第 24 节
作者:痛罚      更新:2024-04-07 11:54      字数:9322
  let a man come near her。  He firmly refused to take
  her back; and we had to make the best of the bar…
  gain。  As it was impossible to take care of her our…
  selves; I gave some thought to the problem she pre…
  sented; and finally devised a plan which worked very
  well。  I hired a neighbor who was a small; slight
  man to take care of her; and made him wear his wife's
  sunbonnet and waterproof cloak whenever he ap…
  proached the horse。  The picture he presented in
  these garments still stands out pleasantly against the
  background of my Cape Cod memories。  The horse;
  however; did not share our appreciation of it。  She
  was suspicious; and for a time she shied whenever
  the man and his sunbonnet and cloak appeared;
  but we stood by until she grew accustomed to them
  and him; and as he was both patient and gentle;
  she finally allowed him to harness and unharness
  her。  But no man could drive her; and when I
  drove to church I was forced to hitch and un…
  hitch her myself。  No one else could do it; though
  many a gallant and subsequently resentful man at…
  tempted the feat。
  On one occasion a man I greatly disliked; and who I
  had reason to know disliked me; insisted that he could
  unhitch her; and started to do so; notwithstanding
  my protests and explanations。  At his approach she
  rose on her hind…legs; and when he grasped her bridle
  she lifted him off his feet。  His expression as he
  hung in mid…air was an extraordinary mixture of
  surprise and regret。  The moment I touched her;
  however; she quieted down; and when I got into the
  buggy and gathered up the reins she walked off like
  a lamb; leaving the man staring after her with his
  eyes starting from his head。
  The previous owner had called the horse Daisy;
  and we never changed the name; though it always
  seemed sadly inappropriate。  Time proved; however;
  that there were advantages in the ownership of
  Daisy。  No man would allow his wife or daughter
  to drive behind her; and no one wanted to borrow
  her。  If she had been a different kind of animal she
  would have been used by the whole community;
  We kept Daisy for seven years; and our acquaintance
  ripened into a pleasant friendship。
  Another Cape Cod resident to whose memory I
  must offer tribute in these pages was Polly Ann
  Searsone of the dearest and best of my parish…
  ioners。  She had six sons; and when five had gone
  to sea she insisted that the sixth must remain at
  home。  In vain the boy begged her to let him follow
  his brothers。  She stood firm。  The sea; she said;
  should not swallow all her boys; she had given it
  fiveshe must keep one。
  As it happened; the son she kept at home was the
  only one who was drowned。  He was caught in a
  fish…net and dragged under the waters of the bay
  near his home; and when I went to see his mother
  to offer such comfort as I could; she showed that
  she had learned the big lesson of the experience。
  ‘‘I tried to be a special Providence;'' she moaned;
  ‘‘and the one boy I kept home was the only boy
  I lost。  I ain't a…goin' to be a Providence no
  more。''
  The number of funerals on Cape Cod was tragi…
  cally large。  I was in great demand on these occa…
  sions; and went all over the Cape; conducting fune…
  ral serviceswhich seemed to be the one thing people
  thought I could doand preaching funeral sermons。
  Besides the victims of the sea; many of the resi…
  dents who had drifted away were brought back to
  sleep their last sleep within sound of the waves。
  Once I asked an old sea…captain why so many Cape
  Cod men and women who had been gone for years
  asked to be buried near their old homes; and his reply
  still lingers in my memory。  He poked his toe in
  the sand for a moment and then said; slowly:
  ‘‘Wal; I reckon it's because the Cape has such
  warm; comfortable sand to lie down in。''
  My friend Mrs。 Addy lay in the Crowell family
  lot; and during my pastorate at East Dennis I
  preached the funeral sermon of her father; and later
  of her mother。  Long after I had left Cape Cod I
  was frequently called back to say the last words
  over the coffins of my old friends; and the saddest
  of those journeys was the one I made in response to
  a telegram from the mother of Relief Paine。  When
  I had arrived and we stood together beside the ex…
  quisite figure that seemed hardly more quiet in
  death than in life; Mrs。 Paine voiced in her few
  words the feeling of the whole community‘‘Where
  shall we get our comfort and our inspiration; now
  that Relief is gone?''
  The funeral which took all my courage from me;
  however; was that of my sister Mary。  In its sudden…
  ness; Mary's death; in 1883; was as a thunderbolt
  from the blue; for she had been in perfect health
  three days before she passed away。  I was still in
  charge of my two parishes in Cape Cod; but; as it
  mercifully happened; before she was stricken I had
  started West to visit Mary in her home at Big
  Rapids。  When I arrived on the second day of her
  illness; knowing nothing of it until I reached her;
  I found her already past hope。  Her disease was
  pneumonia; but she was conscious to the end; and
  her greatest desire seemed to be to see me christen
  her little daughter and her husband before she left
  them。  This could not be realized; for my brother…
  in…law was absent on business; and with all his
  haste in returning did not reach his wife's side until
  after her death。  As his one thought then was to
  carry out her last wishes; I christened him and his
  little girl just before the funeral; and during the
  ceremony we all experienced a deep conviction
  that Mary knew and was content。
  She had become a power in her community; and
  was so dearly loved that on the day her body was
  borne to its last resting…place all the business houses
  in Big Rapids were closed; and the streets were filled
  with men who stood with bent; uncovered heads as
  the funeral procession went by。  My father and
  mother; also; to whom she had given a home after
  they left the log…cabin where they had lived so long;
  had made many friends in their new environment
  and were affectionately known throughout the whole
  region as ‘‘Grandma and Grandpa Shaw。''
  When I returned to East Dennis I brought my
  mother and Mary's three children with me; and
  they remained throughout the spring and summer。
  I had hoped that they would remain permanently;
  and had rented and furnished a home for them with
  that end in view; but; though they enjoyed their
  visit; the prospect of the bleak winters of Cape Cod
  disturbed my mother; and they all returned to Big
  Rapids late in the autumn。  Since entering upon my
  parish work it had been possible for me to help my
  father and mother financially; and from the time
  of Mary's death I had the privilege; a very precious
  one; of seeing that they were well cared for and con…
  tented。  They were always appreciative; and as
  time passed they became more reconciled to the
  career I had chosen; and which in former days had
  filled them with such dire forebodings。
  After I had been in East Dennis four years I be…
  gan to feel that I was getting into a rut。  It seemed
  to me that all I could do in that particular field had
  been done。  My people wished me to remain; how…
  ever; and so; partly as an outlet for my surplus
  energy; but more especially because I realized the
  splendid work women could do as physicians; I be…
  gan to study medicine。  The trustees gave me per…
  mission to go to Boston on certain days of each week;
  and we soon found that I could carry on my work
  as a medical student without in the least neglecting
  my duty toward my parish。
  I entered the Boston Medical School in 1882; and
  obtained my diploma as a full…fledged physician in
  1885。  During this period I also began to lecture
  for the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association;
  of which Lucy Stone was president。  Henry Black…
  well was associated with her; and together they de…
  veloped in me a vital interest in the suffrage cause;
  which grew steadily from that time until it became
  the dominating influence in my life。  I preached it
  in the pulpit; talked it to those I met outside of the
  church; lectured on it whenever I had an oppor…
  tunity; and carried it into my medical work in the
  Boston slums when I was trying my prentice hand
  on helpless pauper patients。
  Here again; in my association with the women of
  the streets; I realized the limitations of my work in
  the ministry and in medicine。  As minister to soul
  and body one could do little for these women。  For
  such as them; one's efforts must begin at the very
  foundation of the social structure。  Laws for them
  must be made and enforced; and some of those laws
  could only be made and enforced by women。  So
  many great avenues of life were opening up before
  me that my Cape Cod environment seemed almost
  a prison where I was held with tender force。  I
  loved my people and they loved mebut the