{"product_id":"2940014465137","title":"Timothy Crump's Ward","description":"CHAPTER I. INTRODUCES THE CRUMPS.\u003cbr\u003eIT was drawing towards the close of the last day of the year. A few\u003cbr\u003ehours more, and 1836 would be no more.\u003cbr\u003eIt was a cold day. There was no snow on the ground, but it was frozen\u003cbr\u003einto stiff ridges, making it uncomfortable to walk upon. The sun had\u003cbr\u003ebeen out all day, but there was little heat or comfort in its bright,\u003cbr\u003ebut frosty beams.\u003cbr\u003eThe winter is a hard season for the poor. It multiplies their\u003cbr\u003enecessities, while, in general, it limits their means and\u003cbr\u003eopportunities\u003cbr\u003eof earning. The winter of 1836-37 was far from being an exception to\u003cbr\u003ethis rule. It was worse than usual, on account of the general\u003cbr\u003estagnation\u003cbr\u003eof business.\u003cbr\u003eIn an humble tenement, located on what was then the outskirts of New\u003cbr\u003eYork, though to-day a granite warehouse stands on the spot, lived\u003cbr\u003eTimothy Crump, an industrious cooper. His family consisted of a wife\u003cbr\u003eand one child, a boy of twelve, whose baptismal name was John, though\u003cbr\u003einvariably addressed, by his companions, as Jack.\u003cbr\u003eThere was another member of the household who would be highly offended\u003cbr\u003eif she were not introduced, in due form, to the reader. This was Miss\u003cbr\u003eRachel Crump, maiden sister of Uncle Tim, as he was usually\u003cbr\u003edesignated.\u003cbr\u003eMiss Rachel was not much like her brother, for while the latter was a\u003cbr\u003egood-hearted, cheerful easy man, who was inclined to view the world in\u003cbr\u003eits sunniest aspect, Rachel was cynical, and given to misanthropy.\u003cbr\u003ePoor\u003cbr\u003eRachel, let us not be too hard upon thy infirmities. Could we lift\u003cbr\u003ethe veil that hides the secrets of that virgin heart, it might be,\u003cbr\u003eperchance, that we should find a hidden cause, far back in the days\u003cbr\u003ewhen\u003cbr\u003ethy cheeks were rounder and thine eyes brighter, and thine aspect not\u003cbr\u003equite so frosty. Ah, faithless Harry Fletcher! thou hadst some hand in\u003cbr\u003ethat peevishness and repining which make Rachel Crump, and all about\u003cbr\u003eher, uncomfortable. Lured away by a prettier face, you left her to\u003cbr\u003epass\u003cbr\u003ethrough life, unblessed by that love which every female heart craves,\u003cbr\u003eand for which no kindred love will compensate. It was your\u003cbr\u003efaithlessness\u003cbr\u003ethat left her to walk, with repining spirit, the flinty path of the\u003cbr\u003eold\u003cbr\u003emaid.\u003cbr\u003eYes; it must be said--Rachel Crump was an old maid; not from choice,\u003cbr\u003ePage 2\u003cbr\u003eTimothy Crump's Ward\u003cbr\u003ebut hard necessity. And so, one by one, she closed up the avenues of\u003cbr\u003eher\u003cbr\u003eheart, and clothed herself with complaining, as with a garment. Being\u003cbr\u003eunblessed with earthly means, she had accepted the hearty invitation\u003cbr\u003eof her brother, and become an inmate of his family, where she paid\u003cbr\u003eher board by little services about the house, and obtained sufficient\u003cbr\u003eneedle-work to replenish her wardrobe as often as there was occasion.\u003cbr\u003eForty-five years had now rolled over her head, leaving clearer traces\u003cbr\u003eof\u003cbr\u003etheir presence, doubtless, than if her spirit had been more cheerful;\u003cbr\u003eso that Rachel, whose strongly marked features never could have been\u003cbr\u003ehandsome, was now undeniably homely.\u003cbr\u003eMrs. Crump, fortunately for her husband's peace, did not in the least\u003cbr\u003eresemble her sister-in-law. Her disposition was cheerful, and she had\u003cbr\u003efrequent occasion to remonstrate with her upon the dark view she took\u003cbr\u003eof life. Had her temper been different, it is very easy to see that\u003cbr\u003eshe\u003cbr\u003ewould have been continually quarrelling with Rachel; but, happily, she\u003cbr\u003ewas one of those women with whom it is impossible to quarrel. With\u003cbr\u003eher broad mantle of charity, she was always seeking to cover up and\u003cbr\u003eextenuate the defects of her sister-in-law, though she could not help\u003cbr\u003eacknowledging their existence.\u003cbr\u003eIt had been a hard winter for the cooper. For a month he had been\u003cbr\u003eunable\u003cbr\u003eto obtain work of any kind, and for the two months previous he had\u003cbr\u003eworked scarcely more than half the time. Unfortunately for him, his\u003cbr\u003eexpenses for a few years back had kept such even pace with his income,\u003cbr\u003ethat he had no reserved fund to fall back upon in such a time as this.\u003cbr\u003eThat was no fault of his. Both he and his wife had been economical\u003cbr\u003eenough, but there are a great many things included in family\u003cbr\u003eexpenses--rent, fuel, provisions, food, clothing, and a long list of\u003cbr\u003esundries, besides; and all these had cost money, of which desirable\u003cbr\u003earticle Uncle Tim's trade furnished not a very large supply.\u003cbr\u003eSo it happened that, as tradesmen were slow to trust, they had been\u003cbr\u003eobliged to part with a sofa to defray the expenses of the month of\u003cbr\u003eDecember. This article was selected because it was best convertible\u003cbr\u003einto\u003cbr\u003ecash,--being wanted by a neighbor,--besides being about the only\u003cbr\u003earticle\u003cbr\u003eof luxury, if it could be called such, in possession of the family. As\u003cbr\u003esuch it had been hardly used, being reserved for state occasions; yet\u003cbr\u003ehardly had it left (sic) the the house, when Aunt Rachel began to\u003cbr\u003eshow signs of ext","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47163912126704,"sku":"2940014465137","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014465137_p0.jpg?v=1763609177","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014465137","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}