Young Folks Treasury Volume 3 (of 12) - Hamilton Wright Mabie (classic books to read .txt) 📗

words. He called it "Susan's Lamentation for her Lamb." Miss Somers looked at her brother from time to time, as she wrote, and Sir Arthur, as soon as the old man had finished, took him aside and asked him some questions, which brought to light the whole story of Susan's lamb and of Attorney Case's cruelty.

The Attorney himself was present when the harper began to repeat his ballad. His color, as Sir Arthur steadily looked at him, changed from red to white, and from white to red, until at length he suddenly shrunk back through the crowd and left the room. We shall not follow him. We had rather follow our old friend the harper. No sooner had he received the prize of ten guineas, than he went to a small room belonging to the people of the house, asked for pen, ink, and paper, and dictated, in a low voice to his boy, a letter, which he ordered him to put at once into the post-office. The boy ran off with the letter and was but just in time, for the postman's horn was sounding. The next morning Farmer Price was sitting beside his wife and Susan sorrowing that his week's leave was nearly at an end, and that they had not enough money to give to the man who was willing to go in his place, when a knock was heard at the door. Then the person who delivered the letters in the village put one into Susan's hand, saying, "A penny, if you please-here's a letter for your father."

"For me!" said Farmer Price; "here's the penny then; but who can it be from, I wonder? Who can think of writing to me, in this world?" He tore open the letter, but the hard name at the bottom of the page puzzled him-"your obliged friend, Llewellyn."

"And what's this?" he said, opening a paper that was enclosed in the letter. "It's a song, seemingly; it must be somebody that has a mind to make an April fool of me."

"But it is not April, it is May, father," said Susan.

"Well, let us read the letter, and we shall come to the truth all in good time."

Farmer Price then sat down in his own chair, and read as follows:

"MY WORTHY FRIEND-I am sure you will be glad to hear that I
have had success this night. I have won the ten-guinea prize,
and for that I am much indebted to your sweet daughter Susan;
as you will see by a little ballad I enclose for her. Your
kindness to me has let me learn something of your family
history. You do not, I hope, forget that I was present when
you were counting the treasure in Susan's little purse, and
that I heard for what purpose it was all saved. You have not,
I know, yet made up the full sum you need; therefore, I will
be glad if you will use the five-guinea bank-note which you
will find within the ballad. Pay me the money again when it
suits you, and if it never suits you to pay it, I shall never
ask for it. I shall go my rounds again through this country,
I believe, about the same time next year, and will call to
see how you are, and to play the new tune for Susan and the
dear little boys.

"I should just add, to set your heart at rest about the
money, that it does not distress me at all to lend it to you.
I am not quite so poor as I appear to be. But it is my wish
to go about as I do. I see more of the world under my
tattered clothes than, perhaps, I should ever see in a
better dress. There are many of us like this, and we are
glad, when we can, to do any kindness to such a worthy family
as yours.-So fare ye well.

"Your obliged Friend,
LLEWELLYN."

Susan now, at her father's bidding, opened the ballad. He took the five-guinea bank-note, while she read, with surprise, "Susan's Lamentation for her Lamb." Her mother leaned over her shoulder to read the words, but they were stopped before they had finished the first verse by another knock at the door.


XII

ATTORNEY CASE IN TROUBLE


It was not the postman with another letter. It was Sir Arthur and his sisters.

They came meaning to lend the farmer and his good family the money to pay the man who was willing to go away in the farmer's place. But they found their help was not needed.

"Still, since we are here," said Sir Arthur, "there is something I should like to speak about. Mr. Price, will you come out with me, and let me show you a piece of your land through which I want to make a road. Look there," said Sir Arthur, pointing to the spot, "I am laying out a drive round my estate, and that bit of land of yours stops me."

"Why, sir, true enough it's mine, but you are welcome to it. I can trust you to find me another bit worth the same, or to make up the value of it in some other way. I need say no more."

Sir Arthur was silent for a few moments. Then he said, "What is this I hear about some mistake in your lease?"

"Well, sir," replied the farmer, "the truth is the fit thing to be spoken at all times. I can show you a letter from your brother who had the estate before you, and who let the farm to me. That letter shows what he meant, Sir Arthur, and if in the writing of the lease it was otherwise said, it is, as you say, a mistake, sir. Now a mistake is a mistake all the world over, and should be treated as such, but Attorney Case says in the matter of a lease you must abide by the mistake as though it were the truth."

"You seem," said Sir Arthur, "to have some quarrel with this Attorney of whom you talk so often. Now would you mind telling me frankly what is the matter between you?"

"The matter between us, sir, is this," said Price. "You know the corner of the field with the pink hawthorn near Mr. Case's house? The lane runs past one side of it and a sweetbrier hedge separates it on the other from his garden. Well, sir, the Attorney wishes to enclose that bit of ground with his own, and as it belongs to the village, and moreover is a play-green for the children, and it has been their custom to meet by the hawthorn every Mayday for as many years as I can remember, I was loth to see them turned out of it."

"Let us go together and look at this piece of ground," said Sir Arthur. "It is not far off, is it?"

"Oh, no, sir, close by."

When they reached the ground, Mr. Case saw them from his garden and hurried to the spot. He was afraid of what the farmer might tell Sir Arthur. But this time the Attorney was too late, for the truth had already been told.

"Is this the place you speak of?" asked Sir Arthur.

"Yes, sir," answered Price.

"Why, Sir Arthur," said Attorney Case, seeing that he was too late, "let there be no dispute about the ground. Let it belong to the village if you will. I give up all claim to it."

"But you know well, Mr. Case, that a man cannot give up claim to a place which is not his. You cannot give up this piece of land, for you have no claim to it, as I can prove to you by a look at my maps. This field used to belong to the farm on the other side of the road, but was cut off from it when the lane was made."

"Indeed you must know best," said the trembling Attorney, who was afraid of Sir Arthur and enraged to be shown in the wrong before Farmer Price.

"Then," said Sir Arthur to the farmer, "you understand that this little green is to be a playground for the village children, and I hope they may gather hawthorn from their favorite bush for many a Mayday to come."

Farmer Price bowed low, which he seldom did, even when he received a kindness for himself, but he was now overjoyed to think of the children's delight when he should tell them the good news.

"And now, Mr. Case," said Sir Arthur, turning to the Attorney, "you sent me a lease to look over."

"Yes, I thought it my duty to do so. I hope it will not hurt the good farmer."

"No, it will not hurt him," said Sir Arthur. "I am willing to write a new one for him when he pleases. He has a letter from my brother who let the farm to him, which shows exactly what was meant, even if there was a mistake made in making out the lease. I hope I shall never treat any one unfairly."

"No, indeed," said the Attorney, "but I always thought if there was a mistake in a lease it was fair to take advantage of it."

"Then you shall be judged by your own words," answered Sir Arthur. "You meant to send me Farmer Price's lease, but your son has somehow brought me yours instead. I have found a bad mistake in it."

"A bad mistake in my lease!" gasped the alarmed Attorney.

"Yes," replied Sir Arthur, pulling the lease out of his pocket. "Here it is. You will see it has not been signed."

"But you won't take advantage of a mistake, surely!" said the Attorney, who seemed to forget that he had shortly before said that it was fair to do so.

"I shall not take advantage of you as you would have done of this honest man," replied Sir Arthur. "You shall be paid the value of your house and land upon condition that you leave the parish within one month."

The Attorney knew it was useless to reply. He therefore turned and sneaked away.


XIII

SUSAN'S BIRTHDAY


"You write a good hand, you can keep accounts, cannot you?" said Sir Arthur to Mr. Price, as they walked towards the cottage. "I think I saw a bill of your little daughter's drawing out the other day, which was very neatly written. Did you teach her to write?"

"No, sir," said Price, "I can't say