piled it high with the driftwood of mountain streams, the dry cones of
the pine, and the splintered ruins of great trees that had come
crashing down the precipice . Up the chimney roared the fire,
andbrightened the room with its broad blaze. The faces of the father
and mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed; the eldest
daughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen; and the aged
grandmother, who sat knitting in the warmest place, was the image of
Happiness grown old. They had found the "herb, heart's-ease," in the
bleakest spot of all New England. This family were situated in the
Notch of the White Hills, where the wind was sharp throughout the
year, and pitilessly cold in the winter--giving their cottage all its
fresh inclemency before it descended on the valley of the Saco . They
dwelt in a cold spot and a dangerous one; for a mountain towered above
their heads, so steep, that the stones would often rumble down its
sides and startle them at midnight.
The daughter had just uttered some simple jest that filled them all
with mirth , when the wind came through the Notch and seemed to pause
before their cottage--rattling the door, with a sound of wailing and
lamentation , before it passed into the valley. For a moment it
saddened them, though there was nothing unusual in the tones. But the
family were glad again when they perceived that the latch was lifted
by some traveller, whose footsteps had been unheard amid the dreary
blast which heralded his approach, and wailed as he was entering, and
went moaning away from the door.
Though they dwelt in such a solitude, these people held daily converse
with the world. The romantic pass of the Notch is a great artery,
through which the life-blood of internal commerce is continually
throbbing between Maine , on one side, and the Green Mountains and the
shores of the St. Lawrence , on the other. The stage-coach always drew
up before the door of the cottage. The way-farer, with no companion
but his staff, paused here to exchange a word, that the sense of
loneliness might not utterly overcome him ere he could pass through
the cleft of the mountain, or reach the first house in the valley. And
here the teamster , on his way to Portland market, would put up for
the night; and, if a bachelor, might sit an hour beyond the usual
bedtime, and steal a kiss from the mountain maid at parting. It was
one of those primitive taverns where the traveller pays only for food
and lodging, but meets with a homely kindness beyond all price. When
the footsteps were heard, therefore, between the outer door and the
inner one, the whole family rose up, grandmother, children, and all,
as if about to welcome someonewho belonged to them, and whose fate was
linked with theirs.
The door was opened by a young man. His face at first wore the
melancholy expression, almost despondency , of one who travels a wild
and bleak road, at nightfall and alone, but soon brightened up when he
saw the kindly warmth of his reception. He felt his heartspring
forward to meet them all,from the old woman, who wipeda chair with her
apron, to the little child that held out its arms to him. One glance
and smile placed the stranger on a footing of innocent familiarity
with the eldest daughter.
"Ah, this fire is the right thing!" cried he; "especially when there
is such a pleasant circle round it.I am quite benumbed; for the Notch
is just like the pipe of a great pair of bellows; it has blown a
terrible blast in my face all the way from Bartlett ."
"Then you are going towards Vermont ?" said the master of the house,
as he helped to take a light knapsack off the young man's shoulders.
"Yes; to Burlington , and far enough beyond," replied he. "I meant to
have been at Ethan Crawford's tonight; but a pedestrian lingers along
such a road as this. It is no matter; for, when I saw this good fire,
and all your cheerful faces, I felt as if you had kindled it on
purpose for me, and were waiting my arrival. So I shall sit down among
you, and make myself at home."
The frank-hearted stranger had just drawn his chair to the fire when
something like a heavy footstep was heard without, rushing down the
steep side of the mountain, as with long and rapid strides, and taking
such a leap in passing the cottage as tostrike the opposite precipice
. The family held their breath, because they knew the sound, and their
guest held his by instinct.
"The old mountain has thrown a stone at us, for fear we should forget
him," said the landlord, recovering himself. "He sometimes nods his
head and threatens to come down; but weare old neighbors, and agree
together pretty well upon the whole.
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