Meadow Brook

Far away among the New England hills stands a large, old-fashioned farmhouse, around whose hearth-stone not many years agone, a band of merry, noisy children played, myself the...

Thanksgiving! How many reminiscences of the olden time does that word call up, when sons and daughters, they who had wandered far and wide, whose locks, once brown and shining w...

If so far as the golden Californian land this book of mine shall reach, it may, perchance, fall into the hands of some who, from their number, can select the veritable hero, the...

Of the many thousand individuals destined to become the purchasers of a copy of this work, a majority have undoubtedly been, or are still teachers, and of these many will rememb...

Ere long, exaggerated rumors reached Meadow Brook of the very creditable manner in which I had acquitted myself at the examination, whereupon Aunt Sally Wright was quite taken a...

Very slowly passed the days of my second week, for my mind was constantly dwelling upon the important _Thursday_, which came at last, and, with more than usual care, I dressed m...

One day, about three weeks after the commencement of my school, I was surprised by a call from Dell Thompson, who, after conversing awhile, very familiarly, astonished me with a...

Whether Dr. Clayton cared for me or not, he exerted his influence in my behalf, plainly telling John Thompson that he ought to be ashamed to annoy me as he did; and dropping a f...

On a pleasant May morning, in the spring succeeding the events narrated in the last chapter, the door of Dr. Clayton’s office was locked against all intruders. The shutters were...

Although Meadow Brook and Pine District were distant from each other only four or five miles, there was between the two neighborhoods but little communication; and this, added t...

The bridal party had returned from the Falls, and after spending a week or more at Capt. Thompson’s the doctor took down his sign, boxed up his books, pills, powders, and _skele...

Aunt Charlotte, Anna, and myself were sitting in the parlor one morning, about four weeks after our arrival in Boston, when the door-bell rang, and the servant ushered in a youn...

One bright morning about the middle of January, Herbert announced his intention of going to Worcester with Anna, who, he said, wished to visit the Lunatic Asylum, and as a young...

Early in March, as I was one Saturday morning seated with my aunt in her pleasant, cozy sewing-room, a little boy brought me a note from Dell Clayton, in which she requested me,...

“Meadow Brook Station! Stop five minutes for refreshments!” shouted the conductor, and alighting from the noisy, crowded cars, I stood once more in my own native town, gazing wi...

What a train of conflicting ideas do those two words oftentimes awaken, bringing up visions of _log cabins_, ladder stairs, _wooden latches_, fried hominy and maple sugar, to sa...

The long summer days had merged into autumn, whose hazy breath floated like a misty veil over the distant hills. Slowly and noiselessly the leaves were dropping one by one from...

During my journey back to Rockland, I did not again meet with the stranger, although I looked for him at every station, and when at last I stepped from the cars at Canandaigua,...

All around the house was still; while within, the children and the neighbors trod softly as they went from room to room, and their faces wore an anxious, troubled look, as if th...

After the first shock of our sorrow was over, the question arose as to what we were to do in future for our support. Grandma was already old, while mother was not so young as sh...

The day was drawing to a close. The children’s lessons were over, the last I was to hear. Their books were piled away awaiting the arrival of my successor, and at my request I w...

She was now daily expected, the vessel in which she had sailed having landed at New York, and numerous preparations in honor of her arrival were in progress at Cedar Grove, wher...

Rapidly, and to me very happily, did the winter pass away, for it was enlivened by the presence of Mr. Delafield, who was with us so often, that it became at last a serious deba...

It was the night before the one appointed for the bridal, and in the solitude of her chamber, a young girl wept in the utter hopelessness of despair. At the morrow’s early dawn...

The unexpected arrival of their master’s sister and her cortége at “The Pines,” as Mr. Delafield’s plantation was called, produced quite a sensation among the blacks, who hasten...

For nearly a week after Jessie’s death, Mr. Delafield remained at the Pines, doing whatever he could for the comfort of his servants, and as at the end of that time the disease...

It was early morning. The windows of my room were open, admitting the fresh, cool air, which had been purified by one of those terrific thunder storms, so common in a southern c...

The railroad which passed through W—— was only a branch of the main route leading to Charleston, and consequently there were but two passenger trains each way per day; and as Mr...

The sun had set on Cedar Grove, and together on the broad, airy piazza sat Mrs. Lansing and Ada, rather impatiently waiting for Richard, whom they had not seen since he left the...

Over the New England hills the hazy light of a most glorious Indian Summer was shining, while the forest trees, in their gorgeous array of crimson and gold, lifted their tall he...

For a few days we lingered at my mother’s fireside, and then, with the fall of the first snowflake, we left for our southern home; Richard promising my mother, who was loth to g...

Just one year ago to-night the orange wreath and bridal veil were twined among my curls, and with a loving heart I stood up before the man of God and took upon myself the vows,...