The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hills of the Shatemuc, by Susan Warner
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Hills of the Shatemuc
Author: Susan Warner
Release Date: October 23, 2005 [EBook #16918]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HILLS OF THE SHATEMUC ***
Produced by Daniel Fromont
COLLECTION
OF
BRITISH AUTHORS
VOL. CCCLI.
THE HILLS OF THE SHATEMUC
BY
ELIZABETH WETHERELL.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
THE
HILLS OF THE SHATEMUC
BY
ELIZABETH WETHERELL,
AUTHOR OF "THE WIDE WIDE WORLD."
A wise man is strong.
Proverbs xxiv.5.
_AUTHOR'S EDITION_.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LEIPZIG
BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ
1856.
THE HILLS OF THE SHATELUC.
VOL. I.
CHAPTER I.
Low stirrings in the leaves, before the wind
Wakes all the green strings of the forest lyre.
LOWELL.
The light of an early Spring morning, shining fair on upland
and lowland, promised a good day for the farmer's work. And
where a film of thin smoke stole up over the tree-tops, into
the sunshine which had not yet got so low, there stood the
farmer's house.
It was a little brown house, built surely when its owner's
means were not greater than his wishes, and probably some time
before his family had reached the goodly growth it boasted
now. All of them were gathered at the breakfast-table.
"Boys, you may take the oxen, and finish ploughing that upland
field -- I shall be busy all day sowing wheat in the bend
meadow."
"Then I'll bring the boat for you, papa, at noon," said a
child on the other side of the table.
"And see if you can keep those headlands as clean as I have
left them."
"Yes, sir. Shall you want the horses, father, or shall we take
both the oxen?"
"Both? -- both _pairs_, you mean -- yes; I shall want the horses.
I mean to make a finish of that wheat lot."
"Mamma, you must send us our dinner," said a fourth speaker,
and the eldest of the boys; -- "it'll be too confoundedly hot
to come home."
"Yes, it's going to be a warm day," said the father.
"Who's to bring it to you, Will?" said the mother.
"Asahel -- can't he -- when he brings the
|