FullReads

“Oh, yes, indeed,” said I. My landlady was always peculiarly bountiful in her supplies when she left me to fare for myself, as if she made a sort of peace-offering or affectionate apology.

“You know that hill with the old house right on top, over beyond the heron swamp? You ‘ll excuse me for explainin’,” Mrs. Todd began, “but you ain’t so apt to strike inland as you be to go right along shore. You know that hill; there ‘s a path leadin’ right over to it that you have to look sharp to find nowadays; it belonged to the up-country Indians when they had to make a carry to the landing here to get to the out’ islands. I ‘ve heard the old folks say that there used to be a place across a ledge where they ‘d worn a deep track with their moccasin feet, but I never could find it. ‘T is so overgrown in some places that you keep losin’ the path in the bushes and findin’ it as you can; but it runs pretty straight considerin’ the lay o’ the land, and I keep my eye on the sun and the moss that grows one side o’ the tree trunks. Some brook’s been choked up and the swamp’s bigger than it used to be. Yes; I did get in deep enough, one place!”

I showed the solicitude that I felt. Mrs. Todd was no longer young, and in spite of her strong, great frame and spirited behavior, I knew that certain ills were apt to seize upon her, and would end some day by leaving her lame and ailing.

“Don’t you go to worryin’ about me,” she insisted, “settin’ still’s the only way the Evil One ‘ll ever get the upper hand o’ me. Keep me movin’ enough, an’ I ‘m twenty year old summer an’ winter both. I don’t know why ‘t is, but I ‘ve never happened to mention the one I ‘ve been to see. I don’t know why I never happened to speak the name of Abby Martin, for I often give her a thought, but ‘t is a dreadful out-o’-the-way place where she lives, and I haven’t seen her myself for three or four years. She’s a real good interesting woman, and we ‘re well acquainted; she ‘s nigher mother’s age than mine, but she ‘s very young feeling. She made me a nice cup o’ tea, and I don’t know but I should have stopped all night if I could have got word to you not to worry.”

Then there was a serious silence before Mrs. Todd spoke again to make a formal announcement.

“She is the Queen’s Twin,” and Mrs. Todd looked steadily to see how I might bear the great surprise.

“The Queen’s Twin?” I repeated.

“Yes, she ‘s come to feel a real interest in the Queen, and anybody can see how natural ‘t is. They were born the very same day, and you would be astonished to see what a number o’ other things have corresponded. She was speaking o’ some o’ the facts to me to-day, an’ you ‘d think she ‘d never done nothing but read history. I see how earnest she was about it as I never did before. I ‘ve often and often heard her allude to the facts, but now she’s got to be old and the hurry’s over with her work, she ‘s come to live a good deal in her thoughts, as folks often do, and I tell you ‘t is a sight o’ company for her. If you want to hear about Queen Victoria, why Mis’ Abby Martin ‘ll tell you everything. And the prospect from that hill I spoke of is as beautiful as anything in this world; ‘t is worth while your goin’ over to see her just for that.”

“When can you go again?” I demanded eagerly.

“I should say to-morrow,” answered Mrs. Todd; “yes, I should say to-morrow; but I expect ‘t would be better to take one day to rest, in between. I considered that question as I was comin’ home, but I hurried so that there wa’n’t much time to think. It’s a dreadful long way to go with a horse; you have to go ‘most as far as the old Bowden place an’ turn off to the left, a master long, rough road, and then you have to turn right round as soon as you get there if you mean to get home before nine o’clock at night. But to strike across country from here, there ‘s plenty o’ time in the shortest day, and you can have a good hour or two’s visit beside; ‘t ain’t but a very few miles, and it’s pretty all the way along. There used to be a few good families over there, but they ‘ve died and scattered, so now she ‘s far from neighbors. There, she really cried, she was so glad to see anybody comin’. You ‘ll be amused to hear her talk about the Queen, but I thought twice or three times as I set there ‘t was about all the company she ‘d got.”