THE BENT TWIG ***
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
THE BENT TWIG
BY
DOROTHY CANFIELD
1915
CONTENTS
BOOK I _IN ARCADIA_
CHAPTER
I SYLVIA'S HOME II THE MARSHALLS' FRIENDS III BROTHER AND SISTER IV EVERY ONE'S OPINION OF EVERY ONE ELSE V SOMETHING ABOUT HUSBANDS VI THE SIGHTS OF LA CHANCE VII "WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT ..." VIII SABOTAGE IX THE END OF CHILDHOOD
BOOK II _A FALSE START TO ATHENS_
X SYLVIA'S FIRST GLIMPSE OF MODERN CIVILIZATION XI ARNOLD'S FUTURE Is CASUALLY DECIDED XII ONE MAN'S MEAT XIII AN INSTRUMENT IN TUNE XIV HIGHER EDUCATION XV MRS. DRAPER BLOWS THE COALS XVI PLAYING WITH MATCHES XVII MRS. MARSHALL STICKS TO HER PRINCIPLES XVIII SYLVIA SKATES MERRILY ON THIN ICE XIX AS A BIRD OUT OF A SNARE XX "BLOW, WIND; SWELL, BILLOW; AND SWIM, BARK!" XXI SOME YEARS DURING WHICH NOTHING HAPPENS
BOOK III _IN CAPUA AT LAST_
XXII A GRATEFUL CARTHAGINIAN XXIII MORE TALK BETWEEN YOUNG MODERNS XXIV ANOTHER BRAND OF MODERN TALK XXV NOTHING IN THE LEAST MODERN XXVI MOLLY IN HER ELEMENT XXVII BETWEEN WINDWARD AND HEMLOCK MOUNTAINS XXVIII SYLVIA ASKS HERSELF "WHY NOT?" XXIX A HYPOTHETICAL LIVELIHOOD XXX ARNOLD CONTINUES TO DODGE THE RENAISSANCE XXXI SYLVIA MEETS WITH PITY XXXII MUCH ADO XXXIII "WHOM GOD HATH JOINED..." XXXIV SYLVIA TELLS THE TRUTH XXXV "A MILESTONE PASSED, THE ROAD SEEMS CLEAR" XXXVI THE ROAD IS NOT SO CLEAR XXXVII "... _His wife and children perceiving it, began to cry after him to return; but the man put his fingers in his ears and ran on, crying, 'Life! Life Eternal_!'" XXXVIII SYLVIA COMES TO THE WICKET GATE XXXIX SYLVIA DRIFTS WITH THE MAJORITY
BOOK IV _THE STRAIT PATH_
XL A CALL FROM HOME XLI HOME AGAIN XLII "_Strange that we creatures of the petty ways, Poor prisoners behind these fleshly bars, Can sometimes think us thoughts with God ablaze, Touching the fringes of the outer stars_" XLIII "_Call now; is there any that will answer thee_?" XLIV "_A bruised reed will He not break, and a dimly burning wick will He not quench_" XLV "_That our soul may swim We sink our heart down, bubbling, under wave_" XLVI A LONG TALK WITH ARNOLD XLVII "...AND ALL THE TRUMPETS SOUNDED!"
THE BENT TWIG
BOOK I
_IN ARCADIA_
CHAPTER I
SYLVIA'S HOME
Like most happy childhoods, Sylvia's early years lay back of her in a long, cheerful procession of featureless days, the outlines of which were blurred into one shimmering glow by the very radiance of their sunshine. Here and there she remembered patches, sensations, pictures, scents: Mother holding baby sister up for her to kiss, and the fragrance of the baby powder--the pine-trees near the house chanting loudly in an autumn wind--her father's alert face, intent on the toy water-wheel he was setting for her in the little creek in their field--the beautiful sheen of the pink silk dress Aunt Victoria had sent her--the look of her mother's steady, grave eyes when she was so sick--the leathery smell of the books in the University Library one day when she followed her father there--the sound of the rain pattering on the low, slanting roof of her bedroom--these were the occasional clearly outlined, bright-colored illuminations wrought on the burnished gold of her sunny little life. But from her seventh birthday her memories began to have perspective, continuity. She remembered an occasional whole scene, a whole afternoon, just as it happened.
