They ascended the rising ground, passing along the edge of the orchard, till, upon gaining the height of land, they entered upon a broad, level field of twenty-five acres, smooth as a lawn, green in all the verdure of spring, and giving promise of an abundant yield of grass. A variety of forest trees were scattered over it, among which the walnut and white oak predominated. Here and there a clover head was seen, and bobolinks, balancing on spears of herd's grass, were exhibiting themselves to the best advantage, while now and then a forward apple tree on the warmer ground was covered with white and red blossoms.
"Your father never planted these trees," said Morton, gazing at the massive trunks, covered with moss and rough scaly bark; "who did?"
"I'm sure I don't know whether it was the wind, the crows, bears, or squirrels, but they were here when the white men came."
In the centre of the field stood the mansion[Pg 126] house. It was painted white, with green blinds, and, seen through the mass of foliage by which the house was surrounded, the color produced a very pleasing effect, being scarcely more prominent than the streak of white peeping through the green folds of an opening rose-bud.
Several very large white birches were scattered in front of the buildings among other trees, that beautiful green peculiar to the leaves of this tree in the spring contrasting pleasantly with the white bark of the trunk and branches. The house, fronting the river, stood endwise to the main road, from which a broad avenue led to it, approaching by a gradual curve the front, a less spacious one conducting to the back portion and the out-buildings. Both of these avenues were lined with the Lombardy poplar, then highly prized throughout New England as an ornamental tree. They still linger, a few in nearly every town, often rising with decaying branches over some grass-grown cellar—sole memento of a departed generation.
The mansion, standing in the midst of this vast green, large on the ground, and high studded, without a fence to belittle the effect and obstruct the view, with abundant out-buildings, well arranged and in perfect repair, as seen through the mass of foliage, produced an impression better felt than described.
Morton, enraptured with the sight, stood long[Pg 127] before the main entrance silent, his arm in that of his friend. At length his eyes moistened as he said,—
"Rich, I never saw anything like this spot; so grand and beautiful! Everything is fresh, in perfect repair, and yet these oaks and birches seem two hundred years old. I never saw such trees, except in the forest. I shouldn't be in the least surprised to see a black bear acorning in one of them."
"I've no doubt they have done it. I've heard my grandfather say that the whole of this land between us and the river was a heavy growth of such trees as you see here, except the low ground, where it was yellow birch, white maple, and elm; that a man by the name of Dingley, who was well off, came here from Salem, built this house, cleared the land, all but about two acres in front of the house; but his wife died, and his two boys didn't want to stay here—wanted to go to sea. He went back to Salem just before the embargo, and let the place to the halves. Then a friend of his—another Salem captain, who had made money going to the coast of Africa, when the embargo put a stop to his business—bought it. He also spent money at a great rate; made the house almost over, built stables, took away the fences, and as he was determined to have just what trees he wanted, and didn't mind expense, selected those he[Pg 128] wished to remain, cut down the rest, and all the underbrush, and hauled the trunks and brush off, because he knew, if he put fire into it, he should kill the whole. That's the way, grandfather said, these old trees came to be left here.
"While Captain Norris was building, planting, clearing, and turning everything upside down, and making improvements, after some models he had seen abroad, and while the embargo and the war of 1812 lasted, he was contented; but when he had made about all the improvements his purse would allow, and maritime business began to revive after the war, he was as uneasy as a fish out of water, and sold the place to my father, with all his improvements, for half what it had cost him, and went back to Salem, and to sea again."
"It must have been a sad day to you, when you came to take leave of this home, and—"
"And go to the place where you found us, you mean. Well, it was a bitter day to all of us, but there were some reasons that made it especially so to me. Father and mother had known sorrow, and so had my sisters. I had a little brother and sister, neither of whom I ever saw. They died within a year of each other, and my sisters were old enough to realize it. But never since I can remember has there been a cloud in our sky till now. Father was prosperous, I was petted and indulged, had all I wanted, loved my books and my parents (never knew how much I did love[Pg 129] them till now), and never had a sorrow, except when some pet animal died; but those tears were soon dried, and when I awoke the next morning the sorrow was all forgotten in some new pleasure, or some new pet. It seems to me now that I was just like one of the humming-birds that always come to the honeysuckle that hangs over that western window.—By the way, that was my room, Mort."
"I see it all, Rich; and now, let me tell you, I wasn't in a very cheerful frame when, on my way to college, I met you at Portland. I had left home, and was looking forward to a four years' course at college, with hardly any funds, and the prospect for the future was gloomy enough, when you came across my path, just like a gleam of sunshine, a............