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  SUNSHINE JANE

  "Auntie Susan, it's Aunt Matilda and Mr. Beamer."FRONTISPIECE. _See Page 265._]

  SUNSHINE JANE

  by

  ANNE WARNER

  Author of "The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary," "SusanClegg and Her Friend, Mrs. Lathrop," etc.

  With Frontispiece by Harriet Roosevelt Richards

  BostonLittle, Brown, and Company1914

  Copyright, 1913, 1914,By Little, Brown, and Company.

  All rights reserved

  Published, February, 1914Reprinted, January, 1914

  Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Cushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.Presswork by S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, Mass., U.S.A.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. GENERAL IGNORANCE 1

  II. EVERYBODY GETS THERE 6

  III. MATILDA TEACHES 22

  IV. JANE BEGINS SUNSHINING 37

  V. A CHANGE IN THE FEEL OF THINGS 61

  VI. LORENZO RATH 84

  VII. A NEW OUTLOOK ON MATILDA 98

  VIII. SOUL-UPLIFTING 127

  IX. MADELEINE'S SECRET 138

  X. OLD MRS. CROFT 148

  XI. SHE SLEEPS 159

  XII. EMILY'S PROJECT 169

  XIII. EMILY IS HERSELF FREELY 191

  XIV. JANE'S CONVERTS 208

  XV. REAL CONVERSATION 220

  XVI. THE MOST WONDERFUL THING EVER HAPPENED 233

  XVII. WHY JANE SHOULD HAVE BELIEVED 243

  XVIII. IN A PERFECTLY RIGHT WAY 256

  XIX. THE RESULTS 277

  SUNSHINE JANE

  SUNSHINE JANE

  CHAPTER I

  GENERAL IGNORANCE

  THERE was something pathetic in the serene unconsciousness of the littlevillage as the stage came lumbering down the hillside, bearing itsfreight of portent. So many things were going to be changed foreverafter,--and no one knew it. Such a vast difference was going speedily tomake itself felt, and not a soul was aware even of what a bigger soul itwas so soon to be. Old Mrs. Croft, clear at the other end of town andparalyzed for twenty years, hadn't the slightest conception of what aleading part was being prepared for her to play. Poor Katie Croft, herdaughter-in-law and slave, whose one prayer was for freedom, dreamed notthat the answer was now at last coming near. Mrs. Cowmull, sitting onher porch awaiting the "artist who had advertised," knew not who or whator how old he might be or the interest that would soon be hers. PoorEmily Mead, shelling peas on the bench at the back of her mother'shouse, frowned fretfully and, putting back her great lock of richchestnut hair with an impatient gesture, wished that she might see "justone real man before she died,"--and the man was even then joltingtowards her. Miss Debby Vane, putting last touches to the flowers on herguest-room table, where Madeleine would soon see them, was also sweetlyunaware of the approach of momentous events. She thought but ofMadeleine, the distant cousin whose parents wanted to see if absencewould break up an obnoxious love affair, and so were sending her to MissDebby, who was "only too pleased."

  "A love affair," she whispered rapturously. "A _real_ love affair inthis town!" And then she pursed her lips delightfully, never guessingthat she was to see so much besides.

  Meanwhile Miss Matilda Drew stood looking sternly out of her sisterSusan's window, considering if there were any necessary yet up to nowforgotten point to be impressed upon Jane the instant that she shouldarrive. Miss Matilda was naturally as ignorant as all the rest,--asignorant even as poor Susan, lying primly straight behind her on thebed. Susan was a widow and an invalid, not paralyzed like old Mrs.Croft, but pretty helpless. Matilda had lived with her for five yearsand tended her assiduously, as she grew more and more feeble. NowMatilda was "about give out," and--"just like a answer out of a clearsky," as Matilda said--their niece Jane, whom neither had seen since shewas a mite in curls fifteen years ago, had written to ask if she mightspend her holiday with them. They had said "Yes," and Matilda was goingaway for a rest while Jane kept house and waited on her poor old aunt.Jane was one of the passengers now rattling along in the stage. Shediffered widely from the others and from every one else in the village,but all put together, they formed that mass known to literature as "thesituation." I think myself that it was the rest that formed "thesituation" and that Jane formed "the key," but I may be prejudiced.Anyway, "key" or not, Miss Matilda's niece was a sweet, brown-skinned,bright-haired girl, with a happy face, great, beautiful eyes, and aheart that beat every second in truer accord with the great workingprinciples of the universe. She was the only one among them now who hada foot upon the step that led to the path "higher up." And yet becauseshe was the only one, she had seen her way to come gladly and teach themwhat they had never known; not only that, but also to learn of them thegreatest lesson of her own life. So we see that although conscious ofboth hands overflowing with gifts, Jane really was as ignorant, in God'seyes, as all the rest. She had gone far enough beyond the majority toknow that to give is the divinest joy which one may know, but she hadnot gone far enough to realize that in the greatest outpouring ofgenerosity which we can ever give vent to, a vacuum is created whichreceives back from those we benefit gifts way beyond the value of ourown. "I shall bring so much happiness here," ran the undercurrent of herthought; she never imagined that Fate had brought her to this simplevillage to fashion herself unto better things.

  So all, alike unaware--those in the stage and those awaiting its adventwith passengers and post--drew long, relieved breaths as it passed withrattle and clatter over the bridge and into the main street.