Planning for Themselves
The girls, as well as Austin, were busy during the week, but they had Sunday afternoon to themselves. They were in the habit of spending this time together, and it was with both hope and fear in his heart that Austin went the next Sunday afternoon after his talk with his father about the children, to see his sisters. Amy had come over to see Nell and the two were waiting for Austin, eager for the opportunity of pouring into his sympathetic ears their story of heartaches and struggles of the week past. They were both on the porch of the farmhouse to meet him, and as they were alone this big quiet porch was a suitable place for their talk.
Austin had not been with them long before he began the subject that lay closest to his heart. He had grave doubts of Amy’s willingness to undertake housekeeping; for she had had experience enough to know that she thoroughly detested housework. But if Nell would put her little shoulder to the wheel he would be satisfied. They sat together in earnest conversation as they reviewed the whole situation. Austin was only eighteen but seemed fully twenty-five years of age. Amy was a pretty, slender girl of sixteen, full of life and spirit, but gay and thoughtless. Little Nell was only fourteen, and slight for her years, but with a quickness and decision that added to her attraction.
“Girls, it is our only hope,” Austin said. “I do not believe Papa intends to do anything. He will let things drift along and in time we shall lose Lila and Doyle entirely. We ought to have a home where the children can have a chance. But see how things have gone for years. When I stayed at home Papa opposed me and made it hard for us all, and when I left home he scattered the children.
“If we are to have a home we must stay by it all the time. I cannot do it alone, but if you girls will stand back of me and take the responsibility of the housework, I believe I can support the family.
“I have talked the matter over with Papa, and he is willing that we should try this plan out, and has even promised to help us when he can. We might as well look at things as they are. None of us could be care-free like other young people, but instead we should have to settle down and keep things going. There are many things that we could not do, lest our good be evil spoken of. We would not dare to act in any way that would bring reproach upon us. It will be a serious undertaking, and I want you to be sure that you wish to do it. I am willing to do my part if you girls will help me.”
The girls listened soberly, and when he had ceased speaking, they both waited in silence. At last Amy looked up with a mischievous smile, seeking to throw off the serious mood into which Austin’s speech had put them. She was always afraid of a really serious mood.
“It is no fun keeping house. I do not know whether I want to attack a job like that till the children are grown up or not. You will have to give me time to study about it,” she replied.
“How can we bear to have Lila and Doyle knocked about as they are now and have been?” asked Austin with reproach in his voice.
Nell looked up an instant and saw the look of pain in her brother’s face which Amy’s words had brought, and said quietly, “I will do my part the best I can, Austin.”
There are times when words are insufficient to express one’s feelings. Austin found himself at one of these places. His heart had been almost broken with sorrow for the shattered home circle, and the deepest desire of his heart was to gather the children together again and if possible build for them a home where they could have a chance for home influences and comforts. That he could not do this without cheerful cooperation from his sisters he knew. So Nell’s simple little answer sent a thrill of joy and hope too sweet for words to the very depths of his heart. This promise from her was all that he asked. He knew that she would stand by her vow. Years afterward, when telling a friend of this incident, Austin said it was one of the sweetest moments of his life when he looked into the face of his sister and heard her tender promise. The two of them, for Amy was strangely left out now, talked the rest of the afternoon making plans for their future, hope springing higher every moment. But they were not undertaking something new, for well each of them knew what they were doing. They knew that it meant years of toil, care, and responsibility. But for the sake of home and the little brothers and sister, they were willing to do their part. At last the evening shades came creeping over the fields and they must part. Bidding Nell a loving farewell, Austin and Amy walked across the grassy meadow to the farmhouse that was Amy’s temporary home, and leaving her there he hastened back to his place with a lighter heart and step than had been his for months. As yet they were but hired servants; but soon, soon they would have a home of their own.
“Nell,” he had said on parting with her, “I know you will do your part, and with Amy’s help—for she will help, we know—we shall get along very well.” Nell and Amy slept that night with a sense of coming happiness and hope that they had not felt for a long time. Though they lacked the strength of character that was Austin’s heritage from his mother, they were home-loving as well as he. The main question with them was, “Where?”—what place would be best for them to begin all over again? The girls favored going back to the old home town; but Austin doubted the wisdom of this, for the girls had associates there who would do them no good. He craved new and better environments for them. Besides, he had suffered so much anxiety and disappointment there that he felt it could never be home to him. He favored a new town where there would be no influence nor prejudice against them, where they could make a new start entirely. At last he brought the girls to see the reasonableness of his view; but no definite plans could be made just yet. “Please do not stay in this part of the country, for I am so discouraged with everything that I do not know what to do,” pleaded Amy.
“I know just how you feel, sister, and I will not settle here. There is nothing here for us anyway. We must find a town where I can get paying work so that I can keep the bread and butter coming,” he answered. “I have been thinking of Weston. The Baileys live there, and we have promised to go to see them some time. That is a thriving town, and perhaps I could get work. Besides, it is not far away and would not cost us so much in moving there. What do you say to my writing to Mr. Bailey inviting ourselves to visit them for a few days soon, and while there see what we can do?” was Austin’s proposition to the girls one day.
“That sounds pretty good. At least we shall have a good time visiting with the girls,” they answered with spirit.
“Here is a letter from Austin Hill,” said Mr. Bailey a few days later. “He wishes to find a location here and asks to bring Amy and Nell with him for a little visit while he is prospecting. It will be convenient to have them, will it not?” he asked.
“Yes, certainly. I shall be glad to get in touch with Austin again. I have often wondered lately how he is solving his many problems. How soon will they be coming?” was the answer of cheerful, mother-hearted Mrs. Bailey. Austin was wise in seeking to place the girls where they might have her good counsel.
It was not a week later when Austin and the girls arrived in Weston, and before three days had gone by Austin had obtained a position that would bring him a good livelihood. He was certain that God had favored him in obtaining such a place, and did not want to look any farther. The girls were not so favorably impressed with the surroundings, but were for looking elsewhere. They, poor homesick children, longed still for the old home town. Austin was firm, nevertheless, in his decision to stay by what he had found. “We have friends here who make us welcome. We need not feel that we are utterly strangers. I have a good job and it would be foolishness for me to look farther. Let us not quibble any more. If we are going to make a home for the children, let us get at it,” he said in ending the contention. “If you girls wish to go on down home, or anywhere else, visiting, do it now before we start in. I want you to be satisfied, but I cannot give up my position.”
“No, we will not go anywhere now. If this is to be our home, we will get it started as soon as possible,” was the answer of the girls.
It was at this juncture that they realized how little they had to go to housekeeping on. A house was out of the question. One month’s rent in advance was more than they could spare and yet have enough to get a little furniture to put in it. The best they could do was to rent two empty rooms, furnish them with such things as they could buy at a secondhand store, and then get along on what was left till Austin’s first payday.
The rooms were not in every way desirable, and it was with misgivings that the girls went with Austin to buy the furniture. They were beauty-loving girls, and their dreams of a new home had been rosy. It was hard to begin housekeeping with the things they would have to get. But when they considered that all they had to go on was the little that Austin had saved while he had been working on the farm, they knew he was doing his best. When the things were bought, Austin ordered them hauled to the rooms already engaged, and when the man went away, the three young people looked at their few possessions in their little home-to-be with varying emotions. Austin was hopeful. He could look away from that which was drab to the brighter side. Just to have the children together with a chance to give them. Christian training was all he could ask. He was willing to live in the plainest circumstances.
Amy looked on the homely pile of secondhand goods and made some light, frivolous remark about their beautiful home. She was ready to laugh off in such a manner all her serious thoughts. Nell said nothing. She was a girl of fourteen, with all of a girl’s love of beautiful things. She wanted a pretty home, with dainty furnishings and bright colors. Ever since she had promised to be Austin’s housekeeper she had been building air-castles of the house they would have, and the home she would make. But she had not counted on such a beginning as this. She was too disheartened to think or speak. She passed by the pile of household stuff and her brother and sister, into the other room, and shut the door with a bang. She would have to have time to locate herself before she could be cheerful. Just now her heart was too full of dismay.
Austin and Amy went to work and put things in order so that they could cook supper and all lay their weary bodies down to rest. They were young, and soon their trials were forgotten in a sweet, refreshing sleep. Nell had regained her composure enough to help them the next morning, though she was yet very quiet when Austin went off to his work.
When Austin came home that evening, he found his sunny Nell of old at work in the rooms. She was improvising a curtain of some kind, and as he came in she was standing off to study the effect. She had managed to make the room look pretty. Amy acknowledged that she herself had thought the case hopeless all the time, and had made up her mind not to expect any beauty, but that Nell had transformed things. “Nell, you are a treasure. I am surprised that you could bring such order and beauty out of the chaos I left this morning,” said Austin in his heartiest tones. And the words of cheer and praise brought a happy shine to the little girl’s eyes, while her heart beat in happy contentment.
The three of them were soon living in peace and contentment in their own little home, making ready as fast as they could for the coming of the others. It was necessary that Austin get a better start with his wages before the family increase very much.
They talked and planned for the future. This was not to be at all permanent; just as soon as one month’s wages were in hand a house should be rented, and they would furnish it as they could. As soon as they had enough together to care for the children, Lila and Doyle should be brought to them. And until the time when they could afford better, they all covenanted together to live as economically as possible. And as soon as the house was in proper condition for living, the two girls started to school.