Uncle Terry A Story of the Maine Coast   By: Charles Clark Munn (1848-1917)

A Story of the Maine Coast

BY CHARLES CLARK MUNN

Author of "Pocket Island"

ILLUSTRATED BY HELENA HIGGINBOTHAM

BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD M C M

COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY LEE AND SHEPARD

All rights reserved

Rockwell and Churchill Press BOSTON, U.S.A.

To

THOSE WHO LOVE TO WANDER OVER GREEN MEADOWS, ALONG MIRTHFUL BROOKS, OR BENEATH FOREST TREES WHERE THE BIRDS DWELL, OR FIND CONTENT ON LONELY SHORES AND MUSIC IN THE OCEAN'S VOICE, This book is respectfully dedicated BY THE AUTHOR

[Illustration: THE HOME OF UNCLE TERRY]

CONTENTS

I. A WAIF OF THE SEA

II. UNCLE TERRY

III. TWO ORPHANS

IV. A SPIDER IN HIS DEN

V. WAYS THAT ARE DARK

VI. A PUSH DOWNWARD

VII. A SERMON

VIII. A HELPING HAND

IX. SHARP PRACTICE

X. AMID THE GREEN MOUNTAINS

XI. BY THE FIRESIDE

XII. A COUNTRY SCHOOLMA'AM

XIII. SOUTHPORT ISLAND

XIV. A LEGALIZED PICKPOCKET

XV. THE VALUE OF GOOD EXAMPLE

XVI. SWEET ALICE

XVII. A BY WAY SCHOOLHOUSE

XVIII. VILLAGE GOSSIP

XIX. PLOTS AND PLANS

XX. A PAIR OF BLUE EYES

XXI. A NEW CLIENT

XXII. UNCLE TERRY'S GUEST

XXIII. A STRANGE STORY

XXIV. A WHISPER OF THE OCEAN

XXV. THE "GYPSY" RETURNS

XXVI. THE MISER IN HIS DEN

XXVII. IN SHADY WOODS

XXVIII. WHERE THE LILIES GROW

XXIX. A FRIEND AT COURT

XXX. NEMESIS

XXXI. THE GLAD HAND

XXXII. THE DEMNITION GRIND

XXXIII. OLD AND YOUNG

XXXIV. FIRELIGHT FLASHES

XXXV. THE "WIDDER" LEACH

XXXVI. A NAMELESS COVE

XXXVII. AMID FALLING LEAVES

XXXVIII. THE OLD SONGS

XXXIX. SOCIETY

XL. "YES OR NO"

XLI. AN HEIRESS

XLII. THE PATHOS OF LIFE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE HOME OF UNCLE TERRY

UNCLE TERRY AND TELLY

ALICE

THE OLD MILL

UNCLE TERRY

A STORY OF THE MAINE COAST

CHAPTER I

A WAIF OF THE SEA

"It's goin' to be a nasty night," said Uncle Terry, coming in from the shed and dumping an armful of wood in the box behind the kitchen stove, "an' the combers is just a humpin' over White Hoss Ledge, an' the spray's flyin' half way up the lighthouse."

"The Lord a massy help any poor soul that goes ashore to night," responded a portly, white haired woman beside the stove, as a monster wave made the little dwelling tremble.

Uncle Terry took off his dripping sou'wester and coat, and, hanging them over the wood box, went to the sink and began pumping a basin of water.

"Better have some warm, Silas," said the woman, taking the steaming kettle from the stove and following him; "it's more comfortin'."

When he had washed, and combed his scanty gray locks and beard at a small mirror, he stood for a moment beside the stove. His weather beaten face that evinced character, so pronounced were its features, wore a smile, and his deep set gray eyes emitted a twinkle.

"Supper 'most ready, Lissy?" he asked, eyeing a pot on the stove that gave out an appetizing odor. "I'm hungry 'nough to eat a mule with the harness on!"

"'Twill be in a minit," was the reply. "Better go into t'other room where Telly's settin' the table."

Uncle Terry obeyed, and, finding a bright fire burning there, stood back to it, smiling affectionately at a young girl busy beside the table. She had an oval face, a rather thin and delicate nose, small sweet mouth, and eyes that were big, blue, and appealing. A wealth of light hair was coiled on the back of her head, and her form was full and rounded.