"
Then she would add, didactically, some word of dogma or admonition.
But she had not much time to give to Brother Lewis's salvation--
she was so busy in adjusting herself to her new life.
Its picturesque details fascinated her--the cap, the brevity of speech,
the small mannerisms, the occasional and very reserved mysticism,
absorbed her so that she thought very little of her husband.
She saw him occasionally on those walks down to the lake,
or when, after a day in the fields with the three old Shaker men,
Brother Nathan brought him home to supper.
"We Shakers are given to hospitality," he said; "we're always
looking for the angel we are going to entertain unawares.
Come along home with us, Lewis." And Lewis would plod up
the hill and take his turn at the tin washbasin, and then
file down the men's side of the stairs to the dining-room,
where he and the three old brothers sat at one table,
and Athalia and the eight sisters sat at the other table.
After supper he had the chance to see Athalia and to make
sure that she was not looking tired. "You didn't take cold
yesterday, 'Thalia? I saw you were out in the rain," he would say.
And she, always a little embarrassed at such personal interest,
would reply, primly, "I am not at all tired, Brother Lewis."
Nathan used to walk home with his guest, and sometimes they
talked of work that must be done, and sometimes touched on more
unpractical things--those spiritual manifestations which at
rare intervals centred in Brother William and were the hope
of the whole community.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49