but the path once found will never again be forsaken for that pathless wilderness where each human being experiences doubts and despairs.
When Dr. Patterson removed from Groton he
engaged board for himself and his wife at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. John Herbert at Rumney Station.
The house was a substantial frame dwelling of the
Colonial type with comfortable chambers looking
out upon broad lawns. The family life at first
appeared to be as broadly harmonious as the fashion
of its dwelling. Mrs. Patterson's invalidism,
however, soon aroused comment among the frequenters
of the home. As the frail, delicate woman had been
criticized by the thoughtless mountaineers of Groton
who in their rugged health believed the handsome
doctor to be a martyr to the whims of an exacting
invalid, so in Rumney she was criticized by the gossiping
ladies of the boarding-house. If Dr. Patterson,
obedient to his better instincts of courtesy, picked
up his wife's handkerchief, or readjusted her shawl,
they were jealously observant, or if in hearty buoyancy
he displayed the tenderness of strength toward
weakness and lifted Mrs. Patterson in his arms to
carry her up-stairs, they sat silently disapproving.
For such misinterpretation of her invalidism and
lack of appreciation of her character she was
misunderstood in that neighborhood for half a
century. Often a nervous sufferer, she soon felt the
wisdom of retiring from this atmosphere and
persuaded the doctor, who contemplated locating in
Rumney, to procure a cottage in Rumney village
