corvine was 
 buried. 
 
 " It 's Katherine, poor soul ! " cried Mary, 
 under her breath. " I wonder whether Nick is 
 36 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 in the house. If there 's going to be a rain 
 storm, he '11 surely come ; he always flies to 
 cover like the wild waterfowls." 
 
 Running quickly down stairs, she found 
 Peter Corvine sitting in the kitchen, warming 
 his bony shins at the fire. Nick was on the 
 bench in the chimney corner, with his dog lying 
 on the floor at his feet. Mary went to Nick, 
 and whispered : " Katherine Springer is in the 
 graveyard — " 
 
 Nick vanished in headlong speed, going 
 either out the door or up the chimney, Mary did 
 not know which. 
 
 Peter Corvine shot inquiring eyes at Mary, 
 which aroused her temper, and she said to her- 
 self : " The Old Man shall not interfere with 
 the lovers. I '11 give Peter Corvine something 
 to think about." She turned, accordingly, and 
 said to him : " Do you know that the Squire is 
 going to foreclose the mortgage on this farm 
 Saturday ? " 
 
 Peter Corvine's under jaw dropped, and his 
 eyes set in his head for an instant, then recov- 
 ering himself, he gasped : " Where's John ? " 
 
 " He 's in the poultry yard," she told him. 
 
 37 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 The guardian spirit of the old homestead 
 stumbled across the room for his hat which 
 hung on a peg, then opening the door, disap- 
 peared in the darkness. 
 
 Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Nancy had been busy- 
 since supper, washing the dishes and setting 
 things in order for the night. Now Nancy was 
 in the pantry, mixing her bread sponge, and 
 Phoebe was lighting the candles. 
 
 Placing two candlesticks on a small stand at 
 one side of the fireplace, she said : " How chilly 
 it grows ; this fire needs more wood. Where 's 
 Nick ? " 
 
 " I '11 fetch some," said Mary, dashing out 
 to the wood pile. 
 
 " Do n't, Mary, you 're too delicate," called 
 Aunt Phoebe, looking distressed toward the 
 open door. 
 
 When Mary came in with a big knotty chunk 
 of apple tree wood in her arms, Nancy, coming 
 out of the pantry, stood aghast, saying: 
 " Child, you '11 catch your death. Where 's 
 one of the men-folks ? " 
 
 Phoebe hastened to take the wood from 
 Mary, scolding : " Nick is never around the 
 house when there 's work to do." Placing the 
 38 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 chunk on the andirons, she drew a rocker in 
 front of the fire and told Mary to sit down and 
 get warm. 
 
 Mary, whose face was beaming with mis- 
 chief, was thankful of an excuse to turn her 
 tell tale countenance away from the solicitous 
 aunts, who sat down by the stand and began 
 darning the children's stockings. 
 
 When the old apple tree wood began to blaze, 
 Mary's thoughts followed Nick to the grave- 
 yard, and she wondered whether he had found 
 Katherine. Then she tried to imagine what 
 her own life would have been, if she and John 
 had never married. And she said quietly to 
 herself : " Oh, Katherine, you should be sitting 
 beside the fireplace in the old cobblestone house, 
 with Nick's aunts darning your children's 
 stockings, instead of being out in the dark 
 night, planting flowers on Nick Corvine's 
 grave." Mary leaned forward and covered 
 her face with her hands, forgetting for the time 
 being her own troubles. 
 
 When Nick rushed out of the house, headed 
 for the graveyard, Rover thought that there 
 was game in the underbrush to be stirred up, so 
 the dog bounded ahead, barking wildly. Kath- 
 
 39 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 erine, however, was not at all startled, for 
 weren't she and Rover old friends ? And 
 Rover, likewise, instantly recognized Kath- 
 erine. Nick followed his dog and found him 
 leaping into the air, trying to lap Katherine's 
 face. 
 
 " Down, Rover, behave yourself," com- 
 manded Nick, striking with his cap at the dog. 
 Then he stood, cap in hand, looking bashfully 
 at his lifelong sweetheart. 
 
 With the grave between them, Katherine 
 waited silently for Nick to speak. Many times 
 in bygone years the boy and girl had stood at 
 the gate in this identical attitude, each hesitat- 
 ing to take the initiative. 
 
 To-night, however, Nick, eager to speak to 
 his sweetheart, said : " Kitty ? " 
 
 She murmured, softly : " Oh, Nick, I 've been 
 so lonely." 
 
 " Do n't cry, Kitty." 
 
 " Why did n't you come to see me ? " 
 
 " I was afraid of scaring you," answered 
 Nick. " But every night I was around your 
 house, protecting you, keeping the tramps from 
 setting fire to your barns, and shooting foxes 
 
 40 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 and skunks that came prowling around your 
 hen-roost — " 
 
 "But I didn't know it," lamented Kitty, 
 brushing the tears from her face. " I did n't 
 know you were so near me. Did you think I 
 had forgotten you, because I did n't put fltiWers 
 on your grave? See, this evening I planted 
 pansies here," Kitty told him, pointing to the 
 blossoming plants at their feet. 
 
 Nick looked down an instant, then, raising 
 his head, remarked : " Pansies always remind 
 me of you, Kitty." 
 
 " It 's beginning to rain," said Kitty, anx- 
 iously, holding out her hand to assure herself 
 of the fact. " I 'm glad, for it will keep the 
 pansies from wilting." 
 
 " We had better go into the house. Come," 
 said Nick, starting. " John and Mary Dayton 
 are just like our own family, you '11 like them." 
 
 Kitty followed, saying : " Mary and I are 
 like old friends. Oh, my ! just hear me talk. 
 I never met her till this afternoon, yet it seems 
 as though I had known her all my life. She 
 reminds me of Rindy. Oh, Nick, do you ever 
 see Rindy ? " 
 
 41 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Yes, I saw her gathering apple blossoms 
 in the orchard just before dark." 
 
 " I should n't think an angelic creature like 
 Rindy would care to come back to the old cob- 
 blestone house." 
 
 " It 's the garden, she can 't forget the 
 flowers; and, too, she is very fond of Marion 
 and Sally." 
 
 Facing Nick, Kitty laid her hand on his 
 shoulder, saying: "Oh, Nick, tell me, what is 
 Heaven like ? " 
 
 Nick noted that this was the first time Kitty 
 had touched him, and he was pleased. " Why, 
 Heaven is — I think I '11 not tell you, for I 
 want you to be surprised." 
 
 As they walked along, Kitty asked : " If 
 Heaven is so beautiful, why do you come back 
 to earth ?" 
 
 Nick laid his arm lightly around her waist, 
 saying: " Kitty, I couldn't forget you." 
 
 Kitty covered her face with her hands, sob- 
 bing : " Oh, Nick, I wish I had known it all 
 these years, I 've been so lonesome without 
 you, and Rindy, and mother, and father — " 
 
 " Do n't cry. Hark ! someone is coming. 
 Why, it 's Grandfather and John Dayton. This 
 42 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 way, Kitty, we '11 go through here," said Nick, 
 pushing aside the long swaying branches of the 
 weeping willows for Kitty to pass. 
 
 She clung breathlessly to Nick, hurrying out 
 of the graveyard, lest the Old Man see her. 
 " Is he coming this way ? " she kept repeating, 
 like a little child. 
 
 " Do n't be frightened, Kitty, grandfather 
 is n't so fierce as he used to be," Nick assured 
 Kitty, leading her gently along. 
 
 As they approached the rear of the cobble- 
 stone house, the kitchen door swung open. 
 Kitty stopped and looked inquiringly. 
 
 Nick laughed, saying : " Did you see Mouser 
 jump up and press down the latch with his 
 forepaws ? That 's an old trick of his. He 
 used to do that when I was a boy." 
 
 " Oh, was it the cat ? " 
 
 " Yes, Aunt Nancy's pet maltese." 
 
 The cat, on entering the room, went directly 
 to Nancy Corvine and jumped up in her lap. 
 
 Stroking his back, Nancy said : " Why, it 's 
 raining, Mouser's fur is wet." 
 
 " We had better close the chamber windows, 
 this wind will drive the rain onto our clean 
 dimity curtains," said Phoebe, getting up to go 
 
 43 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 up stairs. Nancy put the cat on the floor, and 
 followed her sister. 
 
 Nick, with Kitty clinging to him, entered the 
 kitchen ; no one was visible, yet the two vacant 
 rockers by the stand were jogging back and 
 forth. Kitty kept her eyes on the chairs, as 
 Nick led her to the bench in the chimney cor- 
 ner. Sitting down in the bright firelight, Nick 
 and Kitty looked into each other's eyes for the 
 first time in twenty years. No one disturbed 
 the lovers for a long while, and no one paid any 
 attention to them, either. John Dayton passed 
 through the kitchen on his way upstairs, look- 
 ing for his wife, but he was too much absorbed 
 with his own thoughts to care who was in the 
 room. 
 
 He found his wife, with little Peter in her 
 arms, rocking him to sleep. Sitting down be- 
 side her, John said, in an undertone : " Mary, 
 Peter Corvine is going to give us the money to 
 pay the mortgage, every dollar of it." 
 
 " Peter Corvine ! " repeated Mary. 
 
 " Yes," said John. " I was never so dumb- 
 founded in all my life. When I was in the 
 poultry house, nailing a few boards onto the 
 south side to keep out the rain and wind, I 
 
 44 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 heard some one running like mad. Looking 
 out the door, I saw Peter standing there, gasp- 
 ing for breath. When he got his wind again 
 and began to talk, I could n't understand what 
 he said ; he got off a lot of inarticulate sounds 
 and incoherent sentences, but for the life of me, 
 I couldn't tell what he was driving at. At 
 length, I caught the words : ' Mary, mortgage, 
 money — ' " 
 
 " Yes," said Mary, " I told him." 
 
 " It 's lucky you did," said John, "for I 
 would never have thought of going to Peter 
 Corvine for money. But he has the money. 
 I 've seen it — ■ " 
 
 " This afternoon Katherine Springer told 
 me the Old Man had money buried somewhere 
 about this old place, but I thought it was only 
 one of the many rumors that the neighbors 
 keep afloat about the old cobblestone house." 
 
 " Mary," whispered John, " you wo n't 
 mind, will you, if I do n't tell you where Peter 
 Corvine hides his gold ? I promised him on 
 my honor not to tell." 
 
 " Certainly not, I would n't have you tell me 
 for all the world," Mary assured her husband. 
 
 45 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE ' 
 
 " He has surely been a good friend to us," 
 said John. 
 
 " Our own grandfather could n't have done 
 more for us," added Mary. 
 
 John continued in an undertone : " His 
 money is all in gold of ancient date, and it will 
 never do to pay it to the Squire, — he will im- 
 mediately suspect it came from the Corvines. 
 Peter was the first one to speak of this. But I 
 told him I had friends in the bank where I had 
 been employed as a bookkeeper, and they would 
 give me its equivalent in a draft." 
 
 " Are you sure ? " asked Mary. 
 
 " Yes," said John. " Why, Blake or Ken- 
 non will do the business for me. The Old 
 Man's eagles are good money." 
 
 " How fortunate for us that Peter Corvine 
 can pay this mortgage; it would break my 
 heart to leave the old cobblestone house," said 
 Mary, laying her hand on her husband's arm. 
 
 " Yes," said John, taking her hand, " and 
 it would also break Peter Corvine's heart, if 
 we left the old home. Should another family 
 move in here, they might not like to share the 
 house with four generations of Corvines, big 
 and little." 
 
 46 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 "That's true," admitted his wife. "But 
 we could n't live here without the help of this 
 spirit family. Yet everybody might not under- 
 stand their ways and get along with them as 
 we do, without offending them." 
 
 " I know it," said John, " they seem like our 
 own family; and I 'm sure I think just as much 
 of them." 
 
 " So do I," agreed his wife. " And, I think, 
 it 's because you have so few kinsfolk, and 
 they all live in Massachusetts ; and mine are all 
 dead." 
 
 " We were lucky to come into possession of 
 an old homestead with its ancestors," said John, 
 getting up and taking off his coat. " I must 
 change my clothes ; Peter wants to start about 
 ten o'clock — " 
 
 " What ! " cried his wife. " You 're not 
 going to town to-night ? " 
 
 " Yes, Peter wo n't wait till daylight, he 
 wants to be off and on the way to exchange the 
 gold. He' s determined the Squire shall not 
 foreclose the mortgage Saturday." 
 
 " Are you going to take the suburban ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, I could n't persuade Peter to put 
 his foot on one of those infernal cars, as he 
 
 47 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 calls them. He hates them. We 're going 
 horseback — " 
 
 " The team has been working hard all day." 
 
 " That 's what I told Peter, and he said we 
 were n't going to ride the bays — " 
 
 " But we have n't another team, and, surely, 
 old Sorrel is of no use on a long trip." 
 
 John shook his head, saying : " That 's what 
 I told Peter, and he said we were going to ride 
 the grays — " 
 
 " The grays ? " queried Mary. 
 
 " Yes," said John, " several times during 
 harvest, when a shower was coming up, there 
 has been an extra team and hay-rigging help- 
 ing us in the field, and the horses were iron- 
 gray." 
 
 " I understand," said Mary, " they are a 
 team Peter used to own." 
 
 When John was ready to leave the room, 
 Mary laid the baby in the cradle, and went with 
 her husband down stairs. No one was in the 
 kitchen, except' Nick and Kitty. And when 
 John saw them, he turned to Mary, asking: 
 " Which one is she? I never saw her before." 
 
 " Oh, hush, John," said Mary, " she is our 
 neighbor, Miss Springer." 
 48 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " What ! that young girl ? " whispered 
 John. 
 
 Mary looked at the woman sitting by the 
 side of Nick in the glow of the firelight, and 
 beheld Katherine Springer grown a generation 
 younger, even younger than she was when Nick 
 died. 
 
 She was saying to Nick : " You did n't an- 
 swer me when I asked you out in the grave- 
 yard, if you felt slighted because I had never 
 planted flowers on your grave — " 
 
 " No, no, no," replied Nick, " why should I 
 care, I 'm never there." 
 
 Kitty laid her head on his shoulder, saying: 
 " I 'm so happy, I wonder if I 'm dead, and this 
 is Heaven — " 
 
 " No," said Nick, ' this is n't Heaven." 
 
 "Aren't you happy, too?" asked Kitty, 
 somewhat disappointed at her sweetheart's 
 reply. 
 
 " I meant the place," he quickly told her. 
 Then he added : " But it 's Heaven to be sitting 
 beside you once more, Kitty." 
 
 " And we '11 never be separated again, will 
 we ? " she asked. 
 
 49 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Never, Kitty, never," her lover assured 
 her. 
 
 When John and Mary Dayton went out of 
 the door. Rover raised his head, and Kitty 
 heard the chck of the latch. Clasping her hands 
 around Nick's arm, she asked : " Is the Old 
 Man coming ? " 
 
 " No, no, Kitty, dear, do n't be afraid of 
 Grandfather. He and I are on good terms 
 now. I wo n't let him scare you," said Nick. 
 
 After a moment's pause, she said : " That 
 line fence is standing in the right place now." 
 
 " I know it," said Nick, " I helped grand- 
 father put it up on the boundary line between 
 the two farms; and I told him not to take it 
 down — " 
 
 " How dare you ? " asked Kitty. 
 
 " Grandfather's disposition has greatly im- 
 proved," Nick told her. 
 
 Kitty asked : " Do you ever see my father 
 in the other world ? " 
 
 " I never look for him," was Nick's laconic 
 reply. 
 
 " I hope he knows the fence is on the line. 
 He was always so roiled about it when he was 
 alive." 
 
 SO 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Settling down again, she kept repeating to 
 herself some of her favorite quotations : " ' O 
 fleeting moment, thou art so fair ! ' ' What 
 gifts hath Heaven in exchange for these ? ' " 
 Then she thought of forlorn Rindy wandering 
 alone down the lane and over the meadows, 
 with only a fancy of her romantic lover to com- 
 fort her. 
 
 As the moaning of the wind in the chimney 
 increased, Nick drew Kitty closer to him. 
 
 Mary waited outside to see her husband and 
 Peter Corvine start for the city. It was rain- 
 ing hard. She could not see even the outlines 
 of the barns, but heard the clatter of horses' 
 hoofs approaching. A flash of lightning re- 
 vealed Peter Corvine riding a gray horse and 
 leading the mate. John speedily mounted, and 
 the two horsemen instantly disappeared in the 
 darkness. Mary felt that her husband had rid- 
 den away with Death. 
 
 Rushing, into the house and up stairs, she 
 took little Peter in her arms, and threw her- 
 self on the bed beside her child, calling : " John, 
 John ! Will I never see you again ! I 've made 
 a mistake, living with these spirits. Now, 
 Peter Corvine has ridden away with you, never 
 
 SI 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 to return. I saw Peter Corvine on the Pale 
 Horse that Death rides, and you followed on 
 its mate." "Oh, God," she cried, "let my 
 husband come back to me, let him come back 
 to his wife and little ones — " 
 
 While the petition was still on her lips, a bolt 
 of lightning struck one of the old locusts, sliv- 
 ering ofif one side of the tree, which fell crash- 
 ing to the ground ; and then followed thunder, 
 fire, and wind. 
 
 Rindy came running into the room, crying. 
 
 Mary heard Rindy's voice above the roar of 
 the wind, and saw the weeping woman stand- 
 ing at the window with her handkerchief to her 
 eyes. Hastening to her, Mary caught sight of 
 the blazing tree. 
 
 Rindy threw her arms around Mary, wailing 
 piteously : " Our locusts, our locusts are burn- 
 ing up ! " 
 
 Mary, noting that the blaze was on the outer 
 edge of the grove, instantly thought of a con- 
 soling word for Rindy : " The rain will soon 
 put out the fire, all the trees will not bum. 
 Listen, how the wind is driving the rain in 
 sheets against the windows." 
 
 52 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Rindy raised her head, saying : " Nick 's 
 down stairs, let 's go and ask him what to do." 
 
 Mary and Rindy ran hurriedly down the 
 stairs, and found Kitty sitting alone in the 
 chimney-comer. 
 
 " Where 's Nick ? " Rindy demanded, in her 
 blind haste. 
 
 " Oh, Rindy ! " cried Kitty, rising to greet 
 the friend of her girlhood. 
 
 Rindy clasped Kitty in her arms, murmur- 
 ing: "Kitty, Kitty, Kitty." 
 
 " Why didn't you come to see me all these 
 years ? " Kitty reproachfully asked the play- 
 mate of her school days. 
 
 Rindy did not answer, but began lamenting 
 the loss of the old trees. "Our locusts, our 
 dear old locusts are burning." 
 
 Kitty patted Rindy on the shoulder, saying : 
 "Dear girl, do n't cry, Nick — " 
 
 At that moment, Nick blew into the room 
 with a gust of wind which whirled the ashes 
 out of the fire onto the hearth. 
 
 Rindy flew to Nick, imploring him to save 
 the locusts. 
 
 53 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " The wind is putting out the fire of the blaz- 
 ing tree, the rest wo n't burn," he assured his 
 sister. 
 
 Rindy dropped into a high back rocking 
 chair, limp as a wilted flower. 
 
 Nick drew Kitty to the chimney corner 
 bench, whispering: "Grandfather has dug up 
 his gold." 
 
 " His gold ? " echoed Kitty. 
 
 " Yes," said Nick, " and I don't see him 
 anywhere about the place." 
 
 " Ask Mary," suggested Kitty. 
 
 Mary was standing beside Rindy's chair. 
 Nick beckoned to her, and, at the same time, 
 stepped cautiously forward, asking: "Do you 
 know where Grandfather is ? " 
 
 Mary turned her face away from him, and 
 burst into tears. 
 
 Rindy jumped up, and Kitty hastened to 
 Mary's side. 
 
 Nick and Rindy stood spellbound, they were 
 reading Mary's thoughts. 
 
 Kitty touched Nick to attract his attention: 
 "What do you see, Nick ? You look so terri- 
 bly scared." 
 
 54 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 "Grandfather and John Dayton have gone 
 to town, — ridden off in this wild storm," Nick 
 told her. 
 
 Rindy added : "They rode the grays." 
 
 " Oh, my ! " exclaimed Kitty. " Do your 
 faithful horses leave their ' green pastures and 
 still waters ' and come to earth again ? " 
 
 Mary controlled her feelings for a sufficient 
 length of time to explain about the Squire's 
 threatening to foreclose the mortgage. 
 
 Nick said : " I understand now why Grand- 
 father dug up his gold. Well, he wo n't have to 
 keep an eye on me any longer. But, pshaw ! 
 I have no use for money." 
 
 " Of course, you have n't," said Kitty. " Our 
 minister says that the only coin that passes 
 current in the next life is love." 
 
 Rindy smiled and nodded, affirming the as- 
 sertion. 
 
 At that moment there was a whirl of wings 
 in the room. Nick looked up, thinking that a 
 flock of blackbirds from the marshes was fly- 
 ing low overhead. Rindy was reminded of the 
 gentle night wind among the flowers in the 
 garden; while Kitty thought of the fluttering 
 of swallows in the chimney; and, Mary, 
 
 55 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 through her tears, saw the Corvine spirits de- 
 scending like meteors. These specter guests 
 continued to come until the spacious kitchen of 
 the old home was so full, that Mary, Rindy, 
 Kitty, and Nick were crowded into the chim- 
 ney corner. After a few minutes, however, 
 Rindy and Nick hastened to speak with their 
 father and mother. Mary and Kitty sat down 
 on the bench, gazing breathlessly at the assem- 
 bly of spirits of the Corvine family. Some of 
 them seemed intimately acquainted, meeting 
 one another with familiar and friendly greet- 
 ings; whereas others peered into the faces of 
 their own kin, as if questioning their bodily ex- 
 istence. Sally Corvine, Aunt Phoebe, and 
 Aunt Nancy each took a rocking chair and 
 began earnestly talking about the foreclosing 
 of the mortgage on their old home. Over by 
 the tall old clock stood Uncle Ephraim, a 
 grizzly old fellow, talking with the mild lovable 
 Alvira about the mortgage, and discussing the 
 right of Squire Burrill's foreclosure. A tall, 
 thin, gaunt woman, carrying a parrot in a 
 large wooden cage, wandered around, looking 
 for a safe place to hang her pet. 
 
 56 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " There 's Maria Jane with her Poll," said 
 Kitty. " My ! how she loves that bird." 
 
 " She does n't come here often," remarked 
 Mary. 
 
 " No," said Kitty, " the Old Man never got 
 along well with his half sister; she was too 
 strong-minded to suit him." 
 
 " How thin she is," said Mary. 
 
 " Yes," said Kitty. " She had a disease of 
 sadness which made her grow thin. But she 
 said she did n't care how thin she was, for flesh 
 and blood did n't inherit the Kingdom of 
 Heaven." 
 
 " She has a kind heart, she loves children 
 and animals and birds," said Mary. 
 
 " There's pretty Annabell, Nick's and Rin- 
 dy's little sister," said Kitty. Then she added 
 with a sigh : " She died so young, only fifteen." 
 
 At that instant an elderly woman, with iron- 
 gray hair combed straight back from her high 
 forehead, made her way among the assemblage 
 of Corvines, and passed through the hall door. 
 
 "There's Eliza Ann," said Kitty. "She 
 was the last of the Corvine family, she died in 
 this house about fifteen years ago." 
 
 57 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " I know it," said Mary. " And she 's going 
 straight to the old bookcase in the northwest 
 chamber where she keeps her Hterary treas- 
 ures. The shelves are piled high with old 
 books and with Godey's and Graham's maga- 
 zines. On rainy days she spends hours in that 
 room, reading. It seems that was a habit of 
 hers when she was a girl." 
 
 " I can understand the pleasure she takes 
 with her books," said Kitty, " for I love my 
 books, too. Mine seem like real live friends 
 to me. I 'd feel sad to leave my books, if I 
 did n't know that I was going to meet the au- 
 thors of them in the next life." 
 
 Mary nudged Kitty, saying : " That little 
 lady dressed in white with long curls is Eve- 
 lina. She makes exquisite eyelet-embroidered 
 clothes for Marion and Sally. Every little 
 while she '11 ask me for some more linen to 
 work on." 
 
 "Why," said Kitty, "that's a niece of 
 Sally's, who came here to live after her par- 
 ents died. They say she went insane, because 
 her lover was drowned while fording a stream 
 on his way to their wedding. She did n't live 
 long afterward." 
 
 S8 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Her mind is all right now," said Mary. 
 
 " Poor girl, I 'm glad to hear it," sighed 
 Kitty. 
 
 " What a tribe of Corvine's ! " exclaimed 
 Mafy, under her breath. " I declare I can 't 
 tell to which generation they all belong. There 
 comes Peter's father with his three wives. I 
 have n't seen them in a long while." 
 
 Kitty laughed, saying : " I guess his first and 
 second wives when they were on earth had to 
 work so hard that they have n't many pleas- 
 ant memories to lure them back to their old 
 home. But the third wife had an easier time 
 of it, so everybody says. The country around 
 here was all woods when the Old Man's father 
 came from Connecticut in an ox cart. Nick 
 and Rindy have told me all about it many 
 times. Rindy thinks it is so romantic. Well, 
 it is to look back upon. But I 'd like to know 
 what the women, who lived in the log cabin, 
 which stood where the cobblestone house now 
 stands, thought of it." 
 
 " Yes," said Mary. " I wonder whether 
 Matilda thought that life romantic. Matilda 
 was the first wife, wasn 't she ? Her stone 
 has the oldest date on it." 
 
 59 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Matilda, Esther, Hannah," repeated Kitty. 
 " That 's the order of the wives' stones out in 
 the graveyard." 
 
 Thaddeus Corvine, the husband of the three 
 wives, was a tall, spare, sober-looking man 
 with a long white beard reaching down to his 
 waist. Matilda was a wiry, energetic little 
 woman with black hair and eyes, Esther was 
 likewise small, but sandy. Hannah was tall, 
 erect, self possessed with brown hair and steel- 
 gray eyes. 
 
 Mary said : " Peter Corvine looks like 
 Hannah, his mother." 
 
 " That 's so, he does," responded Kitty. 
 Then she went on to say : " I 've always wanted 
 to see the Old Man's parents, for I 've heard so 
 much about them. Thaddeus Corvine built 
 this cobblestone house, bringing the stones in 
 an ox cart from the shores of Lake Ontario. 
 And Hannah Corvine was the smartest house- 
 keeper anywhere around here; it was said of 
 her that she could make a silk purse out of a 
 pig's ear." 
 
 In looking at Hannah Corvine, Mary and 
 Kitty could not help feeling that they were in 
 the presence of a woman of strong personality. 
 60 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Nevertheless, Kitty did not like the tall Han- 
 nah, in her green plaid silk, trimmed with 
 black silk fringe, towering above the meek 
 Matilda and Esther clad in their homespun 
 woolen frocks with simple white kerchiefs 
 crossed over their flat chests. 
 
 As Kitty turned to express her opinion to 
 Mary, a little bent old woman, whose face was 
 as brown and wrinkled as a baked apple, drew 
 a low rocking chair in front of the fire, and, 
 sitting down, began to knit. 
 
 " Terrible storm," she muttered, clicking her 
 needles ; " but I must finish Peter Corvine's 
 stockings this night." 
 
 " Good evening, Betsy," said Mary. Then 
 turning to Kitty, she explained : " This little 
 lady is an aunt of Peter's, who lived here when 
 he was a boy." 
 
 At that moment Aunt Nancy appeared with 
 an iron kettle, and, hanging it on one of the 
 hooks over the fire, by the side of the busy 
 knitter, said : " Here 's your tea, Betsy." 
 
 " Nancy never forgets me," the old woman 
 gratefully murmured. 
 
 There were half a dozen men in the room, 
 and Mary said to Kitty: "John is well ac- 
 6i 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 quainted with all the Corvine men, he works 
 with them on the farm, and they come to the 
 house to spend their evenings ; but I 'm usually 
 upstairs with the children. I know their names, 
 however: Adam, Benjamin, Jonathan, Jacob, 
 Stephen, and Richard." 
 
 Kitty said : " I recognize a few of them." 
 Then she beckoned to Nick and Rindy. When 
 they came to her side, she asked : " Why are 
 all the members of your family here to- 
 night ? " 
 
 Nick said : " They got wind of grandfather's 
 digging up his gold to pay off the mortgage 
 on the old home — " 
 
 " The locusts, the locusts," wailed Rindy. 
 " Our family saw the blazing tree — " 
 
 " Yes," admitted her brother, " the men 
 came to put out the fire, too." 
 
 " How the Corvine family love the old cob- 
 blestone house ! " thought Kitty, watching the 
 specter kinsfolk conversing in groups here and 
 there in the room, while some retired into the 
 shadowy corners, quietly talking. They all 
 seemed to enjoy a spiritual fellowship, which 
 Kitty could almost understand. 
 
 62 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Now and then. Aunt Phoebe stalked around 
 the room, snuffing the candles, and brushing 
 up the ashes, which the wind had whirled down 
 the big-mouthed chimney onto the hearth. 
 Sally was hovering about the brick oven, look- 
 ing after some rhubarb pies which she was 
 baking for Peter, on the event of his return. 
 The love of the daily drama of home making 
 seemed to be the bond which linked Sally, 
 Phoebe, and Nancy to the old home. 
 
 Nick, taking Kitty's arm, said : " Let 's go 
 over where Mother and Father are, they want 
 to see you." 
 
 Kitty looked pleased as she went with Nick 
 and Rindy to meet their parents. She was be- 
 ginning to feel at home now with the shadowy 
 family of the old cobblestone house. 
 
 The howling of the wind in the chimney at- 
 tracted Mary's attention to the condition of 
 the weather outdoors, which in the meantime 
 she had forgotten, while watching the return 
 of the Corvine spirits to their old home. As 
 Kitty walked away with Nick and Rindy, 
 Mary took advantage of the occasion to run 
 up stairs, her conscience rebuking her some- 
 what for leaving the children alone for so 
 
 63 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 long a time. Nevertheless, she found her little 
 ones fast asleep and entirely unmindful of the 
 rattling of the windows and the slamming of 
 the wooden shutters. But, now, Mary real- 
 ized the force of the wind, which she had not 
 felt while downstairs, owing to the resisting 
 power of the stone house, resting on its foun- 
 dations like a fortress. 
 
 After assuring herself of her children's 
 safety, she began worrying about her hus- 
 band. " Will he ever come back to me ? " she 
 repeated over and over again, until she worked 
 herself into a state of distraction, imagining 
 all sorts of horrible accidents which might be- 
 fall him on his way to the city with the ghost 
 of Peter Corvine. 
 
 Looking out of the window, Mary saw the 
 apple trees bending and twisting in the wind, 
 and their blossoms whirling and eddying on 
 the ground. The lilac bushes were crouching 
 low, clinging to the old stone house for pro- 
 tection; and the locusts which were not in full 
 leaf yet, thrashing their old limbs about, fight- 
 ing the wind storm with all their might. 
 
 Mary was not alone in the room. Shadowy 
 guests glided in and out; but the mistress of 
 64 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 the cobblestone house did not heed them or 
 take pains to find out who they were, for she 
 was fully aware that these spiritual visitants 
 were always on a friendly mission. 
 
 It was not long, however, before Kitty 
 sought Mary and found her sitting by one of 
 the windows which looked up the road lead- 
 ing to the city. 
 
 " What a destroying wind ! " complained 
 Mary, drawing Kitty down beside her. 
 
 Kitty put her arm around Mary, quoting: 
 " The Lord reigneth ; wind and storm ful- 
 filling His word." Then she added: "We 
 must trust God." 
 
 " Will John ever come back ? " the wife 
 pitifully asked. 
 
 " Yes," Kitty quickly answered. " The Old 
 Man will protect and guard John Dayton. 
 Do n't worry. Old Peter knows a good man 
 when he sees him." 
 
 The wife shook her head doubtfully : " Peter 
 Corvine, when he rode off, surely looked like 
 the Evil One himself." 
 
 "That may all be," admitted Kitty; "but 
 it would be difficult for the devil himself to get 
 
 6s 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 ahead of the Old Man. That 's what Father 
 used to say." 
 
 The wife drew Kitty closer to her, breath- 
 ing: " Let 's not talk of evil — " 
 
 At that instant, the wind blew down one of 
 the locusts, the tree falling with a crash among 
 its companions. 
 
 The two women gave a smothered scream, 
 and ran to one of the front windows. 
 
 " It is n't the tree where the gray squirrels 
 have their nest," said Mary, " nor the one 
 where the wild bees live. I think it 's the tree 
 that was struck by lightning." 
 
 Kitty replied : " There are too many locusts 
 around this house, anyway, one wo n't be 
 missed. I 've often wondered why you did n't 
 cut down some of them." 
 
 " The locusts are very dear to the Corvines; 
 you could n't get consent of one of the family 
 to have a tree cut down," the mistress of the 
 cobblestone house told Kitty. 
 
 " Yes, I know how Rindy loves them," said 
 Kitty. 
 
 " Hark ! " cried Mary, " is that the wind ? " 
 
 " No, the ghosts," whispered Kitty. 
 
 66 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 For a fact, Mary and Kitty could not dis- 
 tinguish the wailing of the wind from the wail- 
 ing of the spirits of the Corvine family. 
 
 Rindy came running into the room, crying : 
 " The Lord is avenging us for loving the 
 locusts more than — " 
 
 "No, no," contradicted Kitty. "It's the 
 spirit of the storm avenging the Old Man for 
 his love of gold." 
 
 Rindy wrung her hands, lamenting : " The 
 locusts, the lilacs, the apple blossoms, the gar- 
 den, they'll all be ruined." 
 
 " Let 's find Nick, we '11 feel safer where he 
 is," proposed Kitty, leading Rindy down stairs. 
 
 In the meantime Mary had fled to the chil- 
 dren, and there she hovered with outspread 
 arms over the trundle bed, the crib, and the 
 cradle, praying her Heavenly Father to pro- 
 tect her offspring from the dangers of the tem- 
 pest, which was growing momentarily more 
 terrifying. The thick darkness broken by 
 flashes of lightning revealed other women in 
 the room. One was Sally Corvine. 
 
 Going to the bedside of the children, she 
 said : " Mary, do not fear, God loves your little 
 ones. He will not forsake the works of His 
 67 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 own hands. Many a night I Ve watched by 
 the bedside of my children in this room through 
 the night storms. And in the morning I won- 
 dered why my soul had ever been disquieted 
 within me." 
 
 Then Mary told Sally of the way John and 
 Peter had galloped off in the black night. 
 
 Sally replied : " Mary, you have no cause for 
 worry. My husband loves your husband; no 
 harm will come to him." 
 
 Sally's sympathy calmed Mary's troubled 
 spirit, and, taking little Peter, she lay down 
 on the bed beside him and fell asleep. 
 
 At length the whirlwind spent its force. 
 
 Rindy sat down at the south window in the 
 room, calmly looking up into the face of the 
 rain. The mystical bond between this devotee 
 of Flora and everything that is gentle and 
 beautiful in nature, enabled her soul to com- 
 municate with the soul of the rain. She loved 
 it for its spiritual ministerings to the gardens, 
 orchards, fields, and woods; she heard its kind 
 voice consoling the bruised flowers and the 
 wilted vines, and soothing the fledgeling in the 
 nests to sleep. Rindy was hopefully looking 
 
 m 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 forward to the morning when she would go 
 into the garden, her congenial haunt. 
 
 Nick and Kitty were sitting on the bench 
 in the chimney corner, talking. 
 
 Kitty was saying : " Poor Rindy is heart- 
 broken over this terrible storm ; it 's destroying 
 her garden." 
 
 " Yes," said Nick, " she loves her garden 
 with all her heart." 
 
 " It 's her religion," said Kitty, sighing. 
 Then she added : " I love flowers, but there 's 
 a higher love. She should look to their Crea- 
 tor. When Rindy and I were girls she used 
 to say that Heaven is where Spring abides dur- 
 ing the long Winter. But our minister says 
 Heaven is where Jesus is." 
 
 " Rindy is almost childlike," Nick remarked. 
 
 " Yes," agreed Kitty. " It 's her undying 
 love for Nature that keeps her so youthful." 
 
 Nick picked up a piece of wood and began 
 to whittle. 
 
 Kitty, looking around the room, asked: 
 " Where are they all gone ? " 
 
 " It 's pretty nigh sunrise, they 've flown to 
 cover," Nick told her, with a mischievous 
 twinkle in his eye. 
 
 69 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Kitty jumped up, saying : " Oh, I must be 
 going." 
 
 " Do n't go yet, I '11 walk home with you," 
 said Nick, whittling away. 
 
 Kitty hesitated an instant, then whispered: 
 " If you 're going to walk down the road with 
 me, perhaps we had better go while it is dark." 
 
 "You 're not ashamed of your old sweet- 
 heart, are you, Kitty ? " her lover teasingly 
 asked. 
 
 " No, no," she quickly answered. " But 
 how the neighbors will talk." 
 
 Nick threw the splinter of wood into the fire, 
 and picked up his cap. Rover got up, stretch- 
 ing himself and yawning. While Kitty was 
 putting on her hat and cloak, Nick opened the 
 door. The rain was over. The lovers started, 
 going through the dripping shrubbery in the 
 graveyard, then they walked down the road, 
 facing a keen north wind. The roosters were 
 crowing, and a flock of crows were circling 
 overhead, cawing lustily; but the songbirds 
 were silent. Streaks of yellow light in the 
 east reminded Kitty of her household duties 
 of the coming day, and above all that her visit 
 with Nick in the chimney corner of the old 
 70 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 cobblestone house was over. " Would she ever 
 meet him there again ? " she kept asking her- 
 self. 
 
 Nick answered her : "We must be on hand 
 this evening to hear what grandfather and 
 John have done about the mortgage." 
 
 Kitty was surprised : " I wo n't go there 
 when the Old Man is at home — " 
 
 " Nonsense," cried Nick. " I '11 not let him 
 harm you." 
 
 " You come to see me," proposed Kitty. 
 
 Nick hesitated. 
 
 " There 's plenty of wood in my wood box 
 for you to whittle," she playfully suggested. 
 
 " Aw ! come up to our house," urged Nick. 
 " I '11 call for you after sunset." 
 
 Kitty consented to go with him. Then the 
 lovers said good-bye, Kitty walking thoughi- 
 fully up the daffodil-bordered path to her 
 house, while Nick and Rover headed for the 
 marshes. 
 
 The rays of the morning sun falling on the 
 old cobblestone house, disclosed the charred 
 locust lying helpless in the arms of its com- 
 panions. Rindy was in the garret, grieving 
 over the death of the old guardian which had 
 
 71 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 given its life to protect the old cobblestone 
 house from the lightning. 
 
 When the bright sunshine woke Marion, 
 Sally, and Jack, then the old haunted house 
 rang with the merry laughter of children. 
 Sally Corvine took little Peter downstairs and 
 put him in the cradle in front of the fireplace. 
 Mary Dayton, with a heavy heart, moved 
 mechanically about her daily tasks, while Aunt 
 Phoebe and Aunt Nancy were busy, cleaning, 
 baking, and cooking. 
 
 At length the day wore to a close, the long- 
 est day in Mary Dayton's memory. For the 
 first time in her life she was thankful to see the 
 sun go down out of sight, from the fact that 
 darkness would bring her husband home to 
 her. 
 
 After putting the children to bed, she sat 
 down at the upper south window to watch for 
 John, waiting patiently, hopefully. It lacked 
 an hour of midnight, when she heard the thud 
 of horses' hoofs on the muddy road. Her 
 first impulse was to rush downstairs and fling 
 herself into her husband's arms ; but on second 
 thought she decided to wait for him to come to 
 her. 
 
 72 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Mary, Mary," he quietly called, running 
 up the stairs. 
 
 " Yes, John, I 'm here," she answered, going 
 to meet him. 
 
 Taking his wife in his arms, John Dayton 
 announced : " Mary, the old cobblestone house 
 and the hundred-acre farm are ours." 
 
 For a moment the wife could not answer; 
 it was an effort for her to say : " Oh, John, tell 
 me all about it." 
 
 John chuckled to himself, saying : " Well, 
 Peter and I have had an experience. Our ride 
 to town in that storm was a wild one. I had 
 all I could do to keep on the back of the big 
 gray, but Peter rode his horse as if he were 
 in command of cavalry, making a desperate 
 charge on the enemy. I guess the old fellow 
 has n't forgotten his Revolutionary days. Any- 
 how, he certainly showed a warlike spirit last 
 night." 
 
 " He was fighting for the old cobblestone 
 house," suggested Mary. 
 
 " That was it," said John. " I have never 
 seen such will power and determination as that 
 old man showed. I felt like a boy, riding 
 beside him." 
 
 73 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Did you exchange the gold ? " Mary anx- 
 iously asked. 
 
 " We rode right up to the bank full speed 
 jj 
 
 " Not in daylight ? " 
 
 " Yes, but we did n't dismount on Main 
 Street, we went around the corner on Clinton ; 
 and Peter waited there for me — " 
 
 " Did he give the gold to you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I took the bag of gold. And as I 
 walked into the bank, the first man I saw was 
 George Blake. Of course, he was pleased to 
 see me, and, after talking a few minutes, I told 
 him my errand. I thought best to make a 
 clean breast of the whole affair and lay the 
 matter before him, trusting in his good judg- 
 ment." 
 
 " You did n't tell him we lived in a haunted 
 house, did you ? " 
 
 " Certainly, and all about our friendly 
 neighbors in the graveyard — " 
 
 " Oh — oh — oh ! " gasped Mary. " He '11 
 never respect us — " 
 
 " Yes, he will. Why, he 's wild to come out 
 here to see us and the spirits of the Corvine 
 family." 
 
 74 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Did he see Peter ? " 
 
 " No, strange to say, he did n't. We went 
 to one of the windows on the Clinton Street 
 side of the bank, and I pointed out Peter on 
 the gray horse, but Blake could n't see either 
 of them. Why, I could see them both as plain- 
 ly as I saw any of the vehicles on the street." 
 
 " Did Mr. Blake believe you ? " 
 
 " Yes. He said to me : ' I 'm not used to 
 seeing spooks running at large in the city 
 streets, but, Dayton, I'll take your word for it, 
 seeing that you have the gold to prove your 
 statement.' Then I deposited the gold and 
 got a draft for the Squire." 
 
 " Did Peter give you any more money than 
 was due on the mortgage ? " 
 
 " No, he gave me only the four thousand. 
 Peter Corvine is a shrewd man ; he 's keeping 
 the rest of his gold to protect the old cobble- 
 stone house in the future — " Stopping sud- 
 denly, John said : " Mary, I 'm hungry as a 
 hunter, haven't had anything to eat since I 
 left home twenty-four hours ago." 
 
 "Oh, John," cried Mary, "come down 
 stairs, Aunt Sally will give you something to 
 
 7S 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 eat. The women have been baking all day 
 long." 
 
 When John and Mary went into the kitchen, 
 Peter Corvine sat in front of the fire, eating 
 rhubarb pie. Nick and Kitty were in the chim- 
 ney corner. 
 
 Nick leaned forward, saying : " Well, 
 Grandfather, we 've outwitted the Squire once 
 more, eh ? " 
 
 The Old Man nodded his head, and kept on 
 eating pie. 
 
 Sally Corvine came out of the cellarway with 
 a bowl of buttermilk, and setting it on a stand 
 beside her husband, said : " Peter, I 'm thank- 
 ful you paid off the mortgage for John's and 
 Mary's sake, they deserve it." 
 
 The Old Man did not answer until he had 
 set the empty bowl on the stand. Then, cast- 
 ing a reproachful eye at Nick, said : " Seeing 
 that there are no heirs, it 's the best we can 
 do." 
 
 " John and Mary are just like our own fam- 
 ily," the Grandmother consolingly answered. 
 
 " Huh ? " grunted Peter Corvine. 
 
 Kitty looked into the fire, and wished that 
 she was sitting by her own lonely fireside in 
 
 76 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 the white house down the road; for she was 
 afraid of the Old Man. 
 
 Peter Corvine was a powerful being, tall, 
 square-shouldered, with a bald brow and a 
 scanty fringe of white hair ; and he had a side- 
 wise twist of his head, which gave Kitty the 
 impression that the Old Man wore an invisible 
 coil of horns around each ear. Kitty, how- 
 ever, was not the only one who stood in awe 
 of the Old Man. The boys in the neighbor- 
 hood said : " You had better keep out of Peter 
 Corvine's orchard, the Old Man has got the 
 grip of a bear." 
 
 By the time John had eaten a hearty meal, 
 the spirits of the Corvine family began to ar- 
 rive. They fluttered into the old cobblestone 
 house on joyous wings, like carrier pigeons re- 
 turning home after a long and weary flight; 
 then they settled down in the big old kitchen, 
 as if the hearthstone of their ancestral home 
 were the center of their lives. 
 
 Kitty sat close to Nick, nervously watching 
 the arrival of the spirits. • 
 
 Nick enjoyed the family gathering, and, 
 nudging Kitty, said : " Here comes Uncle Eph 
 walking in as big as life. I have n't seen him 
 
 T7 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 around since last fall, when we were thresh- 
 ing buckwheat." 
 
 Kitty was thinking that she did not enjoy 
 seeing so many ghosts in the kitchen. Nick, 
 perceiving her thoughts, told her : " Ghosts 
 are n't a bit different from other people, after 
 you get used to them." 
 
 " There 's Rindy," exclaimed Kitty, beckon- 
 ing her to come to the chimney corner. 
 
 She came with a light, tripping step, and with 
 sparkling eyes, saying : " The mortgage is 
 paid, Nick ; had you heard of it ? " 
 
 " Yes," said her brother, " I saw Grand- 
 father digging up his gold." 
 
 "So did I," said Rindy. "And I'm so 
 glad for John and Mary Dayton's sake. It 
 would break my heart, if they had to go away 
 from our house." Then she moved off to speak 
 to Annabell. 
 
 All the women seemed to be taking the duties 
 of hostess upon themselves. Kitty saw the 
 haughty Hannah graciously welcoming every- 
 body, and even the timid Matilda and Esther 
 were chatting and laughing with the women 
 of other generations. When Maria Jane came 
 in with her parrot, the bird danced on its perch, 
 78 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 and kept repeating, " Good evening" to every- 
 body. Eliza Ann decided to forego the pleas- 
 ures of her retreat in the northwest chamber, 
 remaining downstairs to visit with Alvira and 
 Evelina. Rindy and Annabell helped their 
 mother set the table, while Sally, Phoebe, and 
 Nancy were in the buttery, preparing the sup- 
 per. The Corvine men gathered around the 
 fireplace, where Peter and John Dayton were 
 sitting, to hear about exchanging the gold for 
 a draft. 
 
 Betsy came and stood by the fire, knitting. 
 When Kitty, saw the little old woman, she said 
 to Nick : " Let 's give Betsy the bench, I 'm 
 going to find Mary." 
 
 Rover opened one eye, but when Nick joined 
 the group of men, the dog went to sleep again. 
 Half a dozen cats were lying on the hearth 
 near the dog. 
 
 Kitty found Mary in the buttery, helping 
 Aunt Sally shave off thin slices of dried beef 
 and cut squares of cheese. 
 
 In a few minutes Mary stepped aside, say- 
 ing to Kitty : " They do n't need our help, let 's 
 go up stairs." On the way, she explained: 
 
 79 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 "John and I usually let the Corvine family- 
 have their reunions by themselves." 
 
 Mary lighted . a fire in her room. There 
 were fireplaces in all the large sleeping-cham- 
 bers of the cobblestone house, owing to the fact 
 that, the house was built before the days of 
 stoves. And the two women sat down and 
 talked in a low tone, the children being asleep 
 in an adjoining room. The aroma from the 
 steeping tea, floating up stairs, made Kitty 
 thirsty. 
 
 Before many minutes, however, Sally ap- 
 peared, saying : " Girls, you must have a cup 
 of hot tea and some of my new dandelion wine, 
 with a piece of custard pie and pound cake. 
 I '11 set the tray on the stand by the window 
 and you can help yourselves." 
 
 " Thank you, Mrs. Corvine," said Kitty, " I 
 was just wishing for some tea." 
 
 " Your dandelion wine is delicious, thank 
 you, Sally," said Mary, getting up to move 
 the stand near the fire. 
 
 The hot tea warmed Kitty, body and mind, 
 relaxing her strained nerves. Gazing dream- 
 ily into the wood fire, she said : " I wonder 
 whether my spirit will ever return to this 
 80 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 house. I love it more than I love my own little 
 home ; I used to play here so much when I was 
 a girl. This was Rindy's room, I 've slept here 
 many a night. Rindy and I had such fun nam- 
 ing the bed posts." Kitty laughed, as she con- 
 fessed : " I used to name all four posts Nick. 
 You know, we were supposed to give each post 
 a different name. I never told Rindy. So in 
 the morning when she would ask me which 
 post I looked at first when I woke, I could 
 truthfully say, Nick's." 
 
 Mary was thinking : " How long Kitty has 
 loved Nick Corvine ! " 
 
 Kitty went on : " And another thing we 
 did was to hang up a spray of Saint Johns- 
 wort, 
 
 'That wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide, 
 If the coming year shall make me a bride.' " 
 
 " What fun you must have had," said Mary. 
 
 " Yes, we were silly girls," acknowledged 
 Katherine Springer, " yet, I 've become so 
 prosy and matter-of-fact, that I like to recall 
 the time when I was light-hearted and care- 
 less." 
 
 " How refreshing it is, Kitty, to hear of 
 your girlhood ! " exclaimed Mary. " I want 
 8 1 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 to see my girls full of nonsense and play in 
 this old home. I don't want them to feel its 
 weight of years." 
 
 " They wO' n't, the young do n't take life 
 seriously," Kitty assured the mother. 
 
 " No, I suppose they do n't," Mary replied, 
 putting a couple of sticks of wood on the and- 
 irons. 
 
 Kitty, looking thoughtfully into the fire, 
 said : " If I ever do come back to this earth, 
 I should like to come as an angel of mercy, 
 making everything that breathes comfortable 
 and happy. I want tO' make up for the things 
 I 've left undone. For instance, it would be a 
 great pleasure for me to care for neglected 
 children, feeding the hungry ones, then tucking 
 them up snug and warm in their beds, singing 
 them to sleep. And, too, I should like to look 
 after the old and feeble, especially the sleep- 
 less invalids, giving them hot milk, and read- 
 ing to them till they fell asleep. Oh, there 's 
 so much I want to do ! On cold winter nights 
 I always think of the horses, and wish I could 
 go into their stables and see whether their 
 halters were long enough to allow them to lie 
 down, and I 'd give them plenty of straw for 
 82 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 bedding ; the cows, too, I 'd like to make them 
 comfortable. I know the poor neglected pigs 
 sleep cold, for their pens are always the shab- 
 biest buildings on a farm, except, perhaps, 
 the hen-houses, where the fowls are sleeping 
 on their draughty roosts, helpless to protect 
 their combs and wattles from freezing." 
 
 " I do n't think you 've been idle during your 
 life," Mary kindly commented. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " sighed Kitty, " what I 've 
 done is only a drop of kindness in the sea of 
 suffering and misery in this world." 
 
 Rindy, entering the room, interrupted 
 Kitty's lament. She said : " Nick would like 
 to know why you girls are sitting up stairs in 
 the dark. He wants you to come down where 
 he is." 
 
 " I ought to be going home," Kitty reluct- 
 antly answered. 
 
 " Do n't go," urged Rindy, sitting down on 
 a stool at the feet of Kitty. 
 
 Kitty leaned forward and folded her arms 
 around the playmate of her girlhood, saying: 
 " Oh, Rindy, do you remember the fun we 
 used to have in this room ? I 've been telling 
 Mary about it." 
 
 83 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Will I ever forget it ! " replied Rindy, gig- 
 gling like a girl. 
 
 " Now that I have found you, Rindy, we '11 
 never be separated again. And you must come 
 down to my house, will you ? " 
 
 " I seldom leave the old cobblestone house, 
 or the farm, or the garden. You must come 
 up here," Rindy told her. 
 
 Kitty looked disappointed. 
 
 " Stay tonight," proposed Rindy. 
 
 " I can 't ; I have two motherless lambs in 
 the house to care for. I must go now," said 
 Kitty, sighing, as she released her arms from 
 Rindy, and rose. 
 
 On the way down stairs, Mary said to Kitty : 
 " Come tomorrow night and bring the lambs. 
 I will help you take care of them." 
 
 Before Kitty had time to answer, Nick ap- 
 peared in the hall, saying : " Do n't go yet, 
 Kitty, it will be three hours before sunrise." 
 
 But Kitty made the care of the helpless 
 lambs her plea for going home. Turning to 
 Rindy, she said : " Oh, Rindy, please walk a 
 piece down the road with Nick and me, will 
 you ? " 
 
 84 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " I might," said Rindy, as Mary opened the 
 door into the kitchen, where the family were 
 assembled. 
 
 Kitty looked around the room, thinking: 
 " How I wish I were one of the Corvine fam- 
 ily, they always have such a good time." 
 
 Supper was over ; the men had left the table 
 and gathered around the hearth to smoke; but 
 the women lingered over their tea cups, talk- 
 ing. All but Betsy, who sat in the chimney 
 corner, knitting. 
 
 Nick whispered to Kitty : " Do n't you want 
 to sit down by the women awhile ? " He did 
 not wait for her to answer, but gently seated 
 her beside his mother. 
 
 Rindy slid into a chair next to Annabell, and 
 Mary took Peter Corvine's vacant place at the 
 head of the table. 
 
 Aunt Phoebe was saying : " It seems to me 
 that Sally's dandelion wine is a trifle too fiery." 
 
 " I know it," acknowledged Sally, "it wo n't 
 stop fermenting, it blows the corks out of the 
 jugs all over the cellar. I 'm hunting for them 
 half my time." 
 
 " Well, never mind, it will make good vine- 
 gar," Aunt Nancy consolingly remarked. 
 
 8S 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " It will settle down after awhile ; I never 
 failed yet on my dandelion wine," retorted 
 Sally. 
 
 Alvira nodded to Kitty from across the 
 table, saying : " Glad to see you, little Kitty 
 Springer. I 've often wondered why you 
 did n't come up to our house, you used to be 
 here so much." 
 
 Kitty changed color. 
 
 Eliza Ann nudged Alvira, saying, quietly: 
 " The line fence." 
 
 Then Maria Jane asked Kitty : " Have you 
 as many pets as you used to have when you 
 were a girl ? " 
 
 " I make a pet of every animal on my farm," 
 answered Kitty. 
 
 " How many yellow cats have you ? " Anna- 
 bell wanted to know. 
 
 " Two ; we 've always had that color in our 
 family. And now whenever I see a yellow cat, 
 I feel that I 'm related to it some way or an- 
 other," said Kitty. 
 
 Evelina, who believed in never wasting a 
 
 minute of time, always carried a shuttle and 
 
 a spool of thread in her pocket. And, now 
 
 while the rest of the women were talking, she 
 
 86 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 was making clover leaf tatting for the Dayton 
 girls' clothes. Phoebe, whose hands were 
 made for sweeping and scrubbing, watched 
 Evelina's delicate fingers ply the shuttle, say- 
 ing : " I never could tat, it 's too fine work for 
 my large hands; but Nancy and I can knit." 
 
 Evelina bowed her little mousey face over 
 her flying shuttle, saying : " I can tat with my 
 eyes closed." 
 
 Hannah Corvine despised this light talk 
 about household affairs. Tossing her head, 
 she said : "Mary Dayton, for your sake, we 're 
 all thankful that the mortgage on this home is 
 going to be paid before Saturday." 
 
 Hannah's sharp voice startled Mary. 
 " Thank you," she answered, " John and I are 
 very grateful to your son — " 
 
 " It 's no more than he ought to do. You 
 and your husband are the only ones the Cor- 
 vine spirit-family have been able to get along 
 with. Peter ought to clear the old cobblestone 
 house and the farm from debt. You keep the 
 house for us to return to whenever we take a 
 notion. And we all appreciate your generous 
 hospitality." 
 
 87 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 "The hospitality is mutual," suggested 
 Mary. 
 
 Hannah bowed, at the same time, saying: 
 " Our debt to you and John is the greater." 
 
 Matilda and Esther nodded their approval 
 of Hannah's declaration. 
 
 Nick's mother said : " The men folks ought 
 to repair the house, the roof needs shingling 
 badly." 
 
 "The men are talking about that now," 
 whispered Kitty. 
 
 Steven was saying : " Why, it would n't 
 take us men but three or four nights to shingle 
 the whole of this roof." 
 
 " Why not work in the day time," proposed 
 Nick. 
 
 " Neighbors," hinted his father. 
 
 " Hang the neighbors ! " cried Nick. 
 
 " So say I," said his uncle Richard. 
 
 Peter Corvine knocked the ashes out of his 
 corncob pipe, saying : " We '11 shingle this 
 house while our neighbors sleep. Safest way." 
 
 " It 's best to keep on the right side of the 
 families around here," said John Dayton. 
 
 " Yes," agreed Adam ; " They 're down on 
 the haunted house enough already." 
 88 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Then Alvah said that the house needed new 
 shutters; and Jonathan said that a tree in the 
 woods ought to be felled for a new well-sweep, 
 the old one was likely to break any day." 
 
 " One thing- at a time," ordered Peter Cor- 
 vine. " We '11 begin shingling next week." 
 
 The Corvine men winked at one another. 
 
 Benjamin took his fiddle from the mantel, 
 and began to play, " Old Dan Tucker." 
 Ephraim with his flute, and Richard with his 
 accordion, joined the fiddler in playing the 
 rollicking dance-tune. 
 
 Nick left the group of men, calling : " Kitty, 
 Kitty, I 'm your partner." 
 
 Kitty met him half way, and the lovers led 
 the dance, Rindy and Annabell following with 
 Steven and Alvah, the others falling into line. 
 
 John and Mary were slipping quietly out of 
 the room, when Nick spied them and brought 
 them back. " You 've got to dance with us 
 tonight," said Nick, placing Mary and John in 
 line. 
 
 After marching up and down the room a few 
 
 times, they all joined hands, circling around 
 
 Nick, who had volunteered to be Old Dan 
 
 Tucker. But, of course, when the call came 
 
 8g 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 to "choose partners," he captured Kitty 
 again, then Jonathan was left without a part- 
 ner, so he had to take the center of the circle. 
 And the dance went on. 
 
 After awhile, however, John and Mary went 
 up stairs, leaving the Corvine family to re- 
 joice over the clearing of the mortgage from 
 the old cobblestone house and the farm. 
 
 90 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 II. 
 
 Notwithstanding the autocratic command 
 given by Peter Corvine, it took but forty-eight 
 hours for the men of his family to shingle the 
 old cobblestone house, owing to the fact that 
 they worked both night and day on the job; 
 shingling the front slopes of the roof by star- 
 light, and the rear by sunlight. The brand new 
 shingles glistening among the old locusts, 
 caught the eye of Squire Burril a mile away; 
 so one day he took pains to ride past the place, 
 purposely to convince himself that his failing 
 sight had not deceived him. 
 
 " I '11 be thumped ! " he exclaimed to him- 
 self, " those Corvine spooks beat anything I 
 ever heard of for doing things. I wish they 
 would come down to my place and work for me 
 awhile." 
 
 Driving slowly along, he kept on thinking 
 aloud : " It 's a mystery to me where John 
 Dayton got that four thousand so quick. I 've 
 heard he used to work in a bank, like as not 
 he got it there; or did Old Peter dig up his 
 
 91 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 gold that people say he has buried somewhere 
 about the old cobblestone house. Wish to 
 thunder I knew." 
 
 When he was passing Katherine Springer's 
 farm, he saw her in the flower-garden. Stop- 
 ping his horse, he called : " Good morning, 
 Miss Springer ! I hear you 're neighboring 
 up to the haunted house, eh ? " 
 
 Katherine bowed, saying : " I go to see Mrs. 
 Dayton — " 
 
 " Do you ever see Nick's ghost ? Does it 
 smell of brimstone, eh ? " 
 
 With a sad smile, Katherine answered: 
 " Jesus Christ did not die for angels." 
 
 The Squire chuckled to himself, as he started 
 his horse. Katherine walked down her gar- 
 den-path between rows of blossoming pansies. 
 
 The next time that she went to the old cob- 
 blestone house, she found Mary Dayton in a 
 holiday mood, busily preparing to entertain 
 guests. 
 
 " What ! in this haunted house ? " exclaimed 
 Kitty. " Nobody will come." 
 
 " Oh, yes, they will," Mary triumphantly 
 cried, " they 're our friends in the city ; and 
 
 92 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 only one man knows about the spirits, and he 
 had promised not to tell the others." 
 
 Kitty shook her head doubtfully, asking: 
 " Have you said anything about it to the Cor- 
 vine family ? " 
 
 Mary laughed, saying : " Yes, the women 
 were tickled to death when I told them; and 
 when John told Peter, he said : ' I 've often 
 wondered why you did n't have your city 
 friends out here to see you.' " 
 
 Kitty looked pleased, asking : " When are 
 they coming ? " 
 
 " Saturday afternoon for supper." 
 
 " This is Tuesday," mused Kitty. " You 
 have several days in which to prepare for 
 them." 
 
 " Yes, and I want you to help me. Will you, 
 please, Kitty ? " 
 
 " Yes, Mary, I shall be glad to do every- 
 thing that I can for you." 
 
 "Thank you, Kitty," said Mary. "Of 
 course. Aunt Sally and Aunt Nancy will do 
 the cooking. I 'm laying in a stock of gro- 
 ceries and everything I can think of for them 
 to use. And then Aunt Phoebe and, perhaps, 
 all the other women will put the house in order 
 
 93 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 and help the cooks. But, you know, I want 
 some one around who will be visible to our 
 guests, or they '11 wonder who is serving the 
 meal. Of course, there wo n't be much work 
 for you to do, all I want is for you to appear 
 as though you were helping me." 
 
 " I understand," said Kitty. " And I assure 
 you that the Corvine women will give your 
 guests a scrumptious supper. Sally and Nancy 
 are renowned for their excellent cooking. 
 Can 't be beat in Western New York State." 
 
 " I 'm well aware of that," replied the mis- 
 tress of the cobblestone house. 
 
 " Does Rindy know about the party ? 
 Where is she ? " Kitty asked, jumping up. 
 
 Mary looked out of the window, saying: 
 " Out in the garden." 
 
 During the following days of that week the 
 haunted house was like a bee-hive; the women 
 of four generations swarmed around the old 
 home, flying in and out, preparing such viands 
 as only the old-fashioned cooks know how to 
 make. Matilda, Esther, and Hannah were on 
 hand to help Sally and Nancy in the kitchen. 
 Mary was somewhat surprised at seeing these 
 women, inasmuch as the wives of Thaddeus 
 
 94 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Corvine appeared only on special occasions. 
 While the women were working, the oply fric- 
 tion that occurred was an altercation between 
 Hannah and Sally over the method of bread- 
 making; Sally proposed making hop-yeast, 
 whereas Hannah held to the old way of salt- 
 rising. Mary, however, tactfully settled the 
 discord by asking that both kinds might be 
 made. 
 
 Phoebe superintended the setting of the 
 house in order. She was over-particular about 
 the sweeping and dusting of the fifteen rooms ; 
 Nick's mother followed, polishing the mahog- 
 any and curly maple furniture, while Maria 
 Jane rubbed up the andirons and pewter ware. 
 Eliza Ann's hobby was making beds, every 
 high-poster had to have a clean blue-and-white 
 coverlet on it. Rindy and Annabell spent a 
 good deal of time in the garden, planning the 
 floral decorations for the party. 
 
 Mary, with the help of Evelina, made pretty 
 new frocks for Marion and Sally. Alvira 
 thoughtfully took the girls and Jack to the 
 woods, where they recited their lessons among 
 the wild flowers, listening to the song of the 
 wood birds. Dolly, Polly, and their little 
 
 95 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 brother Willie were also scholars in this sylvan 
 school. And each day when it came time for 
 the children to go back to the house, they 
 wanted to take all the woods home with them. 
 The Dayton and Corvine children were born 
 lovers of Nature. 
 
 Evenings John and Mary talked over the 
 arrangements for Saturday afternoon. Mary 
 was somewhat worried about her guests enter- 
 ing the old cobblestone house through the 
 graveyard. She asked her husband : " Could n't 
 you cut away some of the bushes and vines, 
 in order that our guests may come into the 
 house through the front door ? " 
 
 John hesitated a moment, then answered: 
 " I '11 ask Peter. Yet I know how the Cor- 
 vines like the seclusion of that old thicket, it 
 shields them from the neighbors' curious 
 gaze." 
 
 When Peter was approached on the subject, 
 he grunted his assent, with the understanding 
 that he would cut that path himself. 
 
 On Saturday morning for the first time in 
 more than twenty years, there was a path lead- 
 ing from the old cobblestone house to the road ; 
 but it was no wider than a dog-path, and would 
 
 96 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 soon be overgrown again. John and Mary, 
 however, were satisfied, knowing so well the 
 habits of the Corvine spirits. 
 
 The guests were expected to arrive on the 
 five o'clock suburban. Early in the afternoon 
 Katherine Springer flitted nervously up the 
 road, clad in a new white dotted muslin, made 
 purposely for the tea party. She found Mary 
 in her room, putting on a white dimity with 
 pink rosebuds scattered over it. 
 
 Mary asked Kitty : " How do I look ? This 
 is one of Charity's summer gowns made over 
 for me. Evelina remodeled it. She made the 
 waist smaller, but the rest of the gown is just 
 as Charity wore it." 
 
 " You look handsome ! " exclaimed Kitty. 
 " The pink rosebuds and ribbons are so becom- 
 ing to your dark hair and eyes. Mary, you 
 should always wear pink, it 's your color." 
 
 " I hesitated about taking it," said Mary, 
 " but all the Corvine women insisted that I 
 should, for they said : ' Charity has never come 
 back, and never will; so you might as well 
 wear her clothes.' And I 'm delighted to have 
 a pretty old-fashioned dimity for this occa- 
 sion." 
 
 97 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Kitty looked a little shy as she explained 
 about her gown : " I sewed night and day to 
 make this," she said, looking down at her 
 dotted muslin. " The material is n't exactly 
 new. I bought it the summer Nick was laid 
 in his grave ; and, of course, I thought I 'd 
 never see him again in this world, so I had n't 
 the heart to make a dotted muslin for myself. 
 I put the material away in the highboy in my 
 spare room, and it has lain there ever since. 
 But when you asked me to come here this aft- 
 ernoon, and I knew I should see Nick, I said 
 to myself : ' Katherine Springer, you make up 
 that dotted muslin and wear it for Nick's sake ! 
 So, there ! ' " 
 
 " Kitty, now I know just how you looked 
 when you were a girl," said Mary, walking 
 backward a few steps, in order to get a full 
 view of the new gown. 
 
 Kitty blushed, as she said : " Since I 've be- 
 come acquainted with you, Mary, and have 
 found Nick again, why, there 's something in 
 Hfe worth living for." 
 
 Rindy glided into the room. 
 
 " Oh, Rindy," cried Kitty, " how pretty you 
 look! Blue was always so becoming to your 
 98 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 fair complexion and your chestnut-colored eyes 
 and hair. Rindy looks like her grandmother 
 Sally Corvine." 
 
 Rindy stood there daintily appareled in a 
 blue striped organdie, with sprays of forget- 
 me-nots from her garden twined in her hair 
 and around her fair neck. 
 
 " Rindy, you 're a nymph ! " declared Mary. 
 
 " I thought I 'd wear my organdie, if I was 
 going to help Kitty serve your guests," Rindy 
 modestly replied. 
 
 " They will surely think you two girls are 
 fairies," was Mary's compliment. 
 
 Kitty and Rindy with their arms around 
 each other's waist went downstairs to arrange 
 the flowers in the rooms. Rindy had gathered 
 them at daybreak while they were still glisten- 
 ing with dew, and had put them down cellar 
 to keep fresh and cool. . 
 
 John came in earlier than usual from the 
 fields to change his clothes. Running up 
 stairs, he asked : " Where are the children ? " 
 
 " They 're dressed, and Alvira has taken 
 them to the graveyard to play. She is going 
 to bring them in when our friends arrive." 
 
 99 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " I want Blake and the rest of the fellows 
 to see our children," replied John. 
 
 " I do, too," said his wife. " Mrs. Blake 
 and Mrs. Kennon were in the same school with 
 me. 
 
 " That 's so, I forgot all about that." 
 
 " I 'm pleased to entertain our friends, we 've 
 neglected them so long a time." 
 
 " I know it," agreed John. " Yet somehow 
 I never was in the spirit of entertaining till 
 the mortgage was cleared up. Now, I feel 
 that we '11 have clear sailing.'' 
 
 " Yes, we 're pretty sure of having a home 
 with the Corvine family as long as we live — " 
 
 " And, perhaps, afterward," put in John, 
 sotto voce. 
 
 Little Peter, waking up at that moment, 
 demanded his mother's attention. 
 
 John finished dressing, and walked down to 
 the station to meet his friends from the city. 
 
 When Mary heard the merry party coming 
 up the road, she ran downstairs to the front 
 door to welcome her friends. They came single 
 file, talking and laughing in the narrow path 
 through the high box-hedge and under the 
 
 ICO 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 dense growth of lilac bushes, walking on a car- 
 pet of myrtle. 
 
 Mrs. Blake was at the head of the proces- 
 sion, and upon seeing her hostess standing in 
 the doorway, exclaimed : " At last we 've found 
 you, Mary Shepherd, in a labyrinth of green ! 
 Is this where you 've been hiding all these years 
 since you left us ? " 
 
 Before Mary had time to answer, she was 
 assailed by Mrs. Kennon and by half a dozen 
 other women, all asking questions at once: 
 " How did you happen to find this old-fash- 
 ioned house ? What an ideal country home ! 
 How old is it ? Do you ever see ghosts ? " 
 
 It was fortunate for Mary, however, that 
 she was not obliged to answer these questions ; 
 she merely laughed, passively receiving the 
 women's affectionate greetings, and shaking 
 hands with the men. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Kitty had brought the 
 baby downstairs; and the instant that the 
 women saw the rosy little fellow, they released 
 Mary and captured him. 
 
 Alvira, seeing the guests arrive, brought the 
 two girls and Jack in from the graveyard. 
 The children of the haunted house, living all 
 
 lOI 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 their lives with the gentle shades of the Cor- 
 vine family, were frightened almost out of 
 their wits when they saw these people from 
 the outer world, and scudded out of the house 
 like little foxes. 
 
 The guests had time, however, to note that 
 Marion was fair like her father, and that Jack 
 looked like his mother; but whom did the 
 hazel-eyed Sally resemble ? 
 
 " Dayton, where did your children go ? " 
 asked one of the men. 
 
 John laughed, saying : " They 've taken to 
 the tall timber ; you '11 see them again when 
 feeding time comes." 
 
 It was not long before the women discov- 
 ered the old-fashioned mahogany and curly 
 maple in the room, then little Peter was for- 
 gotten, and the women went all through the 
 house, raving over the treasures they found. 
 The conspicuous feature of the old homestead 
 was its old furniture, and its hand-spun, hand- 
 woven bed and floor coverings, along with its 
 luster and pewter ware. 
 
 The men had already noted the heavy beams 
 in the panels of the ceiling of the parlor and 
 
 I02 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 also of the sitting-room, and were talking about 
 the old way of building houses. 
 
 " If you want to see substantial building, 
 come down cellar," said John, leading the way. 
 Going into the cellar, John pointed out the 
 hand-hewn joists of solid oak, stretching the 
 entire width of the old house. 
 
 " We do n't build that way now-a-days," 
 said one of the men, an architect. 
 
 " Dayton, you 're a lucky chap to own a 
 Ijouse hke this," declared Robert Kennon. 
 
 " I know it," agreed John. Then he at- 
 tracted the men's attention to the rock-bottom 
 cellar, cold as an ice house in summer, and 
 deep enough to be below the frost line in win- 
 ter. Rows of milk pans on the swing shelves 
 testified to the cool atmosphere of the place, 
 and the big vegetable bins showed what was 
 stored there during the winter. 
 
 John said : "You see, we 're real farmers, 
 living out of our garden in summer, and out 
 of our cellar in winter." 
 
 " The simple life," remarked one man. 
 
 " The natural life," corrected John. 
 
 George Blake slid around to the side of John, 
 asking: "Where's Peter Corvine ?" 
 103 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " He and some of the other men are doing 
 the chores — " 
 
 " Other men ? " 
 
 " Yes, his brothers and sons — " 
 
 " All ghosts ? " inquired Blake. 
 
 John laughed, saying : " Come out to the 
 barn, I '11 introduce you to — " 
 
 " The deuce, you will ! " cried Blake, step- 
 ping lively away from John Dayton. 
 
 After the men had come up out of the cellar, 
 John slipped away to find his wife. " Mary," 
 he said, " where are we going to eat supper ? 
 I do n't see any one setting the table." 
 
 " No, I do n't, either," said she, " but Sally 
 and Nancy are preparing the meal in the 
 kitchen." 
 
 " Yes, but I want to know where we are 
 going to eat," he demanded. 
 
 His wife smiled, saying : " Kitty and Rindy 
 are setting the table somewhere." 
 
 His wife's indifference provoked him. 
 " Why, Mary ! " he cried, " you ought to 
 know what 's being done, you 're the mistress 
 of the house." 
 
 "Don't worry, John, the Corvine women 
 have never failed us." 
 
 104 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 John walked impatiently away and joined 
 the group of men. 
 
 Kitty came out of the kitchen door and whis- 
 pered to Mary. 
 
 " How delightful ! " exclaimed Mary. Then 
 she called : "John, invite the gentlemen to see 
 our garden." 
 
 Mary collected her guests together, persuad- 
 mg them to leave the fascinating antique fur- 
 niture and the other old-fashioned things in the 
 house, and go to the garden. The women did 
 not understand how anything could be more 
 interesting than the interior of the old cobble- 
 stone house, until they walked down the gar- 
 den path bordered with forget-me-nots and 
 candytuft, and with, here and there, a cluster 
 of sage, parsley, or wormwood, intermingling 
 the useful with the beautiful. The sad droop- 
 ing bleeding-heart and the nodding columbine 
 were neighbors of the letture and radish beds ; 
 and the modest pansies were alongside the 
 young onions. Thrifty clumps of rhubarb fur- 
 nished a dark green background for pink 
 meadow rue, rock madwort, and polyanthus; 
 and the mountain pinks were set ofif to their 
 advantage by the hedge of currant and goose- 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 berry bushes. Except for a patch of lupine 
 beyond the strawberry-bed, these were the 
 only flowers in blossom. " The spring had 
 passed its burst of primal bloom," but there 
 were annuals and seedlings to follow in the 
 regular procession of summer flowers. The 
 entire garden was enclosed in a thicket of 
 plum trees, sour-cherry trees, and berry 
 bushes ; a wild growth, springing up of its own 
 accord from stray seeds. 
 
 An arbor of Isabella grapes ran through the 
 center of the garden, and when the guests en- 
 tered the shady enclosure, to everyone's sur- 
 prise, there they found the table set for supper. 
 
 Mary winked mischievously at John, who 
 made an effort to look wise and to appear un- 
 concerned, while his friends were hilarious 
 over the prospect of being entertained al 
 fresco. 
 
 It lacked two hours of sunset when the merry 
 party sat down to the table. The rays of the 
 sun, shining through the grapevines, dappled 
 Sally Corvine's double-damask tablecloth with 
 light and shadow, but the elaborate pattern of 
 lilies-of-the-valley was somewhat broken up, 
 owing to the fact that there were so many large 
 io6 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 dishes on the table, it being customary for the 
 Corvine family to serve a meal in accordance 
 with the rustic simplicity of their way of liv- 
 ing. 
 
 While John was serving the chicken pie, with 
 creamed potatoes, and Mary was pouring the 
 coffee, Kitty was flitting around the table, pass- 
 ing Aunt Sally's cream biscuits and apple blos- 
 som honey; Rindy following with cottage 
 cheese, and radishes and young onions fresh 
 from the garden. 
 
 The conversation naturally led to compli- 
 menting the host. George Blake said : " It 's 
 plain to see that John Dayton lives on a farm 
 flowing with milk and honey." 
 
 " Yes," said Robert Kennon, " and it 's easy 
 to see that ' the fruit of a tree declares the 
 husbandry thereof.' " 
 
 William Seeley, one of the bookkeepers who 
 used to stand next to John at a desk in the 
 bank, asked : " John Dayton, where on earth 
 did you learn to run a farm ? You seem to 
 have made a success of it." 
 
 John promptly answered : " Fortunately, I 
 found kind friends out here, who not only 
 
 107 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 taught me how to run a farm, but they actu- 
 ally did part of the work for me." 
 
 " Lucky fellow," said Seeley's brother 
 James. 
 
 " Who were they ? " asked Robert Kennon. 
 
 " Neighbors," said John. 
 
 " Is your farm all paid for ? " the president 
 of the bank wanted to know. 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Brown, I 'm glad to say it is," 
 replied John Dajrton, throwing his head up 
 with an air of a successful man. 
 
 " Any more places around here like this one 
 for sale ? " asked the president. 
 
 John shook his head : " Do n't know of 
 any." 
 
 Mrs. Blake said: "I'm in love with the 
 cobblestone house." 
 
 " And the old mahogany ! " cried Mrs. 
 Kennon. 
 
 " Oh, the beau'tiful old-fashioned garden ! " 
 exclaimed Mrs. William Seeley. 
 
 " The simple life here fascinates me," said 
 Mrs. James Seeley. 
 
 " Let 's start a community out here," sang 
 out Mrs. Blake. 
 
 io8 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 This proposition set all the guests talking 
 at once, giving the supper the charm and free- 
 dom of a picnic. Kitty and Rindy were keep- 
 ing close watch of the guests, seeing that 
 everybody was bountifully served. 
 
 Above the merry voices within the arbor, 
 could be heard the evening call of the robins; 
 then at intervals, when there was a lull in the 
 conversation, the good-night song of the vesper 
 sparrows and wood thrushes were heard near- 
 by. From the graveyard came the laughter 
 of rollicking children, Marion and Sally, Dolly 
 and Polly, and their little brother Willie were 
 playing at " I spy " among the headstones. 
 
 When Mary had finished serving the floating 
 island and sponge cake, Kitty handed John 
 Dayton a tray, containing a pitcher of hard 
 cider and eight corn cob pipes and tobacco, 
 saying : " With Peter Corvine's compliments." 
 
 For a moment John was at a loss how to act, 
 but instinctively he poured the cider and 
 handed round the pipes to the men, saying: 
 " Friends, drink to the memory of the man 
 who helped build the cobblestone house, Peter 
 Corvine ! " 
 
 109 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Instantly, the guests held up their glasses of 
 cider or of water, all giving a rousing cheer 
 for Peter Corvine. Then the men lighted 
 their pipes, and the women talked quietly, in 
 order to hear the music in the garden. Kitty 
 and Rindy were playing on their guitars. 
 
 When the guests were leaving the table, the 
 birds had ceased singing, but the frogs were 
 croaking vigorously. 
 
 Mrs. Brown remarked to her hostess : " You 
 have all kinds of music around your country 
 home." 
 
 " Yes," said Mary, " there 's always some- 
 thing a-singing here." 
 
 Leading the way back to the house, Mary 
 saw lights flickering, one by one. Phoebe and 
 Nancy were lighting the candles. No one was 
 visible when the women entered, but Mary 
 heard the creaking of chairs as she went into 
 the sitting room. 
 
 Mary's friends were asking to see the chil- 
 dren, when someone suddenly discovered there 
 was no local train back to town after nine- 
 thirty; consequently there was a hasty leave- 
 taking, and John started with his guests down 
 the road. 
 
 no 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Mary went to look after the children, and 
 found that Rindy had called them in from the 
 graveyard and was putting them to bed. 
 
 Rindy remarked to Mary : " How queer the 
 styles of dress are now, I do n't believe I could 
 ever get used to them. I do n't like such tight- 
 fitting skirts." 
 
 " I 'm glad we live in the country," replied 
 Mary ; " we 're not obliged to follow the fash- 
 ions out here." 
 
 " I know it," said Rindy; " and it 's such a 
 waste of time to sew. I 'd rather work among 
 my flowers in the garden." 
 
 The children were too tired tonight to de- 
 mand bed-time stories, so Mary and Rindy 
 went downstairs. John had returned and was 
 out in the yard by the woodpile, talking to the 
 men. 
 
 The women were in the kitchen, cleaning up 
 and putting things in order. Mary went to 
 each one individually and thanked her for the 
 delicious supper. 
 
 Sally replied : " You and John must invite 
 
 your friends often to visit you. It seemed like 
 
 old times today to be entertaining guests. The 
 
 Corvine family used to be noted for its hospi- 
 
 III 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 tality, and the latchstring of the cobblestone 
 house always hung out." 
 
 " I 'm well aware of that," said Mary. " The 
 first time John and I entered this house I felt 
 the warmth of your hospitality radiating from 
 its very walls and furniture. The chairs seemed 
 to say to me : ' Sit down and stay awhile ' ; 
 and every room invited me to live in it; and 
 the whole house breathed a warm, hearty wel- 
 come." 
 
 Sally replied : " Yes, we all liked you and 
 John at first sight, and we wanted you to come 
 here to live." 
 
 " I now understand the influence that I felt," 
 said Mary. 
 
 In a few minutes, Sally said : " I wish Nick 
 would ask Kitty Springer to come here to live. 
 Poor child, she 's so lonely living all by her- 
 self. This ought to be her home, anyway." 
 
 " I know it," said Mary. " And she might 
 just as well have the other half of the house, 
 John and I do n't need it." 
 
 " That 's what I say," said Phoebe. 
 
 " Tell Nick to ask her," proposed Nancy. 
 
 " How about Peter ? Do you think he will 
 like the plan ? " asked Nick's mother. 
 
 112 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " Do n't worry about him," said Sally. "I '11 
 arrange matters with Peter." 
 
 113 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 HI. 
 
 One rainy evening Kitty purposely remained 
 at home to see whether Nick would come down 
 to her house. And sure enough, about seven 
 o'clock he knocked at the door. 
 
 " Are n't you coming up to our house? " he 
 asked, when Kitty opened the door. 
 
 " Oh, Nick, come in and stay awhile with 
 me," said Kitty, stepping aside for him to 
 enter. 
 
 She had previously lighted a fire in the fire- 
 place, filled the woodbox, and placed the chair, 
 that she had seen Nick sitting in during her 
 dreams, on the right hand side of the hearth. 
 
 Nick looked at the blazing fire, at the wood- 
 box, and, without any further urging, he 
 walked in, took off his cap, seating himself 
 comfortably in the armchair that Kitty had 
 placed by the fire for him. 
 
 Kitty drew a low rocker to the other side 
 of the hearth and sat down, facing him. She 
 acted as bashful as a girl receiving her first 
 114 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 formal call from one of the boys in the neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 "Pretty wet outside isn't it?" she re- 
 marked, smoothing imaginary folds out of her 
 white apron. 
 
 Nick nodded : " Yes, we needed rain ; John 
 Dayton's garden was all drying up." 
 
 " And Rindy's flowers," said Kjtty. 
 
 " Yes," said Nick. 
 
 " Why did n't Rindy come down with 
 you ? " asked Kitty. 
 
 " Did n't ask her," replied Nick, looking 
 into the fire. 
 
 " I do wish Rindy would come to see me ! " 
 lamented Kitty. 
 
 Nick looked at Kitty, with the happy 
 thought in mind : " Now 's my chance to ask 
 her." 
 
 Unfortunately for him, however, two yel- 
 low cats jumped up on the window sill outside, 
 and cried to be let in. 
 
 Kitty instantly went to the door and opened 
 it, saying : " Come in, boys. Bouncer and 
 Fox do n't like the rain." 
 
 The cats bounded into the room, but on see- 
 ing a stranger sitting by the fire, they went to 
 
 "5 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 the door leading into the kitchen and mewed. 
 
 Kitty opened the door, saying : " There 's 
 a luncheon out there for you, boys." Sitting 
 down again, she said : " I always give the cats 
 something to eat when they come in, for I re- 
 member how hungry I used to be when I came 
 in from playing outdoors." 
 
 Nick smiled, and picked up a small stick of 
 wood and began whittling. 
 
 In a few minutes the cats mewed at the 
 kitchen door. Kitty cheerfully let them in; 
 then when she was seated again, the cats sat 
 down in front of the fire and began washing 
 their faces. Kitty recalled to mind that she 
 had seen Bouncer and Fox with Nick and her- 
 self in her dreams. 
 
 " Has my dream come true? " she thought. 
 And for a few minutes she dare not speak lest 
 Nick should vanish, as he had so often done 
 in her visions of him. This time, however, he 
 remained seated at the fire, whittling. And 
 the cats curled themselves up on the rug and 
 went to sleep. Kitty was wishing that it was 
 a dream from which she should never awaken. 
 
 When Nick said : " Kitty, come up to our 
 house and live — " 
 
 ii6 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 She started, leaned forward, and stared at 
 him, realizing that he was reading her thoughts. 
 
 Nick continued : " Mary Dayton wants you 
 to come, too ; she says you can have the other 
 side of the house just as well as not." 
 
 Kitty tried to change her train of thought, 
 but she could not think of anything else. 
 
 Nick went on : " And Mary would like you 
 for company; so would Rindy." 
 
 Kitty looked into the fire, thinking : " Why 
 does n't he say : 7 want you.' " 
 
 Nick laughed, answering : " Yes, Kitty, I 
 want you. Will you come ? " 
 
 With a toss of her head, she replied : " Yes, 
 Nick, I will go to the old cobblestone house to 
 make a home for you. I want to see you sit- 
 ting by your own fireside. I 'm weary of see- 
 ing you and Rover crouching in the chimney 
 corner, not daring to call your souls your own. 
 Have n't you any rights ? Is Peter Corvine 
 always going to be the lord and master of the 
 old cobblestone house? Are n't you its heir? " 
 
 " Oh, well," said Nick, still whittling away, 
 " I do n't pay any attention to grandfather. 
 I 'm used to him — " 
 
 117 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " But would n't you enjoy sitting by your 
 own fireside ? " 
 
 Nick nodded : " Yes, if you were with me, 
 Kitty." 
 
 " I suppose," said Kitty, " it 's not Chris- 
 tianlike for me to feel so hard toward the Old 
 Man, yet I can forgive him everything he has 
 done to our family, if only I could see you sit- 
 ting by your own fireside." 
 
 " Then come to our house to live. There 's 
 a big fireplace in the front room of the other 
 half of the house, and we '11 spend our even- 
 ings together by our own fireside. Bring your 
 yellow cats along with you. Rover wo n't 
 bother them, he 's used to cats." 
 
 " What will the Corvine women say to my 
 coming there to live ? " asked Kitty. 
 
 "Grandmother was the first one to propose 
 it; and mother and all the aunts want you to 
 come," Nick told Kitty. 
 
 "And Rindy?" 
 
 " Oh, Rindy is already planning to live with 
 you." 
 
 " Then Rindy still loves me? " 
 
 " Why, she loves you like a sister," said 
 Nick. 
 
 ii8 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 " How about your grandfather ? " asked 
 Kitty. 
 
 " Do n't worry about him," said • Nick. 
 " We '11 not get in his way." 
 
 " No, indeed," said Kitty, " you 're going to 
 have a hearthstone of your own." 
 
 Then Kitty and Nick began talking about 
 moving the furniture up to the cobblestone 
 house. And Kitty said that she was going to 
 let the man who worked her farm live in her 
 house, the tenant-house was altogether too 
 small for his family. 
 
 It was past midnight when Nick, with Rover 
 at his heels, went up the road. The dog had 
 been patiently waiting outside for his master. 
 
 Kitty closed the door and looked at the va- 
 cant chair by the fire, saying to herself : " Has 
 Nick really been here, or was it only a dream ? 
 I can 't tell, for I have seen him so many times 
 in my sleep, sitting by my fireside." Walking 
 slowly toward the chair, as if dreading to dis- 
 cover the truth, she looked on the hearth for 
 Nick's tracks. There they were, broad muddy 
 marks of his shoes. It was no dream. Kitty 
 knelt by the chair and cried for joy. 
 
 119 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 The next day when Nick announced to his 
 family that Kitty was coming to the old cob- 
 blestone house to live, the news spread like 
 wild fire among the spirits of the old Corvine 
 home; and the women of the Corvine family 
 heartily welcomed Kitty Springer to their sis- 
 terhood ; and the men were also pleased to have 
 Kitty one of their household. 
 
 When Sally told Peter, his reply was: 
 " Well, it 's the only sensible thing Nick ever 
 did." 
 
 The women immediately began cleaning the 
 other half of the house, working all day long; 
 then during the night, John and Mary heard 
 the old looms in the wood house chamber, clat- 
 tering away. Phoebe was weaving a new car- 
 pet for Kitty and Nick; and the dye-pot hung 
 on one of the cranes of the fireplace for Nancy 
 to brighten some of the stripes of the new car- 
 pet. Nick's mother spent her time, braiding 
 and sewing rugs for Kitty's new home. The 
 women of the Corvine family thought that 
 there were no floor coverings in all the world 
 equal to those made in the old cobblestone 
 house. 
 
 I20 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 One night while the neighbors slept, Nick 
 and his father, and his uncles, Richard and 
 Benjamin, moved Kitty's household efifects up 
 the road; and before the neighbors woke, the 
 Corvine women had put the furniture in place ; 
 at daybreak there was smoke issuing from one 
 of the chimneys of the north side of the old 
 cobblestone house. Squire Burril, who always 
 kept a covetous eye on the old homestead, re- 
 marked to his wife : " Why, I have n't seen 
 smoke coming out of that northeast chimney 
 of the old cobblestone house since Caroline, 
 Nick's mother, died. I wonder who is living 
 in that part now." 
 
 At once Nick felt at home in the rooms 
 where he had spent his boyhood with his father 
 and mother and sister. Now, evenings when 
 he sat by the fire in his father's armchair, with 
 Kitty on one side of him, and with Rindy on 
 the other, each in low rockers in which his 
 mother had sung him to sleep, is it any won- 
 der that Nick thought that he was a boy again 
 and that Kitty and Rindy were girls ? 
 
 Likewise Kitty and Rindy returned to the 
 pastime of their young womanhood, bringing 
 down from the garret their wedding chests, 
 
 121 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 wherein were treasured a few articles which 
 they had made preparatory to their marriage. 
 But when Nick went to the other world, and 
 Lord Lochinvar failed to appear, the girls had 
 laid away, in sweet lavender, the few articles 
 of clothing and of household linen which they 
 had made with exquisite handiwork and with 
 happy anticipations. Upon opening these 
 chests, however, Kitty and Rindy were not at 
 all sorrowful, owing to the fact that they were 
 going to continue the work begun in bygone 
 days, filling the chests for Marion and Sally 
 Dayton. Now, on rainy days when the two 
 little girls would sit beside Aunt Kitty and 
 Aunt Rindy, learning to overhand long seams 
 and pulling out basting threads, these happy 
 little maidens would never once dream that 
 they were helping to make their own bridal 
 outfit. 
 
 After a rainy day spent at sewing, Kitty and 
 Rindy would lay aside their work, and Nick 
 would return to spend the evening with his 
 sweetheart and with his sister. Sometimes he 
 brought a string of fish or a couple of wild 
 fowl for Kitty's larder. During the evening 
 he would talk about the marshes, telling of the 
 
 122 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 wild life he enjoyed there. After a time he 
 would sit silently smoking his pipe, while 
 Kitty read in her Bible, and Rindy browsed in 
 " The Language of Flowers," her book of 
 meditation. 
 
 Kitty, seeing Nick sitting at his own fire- 
 side, felt more kindly toward the Old Man. In 
 fact, now she had no reason to complain of 
 Peter Corvine. He spent the evenings in his 
 accustomed place, apparently at peace with the 
 world, and with his relics of war hanging at 
 rest. In front of him on the broad breast of 
 the stone chimney hung a flintlock, a musket, 
 and a rifle, accompanied by two powder cans 
 and a powder horn ; alongside of these firearms 
 hung a sword and a tomahawk. In the midst 
 of these weapons of warfare. Charity Corvine, 
 once upon a time, had hving a colored print of 
 Leonardo da Vinci's " The Last Supper," in a 
 frame made of cones. This picture was an ex- 
 pression of Charity's creed, and the frame was 
 a sample of her artistic gift. 
 
 One moonlight evening when John and 
 Mary, Kitty, Rindy, and Nick were sitting in 
 the yard under the apple trees, Kitty was 
 
 123 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 thinking: "Will the spirit of Peter Corvine 
 ever be at rest? " 
 
 Nick answered her : " Grandfather will 
 never quit this old home so long as his gold is 
 buried in his grave." 
 
 " His grave ? " queried Mary, in her mind. 
 
 "Yes," said Nick, "Grandfather's gold is 
 underneath his cracked headstone which lies 
 flat on his grave. That 's the reason he wo n't 
 let anyone put up a new stone. I offered to 
 help him, but he told me he could take care 
 of his own grave. So I let him." 
 
 John said : " Before I knew that Peter Cor- 
 vine's gold was hidden in his grave, I offered 
 to buy a new stone for him ; but now I under- 
 stand why he lets the old stone lie flat on the 
 ground." 
 
 For a time no one said a word. 
 
 The air was as sweet as honey from the blos- 
 soming locusts; the fragrance stirred the noc- 
 turnal longings to roam in the hearts of Nick 
 and Rindy, and the two spirits slipped quietly 
 away. 
 
 Kitty, sitting on one of the settles beside 
 Mary, said : " How grateful I am to you, 
 
 124 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 Mary, for letting me come here to live with 
 you and the Corvine family." 
 
 " Do n't you love the spirits, too ? " asked 
 Mary. 
 
 "Yes, and I never was so happy in all my 
 life," declared Kitty. 
 
 " And I 'm delighted to have you with me 
 all the time," Mary told her. 
 
 " Now, the neighbors will come to see you," 
 said Kitty ; " and you and John will go to 
 church, and the children will go to Sunday 
 school." 
 
 " Assuredly," responded Mary. 
 
 John said : " We 're going to act like folks 
 now that you have come to live with us, Kitty." 
 
 The two yellow cats came purring around 
 Kitty's skirts, and she rose, saying : " It 's 
 time to feed Fox and Bouncer. Good-night, 
 Mary and John." 
 
 Kitty went into the house followed by her 
 pets. Glancing toward the fireplace, she saw 
 Peter Corvine's chair vacant. "Grandfather is 
 probably in the graveyard," she thought. Then 
 she stopped a moment to speak with Phoebe, 
 who was brushing up the hearth and laying the 
 fire for the morning. And Kitty lingered to 
 
 I2S 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 talk with Nancy, who was beating a sponge for 
 the breakfast rusks. While they were talking, 
 Sally fed the two yellow cats. On the way 
 upstairs Kitty overtook Eliza Ann, who was 
 going to the northwest chamber to read by 
 moonlight. Maria Jane was somewhere in the 
 house, for Poll was calling, " Good-evening." 
 
 Going into her room, Kitty saw Rindy sit- 
 ting at one of the windows. In a few minutes 
 there was a rustling as of silken garments, and 
 then appeared Nick's mother, Annabell, Eve- 
 lina, and Alvira. These spirits hovered around 
 Kitty like bees around a locust blossom, tell- 
 ing her how glad they were to welcome her 
 to their family. 
 
 Nick's mother said : " The old cobblestone 
 house is Kitty's rightful home, because it is 
 Nick's home." 
 
 " How kind of you to say so," replied Kitty, 
 blushing. 
 
 Alvira threw her arms around Kitty, say- 
 ing: "At last, after all these years, we have 
 Kitty in the old cobblestone house ! " 
 
 " And it is when the locusts are in blossom ; 
 this is the bridal time of the year," declared 
 Rindy, dancing around the room singing: 
 126 
 
OLD COBBLESTONE HOUSE 
 
 "I am the bride of the locusts, the bride of the 
 locusts." 
 
 " The moon is rising," announced Evelina. 
 
 The women went to the windows, settling 
 quietly down in the rays of the moonlight, 
 which flickered through the trees into the room. 
 
 After a time, however, Rindy broke the si- 
 lence, saying : " The language of the locust 
 tree is ' Affection beyond the grave.' And did 
 you ever note how many dead branches there 
 are among the live ones on the locusts? And 
 that the dead branches look like gaunt old arms 
 stretching upward, always beckoning to the 
 spirits beyond the mist to come back to the old 
 cobblestone house? " 
 
 127