The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-16
IN MISS WILKINS'S land
VISITOR FRoM SCOTLAND STUDIES
NEW ENGLAND LIFE.
oueer and Quaint ~rac Found
on Every Hand-Easy to See Where
NoveIists Get Material.

wiz 1a&@ 49,
over the land TO which I have the honor
TO belong and made every square foot Of
il of romantic interest. The result has
been that our Caledonia has become the
shrine Of thousands OF pilgrims from be-
You'd the seas-pilgrims in whose presence
we might we'll feel rebuked. for they often
knew so much more about the history and
literature OF our native country than we
did ourselves and always understood very
clearly what 1t was thai they went out
for TO see. But, indeed. this invasion of
worshipers pleased and lattered US; we
took 1t as a personal compliment and felt
proud to wear the halo Of the past around
our heads
The European who makes a visit in re-
turn TO America is not usually attracted
by the glamour of romance. 1t is not as
the country Of the past but as the coun-
try OF the future that America is so full
OF interest to the traveller. And yet one
could not be very long on these shores
without discovering that America, and
New England especially. is very quickly
putting a past behind it; and in the New
England village where L spent the summer
/ found not only the romance Of history
TO gid the ground on which 1 walked. but
the romance OF literature as VIGIL. MISS
Mary +. wilkins has already cOntrived 10
make US on the other side OF the Atlantic
see the pictureSqueneSS OF the lives ana
characters Of the New Englanders. Per
haps TO Scotland there is an additional at
traction, the feeling of kinship, spiritual
If not radical; for in the reserved, austere
men and women that she draws so Wei
with their high and severe sense of duty,
and much romantic idealism hidden be-
meath a rough and naive exterior. We
Scotch folks may see a strong family ike
ness 10 ourselves.
1t is not. however. as 1t is with Scott,
that we can go to a certain place and say,
Here il was that so-and-sO lived, or A
this spot such-and-such a thing happened.
No. but we can meet Miss Mary Wilkins $
characters in the flesh, still living and
working out their village tragedies; and
can recognize the types, at least, with
which she has made us familiar. As l came
TO go about this village Of which L speak
j found myself continually saying: why,
that person Is just like one Of Miss Will
kins's characters, or, as the TRAGEDY or
comedy or scandal attached TO this house
or that cottage was told me, 1 exclaimed
every now and again, That sounds like a
story by Miss Wilkins" The very names
made up for purposes of fiction and taken
out Of ore Of her books. Os-
borne was one of the names, l remember,
and Philinda Robbins a~nother-neither OF
which, somehow, sound quite real.
STORIES OF LIFE.
e - 60AOAJ SaO9 0N
unyielding to circumstances that makes the
New England character attract to itself the
tragic d~estinies of which one heard at
every corner. But there were not only
~rough-hewn and boulderesque characters to
hear about, suitable center figures for a
tragedy. but there were also those modelled
on a smaller scale and finished in every per-
lection Of dainty detail. There were tales
OF passion, secret, powerful. conquering all
obstacles; of mean and cowardly behavior,
visited by just ~retribution and revenge; of
Insanity and suicide, Of disappointment and
DEATH and there were stories with a touch
of farce about them: and there were happy
stories. too, but not so many of these, for
the happy life is that which has no story.
And all this within the compass OF one little
village. My hostess had the American gift
for fuency of expression, and entertained
me with one romantic tale after another.
Almost as interesting were the walking and
breathing types that met US as We went and
came.
One of the most interesting persons in
the village was a man in a humble walk Of
life. 1t Is difficult to say what his profess
sion was, for he had so many. He worked
IA the graveyard during the day, and in
the evening acted as village cobbler. be-
sides putting in an odd job now and then
in the way of killing chickens for certain
poultry keepers of the neighborhOOd,
while his esthetic tastes found outlet in
the cultivation Of a garden. 1t is difficult
To understand how he found time for all
these duties, for he was very slow and
deliberate, both of speech and action. Per-
haps he was one of those who hasten
slowly, and so much His brow
was noble and his eyes steadfast and true,
but his stature was unheroic- Not only
was he a small man, but, even so, not of
graceful proportions, for his legs Were too
short. He was heroic of spirit, however,
and alone of all the villagers had vOlun-
teered for the Spanish-American war. But,
alas here his short legs stood ve.y much
- nc NO fnH hn mos az nnh ATa
regulation height, and SO his valOr was
rejected. His brave and martial spirit
has been put To the test in other
ways besides. Many a man who is brave
in the trenches has quailed before the eyes
OF woman, and has found a proposal OF
marriage a much harder task than "a chal-
lenge to u duel. Jonas. however, could
screw up his courage to the sticking
point. 1t is on record that he went to
call for the first time on the damsel whom
he had selected as a likely wife for him
self. IL was she herself who came TO the
door and opened 1t 40 him. He was not a
whit abashed nor taken by surprise. but
forthwith, without preliminary or pre-
amble. announced his errand in his usual
deliberate draWl:
"Wm you marry me il / get a good job?'
Alas that we should have to record that
his heroism was -unrewarded. Whether il
was that the good job never came, or that
IL was not considered a sufficiently allur-
ing condition. history sayeth not, but
Jonas is a bachelor still. He has had bad
luck in his matrimonial e~ffOrts-fOr this
was not his only effort. Perhaps the rea-
son is that he does not see his way clear
10 marry until his mother, TO whom he is
q devoted son-aEd what / am going TO
say is no evidence To the c~ontraTy-shalI
have taken her departure from this vale OF
woe As the old lady Is still hale and
hearty. perhaps the patience OF other pos
sible future Mistresses JOnases has given
out first
JONASS ILL FORTUNE.
Or. perhaps il is the leisurely taciturnity
OF Jonas himself that is TO blame. for to
the young and frivolous, he is scarcely
entertaining company. There was another
fair one who had encouraged his atten-
lions TO the extent OF accepting his invi-
tation 10 a buggy ride-but that proved
the end of her complaisance. for his con-
versatiOn during the drive. as she after
ward Indignantly reported, consisted Of
bat three remarks. The first, on seeing a
man walking IN the distance in front OF
them, was: why. that man looks Ike
father" Then, on approaching the figure:
why, that is father And. as the buggy
drave past the pedestrian: Hello, father"
Methinks this tale hath a c~hestnutty flavor,
but is sufficiently characteristic 10 be well
adapted IL II be not true.
Like a true hero, he Is not discouraged.
heard OF. One Sunday he had been seen
escorting a lady to a famous dahlia farm
or the neighborhocd. That looked ,sus-
~ a.