UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

"
a
"
the
"
thimble,Avax,
" that
.
There
62 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN : OR,
affirming that the "
money had better have been
sent to the missionaries ; but all partiesagreed
that there had been no such parasolseen in those
parts as had been sent on from New York, and
that she had one silk dress that mightfairlybe
tnlsted to stand alone,whatever mightbe said of
its mistress. There were credible rumors, also,
of a hemstitched pjcket-handkerchief ; and report
even went so far as to state that Miss Ophelia
with lace all
around it," it was even added that it was worked
had one pocket-handkerchief
in the corners ; but this latter pointwas never
satisfactorily ascertained, and remains, in fact,
unsettled to this day.'
Miss Ophelia, as you now behold her,stands
before,, you, in a very shiningbrown linen travelling-dress,
tall, square- formed,and angular.Her
face was thin,and rather sharpin its outlines ;
thf lipscompressed,like those of a person who
is in the habit of making up her mind definitely
energetic; and, thoughshe was never much of a
talker,her words were remarkablydirect,and to and therefore it Avas that he succeeded very
the purpose, Avhen she did speak.
easilyin persuadingher that the "path of duty "
In her habits,she was a livingimpersonation lay in the direction of NeAV Orleans, and that she
of order,method, and exactness. In punctuality, must go Avith him to take care of Eva, and keep
she was as inevitable as a clock,and as inexorable
everything from goingto wreck and ruin during
as a railroad engine; and she held in most the frequentillnesses of his Avife. The idea of a
decided contempt and abomination anything of a house without anybodyto take care of it Avent to
contrarycharacter.
her heart; then she loved the lovely little girl,
The great sin of sins,in her eyes,
sum as few could helpdoing; and, thoughshe regarded
of all "
evils, was
expressedby one very common
and
"
importantword in her vocabulary
"
shiftlessness."'
Her finaleand ultimatum of contempt
consisted in a
very emphaticpronunciation of the him
"
word shiftless;" and by this she characterized
all modes
of procedure which had not a direct and
"
"
"
"
must discover by a personalacquaintance.
inevitable relation to accomplishment some
she is,sitting in her state-room,
purpose then definitely had in mind. People surrounded by a mixed multitude of littleand big
who did nothing, did not know exactlycarpet-bags,,
boxes,baskets,each containing what theywere going to do,or who did not take separateresponsibility which she is tying, bind-
the most direct way to accomplish theyset up, packing, fastening, with a face of great
their hands to, were objects of her entire .contempt,
earnestness.
contempt shown less frequently by
"
Noav, Eva, haA-e kept count of your
anything she said țhan by a kind of stonygrim-thingsness, Of course
you
you have n't," children
as if she scorned to say anything about the neA-er do : there 's the spottedcarpet-bagand
matter.
the little, blue band-box Avith your
best bonnet,
As to mental cultivation, she had a clear, 's two ; then the India rubber satchel is
strong,active mind, was well and thoroughlythree ; and my tape and needle box is four ; and
read in historyand,the older Englishclassics, my band-box,five ; and my collar-box,six ; and
and thought with greatstrengthwithin certain that little hair trunk,seven. What have you
narr.iw limits. Her theological tenets were all done Avith your sunshade ? Give it to me, and
made up, labelled in most positiveand distinct let me put a paper
round it,and tie it to
forms,and put by, like the bundles in her patch umbrella with my shade ; there,noAv.'*
my
trunk ; there were just so many of them, and
"
Why, aunty, Ave are onlygoingup home :
there were never to be any
more. So,also,were what is the use 1 ' '
her ideas with regard to most matters of practical
peoplemust take care
"
To keep it nice,child
life, such as housekeepingin all its of their
,
things, if theyever mean to have anything
branches,and the various political relations of
her native villageẠnd, underlayingall,deeper
than anythingelse,higher and broader,lay the
strongestprinciple of her conscientiousness.
being"
Nowhere is conscience so dominant and
all-absorbing as with New England
is the graniteformation,which lies deepest, and
rises out, even to the tops of the highestmountains.
women. It
path of duty,"as she commonlyphrasedit, ay
in any givendirection, and fire and water coila
not keep,her from it. She would walk straight
down into a well,or up to a loaded cannon's
mouth, if she were onlyquitesure that there the
path lay. Her standard of rightwas s" high șo
all-embracing, so minute,and making so few concessions
to human frailty, that,thoughshe strove
with heroic ardor to reach it șhe never actually
did so, and of course was burdened with a constant
and often harassing sense of "
deficiency ;
this gave a severe and somewhat gloomy cast to
character.
her
religious
But,how in the world can Miss Opheliaget
along with Augustine St. Clare," gay, easy,
"
unpunetual,unpractical, sceptical, in short,
walkingwith impudent and nonchalant freeck)in
over every one of her most cherished habits and
opinions
?
To tell the truth,then,Miss Ophelialoved
him. "When a boy, it had been hers to teach
him his catechism,mend his clothes,comb his
on all subjects; while the keen, dark eyes
had a
peculiarly searching, advised movement, and travelled
over everything, as if they were looking for hair,and bringhim
something to take care of.
up generallyin the way he
should go ; and her heart havinga warm side to
All her movements were sharp,decided,and it,Augustinehad, as he usuallydid with most
people,monopolizeda largeshare of it for himself,
Augustine as very much of a heathen, yet she
loved him, laughed at his jokes,and forbore with
his failings, to an extent AAdiich those Avho knew
thoughtperfectly incredible. But what more
or other is to be knoAvn of Miss Ophelia, our
Miss OpheliaAvas the absolute bond-slave of
fcho"ought." Once make her certain that the Ibuy some more of whatever it was."
reader
; and noAV, Eva, is your thimble put up ?"
"
Really,aunty, I don't know."
"
Well,never mind ; I '11 look your box over,
" two spools, scissors,knife,tapeneedle
; all right, put it in here. What did
you
ever do, child,when you
Avere coming on
with only your papa ? I should have thought
you 'd a lost everythingyou had."
"
Well, aunty, I did lose a greatmany ; and
then,Avhen we stoppedanywhere,papa Avould