THE LIFE OF NANCY
BY SARAH ORNE JEWETT
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
COPYRIGHT, 1890 AND 1895, BY SARAH ORNE JEWETT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
CONTENTS
The Life of Nancy.
I.
The wooded hills and pastures of easternMassachusetts are so close to Boston thatfrom upper windows of the city, lookingwestward, you can see the tops of pine-treesand orchard-boughs on the high horizon.There is a rustic environment on the landwardside; there are old farmhouses at theback of Milton Hill and beyond Belmontwhich look as unchanged by the besiegingsuburbs of a great city as if they were fortymiles from even its borders. Now and then,in Boston streets, you can see an old farmerin his sleigh or farm wagon as if you sawhim in a Berkshire village. He seems neitherto look up at the towers nor down at anyfashionable citizens, but goes his way alikeunconscious of seeing or being seen.
On a certain day a man came drivingalong Beacon Street, who looked bent in theshoulders, as if his worn fur cap were tooheavy for head and shoulders both. Thistype of the ancient New England farmer inwinter twitched the reins occasionally, likean old woman, to urge the steady white horsethat plodded along as unmindful of hismaster's suggestions as of the silver-mountedharnesses that passed them by. Both horseand driver appeared to be conscious of sufficientwisdom, and even worth, for the dutiesof life; but all this placidity and self-assurancewere in sharp contrast to the eager excitemento