Following the Equator by Mark Twain (mobile ebook reader TXT) đ
- Author: Mark Twain
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He had come upon Mrs. Enderby, Mrs. Glossop, Mrs. Taylor, and Mary. They were on foot, and seemed tired and excited. They came at once to the buggy and shook hands, and all spoke at once, and said eagerly and earnestly, how glad they were that he was come, and how fortunate it was. And Mrs. Enderby said, impressively:
âIt looks like an accident, his coming at such a time; but let no one profane it with such a name; he was sentâsent from on high.â
They were all moved, and Mrs. Glossop said in an awed voice:
âSarah Enderby, you never said a truer word in your life. This is no accident, it is a special Providence. He was sent. He is an angelâan angel as truly as ever angel wasâan angel of deliverance. I say angel, Sarah Enderby, and will have no other word. Donât let any one ever say to me again, that thereâs no such thing as special Providences; for if this isnât one, let them account for it that can.â
âI know itâs so,â said Mrs. Taylor, fervently. âJohn Brown, I could worship you; I could go down on my knees to you. Didnât something tell you?âdidnât you feel that you were sent? I could kiss the hem of your laprobe.â
He was not able to speak; he was helpless with shame and fright. Mrs. Taylor went on:
âWhy, just look at it all around, Julia Glossop. Any person can see the hand of Providence in it. Here at noon what do we see? We see the smoke rising. I speak up and say, âThatâs the Old Peopleâs cabin afire.â Didnât I, Julia Glossop?â
âThe very words you said, Nancy Taylor. I was as close to you as I am now, and I heard them. You may have said hut instead of cabin, but in substance itâs the same. And you were looking pale, too.â
âPale? I was that pale that ifâwhy, you just compare it with this laprobe. Then the next thing I said was, âMary Taylor, tell the hired man to rig up the team-weâll go to the rescue.â And she said, âMother, donât you know you told him he could drive to see his people, and stay over Sunday?â And it was just so. I declare for it, I had forgotten it. âThen,â said I, âweâll go afoot.â And go we did. And found Sarah Enderby on the road.â
âAnd we all went together,â said Mrs. Enderby. âAnd found the cabin set fire to and burnt down by the crazy one, and the poor old things so old and feeble that they couldnât go afoot. And we got them to a shady place and made them as comfortable as we could, and began to wonder which way to turn to find some way to get them conveyed to Nancy Taylorâs house. And I spoke up and saidânow what did I say? Didnât I say, âProvidence will provideâ?â
âWhy sure as you live, so you did! I had forgotten it.â
âSo had I,â said Mrs. Glossop and Mrs. Taylor; âbut you certainly said it. Now wasnât that remarkable?â
âYes, I said it. And then we went to Mr. Moseleyâs, two miles, and all of them were gone to the camp meeting over on Stony Fork; and then we came all the way back, two miles, and then here, another mileâand Providence has provided. You see it yourselves.â
They gazed at each other awe-struck, and lifted their hands and said in unison:
âItâs per-fectly wonderful.â
âAnd then,â said Mrs. Glossop, âwhat do you think we had better do--let Mr. Brown drive the Old People to Nancy Taylorâs one at a time, or put both of them in the buggy, and him lead the horse?â
Brown gasped.
âNow, then, thatâs a question,â said Mrs. Enderby. âYou see, we are all tired out, and any way we fix it itâs going to be difficult. For if Mr. Brown takes both of them, at least one of us must, go back to help him, for he canât load them into the buggy by himself, and they so helpless.â
âThat is so,â said Mrs. Taylor. âIt doesnât look-oh, how would this do?âone of us drive there with Mr. Brown, and the rest of you go along to my house and get things ready. Iâll go with him. He and I together can lift one of the Old People into the buggy; then drive her to my house andââ
âBut who will take care of the other one?â said Mrs. Enderby. âWe musnât leave her there in the woods alone, you knowâespecially the crazy one. There and back is eight miles, you see.â
They had all been sitting on the grass beside the buggy for a while, now, trying to rest their weary bodies. They fell silent a moment or two, and struggled in thought over the baffling situation; then Mrs. Enderby brightened and said:
âI think Iâve got the idea, now. You see, we canât walk any more. Think what weâve done: four miles there, two to Moseleyâs, is six, then back to hereânine miles since noon, and not a bite to eat; I declare I donât see how weâve done it; and as for me, I am just famishing. Now, somebodyâs got to go back, to help Mr. Brownâthereâs no getting around that; but whoever goes has got to ride, not walk. So my idea is this: one of us to ride back with Mr. Brown, then ride to Nancy Taylorâs house with one of the Old People, leaving Mr. Brown to keep the other old one company, you all to go now to Nancyâs and rest and wait; then one of you drive back and get the other one and drive her to Nancyâs, and Mr. Brown walk.â
âSplendid!â they all cried. âOh, that will doâthat will answer perfectly.â And they all said that Mrs. Enderby had the best head for planning, in the company; and they said that they wondered that they hadnât thought of this simple plan themselves. They hadnât meant to take back the compliment, good simple souls, and didnât know they had done it. After a consultation it was decided that Mrs. Enderby should drive back with Brown, she being entitled to the distinction because she had invented the plan. Everything now being satisfactorily arranged and settled, the ladies rose, relieved and happy, and brushed down their gowns, and three of them started homeward; Mrs. Enderby set her foot on the buggy-step and was about to climb in, when Brown found a remnant of his voice and gasped outâ
âPlease Mrs. Enderby, call them backâI am very weak; I canât walk, I canât, indeed.â
âWhy, dear Mr. Brown! You do look pale; I am ashamed of myself that I didnât notice it sooner. Come back-all of you! Mr. Brown is not well. Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Brown?âIâm real sorry. Are you in pain?â
âNo, madam, only weak; I am not sick, but only just weakâlately; not long, but just lately.â
The others came back, and poured out their sympathies and commiserations, and were full of self-reproaches for not having noticed how pale he was.
And they at once struck out a new plan, and soon agreed that it was by far the best of all. They would all go to Nancy Taylorâs house and see to Brownâs needs first. He could lie on the sofa in the parlor, and while Mrs. Taylor and Mary took care of him the other two ladies would take the buggy and go and get one of the Old People, and leave one of themselves with the other one, andââ
By this time, without any solicitation, they were at the horseâs head and were beginning to turn him around. The danger was imminent, but Brown found his voice again and saved himself. He saidâ
âBut ladies, you are overlooking something which makes the plan impracticable. You see, if you bring one of them home, and one remains behind with the other, there will be three persons there when one of you comes back for that other, for some one must drive the buggy back, and three canât come home in it.â
They all exclaimed, âWhy, sure-ly, that is so!â and they were, all perplexed again.
âDear, dear, what can we do?â said Mrs. Glossop; âit is the most mixed-up thing that ever was. The fox and the goose and the corn and thingsâoh, dear, they are nothing to it.â
They sat wearily down once more, to further torture their tormented heads for a plan that would work. Presently Mary offered a plan; it was her first effort. She said:
âI am young and strong, and am refreshed, now. Take Mr. Brown to our house, and give him helpâyou see how plainly he needs it. I will go back and take care of the Old People; I can be there in twenty minutes. You can go on and do what you first started to doâwait on the main road at our house until somebody comes along with a wagon; then send and bring away the three of us. You wonât have to wait long; the farmers will soon be coming back from town, now. I will keep old Polly patient and cheered upâthe crazy one doesnât need it.â
This plan was discussed and accepted; it seemed the best that could be done, in the circumstances, and the Old People must be getting discouraged by this time.
Brown felt relieved, and was deeply thankful. Let him once get to the main road and he would find a way to escape.
Then Mrs. Taylor said:
âThe evening chill will be coming on, pretty soon, and those poor old burnt-out things will need some kind of covering. Take the lap-robe with you, dear.â
âVery well, Mother, I will.â
She stepped to the buggy and put out her hand to take itââ
That was the end of the tale. The passenger who told it said that when he read the story twenty-five years ago in a train he was interrupted at that pointâthe train jumped off a bridge.
At first we thought we could finish the story quite easily, and we set to work with confidence; but it soon began to appear that it was not a simple thing, but difficult and baffling. This was on account of Brownâs characterâgreat generosity and kindliness, but complicated with unusual shyness and diffidence, particularly in the presence of ladies. There was his love for Mary, in a hopeful state but not yet secureâjust in a condition, indeed, where its affair must be handled with great tact, and no mistakes made, no offense given. And there was the mother wavering, half willing-by adroit and flawless diplomacy to be won over, now, or perhaps never at all. Also, there were the helpless Old People yonder in the woods waiting-their fate and Brownâs happiness to be determined by what Brown should do within the next two seconds. Mary was reaching for the lap-robe; Brown must decide-there was no time to be lost.
Of course none but a happy ending of the story would be accepted by the jury; the finish must find Brown in high credit with the ladies, his behavior without blemish, his modesty unwounded, his character for self sacrifice maintained, the Old People rescued through him, their benefactor,
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