ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by MRS. H. J. MOORE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the State of Massachusetts. JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER & STEREOTYPER, 16 and 18 Jacob St. 10-11 PREFACE. As in the hands of a skillful lapidary, the little stone, which had seemed to our unpracticed eye insignificant and worthless, is transformed into the lustrous diamond, sparkling and flashing with regal splendor, so in life, the richest gems are sometimes found hidden beneath a rough exterior, which, when subjected to the refining process of education, aided and crowned by the great purifier, Religion, come forth from the crucible, radiant in beauty, and inexhaustible in a wealth far exceeding nature's rarest and most precious stones. Such a gem was "WILD NELL," the heroine of the following pages, and in tracing her life, from its first, rude uncultivated state, to a degree of moral perfection too seldom attained here, the author has aimed to show the importance of a right culture of the mind and heart. Pride, arising either from birth, station or wealth, or all combined, holds a potent sway in this our land; crushing in its despotic grasp, the noblest intellects, and blighting the holiest, purest affections of our nature, with its upas breath. But, thank God, there is a power mightier even than this; a power which shall yet destroy the strongholds, and break down the barriers which pride has raised up for its own defense; the time shall yet come-nay, it is even now come-when Religion with her handmaid Education shall, like the skillful lapidary, give to each jewel its own intrinsic worth; when the richly stored mind shall far outweigh golden laded coffers, and the rightly guided heart be prized "above rubies." Early judicious training, like that which NELL received when taken from her wild home, though seldom rewarded in a like brilliant manner, will yet, nevertheless, develop graces of mind and heart, which might otherwise have lain hidden from sight forever. Of what transcendent importance then does it become to "train up a child in the way he should go;" to cultivate all those nicer, finer sensibilities of his nature, which not even "the fall" from that Godlike image in which he was made has eradicated. To the mothers of our land is intrusted a work which angels well might covet; a work higher and loftier than the most inspired genius could ever reach; a work commenced here to be perfected and crowned hereafter. Should the perusal of "WILD NELL," a simple child of nature developed by the light of truth and knowledge into glorious woman, awaken hope, stimulate effort, and lead any on in their upward way, our highest desires will have been accomplished, and our humble effort not been made in vain. BOSTON, 1860. al village-The White Mountains in former years-Walter of the witch's hut-Dr. Jepson's interview with Esther ram-The patient-Fortune-telling and physic-Midnight e upon the mountain-The mountain girl's welcome to e day-Nell and her pet "Lolo "-Agile descent-Dr. epson's admiration and Nellie's defiant mood-"Night Cram's soliloquy-Nell reasoning with her mother-Rav- Adoniram Jepson-Returns to reason-The mystery-Explana- tion of Walter Everson's disaster-Nell's sensitiveness- A rough experience-Romance-Cicely Everson's curiosity- An awkward position-Doubtful expediency-Fortune-tell- Domestic tête-à-tête-A munificent fee-Sudden craving-The doctor's self-accusation-Joyful proposal and anticipations -Wild Nell to be educated-Autumn leaves-The spirit of unrest awakened-False teachings-Nell's loneliness-Her Mrs. Jepson's return home-Early associations--Esther Cram and her child forgotten-A story remembrancer-The mountain in its glory-Dr. Jepson and his "hired man" |