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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:06 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:06 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10221-0.txt b/10221-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..369bbc3 --- /dev/null +++ b/10221-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9565 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10221 *** + +PURPLE SPRINGS + +BY + +NELLIE L. McCLUNG + +1921 + + + + + + + + CONTENTS + + I. THE DAY BEFORE + II. THE DAY + III. THE HOUSE OF CLAY + IV. TANGLED THREADS + V. WHERE MRS. CROCKS THREW THE SWITCH + VI. RED ROSES + VII. THE INNOCENT DISTURBER + VIII. THE POWER OF INK + IX. THE DOCTOR'S DECISION + X. THE WOMAN WITH A SORE THOUGHT + XI. ENGAGED + XII. THE MACHINE + XIII. THE STORM + XIV. THE SEVENTH WAVE + XV. THE COMING OF SPRING + XVI. PRINCE OF THE HOUSE OF CLAY + XVII. PETER'S REPORT + XVIII. THE WOMAN OF PURPLE SPRINGS + XIX. THE END OF A LONELY ROAD + XX. ANNIE GRAY'S STORY + XXI. THE OPENING OF THE WAY + XXII. THE PLAY + XXIII. COMPENSATION + XXIV. HOME AGAIN + XXV. THERE IS NOTHING TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DAY BEFORE + + +It was the last day of February, the extra day, dead still, and biting +cold, with thick, lead-colored skies shading down to inky blue at the +western horizon. In the ravine below John Watson's house trees cracked +ominously in the frost, and not even a rabbit was stirring. The hens +had not come out, though an open door had extended an invitation, and +the tamworths had burrowed deeper into the stack of oat straw. The +cattle had taken refuge in the big shed, and even old Nap, in spite of +his thick Coat, had whimpered at the door to be let in. + +Looking out of the western window, Pearl Watson, with a faint wrinkle +between her eyebrows, admitted to herself that it was not a cheerful +day. And Pearl had her own reasons for wanting fine weather, for +tomorrow was the first of March, and the day to which she had been +looking forward for three years to make a momentous decision. + +The thought of this day had gone with her in the three years that had +passed, like a radiant gleam, a glorious presence that brightened and +idealized every experience of life, a rainbow that glorified every +black cloud, and there had been some clouds in her life black enough +to bring out the rainbows' colors too; as when her mother's serious +illness had called her back from the city, where she was attending +school. But each day had brought her one day nearer the great day, +which now she could call "Tomorrow." + +It had never occurred to Pearl to doubt the young doctor's sincerity, +when, three years before, he had said he would wait until she was +eighteen years old before he asked her something. + +"And it will depend on your answer," he had said, "what sort of a day +it is. It may be a dark, cold, horrible day, with cruel, biting wind, +or it may be a glorious day, all sunshine and blue sky--that will all +depend on your answer." And she had told him, honestly and truthfully, +not being skilled in the art of coquetry, that "it generally was fine +on the first of March." + +That the young doctor might have forgotten all about the incident +never crossed her mind in the years that followed. She did not know +that there was witchery in her brown eyes and her radiant young beauty +that would stir any young man's heart and loosen his tongue, causing +him to say what in his sober moments he would regard as foolishness. + +Pearl did not know this; she only knew that a great radiance had come +to her that day, three years before, a radiance whose glory had not +dimmed. Every thought and action of her life had been influenced by +it, and she had developed like a fine young tree on which the spring +sunshine had perpetually fallen, a fine young tree that had been +sheltered from every cold blast, watered by the rains and bathed in +perpetual sunshine, for Pearl's young heart was fed from the hidden +springs of love and romance. For her the darkest night was lighted by +stars; for her the birds sang of love and hope and happiness; for her +the commonest flower was rich in beauty and perfume; and so the end of +the three years found her a well developed, tall, boyishly athletic +girl, with a color in her cheeks like an Okanagon peach, hair of +richest brown, with little gleams of gold, waving back naturally from +a high forehead; a firm chin, with a dimple; and great brown eyes, +full of lights, and with a dazzling brilliance that registered every +thought of her brain and emotion of her heart. + +From the time when she was twelve years old the young doctor, who had +then just come to Millford, had been her hero--worshipped afar, and in +great secrecy. + +Many a time when the family lived in the village, and Pearl was left +to mind the swarm of boys while her mother was out working, she had +raced to the window just to see him drive by, and, having seen him and +perhaps caught a smile or nod, if he noticed her, she would go back to +her strenuous task of keeping her young brothers clothed and happy and +out of the wealth of a quickened imagination she would tell them more +and more wonderful tales of the glorious world into which their young +feet had strayed. + +When the doctor had time and inclination to talk to her, Pearl's +young heart swam in a crimson sea of delight, but if by any chance +he hurried by, his mind filled with other things, she suffered for +a brief season all the pangs of unrequited affection, and looked +anxiously in the glass many times to see if her face showed signs of +early decay. + +But the mood soon passed and optimism again reigned. During the times +of depression many a sunflower had its yellow petals torn away, as she +sought to wring from it definite information regarding the state of +his affections. If the sunflower brought in an adverse decision, +without a moment's hesitation Pearl began upon another, and continued +until a real, honest, authentic flower declared in her favor. But that +she did not really trust the oracles was shown by the great frequency +with which she consulted them! + +As she grew older, Pearl would have liked to talk to some one about +her dreams, but it was hard to begin. There was really nothing to +tell. She might as well try to explain the sparkle of the sunshine, or +the joyousness of the meadowlark's song in the spring, as to try to +analyze the luminous wonder that had come into her own heart that day +when the purple mist lay on the Tiger Hills, and the snowdrifts were +beginning to sink and sag and break into little streams. It could not +be done. + +But still she wondered what experiences other people had had, and +wished that someone would talk to her about it. At the Normal the +girls had talked about "crushes" and "mashes" and people having a +"bad case," and she knew that the one qualification they demanded in +matters of the heart was that the young man should have the means +and inclination to "show a girl a good time." She could not talk to +them--there did not seem to be any point of contact. And when the +subject of love and marriage was discussed around the family circle, +her mother's dictum was always brief and concise: + +"You'll get who's for ye--and you'll have your number. There's lots of +trouble for them that don't marry, and there's lots more for them that +do. But there's no use in advisin' or warnin'; it's like the pigs and +the hot swill--one will stick in his nose and run away squalin'; the +next one will do the same, and the next and the next. They never take +warnin's; it's the way of the world!" + +But nothing dimmed the glory of Pearl's rainbow dream or stilled the +happy songs her heart sang day and night. She had often pictured the +day the Doctor would come and tell her that the three years were past. +He would drive out with his team, for the snow would be too deep for +his car, and she would first hear the sleigh-bells, even before old +Nap would begin to bark, and he would come in with his cheeks all red +and glowing, with snow on his beaver coat; and he would tell her it +was too fine to stay in, and wouldn't she come for a ride? + +So sure was she that he would come that she had laid out on her bed, +in the little room under the rafters, her heavy coat, overshoes and +scarf, and had spent some time deciding whether her red tam or the +brown velvet hat was the most becoming, and finally favored the tam, +because she had once heard the Doctor say that red was the color for +winter, and besides, the brown hat had a sharp rim that might give a +person a nasty poke in the eye ... in case.... + +She made all her preparations on the day before, because, she told +herself, a doctor's time was so uncertain that he might, remembering +this, be afraid of being called away on The Day, and so come a day +sooner. + +Pearl thought of all this as she stood at the window and looked out on +the bare farm yard, swept clean of beast or fowl by the bitter cold +which had driven them all indoors. A bright fire burned in the +Klondike heater, and from the kitchen came the cheerful song of a +canary. The house was in a state of great tidiness, with its home made +lounge in front of the fire, piled high with gaily flowered cushions, +and the brightly striped rag carpet which was the culmination of the +united efforts of the family the winter before, and before the fire a +tiger-striped cat with her paws stretched out to the heat. + +Pearl was alone in the room, for all the children were at school, her +father and Teddy out, and her mother in the kitchen making the last of +the mincemeat into pies, which sent out a real baking odor of cinnamon +and cloves; a roast of pork that had been "doing too fast," was now +sitting on the top of the high oven, its angry, sparking, sizzling +trailing off into a throaty guttering. Some sound or smell of it +seemed to have penetrated Nap's dreams, for he wakened suddenly and +sat up, licking his lips and pounding the floor with his tail. + +Suddenly the telephone rang, the three short and one long, which +indicated that it was the Watson family who were wanted. Pearl's heart +thrilled with expectation. Of course he would phone before he came to +make sure she was at home. The receiver was in her hands in a moment. + +"Hello!" she called, almost choking with excitement. + +"Will you tell your father," called back a man's voice at the end +of the wire, "that the cattle are coming home from the range. Last +night's snow was too much for them, and Jim Fidler has just phoned +through to warn us. They're comin' on mad for feed, tramplin' and +bawlin', and they'll hit your place first--mos' likely--tho' they may +turn south at Beckers--better phone Beckers and see." + +"All right!" said Pearl, in a steady voice, "all right, and thank +you." + +Pearl hastily put on a coat and went to the barn to give the unwelcome +news to her father and Teddy, who were busy fanning out the weed seeds +from the seed grain. + +"They're comin' airly," said John Watson, slowly, as he shook down the +bag of seed wheat that he had just filled; "but I guess they are the +best judge of whether they can make a livin' outside any longer. Well, +what we have we'll share, anyway. There's no use in contradictin' a +bunch of hungry steers. Keep a watch on the phone, Pearlie dear, and +find out which way they turn at Beckers'. We'll open up an oat stack +for them, anyway--so if they come rampin' in in the middle of the +night there'll be something ready." + +Pearl ran back across the wind-swept yard to the house, for the one +thought in her mind was that a message might come over the phone for +her! Ordinarily the home-coming of the hungry cattle would have been +an event of such importance that it would have driven out all others; +but there was only one consuming thought in her mind today. + +When she came in the phone was ringing, and her mother, with her hands +in the pie-crust, said: "Pearlie, dear, run in to the phone--that's +twice it's rung since you were out, and sure I couldn't go--and me +this way." + +Pearl took the receiver down and found a conversation in progress. She +had no thought of listening in--for at once she surmised it might be +a message regarding the cattle going to one of the other houses. The +first sentence, however, held her in its grip, and all thought of what +she was doing was driven from her mind. + +"They are going to offer the doctor the nomination tomorrow--he'll +make the best run of any one in these parts." + +It was a man's voice, far away and indistinct. + +"That will please Miss Morrison--she always wanted to get into +politics;" it was a woman who replied--"but I'm not so sure she has +any chance, the doctor is a pretty cautious chap. I often think he has +a girl somewhere--he goes to Hampton pretty often." + +"He's not worried over women, believe me," the man's voice cut in. "I +think he likes that young Watson girl as well as any one, and she has +them all skinned for looks--and brains too, I guess." + +The woman's voice came perceptibly nearer, and seemed to almost hiss +in her ear--unconsciously she felt the antagonism. "That's absurd," +she said, with sudden animation; "why, these people are nobody, +the mother used to wash for me a few years ago. They are the very +commonest sort--the father was only a section man. The doctor enjoys +her cute speeches, that's all, but there's absolutely nothing in +it--he as much as told me so." + +Pearl hung up the receiver with a click, and, pressing her lips +together, walked over to the window with two crimson spots burning +like danger signals on her cheeks. When Pearl's soul was burdened she +always wanted to get outside, where the sky and the wind and the big +blue distance would help her to think. But the day was too cold for +that, so instinctively she walked to the window, where the short +afternoon sun was making a pale glow on the heavy clouds. + +Old Nap came from his place behind the table and shoved his cold nose +into her hand, with a gentle wagging of his tail, reminding her that +all was not lost while she still had him. + +Dropping down on her knees beside him, Pearl buried her face in his +glistening white collar, and for one perilous moment was threatened +with tears. But pride, which has so often come to our rescue just in +time, stepped into her quivering young heart, she stood up and shook +her head like an angry young heifer. + +"'Common,' are they?" she said, with eyes that darted fire; "not half +common enough--decent people that do their work and mind their own +business,--helpin' a friend in need and hurtin' no wan--it would be a +better world if people like them were commoner! 'And the mother washed +for ye, did she, you dirty trollop? Well, it was a God's mercy that +some one washed for you, and it was good clane washin' she did, I'll +bet--and blamed little she got for it, too, while you lay in your bed +with your dandruffy hair in a greasy boudoir cap, and had her climb +the stairs with your breakfast. And you'd fault her for washin' for +you--and cleanin' your house--you'd fault her for it! I know the kind +of ye--you'd rather powder ye'r neck than wash it, any day!" + +No one would recognize the young Normalite who two weeks before had +taken the highest marks in English, and had read her essay at the +closing exercises, and afterwards had it printed, at the editor's +request, in the _Evening Echo_, for Pearl's fierce anger had brought +her back again to the language of her childhood. + +"And he as much as told you, did he?" she whispered, turning around +to glare in stormy wrath at the unoffending telephone--"he as much as +told you there was nothing in it?" + +Pearl puckered her lips and shut one eye in a mighty mental effort to +imagine what he would say, but in trying to hear his words she could +only see his glowing face, the rumpled hair she loved so well, and +then her voice came back like a perfect phonograph record, that +strong, mellow, big voice which had always set her heart tingling and +drove away every fear. She couldn't make him say anything else but the +old sweet words that had lived with her for the last three years. + +The storm faded from her eyes in a moment, and in the rush of joy that +broke over her, she threw herself down beside old Nap and kissed the +shiny top of his smooth black head. Then going over to the telephone, +she shook her fist at it: + +"Did my mother wash for you, ma'am? She did--and you never had better +washin' done! Are we common people?--we are, and we're not ashamed. +We're doin' fine, thank you--all the children are at school but me, +and I've gone thro' the public school and Normal too. The crops are +good--we have thirty head of cattle and six horses, sound in wind and +limb. Some day we'll have a fine new house, and we'll live all over it +too. John Watson did work on the section, and they'd be fine and glad +to get him back. He owes no man a dollar, and bears no man a grudge. +I wouldn't change him for the Governor-General for me dad--and now +listen--I'm tellin' ye something, I'm goin' to marry the doctor--if he +wants me--and if you don't like it there's a place you can go to. +I'll not be namin' it in the presence of Nap here, for he's a good +Christian." + +"And you, sir,"--she addressed the telephone again,--"I thank you for +your kind words regarding brains and looks. I hope it is a true word +you speak, for I may need both before I'm done." + + + +The home-coming of the cows at eventime has been sung about, written +about, talked about, painted, and always it has had in it the +restfulness of evening,--the drowsy whirr of insects' wings, the +benediction of the sunset, the welcoming gladness of a happy family. +But these pictures have not been painted by those of us who have seen +the hungry cattle come in from the range when the snow covers the +grass, or the springs dry up, and under the influence of fear they +drive madly on. + +All day long the range cattle, about three hundred in number had +searched the river bottom for the grass which the heavy snowfall of +the night before had covered; searched eagerly, nervously all the +while, bawling, ill-naturedly pushing and horning, blaming each other +in a perfectly human way. Disconsolately they wandered over the river +to the other bank feeling sure they would find grass there, only to +find the snow over everything, and not even a little rosebush showing +its head. + +Then it was that the old cow, an acknowledged leader of the herd, +who bore the name of the "Broncho," on account of her wildness, her +glaring red eyes and her branching horns, with an angry toss of her +head to shake the water from her eyes, lifted her voice in one long, +angry, rolling bellow that seemed to startle the whole herd. It had +in it defiance, and determination. Like the leading spirit among the +leprous men who sat at the gate of Samaria, the "Broncho" gathered up +the feeling of the meeting in one long soul-stirring, racuous bawl, +which, interpreted, meant, "Why sit we here until we die?" + +The primitive law of self-preservation was at work--even a cow will +not starve quietly. The grass had been scarce for days, and she had +lain down hungry each night for a week; and now, when the grass had +gone entirely, the old cow had taken her determination; she would go +home and demand her right to live. This thought surging through her +soul, gave decision to her movements. Whether the other cattle came or +not did not matter in the least--she knew what she was going to do. +The strong northwest wind which began to whip the fresh snow into +loose waves, turned the cattle to face the south east, in which +direction the settlement lay. Miserable cattle, like miserable people, +are easily led. It is only the well-fed and comfortable who are not +willing to change their condition, and so when the others saw the +"Broncho" forging up the hill, the whole herd, as if at a word of +command, lurched forward up the bank. + +They surged onward, bawling, crowding, trampling, hooking without +mercy. Companions they had been for months before, eating together, +sleeping together, warming each other, playing together sometimes when +the sun was bright. That was all forgotten now, for the hunger-rage +was on them, and they were brutes, plain brutes, with every kind +instinct dead in their shivering breasts. They knew but one law, the +law of the strongest, as they drove onward, stumbling and crowding, +with the cold wind stinging them like a lash. + +The night closed in, dark and cheerless, closed in early, under +the dull gray, unrelenting skies, and although lights blinked out +cheerfully from uncurtained windows, and willow plumes of smoke spread +themselves on the cold night air above all the farm-houses, the hearts +of the people were apprehensive. + +It was the last day of February--green grass was still far away--and +the cattle, hungry, red-eyed and clamorous, were coming home! + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DAY! + + + "When time lets slip one little perfect day, + O take it--for it may not come again." + +When Pearl woke on the morning of March 1st, it was with a heart so +light and happy it brought back the many Christmas mornings that +lay scattered behind her like so many crimson roses, spilling their +perfume on the shining road which led back to childhood. The sunshine +that sifted through the white muslin curtains of the one small window, +was rich and warm, as if summer had already come, and Pearl suddenly +remembered that the sky had been overcast and heavy the day before, +and the air stinging cold. + +She went to the window, and looking out saw that that the clouds had +all gone, leaving no trace in the unscarred sky. The sun was throwing +long blue shadows over the fields, brightening the trees on the river +bank, with a thin rinse of pale gold. Down in the ravine, the purple +blue of the morning twilight was still hanging on the trees. The house +was very quiet--there did not seem to be anyone stirring, either +inside or out. + +Pearl dressed herself hastily, humming a tune in happy excitement. Her +whole being was charged with happiness--for the great day had come. + +Coming down stairs on light feet, she threw a red sweater around her +shoulders and went out the front door. In her great moments, Pearl +craved the open sky and great blue distances, and on this day of all +days, she wanted to breathe deep of its golden air. Somewhere she had +read about air that tasted like old wine! And as she stood facing the +early sun that had come up in a cloudless sky of deepest blue, she +knew what was meant. + +From the dull tomb of yesterday, with its cavern-like coldness +and gloom, had come the resurrection of a new day, bright, blue, +sparkling, cloudless, for March had slipped in quietly in the night, +with a gentle breeze of wonderful softness, a quiet breeze, but one +that knew its business, and long before daylight it had licked the +hard edges of the drifts into icy blisters, and had purred its way +into all sorts of forgotten corners where the snow lay thickest. + +It went past Pearl's face now with velvety smoothness--patting her +cheeks with a careless hand, like a loving friend who hurries by with +no time for anything but this swift re-assurance. But Pearl knew that +the wind and the sun and the crisp white snow, on which the sunbeams +danced and sparkled, were her friends, and were throbbing with joy +this morning, because it was her great day. + +She went in at last, remembering that the children must be washed and +fed for school, and found Danny's garter for him just in time to save +him from the gulf of despair which threatened him. She made up the two +tin pails of lunch with which her young brothers would beguile the +noontide hour. She put a button on Mary's spat, in response to her +request of "Aw, say Pearl, you do this--I can't eat and sew." The +sudden change in the weather forced a change in the boys' foot-gear, +and so there had to be a frenzied hunt for rubbers and boots to +replace the frost-repelling but pervious moccasin. + +One by one, as the boys were ready, fed, clothed and rubbered, they +were started on their two-mile journey over the sunny, snowy road, +Danny being the first to so emerge, for with his short, fat legs, he +could not make the distance in as short a time as the others. + +"Mr. Donald wants you to come over on Friday, Pearl--I almost forgot +to tell you--he wants you to talk to us about the city, and the +schools you were in--and all that. I told him you would!" + +This was from Jimmy, the biggest of the Watson boys now attending +school. + +"All right," said Pearl, "sure I will." + +There was more to the story, though, and Jimmy went on,-- + +"And the Tuckers said they bet you thought yourself pretty smart since +you'd been to the city.... + +"And then what happened," asked Pearl, when he paused; + +"He went home--it wouldn't stop bleedin'! but Mr. Donald says a +good nose-bleed wouldn't hurt him--though of course it was wrong to +fight--but it was no fight--you know what they're like--one good +thump--and they're done!" + +"Good for you, Jimmy" said his sister approvingly, "never pick a +quarrel or hit harder than you need, that's all!--but if trouble +comes--be facing the right way!" + +"You bet," said Jimmy, as he closed the door behind him and the +stillness which comes after the children have gone fell on the Watson +home. + +"Sure and ain't the house quiet when they're gone," said Mrs. Watson, +looking out of the window across the gleaming landscape, dotted in six +places by her generous contribution to the Chicken Hill school. + +"And it won't be long until they're gone--for good." + +"Cheer up, honest woman," cried Pearl gaily, "you havn't even lost +either Teddy or me, and we're the eldest. It looks to me as if you +will have a noisy house for quite a while yet, and I wouldn't begin to +worry over anything so far away--in fact, ma, it's a good rule not to +worry till you have to, and don't do it then!" + +Pearl was bringing back "the room" to the state of tidiness it enjoyed +during school hours, moving about with joyous haste, yet with strict +attention to every detail, which did not escape her mother's eye. + +"It's grand to be as light of heart as you are, Pearlie child," she +said, "I'm often afraid for you--when I think of all the sad things in +life and you so sure that everything will happen right. It is to them +that the world is brightest that the darkest days can come, and the +lightest heart sometimes has heaviest mournin'." + +A little wither of disappointment went over Pearl's bright face, but +she shook it off impatiently. She wished her mother would not talk +like this on this day--of all days. + +"Don't spoil a good day, ma, with sad talk. Look out at the Spring sun +there, and the cattle, even the wild ones from the range, with their +sides steaming and then nosing around so happy now, for getting all +about the bad times they had even as late as last evening. There's +no use telling them there's cold days coming--they wouldn't believe +now--and anyway they'll know soon enough. Isn't it best to let every +one have their sunny day--without a cloud on it." + +Before her mother could form an answer, the one long and two short +rings came on the phone. Pearl's heart turned over in its bounding +joy. It had come--she knew it had come. + +She took down the receiver: + +"Hello," she said, in a thin voice. + +"Pearl," said the voice, deep, mellow, eager. She thought she had +remembered what his voice was like, but she hadn't. It was a hundred +times sweeter than it had been in her memory. + +"Yes," she said, holding the receiver so tightly her knuckles went +white with the pressure. + +"What day is it, Pearl," he said, with the laugh in his voice, the +bantering laugh that made his patients love him. + +"O I know" she said--"I know." + +"You haven't forgotten what we said?" + +"Not a word of it." + +His voice came nearer, though he spoke lower. + +"The train is not in yet, it is stuck out in the hills, but likely to +get out any minute. Dr. Brander is on it, coming out from the city to +operate for me in a very serious case, I'm not sure when I can get +out--but you'll wait for me--won't you, Pearl?" + +She put her red young lips close to the transmitter. + +"For a thousand years!" she said. + +"Well, it won't be that long," he said, with his happy laugh. + +Pearl knew exactly how his brows were lifted, and his eyes wide +opened. + +"But it's great to have as good a margin, Pearl--and listen--" his +voice fell again until it seemed to whisper in her ear--"did you +happen to notice what sort of a day it is?" + +"Well," said Pearl, "I am not surprised. Didn't I tell you it would +be?" + +"You told me!" he said. + +Then it was that from Pearlie Watson's young heart there opened up a +shining path straight up into heaven, and every inch of that radiant +highway was bright with the gleam of angel's wings, and as she stood +there leaning against the wall, her eyes dazzled with the glory of it, +it seemed as if all the sweet songs that lovers have ever sung, and +all the tender words they have ever spoken came marching, gaily +marching down the shining high way, right into her heart. + +Outside the sun gleamed and beat on the melting snow, which sent back +quivery vibrations that smote the eyeballs like fire. The cattle shook +the water from their sun-dazzled eyes, and turned their heads away +from it, but it climbed steadily higher until it stood right over +them, and blazing down upon the snowy world, defied old man Winter to +his face. + +Pearl was never quite sure about it in after years. But that day +she did not doubt her eyes, that star dust danced in the waves of +sunshine; that the gray snow birds played crack the whip outside the +window; that the willow hedge, palpitating in the sunshine, beat time +with its silvery branches to the music that lilted through her heart; +that the blue in the sky was bluer than it had been, and the sunshine +more golden than it ever was in the highest noon in highest June. + +She was quite sure it was so, for every spot of color within doors was +glorified too. The roses in the cushions on the lounge glowed like +a fire in the heart of a green wood; the cat's eyes gleamed like +olivines, but of course Pearl knew from the way he rubbed his head +against her shoulder as she sat on the lounge beside him, and from +the way he blinked at her--he knew, having no doubt in some occult +cat-way, listened in on the phone! There was no mistaking his +swaggering air of importance--he was in on it! and gave much credit to +himself for having brought it all about. + +The old dog, being just a plain, honest-hearted, loving dog, only +knew that Pearl was very happy over something. He did not probe the +cause--if it pleased her--it was enough. + +At four o'clock there came another message--which set Pearl's heart +dancing, and spotted her cheeks with a glowing color--the operation +was over--apparently successful--and they were driving back to town. +The other train might be late too, so it would be impossible for him +to come out--but would she still wait? Did the thousand year limit +still hold? + +There was just a hint of fatigue in his voice, which awakened all the +maternal instincts in Pearl, and made her heart very tender to him. + +"I will wait--forever," said Pearl. + +"Just until tomorrow," came back the voice--"just till tomorrow--and +it will be fine tomorrow--won't it, Pearl! Say it will be fine." + +"Finer still," she replied, with her cheeks like the early roses in +June. + +The day went by on satin wings--with each minute so charged with +happiness that Pearl could well believe that heaven had slipped down +to earth, and that she was walking the streets of the new Jerusalem. +She sang as she worked in the house, her sweet, ribbony voice filling +the room with a gladness and rapture that made her mother, with her +mystical Celtic temperament almost apprehensive. + +"She's a queer girl, is Pearlie," she said that night, when Pearl had +gone upstairs to arbitrate a quarrel which had broken out between +Bugsey and Danny as to whose turn it was to split the kindling wood. +"Day about" it had been until Bugsey had urged that it be changed to +"week about," and the delicate matter in dispute now was as to the day +on which the week expired. Danny, who had been doing the kindling, was +certain that the date of expiry had arrived, but Bugsey's calendar +set the day one day later, and the battle raged, with both sides ably +argued, but unfortunately not listened to by the opposing forces. + +"She's a queer child, is Pearlie," said Mrs. Watson, as she beat up +the bread-batter downstairs, "she's that light-hearted and free from +care, and her eighteen years old. She's like somethin' that don't +belong on earth, with her two big eyes shinin' like lamps, and the way +she sings through the house, settin' the table or scourin' the milk +pails or mendin' a coat for the boys--it don't seem natural. She's too +happy, whatever its' about, and it makes me afraid for her. She's the +kind that sees nothin' wrong, and won't see trouble comin' till its +too late. I often feel afraid she's too good and happy for this world. +She's always been the same, liltin' and singin' and makin' everyone +happy around her." + +Jimmy was washing his face in the enamel basin which stood on a box +below the mirror, and looking around with a dripping wet face, felt +with a wildy swinging motion of his arms for the towel. When he had +secured it, and all danger of soapsuds getting into his eyes was +removed, he joined the conversation. + +"Gosh, Ma!" he said, "you don't know Pearl, she's not the saint you +take her for. I'll bet the Tucker kids don't think she's too good to +live. Not much! They know she can hold up her end of a row as well as +any one. When she found out they had killed the cat they got from +us, and tanned the skin to make a rim on a cap, you should have seen +Pearl. She just cut loose on the two of them, and chased them through +the sloughs and up the road clear home--larrupin' them with a binder +whip, as fast as she could swing it--the yowls out of them would have +done your heart good!" + +Mrs. Watson stopped her work, with her floury hands raised in +consternation. + +"God's mercy," she cried, "did Pearl do that--and both of them +bigger'n her. Ain't it a wonder they did not turn on her?" + +"Turn"---Jimmy cried scornfully, "Turn--is it? They were too busy +runnin'. Gosh--they would'a flew if they knew how. Served them +right--they knew blame well they deserved it, for Pearl would never +have given them the cat if they hadn't worked it so smooth. They told +her they wanted a strain of Tiger in their cats, for all of theirs +were black--and Pearl, gave them our fine young Tom--and they promised +all sorts to be good to him--and when Pearl saw his skin on their +caps, and put it to them, they said they hadn't said it was a 'strain +of tiger for their cats' they wanted, but a 'strand of tiger for their +caps'--that's what made Pearl so mad." Mr. Donald said Pearl did +quite right, and he told the Tuckers they were the making of great +politicians--they were so smart at getting out of things. But Gosh, +you should have seen Pearl! She finished the job off right, too, you +bet, and made them put up slab at the school and did the printin' on +it in red ink. You can see it there,--they have had to print it over +once or twice. We all know the words off by heart: + + Young Tom, + Tiger cat, + Owned by P. Watson, + Given away in good faith April 1st, + Wickedly killed to make a cap, April 15th, + Avenged by former owner, May 1st. + T. Tucker. S. Tucker. + +People all look at it when they come to the church, and I guess the +Tuckers feel pretty small. Pearl says if they are really sorry, it is +all right, and young Tom has not died in vain. Every cat has to die +sometime, and if he had softened the Tucker's hearts--it is all right. +Pearl said she wasn't real sure about them, and I guess if they kill +another cat, she'll kill them sure--she said that's the way to do with +people like them. Make them repentant--or dead!" + +"God save us all," cried Mrs. Watson, in real distress, "whatever will +happen to her when she goes out into the world. That's awful talk for +a girl especially. Whatever will become of her when she leaves home. +She'll be in hot water all the time." + +"No fear of Pearlie!" said her father proudly--as he opened the end +door of the stove and picked up a coal for his pipe, placing it +without undue haste in the bowl, and carefully pressing it down with +his thumb. Leaning back in the chintz-covered rocking chair, he spread +his feet out to the heat which came from the oven door, and repeated, +"No fear of Pearlie--there ain't a girl in the country better able +to do for herself. Faith--and she's no fool--and never was--I ain't +worrying about Pearlie wherever she goes--or whatever she meets--I +ain't worrying." + +"You don't worry about anything, John," said Mrs. Watson, in reproof, +as she covered the bread with many wrappings and fixed two chairs to +hold it behind the stove for the night; "you didn't even worry the +night the crop froze, sleepin' and snorin' the whole night through, +with me up every half hour watching the thermometer, and it slippin' +lower and lower, and the pan o' water on the woodpile gettin' its +little slivers of ice around the edge, and when the thermometer went +to thirty, I knew it was all up with the wheat, but do you think I +could wake you--you rolled over with a grunt, leavin' me alone to +think of the two hundred acres gone in the night, after all our hard +work ... and then to have you come down in the mornin', stretchin' +and yawnin', after a good night's sleep, and says you, as cheerful as +could be, 'Cold mornin', Ma!'" + +John Watson took his pipe from his mouth, and laughed quietly. + +"And what was wrong with that, Ma--sure now it was cold--you said +yourself it was," he said gently. + +The boys joined in the laugh, but Mrs. Watson repeated her point. + +"Cold it was, sure enough, but think o' me up frettin' and fumin', and +you come down as cheerful as if starvation wasn't starin' us in the +face." + +"But we didn't starve, Ma," said Billy, coming to his father's +defense, "the crop was all right for feed, and we did well after all. +You had all your frettin' for nothing." + +"It's that way mostly," said John Watson, "I never saw any good yet in +frettin'. Anyway, Ma does enough of it for all of us, so that lets +me out. There's the two kinds of Irish--them that don't fret over +anything--and them that frets over every thing--that's me and you, +Ma--and it works out fine--it runs about even. You've always been so +sure that things were goin' wrong, I've just had to be a little surer +that they wern't. And then of course I knew that night that you would +watch the frost--if there was any watchin' to it." + +"John, it is well for you that you have some one to do your watchin'," +said Mrs. Watson. "You're an easy goin' man, John, but I'll say this +for you, that a better natured man never lived." + +When all the family had gone to bed, and the last sound had died out +in the house, Pearl stood long at the window and looked out at the +moonlit valley. The warm day had melted the frost from the window, and +when she put out the lamp, the moonlight seemed almost as clear as +day. Silvery-mauve and blue it lay on the quiet, snowy fields, with a +deeper color on the trees, as if they had wound yards and yards of the +gauzy stuff around their bare shoulders, for the night was chilly. To +Pearl it was even more beautiful than the sunshine of the day, for in +its silvery stillness, she could think and dream without interruption. + +The night was too beautiful to sleep, and the riot of joy in her heart +made her forget that anyone ever grew weary or tired. She was part of +the moonlight, with its glistening witchery, part of the overarching +sky, with its wealth of glittering stars, part of the velvety night +wind that caressed the trees in its gentle passing. Her young soul was +in tune with them all! For the greatest thing in life had come to +her in those few common-place words that had come to her over the +telephone. He had not forgotten--he was coming tomorrow! + +The tired note in his voice had awakened an entirely new chord in the +song her heart sang. He needed her. He needed some one to look after +him, care for him, watch him, save him from the hundred little +worrying things that were sapping his energy. People did not +understand that he ever got tired--he was so strong, so buoyant, so +ready to do things for them. Well, there will be someone now, thought +Pearl, with a glow that surged through her veins and made her cheeks +flame, to take care of him. + +"Is the doctor in, Mrs. Clay?" + +"He is--but he's sleeping--maybe I can tell you what you want to +know--step in here--so he won't hear us--he was out all night--and he +must not be wakened...." + +And when he had to go--she would harness the team and drive him, so he +could sleep all the way, and when the roads were fit for it, she would +drive the car--and soon she would be able to set bones and do common +things like that. He would show her--and then they would go to New +York--in two or three years maybe--he had told her once he wanted to +do this--for a post-graduate course--and they would have a little +suite, and she would study, too. + +And always, always, always they would be together--and no matter how +many people there were praising him and wanting him--he would just be +her man--and at night, when he was tired--and all the noise of the day +was over and everyone was gone, she would have him all to herself. + +Pearl's head sank on the window sill, while an ecstacy of joy swept +over her--happy tears filled her eyes--life was so sweet--so rich--so +full.... + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HOUSE OF CLAY + + +When the operation was over, the two doctors drove back to Millford, +the younger man so deeply engrossed in his own thoughts he hardly +heard the older doctor's incessant conversation. But that did not in +any wise discourage Dr. Brander, for to him, talking was much like +breathing, it went on easily, unconsciously, and without the necessity +of a listener. + +On Dr. Clay there had fallen the pleasant, drowsy feeling of one +whose work is done for the day, and a hard day it had been, with its +uncertainty of the delayed train, and his patient's condition. But all +had gone well, and his patient's reaction had been satisfactory. More +than that, the older doctor had concurred in all that he had done, and +commended his treatment of the case from the beginning. + +So, comfortably seated in the cutter, with a brown bear robe over +their knees, and the mate of it over the seat, the two doctors drove +home in the purple-blue twilight, seated side by side, but with minds +far removed from each other. + +The doctor's horses knew every road that led home, and trotted on +without any guidance or word from him--they were a fine team of glossy +chestnuts of whom the young doctor was extremely proud. But tonight, a +strange lassitude of spirit was upon him and he only wanted to relax +his weary brain and dream away the snowy miles to the rhythmic beat of +the horses' hoofs. + +He had never been more contented in his life. His work was going +well--that day the Liberals had offered him the nomination for the +coming provincial election! It was an honor which he appreciated, +though he had no desire to enter politics. He loved his work--the +people he served were devoted to him--he could read it in their faces +and their stammering words. He knew what they wanted to say, +even though it was conveyed in a few halting fragments of +sentences--"You're all right--Doc--sure--glad you got here--we knew +you'd make it--somehow--you and them high steppers of yours can get +through the snow--if any one can." + +Slowly, for a great weariness was on him, he began to think of Pearl, +the red-cheeked shining-eyed Pearl, who had singled him out for her +favor ever since he came to the village six years ago; Pearl, with her +contagious optimism and quaint ways, who had the good gift of putting +every one in good humor. He smiled to himself when he thought of +how often he had made it convenient to pass the school just at four +o'clock, and give Pearl and the rest of them a ride home, and the +delight he had always had in her fresh young face, so full of lights +and shadows. + +"Robbing the cradle, eh, Doc?" Sam Motherwell had once said, in his +clumsy way, when he met them on the road--"Nothin' like pickin' them +out young and trainin' them up the way you want them." + +He had made no answer to this, but he still felt the wave of anger +that swept over him at the blundering words. "All the same, I wish +Pearl were older"--he had admitted to himself that day. "If she +keeps her wise little ways and her clever tongue, she'll be a great +woman--she has a way with her." + +At the rink, he had always looked forward to a skate with her--it was +really a dull night for him if she were not there, and now he wondered +just what it was that attracted him so. There was a welcoming gladness +in her eyes that flattered him, a comradeship in her conversation that +drew him on to talk with more ease and freedom; there was a wholesome +friendliness in what she said, which always left him a sense of +physical and mental well-being. + +"What a nurse she would make," he thought, "what a great nurse;" "I +wish she were older ... eighteen is too young for a girl to marry--I +wouldn't allow it at all--if I didn't know who she is getting--that +makes all the difference in the world ... of course her father and +mother may object, but I believe what Pearl says, goes--what Pearl +says will go--with all of us! The Parker house can be bought--and +fixed up ... we'll have a fireplace put in, and waterworks--I wish I +did not feel so tough and tired ... but she said she'd wait a thousand +years!" + +Suddenly the voice of Dr. Brander rasped through his brain, and +brought him to attention: + +"Clay, you're in love, or something--I don't believe you've heard a +word I said, you young scamp, in the last six miles--and you've missed +a fine exposition on cancers--causes and cure." + +"I beg your pardon, Dr. Brander," he apologized, "I believe I was +almost asleep. I get into a drowsy habit on my long drives--especially +when I am coming home--when the days' work is over--it seems good to +stretch out--but I do apologize: What were you saying?" + +"O, I'm done now," said his companion, not in the least disturbed; "I +want you to tell me about yourself and your work here. You know you +interest me, Clay. You are a sort of popular idol with all these +people, and I have been wondering how you do it. A man must give +freely of himself to be as popular as you are, Clay--do you ever find +yourself giving out under the strain, and in need of a rest?" + +"Just a little tired, sometimes," the young man confessed, "but it's +nothing--at all." + +The old man watched him narrowly, taking careful note that the pallor +of his face had suddenly changed to a heightened color. "When we get +supper, Clay, I want to have a serious talk with you. You may remember +that I approached this subject the last time you were in the city. +I want to give you the report on the examination I gave you at that +time." There was a quality in his voice which gave the young man a +momentary sense of dread, not unmixed with a certain impatience. He +was too tired to be bothered. He wanted nothing but a chance to think +his own thoughts, as the sorrel team struck off the miles with their +tireless feet. + +When they had had supper at the Chinese restaurant, they went to the +doctor's office. The sun, though long since set, still threw spikes +of light upon the western sky and caught the under side of one ragged +cloud which seemed to have been forgotten in an otherwise clear sky. + +In the office, a cheerful coal fire glowed through its mica windows, +and in front of the doctor's leather chair, were his slippers, and +over it was thrown a brightly colored house coat. + +A gasoline lamp threw a strong white light on the comfortable room, +and the city papers lay, still unfolded, on the table beside a pile of +letters. + +The old doctor exclaimed with delight: + +"Who fixes you up so fine, Clay--surely there's a woman around this +place!" + +"My landlady"--said the young doctor, "looks after me." + +"I know, I know," said the older man, "I know the kind of fellow you +are--the kind women love to fuss around. I'll bet you get dozens of +bedroom slippers and ties and mufflers at Christmas. Women are like +cats--they love to rub their heads against any one that will stroke +them and say 'poor pussy'--they're all the same." + +The old doctor seated himself in the big chair and warmed his hands +before the glowing coals. + +"And now, Clay, I want to talk to you. There are certain facts that +must be told. I have been interested in your case ever since I met +you. You are a distinct type, with your impulsive temperament, clear +skin and tapering fingers. But what I have to say to you would have +been said easier if I did not know you so well--and if I had not been +here and seen you in your native setting--as it were.... Being +a medical man yourself, Clay, you know the difficulties of the +situation." + +The young doctor sat down suddenly, and smiled wanly: + +"There need be no difficulty, Dr. Brander", he said, "I am ready to +hear ..." he left the sentence unfinished. + +The old doctor went on: + +"There is no immediate cause for alarm," he said, speaking slowly, +"people live for years with it, as you know--a cracked plate sometimes +outlasts the good one--and as a matter of fact none of us are entirely +free from it." + +The old doctor was swaying backwards as he spoke, and his voice rose +and fell with the motion, as the tone of a phonograph when the door is +opened or shut. + +"You will have to be more careful, though, Clay, you will have to call +a halt on your activities--there must be no more of the all night +sessions of yours--and those fifty mile drives--it is just like +this--you are carrying a mortgage on your business--a heavy +mortgage--and yet one that the business can carry--with care, great +care. Many a good business man carries a heavy mortgage and pays well +too, but of course it cannot stand financial strain or stress like the +business which is clear of debt. With great care, you should be good +for many years--but you must not draw on your reserves--you must never +spend your capital--you must never be tired, or excited, or hurried, +or worried." + +And this climate is a bit strenuous in winter--you must get out before +another one comes, and live some place that is easier. This country +keeps a man on his toes all the time, with its brilliant sunshine, +its strong winds, its bracing air. You need a softer air, a duller +atmosphere, a sleepier environment that will make you never do today +what you can put off till tomorrow, and never put off till tomorrow +what you might as well put off till the day after tomorrow." + +"What a life!" broke from the young man's lips. + +"A very fascinating life, my dear sir," said the old doctor, intoning +his words like a very young clergyman--"a fascinating life, and one +that I would enjoy. Here we hurry up in the morning and hurry to bed +at night so we can hurry to get up again in the morning--we chase +ourselves around like a cat in the ancient pursuit of its own tail, +and with about the same results. The Western mind is in a panic all +the time--losing time by the fear of losing time. The delights of +mediation are not ours--we are pursued, even as we pursue; we are the +chasers and the chased; the hunter and the hunted; we are spending and +the spent; we are borrowed and lent--and what is the good of it all? I +have always wanted to be an Oriental, dreaming in the shade of a palm +tree, letting the sun and the wind ripen my fruits and my brain, while +I sat--with never a care--king of the earth--and the air--O, take it +from me, young fellow, there are wonderful delights in contemplation, +delights of which we are as ignorant as the color blind are of the +changing hues of the Autumn woods, or the deaf man is of music. We are +deaf, blind and dumb about the things of the soul! We think activity +is the only form of growth." + +The young doctor, whose handsome face had grown pale, watched him with +a sort of fascination. The words seemed to roll from his lips without +the slightest effort, and apparently without causing his heart one +emotion. If the young doctor had not known him so well, he would have +thought him entirely unconcerned: + +"We are cursed, you and I, and all of us," he resumed, with too much +activity. We are obscessed with a passion for material achievement! We +are hand-worshippers--leg-worshippers--speed-worshippers. We mistake +activity for progress." + +"But it is progress," burst from the young man, "activity does bring +achievement--development." + +The door of the office opened suddenly, and two young fellows rushed +in. + +"Are you coming to the lacrosse meeting, Doc,--we are going to +organize, and we want you for President again, of course." + +Then, seeing the city doctor, whom they recognized,-- + +"Excuse the interruption, but we can't get on without Dr. Clay, he's +the whole works of the lacrosse team." + +"I will not be able to go over tonight, boys," said the Doctor, "but +you'll get on all right. You are getting to work pretty early--this is +the first fine day." + +When the lacrosse boys had gone, Dr. Clay finished his argument: + +"These fellows prove what I was saying. When I came here six years +ago, there was not even a baseball team in the place--the young +fellows gathered on street corners in summer, loafing and +idling, revelling in crazy, foolish degrading stories--absolute +degenerations--now see them--on the tail of a blizzard, they dig out +their lacrosse sticks and start the game on the second fine day. +From the time the hockey is over now, until hockey time again--these +fellows talk and dream lacrosse, and a decenter, cleaner lot of lads +you won't find anywhere. Activity has saved them--activity _is_ +growth, it is life--it is everything!" + +The old man shook his head slowly: + +"They are not saved, my dear boy--none of us are--who depend on +outward things for your happiness. Outward things change--vanish. +'As a man thinketh in his heart--so is he!'--that is the secret of +triumphant living. As a man thinketh. These fellows of yours--for I +know this lacrosse team has been one of the many ways you took of +sapping your energy--do not think. They play, run, scrap, cheer, but +there's no meditation--no turning inward of the thoughts, no mental +progress. + +"It would not be natural for growing boys, alive to their fingertips, +to sit yapping like lazy collie dogs, just thinking," said the young +doctor heatedly. "They want avenues of self-expression, and in +lacrosse and hockey they find it." + +"Artificial aids to happiness--every one of them--crutches for lame +souls--the Kingdom of Heaven is within you," the old doctor rambled +on, "but it is all a part of this great new country--this big west is +new and crude and distinct--only the primary colors are used in the +picture, there are no half tones, no shadows, and above all--or +perhaps I should say behind all--no background. A thing is good or +bad--black or white--blue or red. We are mostly posters here in this +great big, dazzling country." + +In the silence that fell on them, the young man's mind went limping +back to the old doctor's first words--the dreadful, fateful, +significant words. He had said it--said the thing that if it were true +would exile him from the world he loved! On him the ban had fallen! + +"I suppose," said he, standing behind his chair, whose back he held +with nervous fingers, "there is no chance that you might be mistaken. +It is hard for me to believe this. I am so strong--so well--so much +alive, except my cough--I am as well as ever I was, and the cough is a +simple thing--this seems impossible to me!" + +The old doctor had gone to the window to watch the throng of boys +and girls who raced past on their way to the hill for an evening's +sleigh-ride. + +"It always seems impossible," he said, with the air of a man who is +totally disassociated from human affairs, and is simply stating an +interesting fact, "that is part of the disease, and a very attractive +part too. The people who have it, never think they have--even to the +last they are hopeful--and sure they will be better tomorrow. No, I am +afraid I am not mistaken. You know yourself the theory Clay, of the +two sets of microbes, the builders and the destroyers. Just at the +present moment, the destroyers have the best of it--they have put one +over on the builders--but that does not say that the good microbes are +not working--and may yet win. You are young, buoyant, happy, hopeful, +temperate in your habits--all of which gives you a better chance--if +you will throw the weight of your influence on the side of the +builders--there is a good chance of winning--I should think with your +Irish blood you would enjoy the fight, Clay." + +The young doctor turned around suddenly and threw back his head, with +an impatient gesture. + +"I love a fight, Dr. Brander, but it has to be of something worth +while. I have fought for the life of a man, a woman, a child, and I +have fought joyfully--for life is sweet, and I desired it for these +people, believing it to be a good gift. But in the fight you outline +for me, I see nothing to fire man's heart. I won't fight for life if +it means just breathing and scraping along at a poor, dying rate, +cheating the undertaker of a nice little piece of legitimate +business--I can't grow enthusiastic over the prospect of +always thinking about myself--and my rest--and my sleep--or my +clothes--always looking for a draught or fleeing from the night air or +a thunderstorm--never able to do a man's job or a day's work. I can't +do it, Dr. Brander, and you couldn't do it. It's a poor, miserable, +dull existence, unhappy for me, and no service to any one." + +Two red spots burned in his cheeks, and the old doctor, noticing them, +wished again that he had come to see him sooner. + +"See here, Clay," he said, sitting down again, with his hands spread +out on his knees, "you exaggerate this thing. You do not think you +are working unless you are slaving and owling around all hours of the +night, setting bones and pulling teeth, or ushering into this wicked +world sundry squalling babies who never asked to come, and do not like +it now they are here. You have been as strong as an ox, and keen as +a race-horse, now you have to slow up--you have to get out of this +country before another winter, and when you come back in Spring you +can go on with your patients--always with care." + +The young doctor surveyed him with curling lip. + +"Resume my practice," he said, "how simple. Send word ahead, I +suppose, by circular letter-- + +"'Dear Friends, I will be with you May 1st, to attend to your medical +needs. Save your appendicitis and neuralgia and broken bones for +me. Medical season opens for business May 1st, every one welcome'. +Something like that ought to be sufficient to hold my practice. It has +always seemed to me very inconsiderate for people to get sick in +the winter, and certainly it is no time for infants to begin their +career.... Now, see here, Dr. Brander, I appreciate all you say. I +know why you are talking this way to me. It is out of the kindness +of your heart--for you have a soft old heart behind all that +professionalism. But it does not look reasonable to me that a man who +has really lived, can ever drag along like you say. Who wants to live, +anyway, beyond the time of usefulness? I don't. I want to pass out +like old Prince--you remember my good old roan pacer, do you?" + +"That red-eyed old anarchist of yours that no one could harness but +you?" + +"That's the one--as good a horse as ever breathed--misunderstood, that +was all--well, he passed on, as the scientists say, last Fall, passed +on in a blaze of glory too, but just how glorious his death was, I +don't believe I realized until tonight. + +"How did it happen?" + +"I had a thirty mile drive to see Mrs. Porter, at Pigeon Lake--and +just as I was about to start, another message came that it was very +urgent if her life was to be saved. Old Prince would not drive +double--and my team was tired out. So I started with him alone. The +snow came on when I was half way there, and that made the going +bad--to add to the difficulties, a strong wind drove the blinding +snow in our faces. But the old boy ploughed on like a wrecking +engine--going out in a storm to clear the track. He knew all about it, +I never had to urge him. The last mile was the worst--he fell once, +but staggered to his feet and went on, on three legs.... When we got +to the house, I knew it was all up with old Prince--he had made his +last journey." + +"But he was still living when I came out to see him four hours later. +The men had put him in a box stall, and had done all they could, but +his eyes were rolling, and his heart missed every fourth beat." + +"The two little girls came out and cried over him, and told him he had +saved their mother's life, and tried to get him to eat sugar lumps ... +and--right to the last there was the same proud look in his red eyes, +and he gave me a sort of wink which let me know it was all right--he +didn't blame me or any one--and so I kissed him once, on the white +star on his honest forehead, and I put my left arm around his head so +he couldn't see what was coming, and sent a bullet through his brain." + +"We buried him on the hillside overlooking the lake, and the little +girls put a slab up over him, which says: + + "Prince of the house of Clay + Who saved our mother's life, + Lies here in peace, and lives + In grateful memory in our hearts." + +There was a silence, in which each man's mind went back to the one +overwhelming thought--that bound them so close together. + +Then the young doctor said slowly: "If what you say is true, I envy +Prince--and would gladly change places with him." + +The old man recovered himself in a moment: "You take things too +seriously, Clay," he said quickly: "be glad you are not married. A +wife and children clutter up a man's affairs at a time like this--you +are quite free from family ties, I believe?" + +"Quite free," the young man replied, "all my relatives live in the +East, all able to look after themselves. I have no person depending on +me--financially, I mean." + +"Marriage," began the old doctor, in his most professional tone, as +one who reads from a manuscript, "is one-fourth joy and three-fourths +disappointment. There is no love strong enough to stand the grind of +domestic life. Marriage would be highly successful were it not for the +fearful bore of living together. Two houses, and a complete set of +servants would make marriage practically free from disappointments. +I think Saint Paul was right when he advised men to remain single if +they had serious work to do. Women, the best of them, grow tiresome +and double-chinned in time." + +The young doctor laughed his own big, hearty laugh, the laugh which +his devoted patients said did them more good than his medicine. + +"I like that," he said, "a man with a forty-two waist measure, wearing +an eighteen inch collar, finding fault with a woman's double chin. You +are not such a raving beauty yourself." + +The old man interrupted him: + +"I do not need to be. I am a doctor, a prescriber of pills, a mender +of bones, a plumber of pipes ... my work does not call for beauty. +Beauty is an embarrassment to a doctor. You would be happier, young +fellow, without that wavy brown hair and those big eyes of yours, with +their long lashes. A man is built for work, like a truck. Gold and +leather upholstering do not belong there. Women are different; it is +their place in life to be beautiful, and when they fail in that, they +fail entirely. They have no license to be fat, flabby double-chinned, +flat-footed. It is not seemly, and of course you cannot tell how any +of them may turn out. They are all pretty at sixteen. That is what +makes marriage such a lottery." + +"I don't agree with you at all," said his companion, "it is absurd to +expect a woman of fifty to have the slim grace of a girl of eighteen. +My mother was a big woman, and I always thought her very beautiful. +I think you have a pagan way of looking at marriage. Marriage is a +mutual agreement, for mutual benefit and comfort, for sympathy and +companionship. Family life develops the better side of human nature, +and casts out selfishness. Many a man has found himself when he gets a +wife, and in the caring for his children has thrown off the shackels +of selfishness. People only live when they can forget themselves, for +selfishness is death. Your a great doctor, Dr. Brander, but a poor +philosopher." + +The older man smiled grimly. + +"See here, Clay," he said, "did you ever think of how nature fools us +poor dupes? Nature, old Dame Nature, has one object, and that is to +people the earth--and to this end she shapes all her plans. She makes +women beautiful, graceful, attractive and gives them the instinct to +dress in a way that will attract men. Makes them smaller and weaker +than men, too, which also makes its appeal. Why, if I hadn't watched +my step, I'd been married a dozen times. These little frilled and +powdered vixens have nearly got me.... If nature used half as much +care in keeping people healthy and free from accidents, as she does +in getting them here--it would be a happier world. But that is not +nature's concern--She leaves that to the doctors!" + +"Well, how does the time go? Isn't that the train whistle?" + +"No hurry," said Dr. Clay, rising, "it stops at the water-tank, and +that whistle is for the hill." + +They walked over to the station in silence, and stood watching the red +eye that came gliding through the moonlit valley. The train seemed to +be slipping in to the station without a sound, in the hope that no one +would notice how late it was. + +"Come up and see me, Clay," said the old man kindly. "I want to give +you a thorough examination--and I will expect you in a week--we'll +talk things over, and see what is best. You have my bag, don't bother +coming on--all right then--here's a double seat--so I can stretch +out--though it's hardly worth while for an hour. Goodbye Clay, +remember all I told you!" + +When the doctor went back to his office, he sat long in his chair in +front of the fire, and thought. The place was the same--the cheerful +fire--the rows of books--the Fathers of Confederation picture on +the wall--and his college group. Everything was the same as it had +been--only himself. Everything in the room was strong, durable, almost +everlasting, able to resist time and wear. He was the only perishable +thing, it seemed. + +He wondered how people act when confronted by the ruin of their hopes. +Do they rave and curse and cry aloud? He could not think clearly--his +mind seemed to avoid the real issue and refuse to strike on the sore +place, and he thought of all sorts of other things. + +The permanence--the dreadful permanence of everything in the room +seemed to oppress him. "Man is mortal," he said, "his possessions +outlive him every last one of these things is more durable than I am". +The gray wall of the office--so strong and lasting--what chance had +an army of microbes against it--the heavy front door, with its cherry +panels and brass fittings, had no fear of draughts or cold. It had +limitless resistance. The stocky stove, on its four squat legs, could +hold its own and snap its fingers at time. They were all so arrogantly +indestructible, so fearfully permanent--they had no sympathy, no +common meeting ground with him. + +A knock sounded on the door, and when he opened it, the station agent +was there, with a long box in his hand. + +"It's marked 'Rush,' so I thought I had better shoot it over to you, +Doc," he said. + +"Thanks, old man," the Doctor said mechanically, and put the box down +on the table. On a white label, in bright red letters, stood out the +word 'Perishable.' + +The word struck him like a blow between the eyes. "Perishable!" Then +here was something to which he might feel akin. He opened the box, +with detached interest. A sweet breath of roses proclaimed the +contents. He had forgotten about sending for them until now--Pearl's +roses for this day--nineteen American Beauties! + +He carefully unpacked the wrapping, and held up the sheaf of +loveliness, and just for one moment had the thrill of joy that beauty +had always brought to him. Pearl's roses! The roses, with which he +had hoped to say what was in his heart--here they were, in all their +exquisite loveliness, and ready to carry the words of love and hope +and tenderness--but now ... he had nothing to say ... love and +marriage were not for him! + +He sat down heavily, beside the table over which the roses lay +scattered, spilling their perfume in the room. + +He fingered them lovingly, smoothing their velvety petals with a +tender hand, while his mind sought in vain to readjust itself to the +change the last two hours had brought. + +He turned again to the fire, which glowed with blue and purple lights +behind the windows of isinglass, curling and flaming and twisting, +with fascinating brilliance. Long he sat, watching it, while the +sounds outside in the street grew less and less, and at last when he +went to the window, he found the street in darkness and in silence. +The moon had set, and his watch told him it was two o'clock. + +The wind whimpered in the chimney like a lonesome puppy, rising and +falling, cying out and swelling with eerie rhythm; a soft spring wind, +he knew it was, that seemed to catch its breath like a thing in pain. + +Looking again at the roses, he noticed that the leaves were drooping. +He hastily went into the dispensary and brought out two graduates +filled with water to put them in; but when he lifted them--he +saw, with poignant pain--they were gone past helping--they were +frost-bitten. + +Then it was that he gathered them in his arms, with sudden passion, +and as he sat through the long night, he held them closely to him, for +kin of his they surely were--these frosted roses, on whose fragrant +young hearts the blight had so prematurely fallen! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +TANGLED THREADS + + +At daybreak, when the light from the eastern sky came in blue at the +window blind, and the gasoline lamp grew sickly and pale, the doctor +went to bed. He had thought it all out and outlined his course of +action. + +He did not doubt the old doctor's word; his own knowledge gave +corroborative evidence that it was quite true, and he wondered he had +not thought of it. Still, there was something left for him to do. He +would play up and play the game, even if it were a losing fight. His +own house had fallen, but it would be his part now to see that the +minimum amount of pain would come to Pearl over it. She was young, +and had all the world before her--she would forget. He had a curious +shrinking from having her know that he had the disease, for like most +doctors, he loathed the thought of disease, and had often quoted +to his patients in urging them to obey the laws of physiological +righteousness, the words of Elbert Hubbard that "The time would come +when people would feel more disgrace at being found in a hospital than +in a jail, for jails were for those who broke men's laws, but those in +the hospital had broken the laws of God!" + +He shuddered now when he thought of it, it all seemed so +unnecessary--so wantonly cruel--so so inexplicable. + +Above all, Pearl must not know, for instinctively he felt that if she +knew he was a sick man, she would marry him straight away--she would +be so sweet about it all, and so hopeful and sure he would get well, +and such a wonderfully skilful and tender nurse, that he would surely +get well. For one blissful but weak moment, which while it thrilled +it frightened him still more--he allowed himself to think it would be +best to tell her. Just for one weak moment the thought came--to be +banished forever from his mind. No! No! No! disaster had come to him, +but Pearl would not be made to suffer, she would not be involved in +any way. + +But just what attitude to take, perplexed him. Those big, soft brown +eyes of hers would see through any lie he tried to invent, and he +was but a poor liar anyway. What could he tell Pearl? He would +temporize--he would stall for time. She was too young--she had seen so +little of the world--it would be hard to wait--he believed he could +take that line with her--he would try it. + +When he awakened, the sun was shining in the room, with a real spring +warmth that just for a minute filled him with gladness and a sense of +wellbeing. Then he remembered, and a groan burst from his lips. + +The telephone rang: + +Reaching out, he seized it and answered. + +"It's me," said a voice, "It's Pearl! I am coming in--I know you're +tired after yesterday, and you need a long sleep--so don't disturb +yourself--I'll be in about two o'clock--just when the sun is +brightest--didn't I tell you it would be finer still today?" + +"You surely did, Pearl," he answered, "however you knew." + +"I'm not coming just to see you--ma wants a new strainer, and Bugsey +needs boots, and Mary has to have another hank of yarn to finish the +sweater she's knitting--these are all very urgent, and I'll get them +attended to first, and then...." + +She paused: + +"Then you'll come and see me, Pearl"--he finished, "and we'll have the +meeting which we adjourned three years ago--to meet yesterday." + +"That's it," she said, "and goodbye until then." + +He looked at his watch, it was just ten--there was yet time. + +Reaching for the telephone, he called long distance, Brandon. "Give me +Orchard's greenhouses," he said. + +After a pause he got the wire: + +"Send me a dozen and a half--no, nineteen--American Beauty roses on +today's train, without fail. This is Dr. Clay of Millford talking." + +He put back the telephone, and lay back with a whimsical smile, +twisting his mouth. "The frosted ones are mine," he said to himself, +"there will be no blight or spot or blemish on Pearl's roses." + +It was quite like Pearl to walk into the doctors' office without +embarrassment. It was also like her to come at the exact hour she had +stated in her telephone message--and to the man who sat waiting for +her, with a heart of lead, she seemed to bring the whole sunshine of +Spring with her. + +Ordinarily, Dr. Clay did not notice what women wore, they all looked +about the same to him--but he noticed that Pearl's gray coat and furs +just needed the touch of crimson which her tam o'shanter and gloves +supplied, and which seemed to carry out the color in her glowing +cheeks. She looked like a red apple in her wholesomeness. + +He had tried to get the grittiness of the sleepless night out of his +eyes, and had shaved and dressed himself with the greatest care, +telling himself it did not matter--but the good habit was deeply +fastened on him and could not be set aside. + +There was nothing about the well-dressed young man, with his carefully +brushed hair and splendid color, to suggest disease. Pearl's eyes +approved of each detail, from the way his hair waved and parted back; +the dull gold and purple tie, which seemed to bring out the bronze +tones in his hair and the steely gray of his eyes; the well-cut +business suit of rough brown tweed, with glints of green and bronze, +down to the dark brown, well-polished boots. + +Pearl was always proud of him; it glowed in her eyes again today, +and again he felt it, warming his heart and giving him the sense of +well-being which Pearl's presence always brought. All at once he felt +rested and full of energy. + +When the first greetings were over, and Pearl had seated herself, at +his invitation, in the big chair, he said, laughing: + +"'Tis a fine day, Miss Watson." + +"It is that!" said Pearl, with her richest brogue, which he had often +told her he hoped she would never lose. + +"And you are eighteen years old now," he said, in the same tone. + +"Eighteen, going on nineteen," she corrected gaily. + +"All right, eighteen--going on--nineteen. Three years ago there was a +little bargain made between us--without witnesses, that we would defer +all that was in our minds for three years--we'd give the matter a +three years' hoist--and then take it up just where we left it!" + +She nodded, without speaking. + +"Now I have thought about it a lot," he went on, "indeed I do not +think a day has gone by without my thinking of it, and incidentally, +I have thought of myself and my belongings. I wish to draw your +attention to them--I am twenty-nine years old--I've got a ten years' +start of you, and I will always expect to be treated with respect on +account of my years--that's clearly understood, is it?" + +He was struggling to get himself in hand. + +"Clearly understood," she repeated, with her eyes on him in +unmistakable adoration. + +"Six years ago," he seemed to begin all over gain--"I came out of +college, with all sorts of fine theories, just bubbling over with +enthusiasm, much the same as you are now, fresh from Normal, but +somehow they have mostly flattened out, and now I find myself settling +down to the prosy life of a country doctor, who feeds his own horses +and blackens his own boots, and discusses politics with the retired +farmers who gather in the hardware store. I catch myself at it quite +often. Old Bob Johnson and I are quite decided there will be a war +with Germany before many years. We don't stop at Canadian affairs--the +world is not too wide for us! Yes, Pearl, here I am, a country doctor, +with an office in need of paint--a very good medical library--in need +of reading--a very common-place, second-rate doctor--who will never +be a great success, who will just continue to grub along. With you, +Pearl, it is different. You have ambition, brains--and something about +you that will carry you far--I always knew it--and am so glad that at +the Normal they recognized your ability." + +A puzzled look dimmed the brightness of her eyes just for a moment, +and the doctor stumbled on. + +"I am all right, as far as I go--but there's not enough of me--I'm not +big enough for you, Pearl." + +Pearl's eyes danced again, as she looked him up and down, and he +laughed in spite of himself. + +"For goodness sake, girl," he cried, "don't look at me, you make me +forget what I was saying--I can't think, when you train those eyes of +yours on me." + +Pearl obediently turned her head away, but he could still see the +dimple in her cheeks. + +"I have had a long fight with myself, Pearl," and now that he was back +to the truth, his voice had its old mellowness that swept her heart +with tenderness--"a long fight--and it is not over yet. I'm selfish +enough to want you---that is about 99.9% of me is selfish, the other +infinitesimal part cries out for me to play the man--and do the square +thing--I am making a bad job of this, but maybe you understand." + +He came over and turned her head around until she faced him. + +"I have begun at the wrong end of this, dear, I talk as if you had +said--you cared--I have no right to think you do. I should remember +you are only a child--and haven't thought about--things like this!" + +"O, haven't I, though," she cried eagerly. "I've been thinking--all +the time--I've never stopped thinking--I've had the loveliest time +thinking." + +The doctor went on in a measured tone, as one who must say the words +he hates to utter. All the color had gone from his voice, all the +flexibility. It was as hard as steel now, and as colorless as a dusty +road. + +"Pearl, I am going to say what I should say, not what I want to +say.... Supposing I did induce you to marry me now. Suppose I could +... in ten years from now, when you are a woman grown, you might +hate me for taking advantage of your youth, your inexperience, your +childish fancy for me--I am not prepared to take that risk--it would +be a criminal thing to run any chances of spoiling a life like yours." + +Her eyes looked straight into his, and there was a little muttered cry +in them that smote his heart with pity. He had seen it in the faces of +little children, his patients, who, though hurt, would not cry. + +"And I am selfish enough to hope that in a few years, when you are old +enough to choose, you will think of what I am doing now, and know the +sacrifice I am making, and come to me of your own free will--no, I did +not intend to say that--I do not mean what I said--the world is yours, +Pearl, to choose as you will--I have no claim on you! You start fair." + +Pearl's cheeks had lost a little of their rosy glow, and her face +had taken on a cream whiteness. She stood up and looked at him, with +widely opened eyes. A girl of smaller soul might have misunderstood +him, and attributed to him some other motive. Though Pearl did not +agree with him, she believed every word he had said. + +"Supposing," she said eagerly, "that I do not want to start +fair--and don't want to be free to choose--supposing I have made my +choice--supposing I understand you better than you do yourself, and +tell you now that you are not a second-hand doctor--that you are a sun +and a shield to this little town and country, just as you have been to +me--you bring health and courage by your presence--the people love and +trust you--suppose I remind you that you are not only a doctor, +but the one that settles their quarrels and puts terror into the +evil-doer. Who was it that put the fear into Bill Plunkett when he +blackened his wife's eyes, and who was it that brought in the two +children from the Settlement, that were abused by their step-father, +and took the old ruffian's guns away from him and marched him in too! +That's a job for a second-rate doctor, isn't it? I hear the people +talking about you, and I have to turn my back for fear they hear my +eyes shouting out, 'That's my man you're praising' and here he is, +telling me he is a second-rate doctor! Is that what you were when the +fever was so bad, and all the Clarke's had it at once, and you nursed +six of them through it? Mrs. Clarke says the only undressing you did +was to loosen your shoe-laces!" + +"Don't you see--I know you better than you do yourself. You don't see +how big your work is. Is it a small thing to live six years in a place +and have every one depending on you, praising you--loving you--and +being able to advise them and lead the young fellows anyway you +like--making men of them, instead of street loafers--and their mothers +so thankful they can hardly speak of it." + +"You evidently don't know what we think of you, any of us--and here +I am--I don't know when it began with me--the first day I saw you--I +think, when I was twelve--I've been worshipping you and treasuring up +every word you ever said to me. I don't know whether it is love or +not, it's something very sweet. It has made me ambitious to look my +best, do my best and be my best. I want to make you proud of me--I +will make you proud of me--see if I don't--I want to be with you, to +help you, look after you--grow up with you--I don't know whether it is +love or not--it--is something! There is nothing too hard for me to do, +if it is for you--everything--any thing would be sweet to me--if you +were with me. Is that love?" + +She was standing before him, holding his hand in both of hers, and her +eyes had the light in them, the tender, glowing light that seemed to +flame blue at the edges, like the coal fire he had watched the night +before. + +Impulsively he drew her to him, and for a moment buried his face in +her warm, white neck, kissing the curling strands of her brown hair. + +"O Pearl," he cried, drawing away from her, "O Pearl--you're a hard +girl to give up--you make me forget all my good resolutions. I don't +want to do what I ought to do. I just want you." + +There was a smothered cry in his voice that smote on Pearl's heart +with a sudden fear. Mothers know the different notes in their +children's cries--and in Pearl, the maternal instinct was strong. + +She suddenly understood. He was suffering, there was a bar between +them--for some reason, he could not marry her! + +She grew years older, it seemed, in a moment, and the thought that +came into her brain, clamoring to be heard, exultantly, insistently +knocking for admission, was this--her mother's pessimistic way of +looking at life was right--there were things too good to be true--she +had been too sure of her happiness. The thought, like cold steel, lay +against her heart and dulled its beating. But the pain in his eyes +must be comforted. She stood up, and gravely took the hand he held out +to her. + +"Doctor," she said steadily, "you are right, quite right, about +this--a girl of eighteen does not know her own mind--it is too serious +a matter--life is too long--I--I think I love you--I mean I thought I +did--I know I like to be with you--and---all that--but I'm too young +to be sure--and I'll get over this all right. You're right in all you +say--and it's a good thing you are so wise about this--we might have +made a bad mistake--that would have brought us unhappiness. But it has +been sweet all the time, and I'm not sorry--we'll just say no more +about it now and don't let it worry you--I can stand anything--if +you're not worried." + +He looked at her in amazement--and not being as quick as she, her +words deceived him, and there was not a quiver on her lips, as she +said: + +"I'll go now, doctor, and we'll just forget what we were saying--they +were foolish words. I'm thinking of going North to teach--one of the +inspectors wrote me about a school there. I just got his letter today, +and he asked me to wire him--I'll be back at the holidays." + +She put the red tam on her brown hair, tucking up the loose strands, +in front of the glass, as she spoke. Manlike, he did not see that her +hands trembled, and her face had gone white. He sat looking at her in +deep admiration. + +"What a woman you are, Pearl," broke from his lips. + +She could not trust herself to shake hands, or even look at him. Her +one hope was to get away before her mask of unconcern broke into a +thousand pieces by the pounding of her heart, which urged her to throw +her arms around him and beg him to tell her what was really wrong--oh, +why wouldn't he tell her! + +"You'll think of this dear," he said, "in a few years when you are, I +hope, happily married to the man of your choice, and you will have a +kindly thought for me, and know I was not a bad sort--you'll remember +every word of this Pearl, and you will understand that what is +strange to you now--and you will perhaps think of me--and if not with +pleasure, it will at least be without pain." + +He wanted to give her the roses, which had come just a few moments +before she came in, but somehow he could not frame a casual word of +greeting. He would send them to her. + +She was going now. + +"Pearl, dearest Pearl," he cried "I cannot let you go like this--and +yet--it's best for both of us." + +"Sure it is," she said, smiling tightly, to keep her lips from +quivering. "I'm feeling fine over it all." The pain in his voice made +her play up to her part. + +"I can't even kiss you, dear,'" he said. "I don't want you to have one +bitter memory of this. I want you to know I was square--and loved you +too well to take the kiss, which in after life might sting your face +when you thought that I took advantage of your youth. A young girl's +first kiss is too sacred a thing." + +Suddenly Pearl's resolution broke down. It was the drawn look in his +face, and its strange pallor. + +She reached up and kissed his cheek. + +"A little dab of a kiss like that won't leave a sting on any one's +face," she said. + +She was gone! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WHERE MRS. CROCKS THREW THE SWITCH + + +When Pearl came out of the doctor's office into the sunshine of the +village street, she had but one thought--one overwhelming desire, +expressed in the way she held her head, and the firm beat of her +low-heeled shoes on the sidewalk--she must get away where she would +not see him or the people she knew. She realized that whatever it was +that had come between them was painful to him, and that he really +cared for her. To see her, would be hard on him, embarrassing to them +both, and she would do her share by going away--and she remembered, +with a fresh pang--that when she had spoken of this, he had made no +objection, thus confirming her decision that for her to go would be +the best way. + +The three glorious years, so full of hopes and dreams, were over! +Pearl's house of hopes had fallen! All was over! And it was not his +fault--he was not to blame. Instinctively, Pearl defended him in her +mind against a clamorous sense of injustice which told her that she +had not had a square deal! The pity of it all was what choked her and +threatened to storm her well guarded magazine of self-control! It was +all so sudden, so mysterious and queer, and yet, she instinctively +felt, so inexorable! + +Pearl had always been scornful of the tears of lovelorn maidens, and +when in one of her literature lessons at the Normal, the sad journey +of the lily-maid on her barge of black samite, floating down the +river, so dead and beautiful, with the smile on her face and the lily +in her hand, reduced form A to a common denominator of tears, and +made the whole room look like a Chautauqua salute, Pearl had stoutly +declared that if Elaine had played basketball or hockey instead +of sitting humped up on a pile of cushions in her eastern tower, +broidering the sleeve of pearls so many hours a day, she wouldn't have +died so easily nor have found so much pleasure in arranging her own +funeral. + +But on this bright March day, the village street seemed strangely dull +and dead to her, with an empty sound like a phone that has lost its +connection. Something had gone from her little world, leaving it +motionless, weary and old! A row of icicles hung from the roof of the +corner store, irregular and stained from the shingles above, like an +ugly set of ill-kept teeth, dripping disconsolately on the sidewalk +below, and making there a bumpy blotch of unsightly ice! + +In front of the store stood the delivery sleigh, receiving its load +of parcels, which were thrown in with an air of unconcern by a blocky +young man with bare red hands. The horse stood without being tied, in +an apparently listless and melancholy dream. A red and white cow +came out of the lane and attempted to cross the slippery sidewalk, +sprawling helplessly for a moment, and then with a great effort +recovered herself and went back the way she came, limping painfully, +the blocky young man hastening her movements by throwing at her a +piece of box lid, with the remark that that would "learn her." + +The sunshine so brilliant and keen, had a cold and merciless tang in +it, and a busy-body look about it, as if it delighted in shining into +forbidden corners and tearing away the covers that people put on their +sorrows, calling all the world to come and see! Pearl shuddered with +the sudden realization that the sun could shine and the wind could +blow bright and gay as ever, though hearts were writhing in agony! + +She hoped she would not see any of the people she knew, for the pain +that lay like a band of ice around her heart might be showing in her +face--and Pearl knew that the one thing she could not stand was a word +of sympathy. That would be fatal. So she hurried on. She would send a +wire of acceptance to her inspector friend, and then go over to the +stable for her horse, and be on her way home. + +But there is something whimsical about fate. It takes a hand in our +affairs without apology, and throws a switch at the last moment. If +Pearl had not met Mrs. Crocks at the corner, just before she took the +street to the station, this would have been a different story. But who +knows? We never get a chance to try the other way, and it is best and +wisest and easiest of comprehension to believe that whatever is, is +best! + +Mrs. Crocks was easily the best informed person regarding local +happenings, in the small town of Millford. She really knew. Every +community has its unlicensed and unauthorized gossips, who think they +know what their neighbors are thinking and doing, but who more often +than not get their data wrong, and are always careless of detail. Mrs. +Crocks was not one of these. + +When Bill Cavers got drunk, and spent in one grand, roaring spree all +the money which he and his wife and Libby Anne had saved for their +trip to Ontario, there were those who said that he went through six +hundred dollars that one night, making a rough guess at the amount. +Mrs. Crocks did not use any such amateur and unsatisfactory way of +arriving at conclusions. She did not need to--there was a way of +finding out! To the elevator she went, and looked at the books under +cover of looking up a wheat ticket which her husband had cashed and +found that Bill Cavers had marketed seventeen hundred and eight +dollars worth of wheat. From this he had paid his store bill, and the +blacksmith's bill, which when deducted, left him eight hundred and +fourteen dollars--she did not bother with the cents. The deductions +were easily verified--both the storekeeper and the blacksmith were +married men! + +This was the method she followed in all her research--careful, +laborious and accurate at all costs, with a fine contempt for her less +scientific contemporaries. The really high spots in her life had been +when she was able to cover her competitors with confusion by showing +that their facts were all wrong, which process she referred to as +"showing up these idle gossips." + +James Crocks, her husband, had chosen for himself a gentler avocation +than his wife's, and one which brought him greater peace of +mind--proprietor of the big red stable which spread itself over half a +block, he had unconsciously defined himself, as well as his place of +business, by having printed in huge white letters with black edging +across the shingled roof, the words: + +"HORSE REPOSITORY" PROP.J. CROCKS. + +Here the tired horses could forget the long trail and the heavy loads, +in the comfortable stalls, with their deep bedding of clean straw; and +here also, James Crocks himself was able to find the cheerful company, +who ate their meals in quietude of heart, asking no questions, +imputing no motives, knowing nothing of human intrigue, and above +all, never, never insisting that he tell them what he thought about +anything! Most of his waking hours were spent here, where he found the +gentle sounds of feeding horses, the honest smell of prairie hay and +the blessed absence of human chatter very soothing and restful. + +As time went on, and James Crocks grew more and more averse to human +speech--having seen it cause so much trouble one way'n another, Mrs. +Crocks found it was an economy of effort to board one of the stable +boys, and that is how it came about that Mr. Bertie Peters found +himself called from the hay-mow above the stable, to his proprietors' +guest chamber, and all the comforts of a home, including nightly +portions of raisin pie--and best of all, an interested and +appreciative audience who liked to hear him talk. Mrs. Crocks as usual +had made a good choice, for as Bertie talked all the time, he was sure +to say something once in a while. A cynical teacher had once said of +Bertie, that he never had an "unuttered thought." + +But even though the livery stable happenings as related by Bertie gave +Mrs. Crocks many avenues of information, all of her prescience could +not be explained through that or any other human agency. The young +doctor declared she had the gift or divination, was a mind reader, and +could see in the dark! Many a time when he had gone quietly to the +stable and taken out his team without as much as causing a dog to +bark, removing his sleigh bells to further cover his movements, and +stealing out of town like an absconding bank-teller, to make a call, +returning the same way, still under cover of night, and flattering +himself that he had fooled her this time, she would be waiting for +him, and timed her call to the exact minute. Just as he got in to his +room after putting his team away, his phone would ring and Mrs. Crocks +would ask him about the patient he had been to see. She did not always +call him, of course, but he felt she knew where he had been. There was +no explanation--it was a gift! + +Pearl had been rather a favorite with Mrs. Crocks when the Watsons +family lived in Millford, but since they had gone to the farm and +prosperity had come to them as evidenced by their better clothes, +their enlarged house, their happier faces, and more particularly +Pearl's success in her school work in the city, all of which had +appeared in the local paper, for the editor was enthusiastic for his +own town--Mrs. Crock's friendly attitude had suffered a change. She +could put up with almost anything in her friends, but success! + +But when she met Pearl on the street that day, her manner was +friendly. + +"Hello stranger," she said, "I hear you have been doing big things +down there in the city, winnin' debates and makin' speeches. Good for +you, Pearl--I always said you were a smart girl, even when your people +were as poor as get-out. I could see it in you--but don't let it spoil +you, Pearl--and don't ever forget you are just a country girl. But I +am certainly glad you did so well--for your mother's sake--many a time +I was dead sorry for her having to work so hard! It's a comfort to her +now to see you doin' so well. Where have been now? I saw you comin' +out of the doctor's office just now--anybody sick? You're not looking +as pert as usual yourself--you haven't been powdering' your face, I +hope! No one sick, eh? Just a friendly call then, was it? See here, +Pearl--when I was young, girls did not do the chasin', we let the men +do that, and I'm here to tell you it's the best way. And look here, +there's enough girls after Doctor Clay without you--there was a man +from the city telling Bertie at the stable that he seen our doctor in +a box at the Opera with the Senator's daughter two weeks ago, and that +she is fair dippy about him, and now that he is thinking of goin' +into politics, it would be a great chance for him. The other side are +determined to make him run for them against old Steadman, and the old +lady is that mad she won't let his name be mentioned in the house. She +says the country owes it to Mr. Steadman to put him in by acclamation! +And the doctor hasn't accepted it yet. The committee went to see +him yesterday and he turned them down but they won't take no for an +answer, and they asked him to think it over--I suppose he told you all +about it--" + +For the first time Mrs. Crocks stopped for breath. Her beady eyes were +glistening for excitement. Here was a scoop--if Pearl would only tell +her. She would be able to anticipate the doctor's answer. + +"What is he goin' to do, Pearl, I know he would tell you; I have +always said that doctor thinks more of you than he does of any of the +other girls! What did he say about it, will he take it?" + +Pearl was quite herself now--composed, on her guard, even smiling. + +"I think the doctor would prefer to make his own announcement," she +said, "and he will make it to the committee." + +Mrs. Crocks' eyes narrowed darkly, and she breathed heavily in her +excitement. Did Pearl Watson mean to tell her in as many words, to +mind her own business. But in Pearl's face there was no guile, and she +was going on her way. + +"Don't be in a hurry, Pearl," said Mrs. Crocks, "can't you wait a +minute and talk to an old friend. I am sure I do not care a pin +whether the doctor runs or not. I never was one to think that women +should concern themselves with politics--that surely belongs to the +men. I have been a home body all my life, as you know, and of course I +should have known that the doctor would not discuss his business with +a little chit like you--but dear, me, he is one terrible flirt, he +cannot pass a pretty face. Of course now he will settle down no doubt, +every one thinks he will anyway, and marry Miss Keith of Hampton--the +Keith's have plenty of money, though I don't believe that counts as +much with the doctor as family, and of course they have the blue +blood too, and her father being the Senator will help. What! must you +go--you're not half as sociable as you used to be when you brought the +milk every morning to the back door--you sure could talk then, +and tell some of the weirdest things. I always knew you would be +something, but if you freeze up like a clam when you meet old +friends--it does not seem as if education has improved you. Can't you +stay and talk a minute?" + +"I could stay," said Pearl, "and I can still talk, but I have not been +able to talk to you. You see I do not like to interrupt any one so +much older than myself!" + +When Pearl walked away, Mrs. Crocks looked after her with a look of +uncertainty on her face. Pearl's words rang in her ears! + +"She's smart, that kid--she's smart--I'll say that for her. There is +not a man in town who dare look me in the eye and take a rise like +that out of me, but she did it without a flicker. So I know I had her +mad or she wouldn't have said it, but wasn't she smooth about it?" + +Then her professional pride asserted itself, reminding her that a +slight had been put upon her, and her mood changed. + +"Of all the saucy little jades," she said to herself--"with the air of +a duchess, and the fine clothes of her! And to think that her mother +washed for me not so long ago, and that girl came for the clothes and +brought them back again! And now listen to her! You put your foot in +it, Pearl my young lady, when you rubbed Jane Crocks the wrong way, +for people cannot do that and get away with it! And remember I am +telling you." + +When Pearl left Mrs. Crocks standing on the street she walked quickly +to the station, but arriving there with the yellow blank in her hand, +she found her intention of accepting a school in the North had grown +weak and pale. She did not want to go to North, or any place. She +suddenly wanted to stay. She would take a school some place near--and +see what was going to happen; and besides--she suddenly thought of +this--she must not decide on anything until she saw Mr. Donald, her +old teacher, and got his advice. It would not be courteous to do +anything until she saw him, and tomorrow was the day he wanted her to +go to the school to speak to the children. Why, of course, she could +not go---and so Pearl reasoned in that well-known human way of backing +herself up in the thing she wanted to do! So she tore off a couple of +blank forms and put them in her purse, and asked the agent if he knew +how the train from the East was, and he gave her the assurance that it +had left the city on time and was whoopin' it along through the hills +at Cardinal when last heard from--and stood a good chance of getting +in before night. + +All the way home, Pearl tried to solve the tangle of thoughts that +presented themselves to her, but the unknown quantity, the "X" in this +human equation, had given her so little to work on, that it seemed +as though she must mark it "insufficient data" and let it go! But +unfortunately for Pearl's peace of mind it could not be dismissed in +that way. + +One thing was evident--it was some sudden happening or suggestion that +had changed his attitude towards her, for there was no mistaking the +tenderness in his messages over the phone the day before--and why did +he remember the day at all, if it were only to tell her that she +was too young to really know her own mind. The change--whatever it +was--had taken place in the interval of his phoning, and her visit, +and Mrs. Crocks had said that a committee had gone to see him and +offer him the nomination! What difference would that make? The subtle +suggestion of the senator's daughter came back to her mind! Was it +possible--that the Watson family were--what she had once read of in an +English story--'socially impossible.' Pearl remembered the phrase. The +thought struck her with such an impact that she pulled her horse up +with a jerk, and stood on the road in deep abstraction. + +She remembered the quarrel she had once had with a girl at school. It +all came back in a flash of rage that lit up this forgotten corner of +her memory! The cause of the quarrel did not appear in the record, but +that the girl had flung it at her that her people were nothing and +nobody--her mother a washerwoman and her father a section hand--now +stood out in letters of flame! Pearl had not been angry at the +time--and she remembered that her only reason for taking out the +miserable little shrimp and washing her face in the snow was that +she knew the girl had said this to be very mean, and with the pretty +certain hope that it would cut deep! She was a sorrel-topped, anaemic, +scrawny little thing, who ate slate-pencils and chewed paper, and she +had gone crying to the teacher with the story of Pearl's violence +against her. + +Mr. Donald had found out the cause, and had spoken so nicely to Pearl +about it, that her heart was greatly lifted as a result, and the +incident became a pleasant recollection, with only the delightful +part remaining, until this moment. Mr. Donald had said that Pearl was +surely a lucky girl, when the worst thing that could be said to her +was that her two parents had been engaged in useful and honorable +work--and he had made this the topic for a lesson that afternoon in +showing how all work is necessary and all honorable. Out of the lesson +had grown a game which they often played on Friday afternoons, when a +familiar object was selected and all the pupils required to write +down the names of all the workers who had been needed to bring it to +perfection. + +And the next day when lunch time came, Mr. Donald told them he had +been thinking about the incident, and how all that we enjoy in life +comes to us from our fellow-workers, and he was going to have a new +grace, giving the thanks to where it belonged. He said God was not the +kind of a Creator who wanted all the glory of the whole world--for he +knew that every man and woman or boy or girl that worked, was entitled +to praise, and he liked to see them thanked as they deserved. + +A new grace was written on the board, and each day it was repeated by +all the pupils. Pearl remembered that to her it had seemed very grand +and stately and majestic, with the dignity and thrill of a pipe-organ: + +"Give us to know, O God, that the blessings we are about to enjoy +have come to us through the labors of others. Strengthen the ties of +brotherhood and grant that each of us may do our share of the world's +work." + +But the aesthetic emotions which it sent through her young soul the +first time she said it, did not in any way interfere with the sweet +satisfaction she had in leaning across the aisle and wrinkling up her +nose at her former adversary! + +She began to wonder now if Mr. Donald had been right in his idealistic +way of looking at life and labor. She had always thought so until this +minute, and many a thrill of pride had she experienced in thinking of +her parents and their days of struggling. They had been and were, the +real Empire-builders who subdued the soil and made it serve +human needs, enduring hardships and hunger and cold and bitter +discouragements, always with heroism and patience. The farm on which +they now lived, had been abandoned, deserted, given up for a bad job, +and her people had redeemed it, and were making it one of the best +in the country! Every farm in the community was made more valuable +because of their efforts. It had seemed to Pearl a real source of +proper pride--that her people had begun with nothing, and were now +making a comfortable living, educating their children and making +improvements each year in their way of living and in the farm itself! +It seemed that she ought to be proud of them, and she was! + +But since she had been away, she learned to her surprise that the +world does not give its crowns to those who serve it best--but to +those who can make the most people serve them, and she found that +many people think of work as a disagreeable thing, which if patiently +endured for a while may be evaded ever afterwards, and indeed her +mother had often said that she was determined to give her children an +education, so they would not need to work as hard as she and their +father had. Education then seemed to be a way of escape. + +Senator Keith, of Hampton, with his forty sections all rented out, did +not work. Miss Keith, his daughter, did not work. They did not need to +work--they had escaped! + +It was quite a new thought to Pearl, and she pondered it deeply. The +charge against her family--the slur which could be thrown on them was +not that of dishonor, dishonesty, immorality or intemperance--none of +these--but that they had worked at poorly paid, hard jobs, thereby +giving evidence that they were not capable of getting easier +ones. Hard work might not be in itself dishonorable--but it was a +confession. + +Something in Pearl's heart cried out at the injustice of this. It was +not fair! All at once she wanted to talk about it to--some one, to +everybody. It was a mistaken way of looking at life, she thought; the +world, as God made it, was a great, beautiful place, with enough of +everything to go around. There is enough land--enough coal--enough +oil. Enough pleasure and beauty, enough music and fun and good times! +What had happened was that some had taken more than their share, and +that was why others had to go short, and the strange part of it all +was that the hoggish ones were the exalted ones, to whom many bowed, +and they--some of them--were scornful of the people who were still +working--though if every one stopped working, the world would soon be +starving. + +"It is a good world--just the same," said Pearl, as she looked away to +her left, where the Hampton Hills shoved one big blue shoulder into +the sky-line. "People do not mean to be hard and cruel to each +other--they do not understand, that's all--they have not thought--they +do not see." + +From the farm-houses set back in the snowy fields, came the cheerful +Spring sounds of scolding hens and gabbling ducks, with the occasional +bark of a dog. The sunshine had in it now no tang of cold or +bitterness, for in Pearl's heart there had come a new sense of +power--an exaltation of spirit that almost choked her with happiness. +Her eyes flashed--her hands tingled--her feet were light as air. Out +of the crushing of her hopes, the falling of her house of dreams, had +come this inexplicable intoxication, which swept her heart with its +baptism of joy. + +She threw back her head and looked with rapture into the limitless +blue above her, with something of the vision which came to Elisha's +servant at Dothan when he saw the mountains were filled with the +horses and the chariots of the Lord! + +"It is a good world," she whispered, "God made it, Christ lived in +it--and when He went away, He left His Spirit. It can't go wrong +and stay wrong. The only thing that is wrong with it is in people's +hearts, and hearts can be changed by the Grace of God." + +A sudden feeling of haste came over her--a new sense of +responsibility--there were so many things to be done. She roused the +fat pony from his pleasant dream, to a quicker gait, and drove home +with the strange glamour on her soul. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +RED ROSES + + +When Pearl rode in to the farmyard, she saw her brother Tommy coming +in great haste across the fields, waving his arms to her with every +evidence of strong excitement. The other children were on their way +home, too, but it was evident that Thomas had far outrun them. Tommy +had a tale to tell. + +"There is going to be real 'doin's' at the school on Friday," he +cried, as soon as he was within calling distance of her. "Mr. Donald +has asked all the big people, too, and the people from Purple Springs, +and the women are going to bring pies and things, and there will be +eats, and you are to make the speech, and then maybe there will be a +football match, and you can talk as long as you like, and we are all +to clap our hands when your name is mentioned and then again when you +get up to speak--and it's to be Friday." + +Tommy told his story all in one breath, and without waiting to get +a reply, he made his way hurriedly to the barn where his father and +Teddy were working. There he again told it, with a few trifling +variations. "You are all to come, and there will be a letter tomorrow +telling you all about it, but it is a real big day that is going to be +at school, and all the big people, too, and it is to hear Pearl talk +about what she saw and heard in the city, and there will be cakes and +stuff to eat and the Tuckers said they would not come and Jimmy said +'Dare you to stay away' and they did not take his dare." + +Teddy, in true brotherly fashion, professed some doubts of the success +of the undertaking. + +"Pearl is all right to talk around home, but gee whiz, I don't believe +she can stand right up and talk like a preacher, she'll forget what +she was goin' to say, I couldn't say two words before all those +people." + +John Watson went on with the fanning of the wheat. He had stopped the +mill only long enough to hear Tommy's message, and Teddy's brotherly +apprehensions, he made no comment. But a close observer would have +noticed that he worked a little faster, and perhaps held his shoulders +a little straighter--they had grown stooped in the long days when he +worked on the section. Although his shoulders had sagged in the long +hard struggle, there had always burned in his heart the hope that +better days would come--and now the better days were here. The farm +was doing well--every year they were able to see that they were making +progress. The children were all at school, and today--today Pearlie +was asked to speak to all the people in the neighborhood. Pearlie had +made a name for herself when she got the chance to get out with other +boys and girls. It was a proud day for John Watson, and his honest +heart did not dissemble the pride he felt in his girl. + +Pearl herself had a momentary feeling of fear when she heard the plans +that were being made. The people she knew would be harder to speak +to than strangers. But the exaltation that had come to her heart was +still with her, and impelled her to speak. There were things which +should be said--great matters were before the country. Pearl had +attended many political meetings in the city, and also as many +sessions of the Legislature as she could, and so she knew the +Provincial political situation, and it was one of great interest. + +The government had been in power for many years and had built up a +political machine which they believed to be invincible. They had the +country by the throat, and ruled autocratically, scorning the feeble +protests of the Opposition, who were few in number and weak in debate. +Many a time as Pearl sat in the Ladies' Gallery and listened to the +flood of invective with which the cabinet ministers smothered any +attempt at criticism which the Opposition might make, she had longed +for a chance to reply. They were so boastful, so overbearing, so +childishly important, it seemed to her that it would be easy to make +them look ridiculous, and she often found herself framing replies +for the Opposition. But of course there was a wide gulf between the +pompous gentlemen who lolled and smoked their black cigars in the +mahogany chairs on the redcarpeted floor of the House, and the +bright-eyed little girl who sat on the edge of her seat in the gallery +and looked down upon them. + +She had been in the gallery the day that a great temperance delegation +had come and asked that the bar might be abolished, and she had +listened to every word that had been said. The case against the bar +had been so well argued, that it seemed to Pearl that the law-makers +must be moved to put it away forever. She did not know, of course, +that the liquor interests of the province were the strong supporters +of the Government, and the source of the major portion of their +campaign funds; that the bars were the rallying places for the +political activities of the party, and that to do away with the bars +would be a blow to the Government, and, as the Premier himself had +once said, "No Government is going to commit suicide," the chances for +the success of the delegation were very remote. Pearl did not know +this, and so she was not prepared for it when the Premier and one of +his Ministers stoutly defended the bar-room as a social gathering +place where men might meet and enjoy an innocent and profitable hour. + +"It is one of our social institutions that you are asking us to +destroy," cried the Minister of Education, "and I tell you frankly +that we will not do it. The social instincts distinguish man from the +brute, and they must be cherished and encouraged. Your request is +not in the best interests of our people, and as their faithful +representatives who seek to safeguard their interests and their +highest welfare, we must refuse." + +And the Government desks were pounded in wild enthusiasm! And Pearl +had come away with a rage in her heart, the wordless rage of the +helpless. After that she attended every meeting of the Suffrage +Society, and her deep interest and devotion to the cause won for her +many friends among the suffrage women. + +The news of the proposed meeting in the school brought out many and +varied comments, when it was received in the homes of the district. +Mr. Donald sent to each home a letter in which he invited all the +members of each family to be present to "do honor to one who has +brought honor to our school and district." + +Mrs. Eben Snider, sister of Mrs. Crocks, a wizened little pod of a +woman with a face like parchment, dismally prophesied that Pearl +Watson would be clean spoiled with so much notice being taken of her. +"Put a beggar on horseback," she cried, when she read the invitation, +"and you know where he will ride to! The Watsons are doing too +well--everything John Watson touches turns to money since he went on +that farm, and this last splurge for Pearl is just too much. I won't +be a party to it! It is too much like makin' flesh of one and fowl of +the other. Mr. Donald always did make too much of a pet of that girl, +and then all those pieces in the paper, they will spoil her, no girl +of her age can stand it--it is only puttin' notions in her head, and +from what I can hear, there's too much of that now among women. I +never had no time to be goin' round makin' speeches and winnin' +debates, and neither has any other decent woman. It would suit Pearl +better to stay at home and help her mother; they say she goes around +town with her head dressed up like a queen, and Jane says she's as +stiff as pork when a person speaks to her. I'll tell Mr. Donald what I +think of it." + +At the Steadman home, the news of the meeting had a happier reception, +for Mr. Steadman, who was the local member of Parliament, was asked +to preside, and as the elections were likely to take place before the +year was out, he was glad of this chance to address a few remarks to +the electors. He had been seriously upset ever since he heard that the +young doctor was to be offered the nomination for the Liberals. That +would complicate matters for him, and make it imperative that he +should lose no opportunity of making himself agreeable to his +constituents. + +Before the news of the meeting was an hour old, Mr. Steadman had begun +to arrange his speech, and determined that he would merely make a few +happy random extempore remarks, dashed off in that light, easy way +which careful preparation can alone insure; and Mrs. Steadman had +decided that she would wear her purple silk with the gold embroidery, +and make a Prince of Wales cake and a batch of lemon cookies--some of +them put together with a date paste, and the rest of them just loose, +with maybe a date or a raisin in the middle. + +Mrs. Watson was in a state of nerves bordering on stage fright, from +the time that Tommy brought home the news, a condition which Pearl did +her best to relieve by assuming a nonchalance which she did not feel, +regarding the proposed speech. + +"What ever will you talk about, Pearlie, dear," her mother cried in +vague alarm; "and to all them people. I don't think the teacher should +have asked ye, you could do all right with just the scholars, for any +bit of nonsense would ha' done for them, but you will have to mind +what you are sayin' before all the grown people!" + +Pearl soaked the beans for tomorrow's cooking, with an air of +unconcern. + +"Making a speech is nothing, Ma," she said, "when a person knows how. +I have listened to the cabinet ministers lots of times, and there's +nothing to it. It is just having a good beginning and a fine flourish +at the end, with a verse of poetry and the like of that--it does not +matter what you say in between. I have heard the Premier speak lots of +times, and they go crazy over him and think he is a wonderful speaker. +He tells how he was once a farmer's boy and wandered happily over the +pasture fields in his bare feet, and then how he climbed the ladder +of fame, rung by rung--that is fine stuff, every one likes that; and +whenever he got stuck he told about the flag of empire that waves +proudly in the breeze and has never known defeat, and the destiny of +this Canada of ours, and the strangers within our gates who have come +here to carve out their destiny in this limitless land, and when he +thought it best to make them sniffle a little he told about the sacred +name of mother, and how the tear-drop starts at mention of that dear +name, and that always went big, and when he began to run down a +little, he just spoke all the louder, and waved his arms around, and +the people did not notice there was nothing coming; we used to go over +and listen to the speeches and then make them when the teachers were +not in the room--it was lots of fun. I know lots of the Premier's +speeches right off. There is nothing to it, Ma, so don't you be +frightened." + +"Pearl, you take things too light," said her mother severely, "a +person never knows when you are in earnest, and I am frightened about +you. You should not feel so careless about makin' speeches, it is +nothing to joke about. I wish you would be for writin' out what you +are goin' to say, and then we could hear you go over it, and some one +could hold the paper for you and give you the word if you forget--it +would be the safest way!" + +"All right, Ma," said Pearl, "I'll be making it up now while I peel +the potatoes." + +While they were talking there came a knock at the door, and when it +was opened, there stood Bertie from the livery stable, with a +long green-wrapped box in his hand, which he gave to Mrs. Watson, +volunteering without delay, all the information he had regarding it. +Bertie never failed to reveal all the truth as he knew it--so, keeping +nothing back, he gave the history of the box so far as he had been +able to gather it. + +"It's for Pearl--and the doctor sent it out. I don't know why he +didn't give it to her when she was in, for she was in his office--it's +flowers, for it is marked on it--and they came from Hampton." + +Bertie would have stayed to see the flowers opened, for he knew that +Mrs. Crocks would be much interested to know just what they were, and +what Pearl said, and what her mother said--and if there was a note +inside--and all the other good stuff he would be able to gather, but +Pearl took them, with an air of unconcern, and thanking Bertie, said +quite carelessly: + +"Don't wait for an answer, Bertie, I can phone if there is any need, +and I know you are in a hurry--we must not keep you." + +And before Bertie knew what had happened, he found himself walking +away from the door. + +When the roses had been put in water, and each of the children had +been given a smell and a feel of the velvety petals, and Mrs. Watson +had partially recovered from the shock that the sight of flowers in +the winter, always gave her for they reminded her so of her father's +funeral, and the broken pillar which the Oddfellows sent; Pearl read +the card: + + "To Pearl--eighteen-going-on-nineteen, + Hoping that the years will bring her nothing + but joy." + +It was written on one of the doctor's professional cards, and that was +all. But looking again into the envelope there was a folded note which +she did not read to the assembled and greatly interested group. When +she was alone in the little beamed room upstairs, she read it: + +"Dear Pearl:--I forgot to give you the roses when you were in this +afternoon. Accept them now with my deep affection. You have been a +bright spot in my life, and you will always be that--like a red rose +in a dull room. Your success will always be very dear to me, and my +prophecy is that you will go far. I will always think of you with +deepest admiration and pride. Ever yours, + +"HORACE CLAY." + +Pearl read it twice; then impulsively pressed it to her cheek. + +"It sounds like good-bye," she said, with her lips trembling, "it +sounds like the last of something. Why won't he tell me? It is not +like him." + +A wither of loneliness went over her face as she clasped the note +between her hands. + +"I don't believe it is that," she said fiercely. "I won't believe it!" +Mrs. Crocks' words were taunting her; "the doctor thinks more of blue +blood than he does of money, and if he goes into politics it will mean +a lot to him to be related to the senator." + +An overwhelming rage was in Pearl's heart, in spite of her +determination not to believe the suggestion; a blind, choking rage--it +was all so unfair. + +"My dad is more of a man than Senator Keith," she said to herself, +"for all his fine clothes and his big house. He was nothing but a +heeler for the party, and was made Senator because there was no dirty +job that he would not do to get votes for them. I know how he bought +liquor for the Galicians and brought them in by the car-load to vote, +like cattle, and that's blue blood, is it? Sure it is--you can see it +in his shot-silk face and his two bad old eyes swollen like oysters! +If the doctor wants him he can have him, and it's blamed little +frettin' I'll do!... My dad eats with his knife, does he? All right, +he bought the knife with honest money, and he earned what's on it too. +All the dirty money they have would not buy him, or make him do a mean +trick to any one. I am not ashamed of him--he suits me, and he can go +on eating with his knife and wearing his overalls and doing anything +he wants to do. He suits me!" + +When Pearl went back to the kitchen, her father was taking off his +smock. Supper was ready, and he and Teddy had just come in. The dust +of the fanning-mill was on his face and his clothes. His unmittened +hands were red and rough, and bore traces of the work he had been +doing. In his hair were some of the seeds and straws blown out by the +mill. There was nothing very attractive about John Watson, unless it +was his kindly blue eye and the humorous twist of his mouth, but +in Pearl's heart there was a fierce tenderness for her father, a +protective love which glorified him in her eyes. + +"Did you hear the news, pa," she cried, as she impulsively threw her +arms around his neck. "Did you know that I am going to speak in the +school, and they are all coming out to hear me. Are you glad, Pa, and +do you think I can do it?" + +Her burning cheek was laid close to his, and he patted her shoulder +lovingly. + +"Do I think you can do it, Pearlie, that I do--you can do whatever you +go at--I always knew that." + +"Pearl, child," cried her mother, "don't be hugging your Pa like that, +and you with your good dress on; don't you see the dust and dirt on +him--you will ruin your clothes child." + +Pearl kissed him again, and gave him one more hug, before she said, +"It is clean dirt, Ma, and it will brush off, and I just couldn't +wait; but sure and it's clean dirt anyway." + +"It is gettin' colder," said John Watson, as he hung up his smock +behind the door, "our Spring is over for awhile, I think. I saw two +geese leggin' it back as fast as they could go, and each one scoldin' +the other one--we'll have a good spell or winter yet, I am afraid, in +spite of our two warm days and all the signs of Spring." + +"Weather like you is too good to last," said Mrs. Watson complacently, +"I knew it wasn't the Spring, it was too good to last." + +Pearl went to the window and looked out--already there was a threat of +snow in the whining wind, and as she watched, a stray flake struck the +window in front of her. + +"It was too good to last," she said with a sigh which broke into a sob +in the middle, "It was too good to be true!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE INNOCENT DISTURBER + + +If there was any lack of enthusiasm among the parents it had no +reflection in the children's minds, for the Chicken Hill School, after +the great announcement, simply pulsated with excitement. Country +children have capabilities for enjoyment that the city child knows +nothing about, and to the boys and girls at Chicken Hill the prospect +of a program, a speech from Pearl Watson, and a supper--was most +alluring. Preparations were carried on with vigor. Seats were scrubbed +by owners, and many an ancient landmark of ink was lost forever. +Frayed window blinds that had sagged and dropped, and refused to go up +or down, were taken down and rolled and put back neat and even, and +the scholars warned not to touch them; the stove got a rubbing +with old newspapers; mousy corners of desks were cleaned out--and +objectionable slate rags discarded. Blackboards were cleaned and +decorated with an elaborate maple leaf stencil in green and brown, and +a heroic battle cry of "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee" executed +in flowing letters, in the middle. Mary Watson was the artist, and +spared no chalk in her undertaking, for each capital ended in +an arrow, and had a blanket of dots which in some cases nearly +obliterated its identity. But the general effect was powerful. + +The day before, every little girl had her hair in tight braids +securely knotted with woollen yarn. Boudoir caps were unknown in the +Chicken Hill School, so the bare truth of these preparations were to +be seen and known of all. Maudie Steadman had her four curls set in +long rags, fastened up with pins, Mrs. Steadman having devised a new, +original way of making Maudie's hair into large, loose "natural" +curls, which were very handsome, and not until this day did Mrs. +Steadman show to the public the method of "setting." + +Mr. Donald had placed all details of the entertainment in the hands +of Mary Watson and Maudie Steadman, and no two members of a +House-Committee ever worked harder, or took more pleasure in making +arrangements. + +"Let's not ask the Pipers--they're dirt poor," said Maudie, when they +sat down at noon to make out the list of providers. + +"Indeed, we will," said Mary, whose knowledge of the human heart was +most profound. "If people are poor, that's all the more reason why +they would be easily hurt, and it's not nice for us to even know that +they are poor. We'll ask them, you bet--and Mrs. Piper will bring +something. Besides--if we didn't ask them to bake, they wouldn't +come--and that's the way rows start in a neighborhood. We'll manage it +all right--and if there are any sandwiches left over--we'll send them +to the smaller children, and the Pipers will come in on that. It ain't +so bad to be poor," concluded Mary, out of her large experience, "but +it hurts to have people know it!" + +When Pearl, with her father and mother arrived at the school on the +afternoon of the meeting, it came to her with a shock, how small the +school was, and how dreary. Surely it had not been so mouse-gray and +shabby as this when she had been there. The paint was worn from the +floor, the ceiling was smoked and dirty, the desks were rickety and +uneven--the blackboards gray. The same old map of North America hung +tipsily between the blackboards. It had been crooked so long, that it +seemed to be the correct position, and so had escaped the eye of the +House-Committee, who had made many improvements for this occasion. + +In the tiny porch, there were many mysterious baskets and boxes and +tin pails of varying sizes, and within doors a long table at the back +of the room had on it many cups and saucers, with a pile of tissue +paper napkins. A delightful smell of coffee hung on the air. + +Pearl wore her best brown silk dress, with a lace collar and cuff set +contributed the Christmas before by her Aunt Kate from Ontario, and at +her waist, one of the doctor's roses. The others had been brought +over by Mary, and were in a glass jar on the tidy desk, where they +attracted much attention and speculation as to where they had +come from. They seemed to redeem the bare school-room from utter +dreariness, and Pearl found herself repeating the phrase in the +doctor's letter, "Like a rose in a dark room." + +The children were hilariously glad to see Pearl, and her lightness of +heart came back to her, when a group of them gathered around her to +receive her admiration and praise for their beautifully curled hair, +good clothes and hair ribbons. Bits of family history were freely +given to her too, such as Betty Freeman's confidential report on her +mother's absence, that she dyed her silk waist, and it streaked, and +she dyed it again--and just as soon as she could get it dry, she would +come--streaks or no streaks--and would Pearl please not be in a hurry +to begin. + +Then the meeting was called to order, and the smaller children were +set like a row of gaily colored birds around the edge of the platform, +so their elders could sit on their little desks in front, and the +schoolroom was filled to its last foot of space. There were about a +dozen chairs for the older people. + +Pearl had gone to the back of the room to speak to the old gardener +from Steadman's farm, a shy old man, who just naturally sought the +most remote corner for his own. Her affectionate greeting brought a +glow into his face, that set Pearl's heart throbbing with joy: + +"It's good to see you, Pearl," he said, "you look like a rose to me, +and you don't forget an old friend." + +Pearl held the hard old gnarled hand in her own, and her heart was +full of joy. The exaltation of the day she rode home was coming +to her. Love was the power that could transform the world. People +everywhere, all sorts of people, craved love and would respond to it. +"If I can cheer up poor old Bill Murray, and make him look like this, +with a glisten in his eyes, I'm satisfied," she thought. + +To Mr. Donald Pearl looked like a rose, too, a rose of his own +growing, and his voice trembled a little when he called the meeting to +order and in his stately way bade everyone welcome. + +"I am going to hand over the meeting to Mr. Steadman in a moment," he +said, "but before I do I wish to say that the Chicken Hill School +is very proud today to welcome one of its former pupils, Miss Pearl +Watson." + +At this the gaily colored company who bordered the platform, burst +into ecstatic hand clapping, in which the older members joined rather +shamefacedly. Demonstrations come hard to prairie people. + +"The years she spent in this school were delightful years to me," went +on Mr. Donald. "She helped me with the younger children--she helped +me to keep up enthusiasm for the work--she helped me to make life +pleasant for all of us--she did more--she helped me to believe that +life is worth the struggle--she helped me to believe in myself. I was +not surprised that Pearl made a record in her work in the city; she +could not fail to do that. She is in love with life--to me, she is the +embodiment of youth, with all its charms and all its promise." + +"I have wanted to hear her impressions of the city. Nothing, to her, +is common-place--she sees life through a golden mist that softens its +sharp outlines. I am glad that every one could come today and give a +welcome home to our first graduate from Chicken Hill School!" + +This threatened to dislodge the seating arrangement on the platform, +for in their enthusiastic applause, the Blackburn twins on account +of the shortness of their legs and the vigor of their applause, lost +their balance and fell. But they bore it well, and were restored +without tears! The excitement was so great that no one of the young +row would have known it if they had broken a bone! + +"And now I will ask our local member, Mr. Steadman, to take charge +of the meeting, and give the neighborhood's welcome to our first +graduate!" + +Then Mr. Steadman arose! He was a stout man, with a square face, and +small, beady black eyes and an aggressive manner; a man who felt sure +of himself; who knew he was the centre of his own circle. There was a +well-fed, complacent look about him too which left no doubt that he +was satisfied with things as they were--and would be deeply resentful +of change. There was still in his countenance some trace of his +ancestor's belief in the Divine right of kings! It showed in his +narrow, thought-proof forehead, and a certain indescribable attitude +which he held toward others, and which separated him from his +neighbors. Instinctively, the people who met him, knew he lacked human +sympathy and understanding, but he had a hold on the people of his +constituency, for through his hands went all the Government favors and +patronage. Anyone who wanted a telephone, had to "see Mr. Steadman." +The young people who went to the city to find employment, were wise to +see Mr. Steadman before they went. So although he was not liked, he +had a prestige which was undeniable. + +Mr. Steadman began his remarks by saying how glad he was to be offered +the chair on this glad occasion. He always liked to encourage the +young, and he believed it our duty to be very tolerant and encouraging +to youth. + +The boundaries of the platform began to wriggle. They had heard Mr. +Steadman before--he often came in and made speeches--but he never +brought any oranges--or peanuts or even "Farmers' Mixed." + +"Youth is a time of deep impressions," went on the chairman; "wax to +receive--granite to retain. Youth was the time of learning, and he +hoped every boy and girl in his presence would earnestly apply himself +and herself to their books, for only through much study could success +be attained. That is what put him where he was today." + +More wriggles, and some discussion at his feet! + +He was glad to know that one of Mr. Donald's pupils had been able to +do so well in the city. Three cheers for the country! He had always +believed it was the best place to be brought up--and was glad to say +that he too, had spent his youth on a farm. Most of the successful men +of the world came from the farms. + +He believed absolutely in education for women, education of a suitable +kind, and believed there was a definite place for women in the +world--a place which only women could fill. That place was +the home--the quiet precincts of home--not the hurly-burly of +politics--that was man's sphere--and a hard sphere it was, as he knew +well. He didn't wish to see any woman in such a hard life, with its +bitter criticism and abuse. He was sorry to notice that there was a +new agitation among women in the city--it had come up in the session +just closed--that women wanted to vote. + +Mr. Steadman threw out his hands with a gesture of unconcern: + +"Well," I say, "let them vote--if they want to--let them run the whole +country; we'll stay at home. It's time we had a rest, anyway!" + +A little dry cackle of laughter went over the room at this, in which +Mr. Donald did not join--so it got no support from the pupils of +Chicken Hill, who faithfully followed their teacher's lead. + +Mr. Steadman went on blithely: + +"I am old fashioned enough to want my wife to stay at home. I like +to find her there when I come home. I don't want her to sit in +Parliament; she hasn't time--for one thing." + +Mrs. Steadman sat in front, with the purple plume in her hat nodding +its approval: + +"And I say it in all kindness to all women--they havn't the ability. +They have ability of their own, but not that kind. Parliaments are +concerned with serious, big things. This year, the program before +our Provincial Parliament, is Good Roads. We want every part of this +Province to enjoy the blessing of of good roads, over which they can +bring their produce to market, binding neighborhoods together in the +ties of friendship. Good roads for everyone is our policy." + +"Now what do women know about making roads? They are all right to go +visiting over the roads after they are built, but how much good would +they be in building them?" + +This was greeted with another scattered rattle of laughter, followed +by a silence, which indicated intense listening. Even the restless +edging of the platform knew something was happening, and listened. + +"Our Opposition is coming forward with a foolish program of fads and +fancies. They want the women to have the vote; they want to banish the +bar! They want direct legislation. These are all radical measures, +new, untried and dangerous. With women voting, I have no sympathy, +as I said. They are not fitted for it. It is not that I do not love +women--I do--I love them too well--most of them." + +He paused a moment here--but no one laughed. The audience did not +believe him. + +"There are some women in the city whom I would gladly send to jail. +They are upsetting women's minds, and hurting the homes. Don't let us +take any chances on destroying the home, which is the bulwark of the +nation. What sight is more beautiful then to see a mother, queen of +the home, gathering her children around her. She can influence +her husband's vote--her son's vote.--she has a wider and stronger +influence than if she had the vote to herself. Her very helplessness +is her strength. And besides, I know that the best women, the very +best women do not want to sit in Parliament. My wife does not want +to--neither did my mother--no true woman wants to, only a few +rattle-brained, mentally unbalanced freaks--who do not know what they +want." + +Pearl smiled at this. She had heard this many times. + +"Now, as to banishing the bar, you all know I am not a drinker. I can +take it--or leave it--but I am broad minded enough to let other people +have the same privilege that I ask for myself. Men like to gather in +a friendly way, chat over old times or discuss politics, and have a +glass, for the sake of good fellowship, and there's no harm done. +There are some, of course, who go too far--I am not denying that. But +why do they do it? They did not get the right home training--that +is why. In the sacred precincts of home, the child can be taught +anything--that's the mother's part, and it is a more honorable part +than trying to ape men--and wear the pants." + +This brought a decided laugh--though if Mr. Steadman had been sensible +to thought currents, he would have felt twinges in his joints, +indicating that a storm was brewing. But he was having what the +preachers call a "good time," and went merrily on. + +"Direct legislation is a dangerous thing, which would upset +representative government. It is nothing less than rabble rule, +letting the ignorant rabble say what we are to do. Our vote is too +wide now, as you know, when every Tom, Dick and Harry has a vote, +whether they own an inch of ground or not. Your hired man can kill +your vote, though you own a township of land. Do you want to give him +more power? I think not! Well if the opposition ever get in power, the +women and the hired men, and even the foreigners will run the country, +and it will not be fit to live in. We're doing all right now, our +public buildings, our institutions are the best in Canada. We have +put the flag on every schoolhouse in the country--we have good, +sane, steady government, let us stick to it. I believe that the next +election will see the good ship come safely into port with the same +old skipper on the bridge, and the flag of empire proudly furling its +folds in the breeze. We have no fears of the fads and fancies put +forward by short-haired women and long-haired men." + +That being the end of his speech, the place where his superior always +sat down, amidst thunderous applause. Mr. Steadman sat down, too, +forgetting that he had been asked to be the Chairman, and introduce +Pearl. + +The applause which followed his remarks, was not so vociferous as he +had expected, partly because there were no "Especially instructed +clappers." No one was very enthusiastic, except Mrs. Steadman, who +apparently agreed with all he said. + +Rising to his feet again he said: "The good ladies have bountifully +provided for our needs today--what would we do without the ladies? but +before we come to that very interesting item on our program, we are +going to hear from Pearl Watson. Pearl Watson is one of the girls who +has taken full advantage of our splendid educational system, than +which there is none better in Canada--or in the world. As a member of +the Legislature, I am justly proud of our Department of Education, and +today we will be entertained by one of our own products, Pearl Watson, +on whom we might well hang the label 'Made in Canada.' I do not know +whether she intends to say a piece--or what, but bespeak for her a +respectful and courteous hearing." + +Mr. Steadman sat down, adjusting his gold and blue tie, and removed +his glasses, which he put away in a large leather case that closed +with a snap. His attitude indicated that the real business of the day +was over, now that he had spoken. + +Pearl came forward and stepped to the platform, displacing temporarily +one of the twins, to make a space where she might step. Having +restored him safely, she turned to the people. There was a smile in +her eyes that was contagious. The whole roomful of people smiled back +at her, and in that moment she established friendly relations with her +audience. + +"It has been a real surprise to me," she began, in a conversational +tone, "to hear Mr. Steadman make a speech. I am sure his colleagues in +the House would have been surprised to have heard him today. He is a +very quiet man there--he never speaks. The first night I went to the +House with a crowd of Normalites, I pointed out our member, to let +those city girls see what we could raise in the country--but it seems +the speeches are all made by half a dozen, the others just say 'Aye' +when they're told. All on one side of the House say 'Aye'; the other +side say 'No.' I have heard Mr. Steadman say 'Aye,' lots of times--but +nothing more. The Premier, or one of the Cabinet Ministers tells them +when to say it--it all looks very easy to me. I would have thought +even a woman could do it. The girls used to tease me about how quiet +my representative was. He sat so still that it just seemed as if he +might be asleep, and one girl said she believed he was dead. But one +day, a window was left open behind him--and he sneezed, and then he +got right up and shut it--Do you remember that day, Mr. Steadman?" + +He shook his head impatiently, and the expression of his face was not +pleasant. Still, no one would attribute anything but the friendliest +motive to Pearl's innocent words. + +"My! I was glad that day," she said, "when you sneezed, it was a quick +stop to the rumor--I tell you--and I never heard any more about it. +I am sorry Mr. Steadman is not in favor of women voting, or going to +Parliament, and thinks it too hard for them. It does not look hard to +me. Most of the members just sit and smoke all the time, and read the +papers, and call the pages. I have seen women do far harder work than +this. But of course what Mr. Steadman says about building roads all +over the country, is a new one on me. I did not know that the members +were thinking of doing the work! But I guess they would be glad to get +out and do something after sitting there all cramped up with their +feet asleep for the whole winter." + +"Still, I remember when Mr. Steadman was Councillor here, and there +was a bridge built over Pine Creek--he only let the contract--he did +not build it--it was his brother who built it!" + +There was a queer thrill in the audience at this, for Bill Steadman +had got the contract, in spite of the fact that he was the poorest +builder in the country--and the bridge had collapsed inside of two +years. George Steadman winced at her words. + +But Pearl, apparently innocent of all this, went on in her guileless +way: + +"I think Mr. Steadman is mistaken about women not wanting to sit in +Parliament. He perhaps does not know what it feels like to stand over +a wash-tub--or an ironing board--or cook over a hot stove. Women who +have been doing these things long would be glad to sit anywhere!" + +There was a laugh at this, in which Mr. Steadman made a heroic attempt +to join, shaking his head as he did so, to counteract any evil effect +which the laugh might cause. + +"But I did not intend to speak of politics," said Pearl, "I intended +to tell you how glad I am to be back to Chicken Hill School, and how +good home looks to me. No one knows how to appreciate their home until +they have left it--and gone away where no one cares particularly +whether you are sick or well--happy or miserable. Do you boys find it +pretty hard to wash your necks--and you wish your mother hadn't such a +sharp eye on you--be glad you have some one who thinks enough of you +to want your neck to be clean. You hate to fill the wood-box, do you? +O, I know what a bottomless pit it is--and how the old stove just +loves to burn wood to spite you. But listen! By having to do what you +do not want to do, you are strengthening the muscles of your soul--and +getting ready for a big job. + +"Having to do things is what makes us able to do more. Did you ever +wonder why you cannot walk on water. It is because water is so +agreeable--it won't resist you. It lets you have your own way. + +"The teachers at the Normal talked to us every Friday afternoon, about +our social duties, and rural leadership and community spirit and lots +of things. They told us not to spend our time out of school tatting +and making eyelet embroidery, when there were neighborhoods to be +awakened and citizens to be made. That suits me fine, for I can't tat +anyway. One of the girls tried to show me, but gave it up after three +or four tries. She said some could learn, and some couldn't. It was +heredity--or something. + +"Anyway, Dr. McLean said teachers were people who got special training +for their work, and it was up to them to work at it, in school and +out. He said that when we went out to teach, we could be a sort of +social cement, binding together all the different units into one +coherent community, for that's what was needed in Canada, with its +varied population. One third of the people in Canada do not speak +English, and that's a bad barrier--and can only be overcome by +kindness. We must make our foreign people want to learn our language, +and they won't want to, unless they like us. + +"He said Canada was like a great sand-pile, each little grain of sand, +beautiful in its own way, but needing cement to bind it to other +grains and it was for us to say whether we would be content to be only +a sand pile, or would we make ourselves a beautiful temple. + +"I wish I could give it all to you--it was great to hear him. He said +no matter how fine we were as individuals, or how well we did our +work, unless we had it in our hearts to work with others, and for +others--it was no good. If we lacked social consciousness, our work +would not amount to much. I thought of our old crumply horn cow. She +always gave a big pail of milk--but if she was in bad humor, she would +quite likely kick it over, just as the pail was full. I used to think +maybe a fly had stung her, but I guess what was really wrong was +that she lacked social consciousness. She did not see that we were +depending on her. + +"That's why the liquor traffic is such a bad thing, and should be +outlawed. Individuals may be able to drink, and get away with it, but +some go under, some homes are made very unhappy over it. If we have +this social consciousness, we will see very clearly that the liquor +traffic must go! No matter how much some people will miss it. If it +isn't safe for everybody, it isn't safe for anybody. I used to wish +Dr. McLean could talk to the members of Parliament. + +"He told us one of the reasons that the world had so many sore spots in +it was because women had kept too close at home, they were beginning +to see that in order to keep their houses clean, they would have to +clean up the streets, and it was this social consciousness working in +them, that made them ask for the vote. They want to do their share, +outside as well as in. + +"There was a woman who came and talked to us one day at the Normal. She +is the editor of the Women's section of one of the papers, and she put +it up to us strong, that there was work for each of us. We had to make +a report of her address, and so I remember most of it. + +"She said that Canada is like a great big, beautiful house that has +been given to us to finish. It is just far enough on so that you can +see how fine it is going to be--but the windows are not in--the +doors are not hung--the cornices are not put on. It needs polishing, +scraping, finishing. That is our work. Every tree we plant, every +flower we grow, every clean field we cultivate, every good cow or hog +we raise, we are helping to finish and furnish the house and make it +fit to live in. Every kind word we say or even think, every gracious +deed, if it is only thinking to bring out the neighbor's mail from +town, helps to add those little touches which distinguish a house from +a barn. + +"We have many foreign people in this country, lonesome, homesick +people--sometimes we complain that they are not loyal to us--and that +is true. It is also true that they have no great reason to be loyal +to us. We are not even polite to them, to say nothing of being kind. +Loyalty cannot be rammed down any ones' throat with a flag-pole." + +Mr. Steadman cleared his throat at this--and seemed about to +speak--but she went on without noticing: + +"Loyalty is a gentle growth, which springs in the heart. The seeds +are in your hands and mine; the heart of our foreign people is the +soil--the time of planting is now--and the man or woman who by +their kindness, their hospitality, their fair dealing, honesty, +neighborliness, makes one of the least of these think well of Canada, +is a Master Builder in this Empire. + +"If we do not set ourselves to finish the house, you know what will +happen to it. I remembered this part of her speech because it made me +think about our school-house the year before Mr. Donald came--when +we could not get a teacher. Do you remember? Windows were broken +mysteriously--the rain beat in and warped and drenched and spoiled the +floors. The chimney fell. Destruction always comes to the empty house, +she said--the unfinished house is a mark for the wantonly mischievous. +To keep what we have, we must improve it from year to year. And to +that end we must work together--fighting not with each other--but with +conditions, discouragements, ignorance, prejudice, narrowness--we must +be ready to serve, not thinking of what we can get from our country, +but what we can give to it." + +In the silence that fell, the people sat motionless. They did not +notice that Pearl was done speaking--for their thoughts went on--she +had given them a new view of the service they might give. + +Mrs. Piper, on whose heart, Pearl's words had fallen like a +benediction, saw that in making her rag-carpet, over which she had +worked so hard--she was helping to furnish one little corner of her +country, for it would make her front room a brighter place, and there +her children, and the boys and girls of the neighborhood would have +good times and pleasant memories. She had thought of it in a vague way +before, but Pearl had put it into words for her--and her heart was +filled with a new rapture. It was worth while to work and struggle and +try her best to make a pleasant home. There was a purpose in it all--a +plan--a pattern. + +Even Mrs. Thompson had a glimmering of a thought regarding her +precious flowers, the slips of which she never gave away. With them +she could gladden the hearts of some of her neighbors, and Noah +Thompson, her husband, who made it his boast that he never borrowed or +lent, became suddenly sorry he had refused a neck yoke to his Russian +neighbor. + +George Steadman, too, found his soul adrift on a wide sea, torn +away from the harbor that had seemed so safe and land-locked, so +unassailable; and on that wider sea there came the glimpses of a +sunrise, of a new day. It puzzled him, frightened him, angered him. +In the newness of it all, he detected danger. It blew across his +sheltered soul like a draught, an uncomfortable, cold-producing +draught--and when he found himself applauding with the others, he +knew that something dangerous, radical, subtle and evil had been let +loose--the girl would have to be watched. She was a fire-brand, an +incendiary--she would put notions in peoples' heads. It was well he +had heard her and could sound the warning. But he must be politic--he +would not show his hand. The children were singing, and every one had +risen. Never before had he heard the Chicken Hill people sing like +this: + + "O Canada, our home, our native land, + True, patriot love, in all our sons command; + With glowing hearts we see thee rise, + Thou true land, strong and free, + And stand on guard, O Canada + We stand on guard for thee." + +The children began the second verse, the people following lamely, for +they did not know the words; but the children, proud of their superior +knowledge, and with a glow in their impressionable little hearts, sang +exultantly--this song of home and country. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE POWER OF INK + + +The Chicken Hill correspondent of the Millford "Mercury" described the +meeting in the school as follows: + +"The Chicken Hill School was the scene of a happy gathering on Friday +afternoon last, when the neighbors and friends gathered to welcome +home Pearl Watson, who has just completed a successful First Class +Teacher's Normal course in Winnipeg. Pearl is a great favorite, and +certainly disappointed no one, for she gave an address on present day +questions which will not soon be forgotten. Pearl is an out and out +believer in temperance and woman suffrage, and before she was through, +she had every one with her--as one man put it, he'd like to see +the woman vote, if for nothing else than to get Pearl Watson into +parliament, for there would sure be hides on the barn door if she ever +got there, and a rustling of dry bones." + +"After Pearl's address, the ladies of the district served +refreshments, and a good time was spent. Pearl's arm must have ached, +shaking hands, and if she could be spoiled with praise, she would be +spoiled for sure, but Pearl is not that kind. It is rumored that she +will be offered the Purple Springs school, and if she accepts, we +congratulate Purple Springs." + +When George Steadman read the Chicken Hills news, his face became a +yellowish gray color--much like the hue of badly laundried clothes. +His skin prickled, as if with an electric current, for hot rage ate +into his soul. His name was not even mentioned. He wasn't there at +all--and he was the member for Millford. Of all the silly rot--well, +he'd see about it. + +On Monday morning, with the offending sheet in his hand, Mr. Steadman +made his way to the "Mercury" office, a dingy, little flat-roofed +building, plastered with old circus posters outside, and filled with +every sort of junk inside. At an unpainted desk piled high with +papers, sat the editor. His hair stood up like a freshly laundried, +dustless mop; his shirt was dirty; his pipe hung listlessly in his +mouth--upside down, and a three days' crop of black beard peppered his +face. He looked like a man who in early youth had slept on newspapers +and drank ink, and who now would put his feet on the table if there +had been room, but there was scarcely room for them on the floor, for +it was under the table that he kept his exchanges. There were shelves +around the walls, but they were filled with rubber boots, guns, +baskets of letters, a few books, miscellaneous articles of clothing +and some empty tobacco jars. + +So on account of the congested condition on and under the table, Mr. +Driggs was forced to sit in an uncomfortable position, with his legs +and those of the table artistically entwined. + +Mr. Steadman began, without replying to the editor's friendly +greeting: + +"Who writes this balderdash from our district," he asked harshly. + +"Professional secret," replied Mr. Driggs, speaking through his shut +teeth, for he did not wish to dislodge his pipe; the last time he let +it out of his mouth he had had no end of a time finding it. "Never +give away names of contributors, not etiquette." + +"I don't care a hang for your etiquette--I want to know. The member +for Millford was not in a trifling mood. + +"Sorry," said Mr. Driggs, holding his pipe still closer. + +"See here, Driggs," said Mr. Steadman haughtily, "do you know who +you're talking to--I have it in my power to throw you a good deal of +business one way'n another--I've thrown you a good deal of business. +There's an election coming on--there will be bills, cards, streamers, +what not; good money in printing for the Government--do you savvy?" + +"I savvy," said Mr. Driggs cheerfully. + +"Well then"--George Steadman was sure now he was going to get the +information--"who writes this this stuff from Chicken Hill?" + +"I don't know," said the editor calmly, "honest, I don't. This was a +new one--strange writing--and all that. I called up Pearl Watson to +see if there had been a meeting, and she verified it, but didn't tell +me anything. She said you presided. Then I ran the item--I thought it +was very good--what's wrong with it? It seemed like real good country +correspondence to me--with that bucolic freshness which we expect to +find in country contributors, perhaps not the literary polish found in +Stoddarts' lectures, but rattling good stuff just the same." + +"See here Driggs," the other man interrupted, "listen to me. There's +an election coming on--you've always been with us--I don't know what +you think--and it don't matter. This girl Watson is against us--and +she's as smart as they make them, and has plenty of nerve. Now I don't +want to see that girl's name in the paper again. A few more spreads +like this--and every district in the country will want her. She don't +know her place--she's got nerve enough to speak anywhere. She spits +out things, hardly knowing what she means--she's dangerous, I tell +you. If the other side got hold of her and primed her what to say, she +could do us a lot of harm--here, for mind you, she's got a way with +her. We don't want any trouble. There's a little talk of runnin' Doc. +Clay, but I believe he's got more sense than to try it. The last man +that ran against me lost his deposit. But, understand, Driggs, no +mention of this girl, cut out her name." + +Then Mr. Driggs slowly took his pipe from his mouth, and laid it +carefully on the lowest pile of papers. It's position did not entirely +suit him, and he moved it to another resting place. But the effect was +not pleasing even then--so he placed it in his pocket, taking a red +handkerchief from his other pocket, and laying it carefully over the +elusive pipe, to anchor it--if that were possible. + +"Mr. Steadman," he said, in his gentlest manner, "sit down." + +Removing an armful of sale bills from the other chair, he shoved it +over to his visitor, who ignored the invitation. + +"You must not attempt to muzzel the press, or take away our +blood-bought liberties. Blood-bought liberties is good! It's a serious +matter to come to a natural born, heaven inspired Editor, and tell +him to curb his news instinct. Pearl Watson is a particular friend of +mine. Pearl's sayings and doings are of interest to me as a citizen, +therefore, I reason they are of interest to all citizens. She is a +young lady of great charm, who does honor to our little town. I stand +absolutely for home boosting. Shop at home--shop early--sell your +hammer and buy a horn--my motto! Pearl Watson--one of the best ads we +have--I'm for her." + +"All right," said Mr. Steadman harshly, "you defy me then, and when +you defy me, you defy the Government of the Province, the arm of the +Government reaches far--Driggs, and you know that before you are done, +I'll put you out of business before two weeks have gone by. You owe +every one--you owe the paper people--you owe on your printing press. +Your creditors are all friends of the Government. All I have to do is +to say the word and they'll close you out. The Government will put a +man in here who has sense enough to do as he is told." + +Mr. Driggs' faced showed more concern than he had exhibited before. +There were certain bills he owed--forgotten to be sure in normal +times--but now they came up blinking to the light, rudely disinterred +by Mr. Steadman's hard words. They had grown, too, since their last +appearance, both in size and numbers--and for a moment a shade of +annoyance went over his face. Details of business always did annoy +him! + +But an inner voice cautioned him to be discreet. There was always a +way around a difficulty. Mr. Driggs believed in the switch system +which prevails in our railroading. When two trains run towards each +other on a track one must go off on a switch, to avoid a collision. It +does not take long and when the other train has gone roaring past, the +switched train can back up and get on the track and go serenely on--he +resolved to be tactful. + +"Mr. Steadman," he said, "I am surprised at all this. Pearl is only a +slip of a girl. What harm can she do you? You are absolutely solid in +this neighborhood. The government has this country by the throat--the +old machine works perfectly. What are you afraid of?" + +"We're not afraid--what have we to be afraid of? We have only sixteen +opposition members in the House--and they're poor fish. We're solid +enough--only we don't want trouble. The women are getting all stirred +up and full of big notions. We can hold them down all right--for they +can't get the vote until we give it to them--that's the beauty of it. +The Old Man certainly talked plain when they came there askin' for the +vote. He just laid them out. But I can see this girl has been at their +meetings--and women are queer. My women, even, thought there was a lot +of truth in what the Watson girl said. So there was--but we're not +dealing with truth just now--politics is not a matter of truth. We +want to get this election over without trouble. We want no grief over +this, mind you--everything quiet--and sure. So you got your orders +right now. Take them or leave them. But you know where your bread is +buttered, I guess." + +Mr. Steadman went out of the office, shutting the door with a strong +hand. The editor buried his face in his hands and gently massaged his +temples with his long-ink-stained fingers, and to all appearance, his +soul was grieved within him. It seemed as though his proud spirit was +chafing at the bonds which the iniquitous patronage system had laid on +him. + +For brief period he sat thus, but when he raised his head, which he +did suddenly, there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face +which spread and widened until it burst into a laugh which threatened +to dislodge the contents of the table. He threw himself back in his +swing chair and piled both feet on the table, even if there was no +room for them--if ever there had come a time in his history when he +was in the mood to put his feet on the table, that time was now. + +He addressed his remarks to his late guests: + +"You fragrant old he-goat, you will give orders to me, will you--you +are sure some diplomat--you poor old moth-eaten gander, with your +cow-like duplicity." + +Mr. Driggs could not find the figure of speech which just suited the +case, but he was still trying. + +"You poor old wall-eyed ostrich, with your head in the sand, thinking +no one can see you, you forget that there is a portion of your anatomy +admirably placed--indeed in my mind's eye I can see the sign upon it. +It reads 'Kick me.' It is an invitation I will not decline. He thinks +he can wipe our good friend Pearlie off the map by having her name +dropped from the Millford 'Mercury,' forgetting that there are other +ways of reaching the public eye. There are other publications, perhaps +not in the class with the Millford 'Mercury,' but worthy little sheets +too. + +"There is the 'Evening Echo,' struggling along with a circulation of +a quarter of a million--it will answer our purpose admirably. I will +write the lead today while the lamp of inspiration burns, and I will +hear Pearl speak, and then oh, beloved, I will roll up my sleeves +and spit on my hands and do a sketch of the New Woman--Pearlie, my +child--this way lies fame." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DOCTOR'S DECISION + + +When Pearl left him so abruptly, Dr. Clay found himself battling +with many emotions. His first impulse was to call her back--tell her +everything. Pearl was not a child--she would know what was best. It +was not fair to deceive her, and that was just what he had done, with +the best intentions. + +But something held him back. The very heart of him was sick and full +of bitterness at the sudden slap which fate had given him. His soul +was still stinging with the pain of it. Everything was distorted and +queer, and in the confusion of sensations the outstanding one was the +instinct to hide all knowledge of his condition. No one must know. He +would go to see the old doctor and swear him to secrecy. After all, +his life was his own--he was under obligation to no one to stretch it +out miserably and uselessly. + +He would go on as long as he could, and live it out triumphantly. +He would go out like Old Prince. He thought of the hymn which gives +thanks to God, "Who kindly lengthens out our days," and the thought +of it was mingled with something like scorn. He did not want any +lengthening out of his time if there could not be real power, real +service in each day. He would live while he lived, and die when he +had to, and with that resolution he tried to get back his calmness of +spirit. + +Looking at himself in the glass, he had to admit his face was haggard, +and thinner than it had been, and he knew he had lost weight. Still, +that could be recovered--he was not going to worry or think about +himself. He had always contended that disease was ninety per cent. +imagination and ten per cent. reality, and now he was going to see. +Every one is under the death sentence; the day is set for each man. "I +am no worse off," he thought, "than I was before--if I could only see +it that way--and I will--I am going to be the Captain of my soul--even +though it may be for a very short cruise--no disease or whimpering +weakness will usurp my place--'Gladly I lived--gladly I died. And I +laid me down with a will,'" he quoted, but his mouth twisted a little +on the words. Life was too sweet. He loved it too well to lay it down +gladly. O no, there could be no pretence of gladness. + +He found himself thinking of Pearl, and the tender, loving, caressing +light in her eyes, her impulsive kiss--her honest words of heavenly +sweetness; what a girl she was! He had watched her grow from a little +bright-eyed thing, who always interested him with her wisdom, her +cheerfulness, her devotion to her family, until now, when she had +grown to be a serious-minded, beautiful girl, with a manner full of +repose, dignity, grace--a wonderfully attractive girl--who looked +honestly into his eyes and told him she loved him, and he had had to +turn away from his happiness and tell her it could not be. And he had +seen the dimming of those shining eyes and the tightening of her lips. +He had had to hurt Pearl, and that was the bitterest thought of all. + +Again the temptation came to tell her! But the stern voice of +conscience cried out to him that if she knew she would consider +herself bound to him, and would not take her liberty, and the finest +years of her young life would be spent in anxiety and care. + +"I might live to be an old man," he said bitterly. "If I were sure I +could drop out soon, it would not matter so much. Pearl would still +have her life ahead of her, and I would come to be but a memory, but +as it is--there's but one straight and honorable course--and I will +take it." + +Then he thought of the roses, and wrote a card and a note, and called +Bertie at the Livery Stable to come to the office. When Bertie +arrived, much out of breath, the doctor charged him to be quick in his +errand of delivering them. Bertie was anxious to talk, and volunteered +the information that Pearl Watson was an awful pretty girl, but Mrs. +Crocks had just met her on the street and been talkin' to her a little +while, and she thought Pearl was gettin' pretty stuck up. + +"Bertie, dear," the doctor said, not unkindly, "did any one ever tell +you that you talk too easy?" + +"Sure they did," said Bertie honestly, "but Mrs. Crocks likes me to +talk." + +"O well," the doctor smiled, "you and Mrs. Crocks are not really +dangerous--but Bertie, remember this, silence does not often get any +one into trouble, and if you are ever in doubt about whether to tell +things or not--don't tell them! It's the best way--now, will you try +to remember?" + +"Yes, sir," said Bertie pleasantly. + +All of which Bertie carefully hid in his heart, but his object in so +doing was not to attain the scriptural sequence--"that he sin not +with his mouth," It was that he might rehearse it accurately to Mrs. +Crocks! + +The doctor had forgotten all about the committee who were going to +wait on him that evening to receive his decision regarding the coming +election. His mind had been too full of his own affairs. But promptly +at eight o'clock, his office bell rang, and the gentlemen came in. + +It seemed years to the doctor since he had seen them. Life had so +changed for him in the interval. The committee had come back with +greater enthusiasm than ever. Corroborative evidence had been pouring +in; the doctor was the only man who could defeat the present member. + +"Doctor, it is sure up to you," said the President, a stocky man, +whose face had a patchy beard resembling a buffalo-robe on which the +moths had played their funny tricks, "and I'll tell you why. The women +are beginning to raise hell all over the country. They have societies +now, and they're holding debates, and getting up plays--and all that. +They have the Government scared. My stars, I remember the time women +didn't bother no more about politics than a yellow dog does about +religion. But that good day is gone. They're up and comin' now, and +comin' with a whoop. Now, that's why we want you,--at least it's one +reason--the women like you--you have a way with them--you listen to +them--and feel sorry over their aches and pains--cure them--if you +can--but the big thing is--you feel sorry. Now, if you will run, the +women will try to make their men vote for you--I don't think any one +of the women will go against you. The men here are mostly for the +Government, and this year they have the bridge at Purple Springs for +a bait. It's goin' on for sure--work for every one--that votes right. +The Government has been in so long, you've just had to be on their +side to hold your job--they have their fingers on everything. You know +our candidate has lost his deposit for three elections--but there's a +chance this year--if you'll run." + +Then the field organizer took up the argument. He was a young man sent +out from the city office to rally the faithful and if possible see +that the best candidates were selected. He was a shop-worn young man, +without illusions. He knew life from every angle, and it was a dull +affair in his eyes. + +"Politics is a game of wits," he said; "the smartest one wins, and +gets in and divides the slush money. The other side howl--because they +didn't get any. We're sore now because we haven't had a look-in +for fourteen years--we're thirsty and dry--and we long for the +water-brooks--which is, government jobs. There's just one distinction +between the parties," he said, "one is in and one is out! That's all. +Both parties have the same platform too, there is only one principle +involved, that is the principle of re-election. But it really seems as +if our time is coming." + +Young Mr. Summersad lighted a cigarette and blew billows of smoke at +the ceiling. His whole bearing was that of a man who had drunk the cup +of life to the very dregs and found even the dregs tasteless and pale. + +"You are pessimistic," said the doctor, "you surely take a +materialistic view of the case. Is it really only a matter of getting +in to the public treasury? That hardly seems worth a man's effort; it +looks more like a burglar's job." + +"I mean, Clay," said the organizer, with slightly more animation, "the +political game is not a game of sentiment or of high resolves. One man +cannot do much to change the sentiment of a whole province; we must +take things as we find them. People get as good government as they +deserve--always. This year the advantage comes to us. 'It is time for +a change' is always a good rallying cry, and will help us more than +anything." + +"What is the opposition platform this year," said the doctor, "what +would I have to believe? Haven't you decided on a program, some sort +of course of action?" + +"O sure," replied the other, "we have a great platform--woman +suffrage--banish the bar--direct legislation--we have a radical +platform--just the very thing to catch the people. I tell you +everything is in our favor, and with your popularity here, it should +be a cinch." + +The doctor looked at him, without enthusiasm. + +"But the platform needn't worry you," he hastened to explain, "it's +not necessarily important--it's a darn good thing to get in on--but +after that--" + +"It can be laid away," said the doctor, "for another election. Well +now, as I understand it, the case against the present Government is +just that. They promised prohibition years ago, and got in on that +promise--but broke it joyously, and canned the one man who wanted to +stand for it--that's why they deserve defeat and have deserved it all +these years. But if the Opposition have the same ethics, what's the +use of changing. Better keep the robbers in we know, than fly to +others that we know not of." + +While the organizer had been speaking, the remainder of the committee +were vaguely uncomfortable. He was not getting anywhere; he was +spoiling everything. They knew the doctor better than he did. + +The doctor stood up, and there was something about the action which +announced the adjournment of the meeting. + +"It does not appeal to me," he said, "not as outlined by you. It's +too sodden, too deeply selfish. I see no reason for any man who has a +fairly decent, self-respecting job, to give it up and devote his time +to politics, if you have given me a correct picture of it." + +The organizer became deeply in earnest:-- + +"Look here, Clay," he said, "don't be hasty. I'm telling you the truth +about things, that's all. You can be as full of moral passion as +you like--the fuller the better. The Opposition can always be the +Simon-pure reformers. I'm not discouraging you--in fact, we want you +to be that." + +The doctor interrupted him, impatiently:-- + +"But I must not expect anything to come of it. Moral reform--and all +that--is fine for election dope, but governments have no concern with +it, these promises would not be carried out." + +"I am not saying what we mean," said Mr. Summersad, with abundant +caution; "I say we want to defeat the Government--that's our business. +We want to get in--further than that we have no concern. The new +Premier will set our policy. But if you ask me my opinion, I do not +mind telling you that I don't think any government of men are very +keen on letting the women vote--why should they be? But there's always +a way out. What will happen is this--if our fellows get in, they will +grant a plebiscite, men only voting of course, and it will go strong +against the women--but that will let us out." + +The doctor's eyes snapped:-- + +"That's surely a coward's way out," he said, "and why should any woman +have to ask for what is her right. Women, although they are not so +strong as men, do more than half the work, and bear children besides, +and yet men have been mean enough to snatch the power away from them +and keep it. Well, you have certainly been frank, Mr. Summersad, I +must thank you for that. I will be equally frank. I do not see +that there is anything to choose between the two parties. If your +presentation of the case is correct, the country is in a bad way, and +the political life is a re-incarnation of that fine old game of 'pussy +wants a corner!' I never did see much in it, so I will decline +the nomination. I am sorry, Mr. Gilchrist," he said to the local +President. His words had a ring of finality. + +When the committee were leaving they met Miss Keith, of Hampton, on +the street. Miss Keith was worth looking at, with her white fox furs, +high-heeled shoes and long black ear-rings. Miss Keith carried a muff +as big as a sheaf of wheat, and a sparkling bead-bag dangled from her +wrist. Miss Keith's complexion left nothing to be desired. When she +passed the committee there came to them the odor of wood violets. The +committee were sufficiently interested to break into a group on the +corner and so be able to turn around and watch her, without appearing +to stop for that purpose. + +She went into the doctor's office. + +"By gum," said the President, looking at the door through which she +had disappeared, "don't these women beat all? They go where they +like--they do as they like--they wear what they like--they don't care +what men think, any more. They're bold--that's what they are! and I +don't know as I believe in lettin' them vote--By Gosh!" + +The organizer raised his hand in warning, and spoke sternly. + +"Hold your tongue," he said, "they're a long way from votin'. Believe +what you like--no one cares what you believe--but sit tight on it! I +talked too much just now. Let's learn our lesson." + +Bertie, whose other name was now lost in oblivion, and who was known +as "Bertie Crocks" for purposes of identification, standing at the +corner of the "Horse Repository," saw Miss Keith entering the doctor's +office, and wondered again how any one ever thought a small town dull. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE WOMAN WITH A SORE THOUGHT + + +The turning of a key; the opening of a door, are commonplace sounds to +most of us; but to a prisoner, weary of his cell, they are sounds of +unspeakable rapture. The dripping of a tap, may have in it the element +of annoyance--if we have to get up and shut it off before we can get +to sleep, but a thirsty traveller on the burning sands of the desert, +would be wild with joy to hear it. All which is another way of saying +that everything in life is relative. + +On the day that Pearl spoke in the school-house, there sat in one of +the seats listening to her, a sombre-faced woman, who rarely came to +any of the neighborhood gatherings. The women of the neighborhood, +having only the primary hypothesis of human conduct, said she was +"proud." She did not join heartily in their conversations when they +met her, and had an aloofness about her which could only be explained +that way. She had a certain daintiness about her, too, in her way of +dressing--even in the way she did her hair--and in her walk, which +made the women say with certain resentment, that Mrs. Paine would like +to be "dressy." + +But if Mrs. Paine had any such ambitions, they were not likely to be +achieved, for although she and her husband had lived for years in this +favored district, and had had good crops, Sylvester Paine was known +all over the country as a hard man. The women would have liked Mrs. +Paine much better if she had talked more, and complained about +him--she was too close-mouthed they said. They freely told each other, +and told her, of their hopes, fears, trials and triumphs--but Mrs. +Paine's communications were yea and nay when the conversation was on +personal matters, and she had a way of closing her lips which somehow +prevented questions. + +But on the day when Pearl spoke in the school Mrs. Paine's face +underwent a change which would have interested a student of human +nature. Something which had been long dead, came to life again that +day; fluttering, trembling, shrinking. In her eyes there came again +the dead hopes of the years, and it made her face almost pitiful in +its trembling eagerness. There was a dull red rage in her eyes too +that day, that was not good to see, and she was determined that it +should not be seen, and for that reason, she slipped away when Pearl +was through, leaving some excuse about having the chores to do. She +could not bear to speak to the women and have them read her face; she +knew it would tell too much. But she must talk to Pearl. There were +things that Pearl could tell her. + +That night she called Pearl on the phone. The other receivers came +down quickly, and various homely household sounds mingled in her +ears--a sewing-machine's soft purring in one house--a child's cry in +another--the musical whine of a cream separator in a third. She knew +they were all listening, but she did not care. Even if she could not +control her face, she could control her voice. + +When Pearl came to the phone, Mrs. Paine invited her to come over for +supper the next night, to which Pearl gave ready acceptance--and that +was all. The interested listeners were disappointed with the brevity +of the conversation, and spoke guardedly and in cipher to each other +after Pearl and Mrs. Paine had gone: "Somebody is away, see! That's +why! Gee! some life--never any one asked over only at such times--Gee! +How'd you like to be bossed around like that?" + +"She did not begin right--too mealy-mouthed. Did you hear what he's +going to buy? No! I'll tell you when I see you--we've too big an +audience right now. Don't it beat all, the time some people have to +listen in--" + +"O well, I don't care! Anything I say I'm ready to back up. I don't +pretend I forget or try to twist out of things." + +One receiver went up here, and the sound of the sewing-machine went +with it. + +Then the conversation drifted pleasantly to a new and quicker way of +making bread that had just come out in the "Western Home Monthly." + +The next evening Pearl walked over the Plover Slough to see Mrs. +Paine. She noticed the quantity of machinery which stood in the yard, +some under cover of the big shingled shed, and some of it sitting out +in the snow, gray and weather-beaten. The yard was littered, untidy, +prodigal, wasteful--every sort of machine had evidently been bought +and used for a while, then discarded. But within doors there was a +bareness that struck Pearl's heart with pity. The entrance at the +front of the house was banked high with snow, and evidently had not +been used all winter, and indeed there seemed no good reason for its +ever being used, for the front part of the house, consisting of hall, +front room opening into a bed-room, were unfurnished and unheated. + +Mrs. Paine was genuinely, eagerly glad to see Pearl, and there was a +tense look in her eyes, an underglow of excitement, a trembling of her +hands, as she set the table, that did not escape Pearl. + +But nothing was said until the children had gone to bed, and then Mrs. +Paine departed from her life-long habit of silence, and revealed to +Pearl the burdens that were crushing her. + +She was a thin woman, with a transparency about her that gave her the +appearance of being brittle. Her auburn hair curled over her white +forehead, and snakily twisted around her ivory white ears. Her eyes +were amber-brown, with queer yellow lights that rose and fell as +she talked, and in some strange way reminded Pearl of a piece of +bird's-eye maple. She was dressed in the style of twenty years before, +with her linen collar inside the high collar of her dress, which was +fastened with a bar pin, straight and plain like herself. In the +centre of the pin was a cairn-gorm, which reflected the slumbering +yellow light in her eyes. The color of her face was creamy white, like +fine stationery. + +"I thought all my hopes were dead, Pearl," she said with dry lips, +"until you spoke, and then I saw myself years ago, when I came out of +school. Life was as rosy and promising, and the future as bright to me +then as it is to you now. But I got married young--we were brought up +to think if we did not get married--we were rather disgraced, and in +our little town in Ontario, men were scarce--they had all come West. +So when I got a chance, I took it." + +Pearl could see what a beautiful young girl she must have been, when +the fires of youth burned in her eye--with her brilliant coloring +and her graceful ways. But now her face had something dead about +it, something missing--like a beautifully-tiled fireplace with its +polished brass fittings, on whose grate lie only the embers of a fire +long dead. + +Pearl thought of this as she watched her. Mrs. Paine, in her +agitation, pleated her muslin apron into a fan. + +The tea-kettle on the stove bubbled drowsily, and there was no sound +in the house but the purring of the big cat that lay on Pearl's knee. + +"Life is a funny proposition, Pearl," continued Mrs. Paine, "I often +think it is a conspiracy against women. We are weaker, smaller than +men--we have all the weaknesses and diseases they have--and then some +of our own. Marriage is a form of bondage--long-term slavery--for +women." + +Pearl regarded her hostess with astonished eyes. She had always known +that Mrs. Paine did not look happy; but such words as these came as a +shock to her romantic young heart. + +"It isn't the hard work--or the pain--it isn't that--it's the +uselessness of it all. Nature is so cruel, and careless. See how many +seeds die--nature does not care--some will grow--the others do not +matter!" + +"O you're wrong, Mrs. Paine," Pearl cried eagerly; "it is not true +that even a sparrow can fall to the ground and God not know it." + +Mrs. Paine seemed about to speak, but checked her words. Pearl's +bright face, her hopefulness, her youth, her unshaken faith in God and +the world, restrained her. Let the child keep her faith! + +"There is something I want to ask you, Pearl," she said, after a long +pause. "You know the laws of this Province are different from what +they are in Ontario." + +Her voice fell, and the light in her eyes seemed to burn low, like +night-light, turned down. + +"He says," she did not call her husband by name, but Pearl knew who +was meant, "he says that a man can sell all his property here without +his wife's signature, and do what he likes with the money. He wants to +sell the farm and buy the hotel at Millford. I won't consent, but he +tells me he can take the children away from me, and I would have to go +with him then. He says this is a man's country, and men can do as they +like. I wonder if you know what the law is?" + +"I'm not sure," said Pearl. "I've heard the women talking about it, +but I will find out. I will write to them. If that is the law it will +be changed--any one could see that it is not fair. Lots of these old +laws get written down and no one bothers about them--and they just +stay there, forgotten--but any one would see that was not fair, 'Men +would not be as unjust as that'!" + +"You don't know them", said Mrs. Paine; "I have no faith in men. +They've made the world, and they've made it to suit themselves. My +husband takes his family cares as lightly as a tomcat. The children +annoy him." + +She spoke in jerky sentences, often moistening her dry lips, and there +was something in her eyes which made Pearl afraid--the very air of the +room seemed charged with discords. Pearl struggled to free her heart +from the depressing influence. + +"All men are not selfish," she said, "and I guess God has done the +best He could to be fair to every one. It's some job to make millions +of people and satisfy them all." + +"Well, the Creator should take some responsibility," Mrs. Paine +interrupted, "none of us asked to be born--I'm not God, but I take +responsibility for my children. I did not want them, but now they are +here I'll stand by them. That's why I've stayed as long as this. But +God does not stand by me." + +Her voice was colorless and limp like a washed ribbon. It had in it no +anger, just a settled conviction. + +"See here, Mrs. Paine," began Pearl, "you've been too long alone in +the house. You begin to imagine things. You work too hard, and never +go out, and that would make an archangel cross. You've just got to mix +up more with the rest of us. Things are not half so black as they look +to you." + +"I could stand it all--until he said he could take away my home," the +words seemed to come painfully. "I worked for this," she said, "and +though it's small and mean--it's home. Every bit of furniture in this +house I bought with my butter money. The only trees we have I planted. +I sowed the flowers and dug the place to put them. While he is away +buying cattle and shipping them, and making plenty of money--all for +himself--I stay here and run the farm. I milk, and churn, and cook for +hired men, and manage the whole place, and I've made it pay too, but +he has everything in his own name. Now he says he can sell it and take +the money.... Even a cat will fight and scratch for its hay-loft." + +"Oh well," said Pearl, "I hope you won't have to fight. Fighting is +bad work. It's a last resort when everything else fails. Mr. Paine can +be persuaded out of the hotel business if you go at it right. He does +not understand, that's all. That's what causes all the misery and +trouble in life--it is lack of understanding." + +Mrs. Paine smiled grimly: "It's good to be young, Pearl," she said. + +After a while she spoke again: "I did not ask you over entirely for +selfish reasons. I wanted to talk to you about yourself; I wanted to +warn you, Pearl." + +"What about!" Pearl exclaimed. + +"Don't get married," she said; "Oh don't, Pearl, I can't bear to think +of you being tied down with children and hard work. It's too big a +risk, Pearl, don't do it. We need you to help the rest of us. When I +listened to you the other day I came nearer praying than I have for +many years. I said, 'Oh, Lord, save Pearl,' and what I meant was that +He should save you from marriage. You'll have lots of offers." + +"None so far," laughed Pearl, "not a sign of one." + +"Well, you'll get plenty--but don't do it, Pearl. We need you to talk +for us." + +"Well, couldn't I talk if I were married?" asked Pearl, "I have heard +married women talk." + +"Not the same; they haven't the heart. People cannot talk if their +own hearts are sore. That's why we want to keep you light-hearted and +carefree. I wish you would promise me, Pearl, that you won't marry." + +Pearl hesitated, hardly knowing how to meet this. + +"That's asking a lot, Mrs. Paine. Every girl hopes to marry some +time," she said, at last, and if the light had been better Mrs. Paine +would have seen the color rising in Pearl's cheeks; "And you are wrong +in thinking that all men are mean and selfish. My father is not. We've +been poor and all that, but we're happy. My father has never shirked +his share of the work, and he has only one thought now, and that is to +do well for us. There are plenty of happy marriages. I--can't promise +not to but there's no danger yet--I have no notion of it." + +"All right, Pearl," said Mrs. Paine, "keep away from it. Some way I +can't bear to think of you tied down with a bunch of kids, and all +your bright ways dulled with hard work and worry. Well, anyway, you'll +talk about it--about the vote I mean." + +"All the time," Pearl laughingly responded. "Wherever two or three +gather Pearl Watson will rise and make a few remarks unless some one +forcibly restrains her. I will promise that--that's easy." + +When Pearl walked home that night the moon was trying to shine through +a gray rag of a cloud that was wrapped around its face. The snow on +the road caught the muffled rays of light, and she could see her way +quite well after her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. There was +a close, protecting feeling about the gray darkness that suited her +mood. It was a comfortable, companionable night, with a soft air full +of pleasant sounds of dogs barking, and sleigh-bells, and with the +lights in the neighbors' houses for company. Pearl was not conscious +of fear. All her life she had gone about in the night as fearlessly as +by day. + +Mrs. Paine's words troubled her. Was it possible life could be as dull +and drab a thing as it seemed to her. Perhaps, though, she had never +been in love! She had married because she did not want to be an old +maid. Only love can redeem life from its common-place monotony. Maybe +that was why things had gone wrong. + +She thought about Mrs. Paine's words about being tied down with +children and hard work, and how she had pleaded with her to be warned! +Pearl tried to make the warning real and effective--tried to harden +her heart and fill it with ambitions, in which love and marriage had +no place. She tried to tell herself it was her duty to never marry; +she would be free to work for other women. She tried to think of a +future apart from marriage, apart from the hopes and dreams that had +been so dear and sweet. Could it be that she was being called of God +to be a leader in a new crusade against injustice? Was it her part to +speak for other women? Since the day she spoke in the school there +had been a glowing wonder in her heart which told her she could move +people to higher thinking and nobler action. She had seen it in their +eyes that day. She had seen the high resolve in their faces, seen it, +and been glad and fearful too. Was it possible that God was calling +her to declare a message to the people, and could it be that it was +for this reason her sweet dreams had been so suddenly broken? + +Pearl stopped in the road in her agitation of spirit, as the +possibility of this surged over her. Every sound seemed to have died +away, not a dog barked or a tree creaked in the gray darkness which +shrouded the world. Even the lights in the houses seemed to hold a +steady gleam, without as much as winking an eye--waiting for her +answer. + +The whole world seemed to be holding its breath expectantly, in a +waiting, quivering silence. It was as if her name had been called; the +curtain had rolled up, and a great audience waited. + +A sudden, helpless feeling set her heart beating painfully into her +throat, a smothering sense of fear, quite new to her, who had never +known fear. + +"I can't do it!" broke from her, in a cry; "Don't ask me, Lord, I +can't! I can't do it alone--but give me the desire of my heart, oh, +Lord, and I will never tremble or turn back or be afraid. I will +declare the truth before kings!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ENGAGED + + +The trustees of Purple Springs School had reached the climax of their +professional duties. They were about to appoint a teacher, and being +conscientious men, anxious to drive a good bargain for the people, +they were proceeding with deep caution to "look around." + +Looking at the modest equipment of Purple Springs School, the observer +would wonder why such stress was laid on the teacher's qualifications. +The schoolhouse was a bleak little structure of wood, from whose walls +the winds and rain had taken the paint. It was set in an arid field, +that knew no tree or flower. Its three uncurtained windows threw a +merciless light on the gray floor and smoked walls. + +Former teachers had tried to stir the community to beautify the +grounds and make the inside more homelike, but their efforts had been +fitful and without result. Trees died, seeds remained in the ground, +and gray monotony reigned at Purple Springs. Still, the three trustees +believed it was an enviable position they had in their hands to +bestow, and were determined that it should not be given lightly. + +Just at the time that they were hard engaged in "lookin' 'round," the +secretary's wife came back from a visit to Chicken Hill, and told +about Pearl Watson, who had been to the city and come back "quite a +girl," able to talk, and just as nice and friendly as ever. Mrs. Cowan +was not well read in the political situation of the day, and so did +not know that Pearl had been guilty of heretical utterances against +the Government. + +If this had been known to the trustees her candidature would not have +been considered, for all of the trustees were supporters and believers +in the Government--and with reason. Mr. Cowan had a telephone line +built expressly for him; Mr. Brownlees had been given a ditch--just +where he wanted it, digging it himself, and been paid for it by the +Government; the third trustee had been made game warden, at a monthly +salary and no duties; so naturally they would like not to hear their +friends criticized. Mrs. Cowan only read newspapers to see the +bargains, crotchet patterns, and murders, and after that, she believed +their only use was to be put on pantry shelves. So her account of +Pearl's address was entirely without political bias. + +"She's a fine looking girl," said Mrs. Cowan, "and it's nice to hear +her talk, even if she isn't saying anything. She's brown-eyed, tall, +and speaks out plain so every one can hear, and what she says is not +too deep--and you'd never know she was educated, to hear her talk." + +The three trustees resolved to look into the case. Being masters of +duplicity, they decided to call on Miss Watson at her home, and to go +in the early morning hours, believing that the misty light of 8 a.m. +will reveal many things which the glare of high noon might hide. They +would see first would she be up? They had once had a teacher who lay +in bed the whole day on Saturday. Would she have her hair combed? They +were not keen on artistic effects in the school buildings, but were a +unit on wanting a tastefully dressed teacher. It was decided that the +call would be early and unannounced. + +They found Pearl in a pink and white checked gingham house dress, with +her brown hair done up in the style known as a French roll, sewing +at a machine in the front room, and at once Mr. Cowan, who was the +dominant spirit of the party signalled to the others--"So far so +good." Miss Watson, even though the hour was early, was up, dressed +neatly--and at work. All of this was in the glance which Mr. Cowan +shot over to his colleagues. + +Investigating still further, for Mr. Cowan knew the value of detail in +estimating human character; the general arrangement of the room won +his approval. It was comfortable, settled, serene--it looked like +home--it invited the visitor to come in and be at rest. A fire burned +in the heater, a bird sang in the kitchen, a cat lay on the lounge and +did not move when he sat down beside it, showing that its right of way +had not been disputed. Mr. Cowan saw it all. + +After the introductions were over, Mr. Cowan put forth some questions +about her qualifications, and at each answer, his colleagues were +given to understand by a faint twitter of his eyes that Miss Watson +was still doing well. + +"You're young of course," said Mr. Cowan, with the air of a man who +faces facts--but his natural generosity of spirit prompted him to add +"but you'll get over that, and anyway a girl is older in her ways than +a boy." + +"We measure time by heart-beats," said Pearl, as she handed him a +flowered cushion to put behind his head, "not by figures on a dial." + +She tossed it off easily, as if poetry were the language of every day +life to her. + +Mr. Cowan shut one eye for the briefest space of time, and across the +room his two friends knew Miss Watson's chances were growing brighter +every minute. "My wife happened to be down at Chicken Hill the day you +spoke, and she said you sure did speak well, for a girl, and she +was hopin' you'd speak at our school some night--and we could get a +phonograph to liven things up a bit--I guess we're broad-minded enough +to listen to a woman." + +Mr. Cowan's confidence in his companions was amply justified. They +nodded their heads approvingly, like men who are willing to try +anything once. + +"Well, you see," Mr. Cowan went on, "we have a nice district, Miss +Watson. We're farmer people, of course, with the exception of the few +who live at the station; we're farmers but we're decent people--and +we're pretty well-to-do farmers--we have only one woman in the +district--that we sort of wish wasn't there." + +"Why," asked Pearl quickly. + +"Well you see, she got in first, so to speak. She bought the farm +beside the river, and it was her that called the place 'Purple +Springs.' It's an outlandish name, but it seems to kind a' stick. +There's no springs at all, and they are certainly not purple. But she +made the words out of peeled poplar poles, with her axe, and put them +up at the front of her house, facin' the track, and the blamed words +stick. Mind you, she must have spent months twistin' and turnin' them +poles to suit her and get the letters right, and she made a rustic +fence to put them on. They're so foolish you can't forget them. She's +queer, that's all--and she won't tell who she is, nor where she came +from--and she seems to have money." + +Pearl looked at him inquiringly. There must be more than that to the +story, she thought. + +"The women will tell you more about her--that's sure. They gabble a +lot among themselves about her--I don't know--we think it best to +leave her alone. No woman has any right to live alone the way she +does--it don't look well." + +"Well, anyway," Mr. Cowan spoke hurriedly, as one who has been +betrayed into trifling feminine matters, and is anxious to get back to +man's domain, "we'll take you--at seventy-five dollars a month, and +I guess you can get board at Mrs. Zinc's here at about fifteen. That +ain't bad wages for a girl your age. You can stay at Mrs. Zinc's +anyway till you look around--Mrs. Zinc don't want a boarder. Girls can +fit in any place--that's one reason in our neighborhood we like a girl +better--there's no trouble about boardin' them. They can always manage +somehow. Even if things ain't very good--it don't seem to phaze +them--same as a man. We had a man once, and we had to pay him +twenty-five dollars a month extra, and gosh--the airs of him--wanted +a bed to himself and a hot dinner sent to the school. By Gum! and got +it! We'll be lookin' for you at the middle of the month, and you can +stay at Mrs. Zinc's and look around." + +When the delegation had departed, Pearl acquainted her mother with the +result of their visit. Mrs. Watson had retired to the kitchen, all of +a flutter, as soon as the visitors came. + +"I'm going to Purple Springs, Ma," she said, "to take the school, and +they'll give me seventy-five dollars a month." + +Mrs. Watson sat down, dramatically, and applied her print apron to her +eyes--an occasion had come, and Mrs. Watson, true to tradition, would +make the most of it. Her mother had cried when she left home--it was a +girl's birthright to be well cried over--Pearlie Watson would not go +forth unwept! + +"Cheer up, Ma," said Pearl kindly, "I'm not going to jail, and I'm not +taking the veil or going across the sea. I can call you up for fifteen +cents, and I'll be bringing you home my washing every two weeks--so I +will not be lost entirely." + +Mrs. Watson rocked herself disconsolately back and forth in her chair, +and the sound of her sobs filled the kitchen. Mrs. Watson was having a +good time, although appearances would not bear out the statement. + +"It's the first break, Pearlie, that's what I'm thinkin'--and every +night when I lock the door, I'll be lockin' you out--not knowin' where +ye are. When a family once breaks you never can tell if they'll ever +all be together again--that's what frightens me. It was bad enough +when you went to the city--and I never slept a wink for two nights +after you'd gone. But this is worse, for now you're doin' for yourself +and away from us that way." + +"Gosh, Ma," spoke up Mary, "you sure cry easy; and for queer things. I +think it's grand that Pearl can get out and earn money, and then when +I get my entrance, I'll go to the city and be a teacher too. You're +going to get back what you've spent on us, ma, and you ought to be in +great humor. I'm just as proud of Pearl as I can hold, and I'll be +tellin' the kids at school about my sister who is Principal of the +Purple Springs School." + +"Principal, Assistant and Janitor," laughed Pearl, "that gives a +person some scope--to be sure." + +Mrs. Watson hurriedly put up the ironing-board, and set to work. She +would get Pearl ready, though she did it with a heavy heart. + +Pearl finished her sewing and then went upstairs to make her small +wardrobe ready for her departure, and although she stepped quickly and +in a determined fashion, there was a pain, a lonely ache in her heart +which would not cease, a crying out for the love which she had hoped +would be hers. + +"I wonder if I will ever get to be like ma," she thought, as she lined +the bottom of her little trunk with brown paper, and stuffed tissue +paper into the sleeves of her "good dress," "I wonder! Well, I hope I +will be like her in some ways, but not in this mournful stuff--I won't +either. I'll sing when I feel it coming on me--I will not go mourning +all my days--not for any one!" + +She began to sing:-- + + "Forgotten you? Yes, if forgetting + Is thinking all the day + How the long days pass without you. + Days seem years with you away!" + +Pearl's voice had a reedy mellowness, and an appeal which sent the +words straight into Mary's practical heart. Mary, washing +dishes below, stopped, with a saucer in her hand, and listened +open-mouthed:-- + + "If the warm wish to see you and hear you, + And hold you in my arms again, + If that be forgetting--you're right, dear, + And I have forgotten you then!" + +Her voice trailed away on the last line into a sob, and Mary, +listening below, dropped a tear into the dish-water. Then racing up +the stairs, she burst into Pearl's room and said admiringly: + +"Pearl, you're a wonder. It's an actress you ought to be. You got me +blubbering, mind you. It's so sad about you and your beau that's had a +row, and both of you actin' so pale and proud, you made me see it +all. Sing it again! Well, for the love of Pete--if you ain't ready to +blubber too. That's good actin', Pearl--let me tell you--how can you +do it?" + +Pearl brushed away the tears, and laughed: "I just hit on the wrong +song--that one always makes me cry, I can see them, too, going their +own ways and feeling so bad, and moping around instead of cutting out +the whole thing the way they should. People are foolish to mope!" +Pearl spoke sternly. + +"I think you sing just lovely," said Mary, "now go on, and I'll get +back to the dishes. Sing 'Casey Jones'--that's the best one to wash +dishes to. It's sad, too, but it's funny." + +Mrs. Watson held the iron to her cheek to test its heat, and +listened--too--as Pearl sang:-- + + "Casey Jones--mounted to the cabin, + Casey Jones--with the orders in his hand, + Casey Jones--mounted to the cabin + And took his farewell tri-ip--to the promised land!" + +"It's well for them that can be so light-hearted," she said, "and +leave all belonging to them--as easy as Pearl. Children do not know, +and never will know what it means, until one of their own ups and +leaves them! It's the way of the world, one day they're babies, and +the next thing you know they're gone! It's the way of the world, but +it's hard on the mother." + +Pearl came down the stairs, stepping in time with Casey Jones's +spectacular home-leaving:-- + + "The caller called Casey, at--a half-past-four, + He kissed his wife at the station door." + +"How goes the ironing, honest woman," she said, as she lovingly patted +her mother's shoulder. "It's a proud old bird you ought to be getting +one of your young robins pushed out of the nest--instead of standing +here with a sadness on your face." + +The mother tried to smile through her tears. + +"Pearlie, my dear, you're a queer girl--you never seem to think of +what might happen. It may be six weeks before you can get home--with +the roads breaking up--and a lot can happen in that time. Sure--I +might not be here myself," she said, with a fresh burst of tears. + +"Ma, you're funny," laughed Pearl, "I wish you could see how funny +you are. Every Christmas ever since I can remember, that's what you +said--you might never live to see another, and it used to nearly break +my heart when I was little, and until I made up my mind that you were +a poor guesser. You said it last Christmas just the same, and here +you are with your ears back and your neck bowed, heading up well for +another year. You're quite right in saying you may not be here, but if +you are not you'll be in a better place. Sure, things may happen, but +it's better to have things happen than to be scared all the time that +they may happen. The young lads may take the measles and then the +mumps, and the whooping-cough to finish up on--and the rosey-posey is +going around too. But even if they do--it's most likely they will get +over it--they always have. Up to the present, the past has taken care +of the future. Maybe it always will." + +"O yes, I know there's always a chance things will go wrong--I know +it, Ma--" Pearl's eyes dimmed a little, and she held her lips tighter; +"there's always a chance. The cows may all choke to death seeing +which of them can swallow the biggest turnip--the cats may all have +fits--the chickens may break into the hen-house and steal a bag of +salt, eat it and die. But I don't believe they will. You just have to +trust them--and you'll have to trust me the same way. Just look, Ma--" + +She took a five-dollar bill from her purse and spread it on the +ironing-board before her mother. "Fifteen o' them every month! See +the pictures that's on it, of the two grand old men. See the fine +chin-whiskers on His Nibs here! Ain't it a pity he can't write his +name, Ma, and him President of the Bank, and just has to make a bluff +at it like this. Sure, and isn't that enough to drive any girl out to +teach school, to see to it that bank presidents get a chance to learn +to write. Bank presidents always come from the country; I'll be having +a row of them at Purple Springs--I'm sure. They will be able to tell +in after years at Rotary Club luncheons how they ran barefooted in +November, and made wheat gum--and chewed strings together. They just +like to tell about their chilblains and their stone-bruises." + +Her mother looked at her wonderingly: "You think of queer things, +Pearl--I don't know where you get it--I can't make you out--and +there's another thing troubling me, Pearl. You are goin' away--I don't +suppose you will be livin' much at home now. You'll be makin' your own +way." + +She paused, and Pearl knew her mother was laboring under heavy +emotion. She knew she was struggling to say what was difficult for her +to get into words. + +"When you've been away for a while and then come back to us, maybe +you'll find our ways strange to you, for you're quick in the pick-up, +Pearl, and we're only plain workin' people, and never had a chance at +learnin'. There may come a time when you're far above us, Pearl, and +our ways will seem strange to you. I get worried about it, Pearl, for +I know if that time ever comes, it will worry you too, for you're not +the kind that can hurt your own and not feel it." + +Pearl looked at her mother almost with alarm in her face, and the +fears that had been assailing her that her family were beyond the +social pale came back for a moment. But with the fear came a +fierce tenderness for all of them. She saw in a flash of her quick +imagination the tragedy of it from her mother's side, and in her heart +there was just one big, burning, resolute desire, that pain from this +source might never smite her mother's loving heart. The hard hands, +the sunburnt face, the thin hair that she had not taken time to care +for; the hard-working shoulders, slightly stooped; the scrawny neck, +with its tell-tale lines of age; were eloquent in their appeal. Pearl +saw the contrast of her mother's life and what her own promised to +be, and her tender heart responded, and when she spoke, it was in +an altered tone. All the fun had gone from it now, and it was not a +child's voice, nor a girl's voice, but a woman's, with all a woman's +gentleness and understanding that spoke. + +"Mother," she said, "I know what is in your heart, and I will tell you +how I feel about it. You're afraid your ways may seem strange to me. +Some of them are strange to me now. I often wonder how any one can be +as unselfish as you are and keep it up day in and day out, working for +other people. Most of us can make a good stab at it, and keep it up +for a day or so, but to hit the steady pace, never looking back and +never being cross or ugly about it--that's great!" + +"And about the other ... If ever there comes a time when an honest +heart and a brave spirit in a woman seems strange to me, and I get +feeling myself above them--if I ever get thinking light of honesty and +kindness and patience and hard work, and get thinking myself above +them--then your ways will be strange to me, but not until then!" + +Mrs. Watson's face cleared, and a look of pride shone in her eyes. +Her face seemed to lose some of its lines, and to reflect some of the +lavish beauty of her daughter. + +"You've comforted me, Pearl," she said simply, "and it's not the first +time. Whatever comes or goes, Pearl, you'll know we are proud of you, +and will stand back of you. Your outspoken ways may get you into +trouble, but we'll always believe you were right. We haven't much to +give you--only this." + +"Sure and what more would any one want, leavin' home," Pearl was back +to the speech of her childhood now. "That's better than a fur coat to +keep out the cold, and the thought of my own folks makes me strong to +face the world, knowin' I can always come home even if everything else +is closed. That's good enough!" + +Pearl kissed her mother affectionately, and went back to her work +upstairs, and soon Mary and her mother heard her singing. Mary stopped +scrubbing the kitchen floor, and Mrs. Watson left the iron so long on +Teddy's shirt that it left a mark: + + "Say Au Revoir," sang Pearl, "but not goodbye, + The past is dead--love cannot die, + T'were better far--had we not met, + I loved you then--I love you yet." + +There was something in her voice that made her mother say, "Poor +child, I wonder what's ahead of her." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE MACHINE + + +Seated in one of the billowy tapestry chairs of the Maple Leaf Club, +with a mahogany ash-stand at his elbow and the morning paper in his +hand, the Cabinet Minister gave an exclamation which began far down in +the throat, tore upward past his immaculate collar, and came forth as +a full-sized round word of great emphasis and carrying power. + +It brought to him at once Peter Neelands, one of the ambitious young +lawyers of the city, who was just coming into prominence in political +circles. + +"What did you say, sir?" Peter asked politely. + +The Cabinet Minister controlled his indignation admirably, and with +his pudgy knuckles rapped the offending newspaper, with the motion +used by a carpenter when trying to locate the joist in a plastered +wall, as he said:-- + +"Here is absolutely the most damnably mischievous thing I have seen +for years, and this abominable sheet is featuring it on the Women's +Page. They will all read it--and be infected. Women are such utterly +unreasonable creatures. This is criminal." + +"What is it, sir?" Peter asked deferentially. + +The older man handed him the paper, and sat back in his chair, with +his fat hands clasped over his rotund person, and an expression of +deep disgust in his heavy gray eyes. + +"Anything!--anything!--" he cried, "to gain a political advantage. +They will even play up this poor little uneducated, and no doubt, +mentally unfit country girl, and put in her picture and quotations +from her hysterical speeches. They never think--or care--for the +effect this will have on her, filling her head with all sorts of +notions. This paper is absolutely without a soul, and seems determined +to corrupt the country. And on the Women's Page, too, where they will +all read it!" + +"By Jove! that was good"--exclaimed the young man, as he read. + +"What was good--are you reading what I gave you to read?" came from +the older man. + +"Yes, about this girl at Millford, it says: 'In the discussion that +followed, the local member heatedly opposed the speaker's arguments +favoring the sending of women to Parliament, and said when women sat +in Parliament, he would retire--to which the speaker replied that this +was just another proof of the purifying effect women would have on +politics. This retort naturally brought down the house, and the local +member was not heard from again'--terribly cheeky, of course, but +rather neat, sir, don't you think?" + +The Cabinet Minister took a thick cigar from his vest pocket, without +replying. + +"Who is the member from Millford," he demanded. + +"George Steadman, sir, a big, heavy-set chap--very faithful in his +attendance, sir, absolutely reliable--never talks, but votes right." + +"I don't recall him," said the great man, after a pause, "but your +description shows he's the sort we must retain." + +He lit his cigar, and when it was drawing nicely, removed it from his +mouth, and looked carefully at it, as if he expected to find authentic +information in it regarding private members. Failing this, he put it +back in his mouth, and between puffs went on:-- + +"Let me see--they are wanting a bridge near there, aren't they? on the +Souris?" + +"Yes sir, at Purple Springs." + +"All right--we ought to be able to hold the fort there with the +bridge--but the trouble is, this thing will spread, and when the +campaign warms up, this girl will be in demand." + +He lapsed into silence again. + +Peter, still holding the paper, volunteered:-- + +"She seems to be one of those infant prodigies who could sing 'The +Dying Nun,' and recite 'Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight,' before she +could talk plainly." + +The Cabinet Minister gave no sign that he was listening--mental +agitation was written on his face. + +"But we must head her off some way, I'll admit--I don't mind saying +it--though of course it must not be repeated--these damnable women are +making me nervous. I know how to fight men--I've been fighting them +all my life--with some success." + +"With wonderful success, sir!" burst in Peter. + +The older man threw out his hands in a way that registered modesty. +It had in it the whole scriptural injunction of "Let another praise +thee--and not thine own mouth." + +"With some success," he repeated sternly, "but I cannot fight women. +You cannot tell what they will do; they are absolutely unreliable; +they are ungrateful, too. Many of these women who form the cursed +Women's Club, are women I have been on friendly terms with; so has +the Chief. We have granted them interviews; we have listened to their +suggestions; always with courtesy, always with patience. We have +asked them to come back. In certain matters we have acceded to their +requests--in some unimportant matters--" he added quickly. "But what +is the result? Is there any gratitude? Absolutely none. Give them +an inch--they will take a mile. Women are good servants, but bad +masters." + +"Don't you think, sir," said Peter, much flattered by being talked to +in this friendly way by the great man, "don't you think it is these +militant suffragettes in England who are causing the trouble? Before +they began their depredations, women did not think of the vote. It is +the power of suggestion, don't you think, and all that sort of thing?" + +They were interrupted just then by the arrival of Mr. Banks, one of +the Government organizers, who, ignoring Peter's presence, addressed +himself to the Cabinet Minister. His manner was full of importance. +Mr. Banks had a position in the Public Works Department, and +occasionally might be found there. Sometimes he went in for his mail, +and stayed perhaps half an hour. + +He addressed the Cabinet Minister boldly:-- + +"Did you see this? Looks like trouble, don't it? What do you suggest?" + +Mr. Banks did not remove either his hat or his cigar. Cabinet +Ministers had no terror for him--he had made cabinet ministers. If Mr. +Banks had lived in the time of Warwick that gentleman might not have +had the title of "King-Maker." + +"What do you think yourself," asked the Cabinet Minister +deferentially, "you know the temper of the country perhaps better than +any of us; shall we notice this girl or just let her go?" + +Mr. Banks laughed harshly. + +"We can't stop her, as a matter of fact--she isn't the kind that can +be shut up. There's nothing to her--I've made inquiries. The people +have known her since she was born, and ran the country barefooted--so +we can't send her a 'Fly--all is discovered' postcard. It won't work. +People all honest--can't get any of them into trouble--and then let +them off--and win her gratitude. This is a difficult case, and the +other side will play it up, you bet. The girl has both looks and +brains, and a certain style. She went to the Normal with my girl. My +kid's crazy about her." + +"Do her people need money?" asked Peter; he was learning the inner +side of politics. + +His suggestion was ignored until the pause became painful--then the +organizer said severely:-- + +"Nobody needs money, but every one can use it. But money is of no +use in this case. This has to be arranged by tact. Tact is what few +members of the party have; their methods are raw." + +"But there is no harm done yet," said Peter hopefully, "a few country +people in a bally little school-house, and the girl gets up and +harangues. She's been to the city, and knows a few catch phrases. +There's nothing to it. We wouldn't have known of it--only for the +enthusiastic friend who pours his drivel into this paper." + +Mr. Banks looked at Peter in deep contempt. + +"Whoever wrote this does not write drivel, Peter," he said, with a +note of fatigue in his voice. "He has made out a good case for this +girl. Every one who reads this wants to see her. I want to see her, +you want to see her--that's the deuce of it." + +"Well, why don't you go," said Peter, "or send me? I'd like to go. +Perhaps it would be better to send a young man. I often think--" + +Mr. Banks looked at him with so much surprise in his usually heavy +countenance that Peter paused in confusion. + +"I often think," he braved the disgust he had evoked, and spoke +hurriedly to get it said before the other man had withered him with +his eyes; "I often think a young man can get along sometimes--girls +will tell him more, feeling more companionable as it were--" He +paused, feeling for a convincing climax. + +But in spite of Mr. Banks' scorn of Peter Neelands' efforts at solving +their new difficulty, he soon began to think of it more favorably, +coming to this by a process known as elimination. No one else wanted +to go; he could not think of anything else. Peter would not do any +harm--he was as guileless as a blue-eyed Angora kitten, and above all, +he was willing and anxious to get into the game. This would give him +an opportunity. So Mr. Banks suddenly made up his mind that he would +authorize a cheque to be drawn on the "Funds." It could easily be +entered under "Inspection of Public Bridges," or any old thing--that +was a mere detail. + +The Cabinet Minister, who was later acquainted with the plan, and had +by that time recovered his mental composure, almost spoiled everything +by declaring it was a most unwise move, and absolutely unnecessary. + +"Leave her alone," he declared, as he sipped his whiskey and +soda--"people like that hang themselves if they get enough rope. What +is she anyway--but an unlearned, ignorant country girl, who has been +in the city and gathered a few silly notions, and when she goes home +she shows off before her rustic friends. My dear boy," he addressed +Peter now, from an immeasurable distance, "the secret of England's +greatness consists of letting every damn fool say what he likes, +they feel better, and it does no harm. We must expect criticism and +censure--we are well able to bear it, and with our men in every +district, there is little to fear. We'll offset any effect there may +be from this girl's ravings by sending the Chief out for one speech." + +The Minister of Public Works lapsed into meditation and drummed +pleasantly with his plump, shining hand on the table beside him. The +sweet mellowness which had been Mr. Walker's aim for years, lay on his +soul. The world grew more misty and golden every moment, and in this +sunkissed, nebulous haze, his fancy roamed free, released from sordid +cares--by Mr. Walker's potent spell. It was a good world--a good world +of true friends, no enemies, no contradiction of sinners or other +disagreeable people, nothing but ease, praise, power, success, +glorious old world, without any hereafter, or any day of accounting. +Tears of enthusiasm made dewy his eyes--he loved everybody. + +"The old Chief has a hold on the people that cannot be equalled. I +thought it was wonderful last night at the banquet, the tribute be +paid to his mother. It reveals such a tender side of him, even though +he has received the highest honor the people can give him, yet the +remembers so tenderly the old home and its associations. That's his +great secret of success--he's so human--with faults like other men, +but they only make him all the more beloved. He is so tolerant of all. +When that poor simpleton stuffed the ballot-box--out somewhere in the +Blue Mountains, a really clever piece of work too, wonderfully well +done--with the false bottom--I don't see how they ever discovered +it--but it is hard to deceive the enemy--there's no piece of crooked +work they are not familiar with. He was nearly crazy when they caught +him at it--thought he could be put in jail--he forgot, the poor boob +... who he was working for.... I'll never forget how fine the old +Chief allayed his fears--'All for a good cause, my boy,' he said, in +that jovial way of his, 'I have no fear--the Lord will look after His +own.' No wonder he can get people to work for him. It is that hearty +good nature of his, and he never preaches to any one, or scolds. He +was just as kindly to the poor fellow as if he had succeeded. It was +wonderful." + +"Great old boy, all right," Peter agreed heartily. + +That afternoon Mr. Banks arranged with one of the partners of the law +firm to which Peter was attached to release him for an indefinite +period, and his salary could be charged to the Government under +"Professional Services, Mr. P.J. Neelands," and being a fair-minded +man, and persuaded that a laborer was worthy of his hire, he suggested +a substantial increase in salary for Mr. Neelands, considering the +delicate nature of the task he was undertaking, and who was paying for +it. + +The spring, notwithstanding its early March smiles, delayed its coming +that year, and the grim facts of the scarcity of feed faced the +thriftiest farmers. The hungry cattle grew hungrier than ever, and +with threatening bellows and eyes of flame pushed and crowded around +the diminishing stacks. The cattle market went so low that it did not +pay to ship them to the city, though humane instincts prompted many +a farmer to do this to save their stock from a lingering death, and +their own eyes from the agony of seeing them suffer. + +On April the first came the big storm, which settled forever the feed +problem for so many hungry animals. It was a deliberate storm, a +carefully planned storm, beginning the day before with a warm, soft +air, languorous, spring-like, with a pale yellow sun, with a cap of +silver haze around its head, which seemed to smile upon the earth with +fairest promises of an early spring. The cattle wandered far from +home, lured by the gentle air and the mellow sunshine. + +It was on this fair day that Mr. P.J. Neelands took his journey to +the country to do it a service, and it is but fair to say that Mr. +Neelands had undertaken his new work with something related to +enthusiasm. It savored of mystery, diplomacy, intrigue, and there was +a thrill in his heart as he sat in the green plush-covered seat, +and leaning back, with his daintily shod feet on the opposite seat, +surveyed himself in the long mirror which filled the door of the +stateroom at the end. It was a very smartly dressed young man he saw, +smiling back engagingly, and the picture pleased him. Expenses and +salary paid, with a very delightful piece of work before him, which, +if handled tactfully and successfully, would bring him what he +craved--political promotion in the Young Men's Club. The fact in the +glass smiled again. "Diplomacy is the thing," said Peter to himself. +"It carries a man farther than anything--and I'm glad my first case +has a woman in it." + +He buffed his nails on the palm of his other hand, and, looking at +them critically, decided to go over them again. + +"There's nothing like personal neatness to impress a girl; and this +one, from her picture, will see everything at a glance." + +Crossing the river at Poplar Ridge, he looked out of the window at the +pleasant farmyard of one of the old settlers on the Assiniboine; a +fine brick house, with wide verandahs, an automobile before the door, +a barnyard full of cackling hens, with a company of fine fat steers +in an enclosure--a pleasing picture of farm life, which filled his +imagination. + +"What a country of opportunity," thought Peter, "a chance for every +one, and for women especially. Everything in life is done for them. +This house was built for some woman, no doubt. I hope she appreciates +it, and is contented and happy in it. Women were made to charm +us--inspire us--cheer us, but certainly not to rival us!" + +Peter, with his hands on the knees of his well-creased trousers, +hitched them slightly, just enough to reveal a glimpse of his lavender +socks. + +"Perhaps this girl needs only an interest--a love interest--" Peter +blushed as he thought it--"to quiet her. If her affection were +captured, localized, centralized, she would not be clamoring to take a +man's place. She might be quite willing to enter politics, indirectly, +and be the power behind a man of power." + +He looked again at the newspaper picture of Pearl Watson, and again at +his own reflection in the long glass. + +"And a girl like this," Peter meditated, "would be a help, too. She is +evidently magnetic and convincing." His mind drifted pleasantly into +the purple hills and valleys of the future, and in a delightfully +vague way plans began to form for future campaigns, where a brilliant +young lawyer became at once the delight of his friends and the despair +of his enemies, by his scathing sarcasm, his quick repartee, and still +more by his piercing and inescapable logic. Never had the Conservative +banner been more proudly borne to victory. Older men wept tears of joy +as they listened and murmured, "The country is safe--thank God!" + +Ably assisting him, though she deferred charmingly to him, in all +things, was his charming young wife, herself an able speaker and +debater who had once considered herself a suffragette, but who was now +entirely absorbed in her beautiful home and her brilliant husband. + +Peter flicked the dust from his tan shoes with a polka-dotted +handkerchief, while rosy dreams, full of ambition and success filled +his impressionable mind. + +Through the snowy hills the train made its way cautiously, making long +and apparently purposeless stops between stations, as if haunted by +the fear of arriving too early. At such times Peter had leisure to +carefully study the monotonous landscape, and he could not help but +notice that the disparity in the size of the barn and that of the +house in many cases was very great. A huge red barn, with white +trimmings, surmounted by windmills, often stood towering over a tiny +little weather-beaten, miserable house, which across a mile or two of +snow, looked about the size of a child's block. + +But small houses can be made very cosy, thought Peter complacently, +for the glamor of adventure was on him, and no shade of sadness could +assail his high spirits. + +Some of the women who came to the train were disappointing in +appearance. They were both shabby and sad, he thought, and he wondered +why but looking closely at them he thought, with the fallacy of youth, +that they must be very old. + +Peter tried to outline his course of action. He would take a room +at the hotel, making that his headquarters, and go out into the +country--and stop at the Watson home, to ask directions or on some +trivial errand, and meet her that way. But the thought would come back +with tiresome regularity--suppose the first person who came to the +door, gave him the directions he wanted--and shut the door. Well, of +course he could ask for a drink,... but even that might fail. Perhaps +he should have brought an egg-beater--or a self-wringing mop to +demonstrate, or some of the other things his friends had suggested. +However, that did not need to be decided at once. Peter prided himself +on his ability to leave tomorrow alone! So he made his way to the +hotel on the corner, facing the station, untroubled by what the morrow +might bring forth, and registered his name in the large book which the +clerk swung around in front of him, and quietly asked for a room with +a bath. + +The clerk bit through the toothpick he had in his mouth, so great was +his surprise, but he answered steadily: + +"All rooms with bath are taken--only rooms with bed left." + +"Room with bed, then," said Peter, and he was given the key of No. 17, +and pointed to the black and red carpeted stairway. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE STORM + + +It was a morning of ominous calm, with an hour of bright sun, +gradually softening into a white shadow, as a fleecy cloud of fairy +whiteness rolled over the sun's face, giving a light on the earth like +the garish light in a tent at high noon, a light of blinding whiteness +that hurts the eyes, although the sun is hidden. It was as innocent +a looking morning as any one would wish to see, still, warm, bright, +with a heavy brooding air which deadens sound and makes sleighs draw +hard and horses come out in foam. + +James Crocks, of the Horse Repository, sniffed the air apprehensively, +bit a semi-circle out of a plug of tobacco, and gave orders that no +horse was to leave the barn that day, for "he might be mistaken, and +he might not," but he thought "we were in for it." + +Other people seemed to think the same, for no teams could be seen on +any of the roads leading to the village. It was the kind of morning +on which the old timers say, "Stay where you are, wherever it is--if +there's a roof over you!" + +Wakening from a troubled dream of fighting gophers that turned to +wild-cats, Mr. Neelands, in No. 17, made a hurried toilet, on account +of the temperature of the room, for although the morning was warm, +No. 17 still retained some of last week's temperature, and to Mr. +Neelands, accustomed to the steam heat of Mrs. Marlowe's "Select +Boarding House--young men a specialty"--it felt very chilly, indeed. +But Mr. Neelands had his mind made up to be unmoved by trifles. + +After a good breakfast in the dining room, Mr. Neelands walked out to +see the little town--and to see what information he could gather. The +well-dressed young man, with the pale gray spats, who carried a cane +on his arm and wore a belted coat, attracted many eyes as he swung out +gaily across the street toward the livery stable. + +His plans were still indefinite. Bertie, who was in charge of the +stable, gazed spell-bound on the vision of fashion which stood at the +door, asking about a team. Bertie, for once, was speechless--he seemed +to be gazing on his own better self--the vision he would like to see +when he sought his mirror. + +"I would like to get a team for a short run," said Mr. Neelands +politely. + +"Where you goin'," asked Bertie. + +Mr. Neelands hesitated, and became tactful. + +"I am calling on teachers," he said, on a matter of business, +"introducing a new set of books for school libraries." + +It was the first thing Mr. Neelands could think of, and he was quite +pleased with it when he said it. It had a professional, business-like +ring, which pleased him. + +"A very excellent set of books, which the Department of Education +desire to see in every school," Mr. Neelands elaborated. + +Then Bertie, always anxious to be helpful and to do a good deed, leapt +to the door, almost upsetting Mr. Neelands in his haste. Bertie had +an idea! Mr. Neelands did not connect his sudden departure with his +recent scheme of enriching the life of the country districts with the +set of books just mentioned, and therefore waited rather impatiently +for the stableboy's return. + +Bertie burst in, with the same enthusiasm. + +"See, Mister, here's the teacher you want; I got her for you--she was +just going to school." + +Bertie's face bore the same glad rapture that veils the countenance of +a cat when she throws a mouse at your feet with a casual "How's that." + +Mr. Neelands found himself facing a brown-eyed, well-dressed young +lady, with big question marks in both eyes, question marks which in a +very dignified way demanded to know what it was all about. + +In his confusion, Mr. Neelands, new in the art of diplomacy, +blundered: + +"Is this Miss Watson?" he stammered. + +The reply was definite. + +"It is not, and why did you call me." + +Icicles began to hang from the roof. Mr. Neelands would have been +well pleased if they had fallen on him, or a horse had kicked him--or +anything. + +He blushed a ripe tomato red. Bertie, deeply grieved, reviewed the +situation. + +"He said he wanted to see the teachers, and I just went and got +you--that's all--you were the nearest teacher." + +"Awfully sorry," began Mr. Neelands, "I did not know anything about +it. I'm am just a stranger, you see." + +There was something in Miss Morrison's eye which simply froze the +library proposition. He could not frame the words. + +"If you have any business with me you may make an appointment at the +school. People who have business with the teachers generally do come +to the school--not to the livery stable," she added, in exactly the +tone in which she would have said "All who have failed to get fifty +per cent. in arithmetic will remain after four," a tone which would be +described as stern, but just. + +Mr. Neelands leaned against a box-stall as Miss Morrison passed out. +He wiped his face with the polka-dot handkerchief, and the word which +the Cabinet Minister had used came easily to his lips. + +"Why didn't you speak to her when you got a chance?" asked Bertie, +anxious to divert the blame and meet railing with railing. He was +always getting in wrong just trying to help people. Darn it all! Mr. +Neelands could still think of no word but the one. + +"I wish it had been Pearl," said Bertie, "Gee! she wouldn't ha' been +so sore; she'd just laughed and jollied about it." + +"So you know Pearl, do you?" Mr. Neelands could feel a revival of +interest in life; also the stiffness began to leave his lips, and his +tongue felt less like tissue paper. + +"I guess everyone knows Pearl," said Bertie, with a consciousness of +superiority on at least one point. Whereupon he again fulfilled the +promises of youth, the leadings of his birth star and the promptings +of his spirit guides, and told all he knew about the whole Watson +family, not forgetting the roses he had taken to her, and Mrs. Crock's +diagnosis of it all. + +He had an interested listener to it all, and under the inspiration +which a sympathetic hearing gives he grew eloquent, and touched with +his fine fancy the romantic part of it. + +"Mrs. Crocks says she believes Pearl is pretty sweet on the Doctor. +Pearl is one swell girl, and all that, but Mrs. Crocks says the Doctor +will likely marry the Senator's daughter. Gee! I wouldn't if I was +him. She hasn't got the style that Pearl has--she rides a lot and has +nerve--and all that, but she's bow-legged!" His tone was indescribably +scornful. + +Mr. Neelands gasped. + +"Yep," went on Bertie complacently, "we see a lot here at the stable +and get to know a lot--one way'n another--we can't help it. They come +and go, you know." + +"The doctor won't run for Parliament--he turned it down. Mrs. Crocks +thinks the Senator maybe persuaded him not to--the Senator is for the +Government, of course, and it is the other side wanted the doctor; +anyway, that suits old Steadman; he'll likely go in again on account +of the bridge at Purple Springs. Every one wants to get work on it +with the Spring hangin' back the way it is." "How about a horse? I +want to take a drive into the country," said Mr. Neelands. + +"No horse can go out of here today," answered Bertie. "Mr. Crocks says +there'll be storm, and he won't take no chances on his horses. He says +people can judge for themselves and run risks if they want to, he'll +decide for the horses--and they can't go." + +"O, all right," said Mr. Neelands. "How far is it to the Watson farm?" + +"Are you going out?" asked Bertie. "Better phone and see if she's at +home. Here's the phone--I'll get her." + +Mr. Neelands laid a restraining hand on Bertie's arm. "Easy there, +my friend," he said, his tone resembling Miss Morrison's in its +commanding chilliness, "How far is it to the Watson farm?" + +"Five miles in summer, four in winter," Bertie answered a little +sulkily. + +"You would call this winter, I suppose," said the traveller, looking +out at the darkening street. + +"I'd call it--oh, well, never mind what I'd call it--I'm always +talking too much--call it anything you like." Bertie grew dignified +and reserved. "Call it the first of July if you like! I don't care." + +That is how it came that Mr. Neelands took the out-trail when all the +signs were against travelling, but to his unaccustomed eye there +was nothing to fear in the woolly grayness of the sky, nor in the +occasional snowflake that came riding on the wind. The roads were +hard-packed and swept clean by the wind, and the sensation of space +and freedom most enjoyable. + +Mr. Neelands as he walked filed away tidily in his mind the +information received. There were valuable clues contained in the +stable-boy's chatter, Which he would tabulate, regarding the lady +of his quest. She was popular, approachable, gifted with a sense of +humor, and perhaps disappointed in love. No clue was too small to be +overlooked--and so, feeling himself one of the most deadly of sleuths, +Mr. Neelands walked joyously on, while behind him there gathered one +of the worst blizzards that the Souris Valley has known. + +The storm began with great blobbery flakes of snow, which came +elbowing each other down the wind, crossing and re-crossing, circling, +drifting, whirling, fluttering, so dense and thick that the whole air +darkened ominously, and the sun seemed to withdraw from the world, +leaving the wind and the storm to their own evil ways. + +The wind at once began its circling motions, whipping the snow +into the traveller's face, blinding and choking him, lashing him +mercilessly and with a sudden impish delight, as if all the evil +spirits of the air had declared war upon him. + +He turned to look back, but the storm had closed behind him, having +come down from the northwest and overtaken him as he walked. His only +hope was to go with it, for to face it was impossible, and yet it +seemed to have no direction, for it blew up in his face; it fell on +him; it slapped him, jostled him, pushed him, roared in his ears, +smothering him, drowning his cries with malicious joy. No cat ever +worried or harrassed a mouse with greater glee than the storm fiends +that frolicked through the valley that day, took their revenge on the +city man, with his pointed boots, his silk-lined gloves, his belted +coat and gray fedora, as he struggled on, slipping, choking, falling +and rising. It seemed to him like a terrible nightmare, in its sudden, +gripping fury. + +It pounded on his eyeballs until he was not sure but his eyes were +gone; it filled his mouth and ears, and cold water trickled down his +back. His gloves were wet through, and freezing, for the air grew +colder every minute, and the terror of the drowning man came to him. +He struggled on madly, like a steer that feels the muskeg closing +around him. He did not think; he fought, with the same instinct that +drives the cattle blindly, madly on towards shelter and food, when the +storm lashes them and the hunger rage drives them on. + +Sylvester Paine, shaking the snow from his clothes like a water +spaniel, and stamping all over the kitchen, was followed by his wife, +who vainly tried to sweep it up as fast as it fell. She made no +remonstrance, but merely swept, having long since earned that her +liege lord was never turned aside from his purpose by any word of +hers. + +When he was quite done, and the snow was melting in pools on the +floor, he delivered his opinion of the country and the weather: "This +is sure a hell of a country," he said, "that can throw a storm like +this at the end of March." + +She made no reply--she had not made either the country or the weather, +and would not take responsibility for them. She went on wiping up the +water from the floor, with rebellion, slumbering, hidden rebellion +in every movement, and the look in her eyes when she turned to the +window, was a strange blending of rage and fear. + +"Why don't you answer me," he said, turning around quickly, "Darn you, +why can't you speak when your spoken to?" + +"You did not speak to me," she said. "There was nothing for me to +say." + +He looked at her for a moment--her silence exasperated him. She seemed +to be keeping something back--something sinister and unknown. + +"Well, I can tell you one thing," he went on, in a voice that seemed +to be made of iron filings, "you may not answer when I speak to +you--you'll do what you're told. I'm not going to slave my life out +on this farm when there's easier money to be made. Why should you set +yourself above me, and say you won't go into a hotel? I have the right +to decide, anyway. Better people than you have kept hotels, for all +your airs. Are you any better than I am?" + +"I hope so," she said, without raising her eyes from the floor. She +rose quietly and washed out her floorcloth, and stood drying her hands +on the roller towel which hung on the kitchen door. There was an air +of composure about her that enraged him. He could not make it out. The +quality which made the women call her proud kindled his anger now. + +The storm tore past the house, shaking it in its grip like a terrier +shaking a rat. It seemed to mock at their trivial disputes, and seek +to settle them by drowning the sound of them. + +His voice rang above the storm:-- + +"I'll sell the farm," he shouted. "I'll sell every cow and horse on +it. I'll sell the bed from under you--I'll break you and your stuck-up +ways, and you'll not get a cent of money from me--not if your tongue +was hanging out." + +The children shrank into corners and pitifully tried to efface +themselves. The dog, with drooping tail, sought shelter under the +table. + +Sylvester Paine thought he saw a shrinking in her face, and followed +up his advantage with a fresh outpouring of abuse. + +"There's no one to help you--or be sorry for you--you haven't a friend +in this neighborhood, with your stuck-up way. The women are sore on +you--none of them ever come to see you or even phone you. Don't you +think I see it! You've no one to turn to, so you might as well know +it--I've got you!" + +His last words were almost screamed at her, as he strove to make his +voice sound above the storm, and in a sudden lull of the storm, they +rang through the house. + +At the same moment there was a sound of something falling against +the door and the dog, with bristling hair, ran out from his place of +shelter. + +Mrs. Paine turned quickly to the door and opened it, letting in a +gust of blinding snow, which eddied in the room and melted on the hot +stove. + +A man, covered with snow, lay where he had fallen, exhausted on the +doorstep. + +"What's this," cried Paine, in a loud voice, as he ran forward; "where +did this fellow come from?" + +In his excitement he asked it over and over again, as if Mrs. Paine +should know. She ventured no opinion, but busied herself in getting +the snow from the clothes of her visitor and placing him in the +rocking chair beside the fire. He soon recovered the power of speech, +and thanked her gaspingly, but with deep sincerity. + +"This is a deuce of a day for any one to be out," began the man of the +house. "Any fool could have told it was going to storm; what drove you +out? Where did you come from, anyway?" + +Mrs. Paine looked appealingly at him:-- + +"Let him get his breath, can't you, see, he is all in," she said +quietly, "he'll tell you, when he can speak." + +In a couple of hours, Peter Neelands, draped in a gray blanket, sat +beside the fire, while his clothes were being dried, and rejoiced +over the fact that he was alive. The near tragedy of the bright young +lawyer found dead in the snow still thrilled him. It had been a close +squeak, he told himself, and a drowsy sense of physical well-being +made him almost unconscious of his surroundings. It was enough for him +to be alive and warm. + +Mrs. Paine moved about the house quietly, and did all she could with +her crude means to make her guest comfortable, and to assure him of +her hospitality. She pressed his clothes into shape again, and gave +him a well-cooked dinner, as well served as her scanty supplies would +allow, asking no questions, but with a quiet dignity making him feel +that she was glad to serve him. There was something in her manner +which made a strong appeal to the chivalrous heart of the young man. +He wanted to help her--do something for her--make things easier for +her. + +The afternoon wore on, with no loosening of the grip of the storm, +and Peter began to realize that he was a prisoner. He could have been +quite happy with Mrs. Paine and the children, even though the floor +of the kitchen was draughty and cold, the walls smoked, the place +desolate and poor; but the presence of his host, with his insulting +manners, soon grew unbearable. Mr. Paine sat in front of the +stove, smoking and spitting, abusing the country, the weather, the +Government, the church. Nothing escaped him, and everything was wrong. + +A certain form of conceit shone through his words too, which increased +his listener's contempt. He had made many sharp deals in his time, of +which he was inordinately proud. Now he gloated over them. Fifteen +thousand dollars of horse notes were safely discounted in the bank, +so he did not care, he said, whether spring came or not. He had his +money. The bank could collect the notes. + +Peter looked at him to see if he were joking. Surely no man with so +much money would live so poorly and have his wife and children so +shabbily dressed. Something of this must have shown in his face. + +"I've made money," cried Sylvester Paine, spitting at the leg of the +stove; "and I've kept it--or spent it, just as I saw fit, and I did +not waste is on a fancy house. What's a house, anyway, but a place to +eat and sleep. I ain't goin' to put notions into my woman's head, with +any big house--she knows better than to ask it now. If she don't like +the house--the door is open--let her get out--I say. She can't take +the kids--and she won't go far without them." + +He laughed unpleasantly: "That's the way to have them, and by gosh! +there's one place I admired the old Premier--in the way he roasted +those freaks of women who came askin' for the vote. I don't think much +of the Government, but I'm with them on that--in keepin' the women +where they belong." + +"But why," interrupted Peter, with a very uneasy mind, "why shouldn't +women have something to say?" + +"Are you married?" demanded his host. + +"No, not yet," said Peter blushing. + +"Well, when you're married--will you let your wife decide where you +will live? How you earn your living--and all that? No sir, I'll bet +you won't--you'll be boss, won't you? I guess so. Well, every man has +that right, absolutely. Here am I--I'm goin' to sell out here and buy +a hotel--there's good money in it, easy livin'. She--" there was an +unutterable scorn in his voice, "says she won't go--says it ain't +right to sell liquor. I say she'll come with me or get out. She might +be able to earn her own livin', but she can't take the kids. Accordin' +to law, children belong to the father--ain't that right? There's a man +comin' to buy the farm--I guess he would have been out today, only for +the storm. We have the bargain made--all but the signin' up." + +Mrs. Paine stood still in the middle of the floor, and listened in +terror. "A man coming to buy the farm!" Every trace of color left her +face! Maybe it was not true. + +He saw the terror in her face, and followed up his advantage. + +"People have to learn to do as they're told when I'm round. No one can +defy me--I'll tell you that. Every one knows me--I can be led, but I +cant be driven." + +Peter Neelands had the most uncomfortable feeling he had ever known. +He was not sure whether it was his utter aversion to the man who sat +in front of the stove, boasting of his sharp dealing, or a physical +illness which affected him, but a horrible nausea came over him. His +head swam--his eardrums seemed like to burst--every bone began to +ache. + +The three days that followed were like a nightmare, which even time +could never efface or rob of its horror. The fight with the storm +had proven such a shock to him that for three days a burning fever, +alternating with chills, held him in its clutches, and even when the +storm subsided kept him a prisoner sorely against his will. + +In these three days, at close range, he saw something of a phase of +life he had never even guessed at. He did not know that human beings +could live in such crude conditions, without comforts, without +even necessities. It was like a bad dream--confused, humiliating, +horrible--and when on the third day he was able to get into his +clothes his one desire was to get away--and yet, to leave his kind +hostess who had so gently nursed him and cared for him, seemed like an +act of desertion. + +However, when he was on his feet, though feeling much shaken, and +still a bit weak, his courage came back. Something surely could be +done to relieve conditions like this. + +The snow was piled fantastically in huge mounds over the fields, and +the railway cuts would be drifted full, so no train would run for +days. But Peter felt that he could walk the distance back to town. + +His host made no objection, and no offer to drive him. + +In the tiny bedroom off the kitchen, which Mrs. Paine had given him, +as he shiveringly made his preparations for leaving, he heard a +strange voice in the other room, a girl's voice, cheery, pleasant. + +"I just came in to see how you are, Mrs. Paine. No thank you, I won't +put the team in the stable--I ran them into the shed. I am on my way +home from driving the children to school. Some storm, wasn't it? The +snow is ribbed like a washboard, but it is hard enough to carry the +horses." + +Peter came out, with his coat and his hat in his hand, and was +introduced. His first thought was one of extreme mortification--three +days' beard was on his face. His toilet activities had been limited +in number. He knew he felt wretched, seedy, groggy--and looked it. +Something in Pearl's manner re-assured him. + +"Going to town?" said she kindly, "rather too far for you to walk when +you are feeling tough. Come home with me if you are not in a hurry, +and I will drive you in this afternoon." + +Peter accepted gladly. + +He hardly looked at her, holding to some faint hope that if he did +not look at her she would not be able to see him either, and at this +moment Peter's one desire was not to be seen, at least by this girl. + +In a man's coonskin coat she stood at the door, with her face rosy +with the cold. She brought an element of hope and youth, a new +spirit of adventure into the drab room, with its sodden, commonplace +dreariness. Peter's spirits began to rise. + +Outside the dogs began to bark, and a cutter went quickly past the +window. + +Mrs. Paine, looking out, gave a cry of alarm. + +"Wait, Pearl! Oh, don't go!" she cried, "stay with me. It's the man +who is going to buy the farm. He said he was coming, but I didn't +believe him;" her hands were locking and unlocking. + +Without a word, Pearl slipped off her coat and waited. She seemed +to know the whole situation, and instinctively Peter began to feel +easier. There was something about this handsome girl, with the +firmly-set and dimpled chin, which gave him confidence. + +In a few moments Sylvester Paine and his caller came in from the +barn. Pearl stood beside Mrs. Paine, protectingly. Her face had grown +serious; she knew the fight was on. + +Sylvester Paine nodded to her curtly, and introduced his guest to +every one at once. + +"This is Mr. Gilchrist," he said, "and now we'll get to business. Get +the deeds." he said, to his wife shortly. + +Mrs. Paine went upstairs. + +"Who did you say the young lady is," asked Mr. Gilchrist, who thought +he recognized Pearl, but not expecting to see her here, wished to be +sure. Mr. Gilchrist, as President of the Political Association, had +heard about Pearl, and hoped she might be an able ally in the coming +election. + +"This is Pearl Watson," said Mr. Paine, rather grudgingly. "This is +the girl that's working up the women to thinking that they ought to +vote. Her father and mother are good neighbors of mine, and Pearl was +a nice kid, too, until she went to the city and got a lot of fool +notions." + +"I'm a nice kid yet," said Pearl, smiling at him, and compelling him +to meet her eye, "and I am a good neighbor of yours too, Mr. Paine, +for I am going to do something for you today that no one has ever +done. I'm going to tell you something." + +She walked over to the table and motioned to the two men to sit +down, though she remained standing. Sylvester Paine stared at her +uncomprehendingly. The girl's composure was disconcerting. Her voice +had a vibrant passion in it that made Peter's heart begin to beat. It +was like watching a play that approaches its climax. + +"Mr. Gilchrist probably does not understand that there is a small +tragedy going on here today. Maybe he does not know the part he is +playing in it. It is often so in life, that people do not know the +part they played until it is too late to change. You've come here +today to buy the farm." + +Mr. Gilchrist nodded. + +"Ten years ago this farm was idle land. Mr. and Mrs. Paine homesteaded +it, and have made it one of the best in the country. It has been hard +work, but they have succeeded. For the last five years Mr. Paine has +not been much at home--he has bought cattle and horses and shipped +them to the city, and has done very well, and now has nearly fifteen +thousand dollars in the bank. There is no cleverer man in the country +than Mr. Paine in making a bargain, and he is considered one of the +best horsemen in the Province. He pays his debts, keeps his word, and +there is no better neighbor in this district." + +Sylvester Paine watched her open-mouthed--amazed. How did she know +all this? It made strange music in his ears, for, in spite of all his +bluster, he hungered for praise; for applause. Pearl's words fell like +a shower on a thirsty field. + +"Meanwhile," Pearl went on, "Mrs. Paine runs the farm, and makes it +pay, too. Although Mrs. Paine works the hardest of the two, Mr. Paine +handles all the money, and everything is in his name. He has not +noticed just how old and worn her clothes are. Being away so much, the +manner of living does not mean so much to him as to her, for she is +always here. Mrs. Paine is not the sort of woman who talks. She never +complains to the other women, and they call her proud. I think Mrs. +Paine has been to blame in not telling Mr. Paine just how badly she +needs new clothes. He always looks very well himself, and I am sure he +would like to see her well dressed, and the children too. But she will +not ask him for money, and just grubs along on what she can get with +the butter money. She is too proud to go out poorly dressed, and so +does not leave home for months at a time, and of course, that's bad +for her spirits, and Mr. Paine gets many a cross look from her when he +comes home. It makes him very angry when she will not speak--he does +not understand." + +"Mr. Paine's intention now is to sell the farm and buy the hotel in +Millford. He will still go on buying cattle, and his wife will run the +hotel. She does not want to do this. She says she will not do it--it +is not a proper place in which to raise her children. She hates the +liquor business. This is her home, for which she has worked." + +"It is not much of a home; it's cold in winter and hot in summer. You +would never think a man with fifteen thousand dollars in the bank +would let his wife and children live like this, without even the +common decencies of life. That's why Mrs. Paine has never had any of +her own people come to visit her, she is ashamed for them to see how +badly off she is. No, it is not much of a home, but she clings to it. +It is strange how women and animals cling to their homes. You remember +the old home on the road to Hampton your people had, Mr. Gilchrist, +the fine old house with the white veranda and the big red barn? It was +the best house on the road. It burned afterwards--about three years +ago." + +Mr. Gilchrist nodded. + +"Well, we bought, when we came to our farm here, one of your father's +horses, the old Polly mare--do you remember Polly?" + +"I broke her in," he said, "when she was three." + +"Well, Polly had been away a long time from her old home, but last +summer when we drove to Hampton Polly turned in to the old place and +went straight to the place where the stable had stood. There was +nothing there--even the ruins are overgrown with lamb's quarters--but +Polly went straight to the spot. It had been home to her." + +A silence fell on the room. + +"There is no law to protect Mrs. Paine," Pearl went on, after a long +pause. "The law is on your side, Mr. Gilchrist. If you want the place +there is no law to save Mrs. Paine. Mr. Paine is quite right in saying +he can take the children, so she will have to follow. Mrs. Paine is +not the sort of woman to desert her children. She would live even in +a hotel rather than desert her children. The law is on your side, +gentlemen--you have the legal right to go on with the transaction." + +"What law is this?" said Mr. Gilchrist. + +"The law of this Province," said Pearl. + +"Do you mean to say," said Mr. Gilchrist hotly, "that Mrs. Paine +cannot claim any part of the price of this farm as her own--or does +not need to sign the agreement of sale. Has she no claim at all?" + +"She has none," said Pearl, "she has no more claim on this farm than +the dog has!" + +"By Gosh! I never knew that," he cried. "We'll see a lawyer in town +before we do anything. That's news to me." + +"Are you sure of it, Pearl?" Mrs. Paine whispered. "Maybe there's +something I can do. This young man is a lawyer--maybe he could tell +us." + +Sylvester Paine was trying to recover his point of view. + +"Can you tell us," Pearl asked Peter, who sat in a corner, intensely +listening, "what the law says." + +"The law," said Peter miserably--as one who hates the word he is about +to utter--"gives a married woman no rights. She has no claim on her +home, nor on her children. A man can sell or will away his property +from his wife. A man can will away his unborn child--and it's a hell +of a law," he added fiercely. + +Pearl turned to Robert Gilchrist, saying, "Mr. Gilchrist, the law is +with you. The woman and the three children have no protection. Mr. +Paine is willing that they should be turned out. It is up to you." + +Mrs. Paine, who had come down the stairs with the deed in her hand, +laid it on the table and waited. For some time no one spoke. + +Sylvester Paine looked at the floor. He was a heavy-set man, with a +huge head, bare-faced and rather a high forehead. He did not seem to +be able to lift his eyes. + +"I suppose," continued Pearl, "the people who made the laws did not +think it would ever come to a show-down like this. They thought that +when a man promised to love and cherish a woman--he would look after +her and make her happy, and see to it that she had clothes to wear and +a decent way of living--if he could. Of course, there are plenty of +men who would gladly give their wives everything in life, but they +can't, poor fellows--for they are poor; but Mr. Paine is one of the +best off men in the district. He could have a beautiful home if he +liked, and his wife could be the handsomest woman in the neighborhood. +She is the sort of woman who would show off good clothes too. I +suppose her love of pretty things has made her all the sorer, because +she has not had them. I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Gilchrist, before +you closed the deal. Mrs. Paine would never tell you, and naturally +enough Mr. Paine wouldn't. In fact he does not know just how things +stand. But I feel that you should know just what you are doing if you +take this farm. Of course, it is hardly fair to expect you to protect +this woman's home and her children, and save her from being turned +out, if her husband won't--you are under no obligation to protect her. +She made her choice years ago--with her eyes open--when she married +Sylvester Paine. It seems ... she guessed wrong ... and now ... she +must pay!" + +Mrs. Paine sank into a chair with a sob that seemed to tear her heart +out. The auburn hair fell across her face, her lovely curly hair, from +which in her excitement she had pulled the pins. It lay on the table +in ringlets of gold, which seemed to writhe, as if they too were +suffering. Her breath came sobbing, like a dog's dream. + +Sylvester Paine was the first to speak. + +"Pearl, you're wrong in one place," he said, "just one--you had +everything else straight. But you were wrong in one place." + +He went around the table and laid his hand on his wife's head. + +"Millie," he said, gently. + +She looked up at him tearfully. + +"Millie!" + +He stood awkwardly beside her, struggling to control himself. All the +swagger had gone from him, all the bluster. When he spoke his voice +was husky. + +"Pearl has got it all straight, except in one place." he said. "She's +wrong in one place. She says you guessed wrong when you married me, +Millie." + +His voice was thick, and the words came with difficulty. + +"Pearl has done fine, and sized the case up well ... but she's wrong +there. It looks bad just now, Millie--but you didn't make such a +rotten guess, after all. I'm not just sayin' what I'll do, but--" + +"The deal is off, Bob," he said to Mr. Gilchrist, "until Mrs. Paine +and I talk things over." + +And then Pearl quietly slipped into her coat and, motioning to Peter, +who gladly followed her, went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SEVENTH WAVE + + +The big storm had demoralized the long-distance telephone service, so, +that it was by night lettergram that George Steadman was commissioned +by the official organizer of the Government to find P.J. Neelands, who +had not been heard of since the morning of the storm. Mr. Steadman was +somewhat at a loss to know how to proceed. + +He was very sorry about Mr. Neelands and his reported disappearance. +Mr. Neelands was one of the friendliest and most approachable of +the young political set, and Mr. Steadman had often listened to his +speeches, and always with appreciation. He wondered why Mr. Neelands +had come to Millford now without telling him. + +At the hotel, nothing was known of the young man, only that he had +taken a room, registered, slept one night, and gone, leaving all his +things. Mr. Steadman was conducted to Number 17, and shown the meagre +details of the young man's brief stay. His toilet articles, of +sterling silver with his monogram, lay on the turkish towel, which at +once concealed and protected the elm top of the bureau; his two bags, +open and partly unpacked, took up most of the floor space in the room. +His dressing-gown was hung on one of the two hooks on the back of the +door, suspended by one shoulder, which gave it a weary, drunken look. +There was something melancholy and tragic about it all. + +"In the midst of life we are in death," said George Steadman to +himself piously, and shuddered. "It looks bad. Poor young fellow--cut +off in his prime--he did not even have a fur coat! and went out never +thinking." + +He examined the telegram again--"On business for the Government," it +said, "of a private nature. See 'Evening Echo' March 21st, Page 23." +What could that mean? + +George Steadman did not take the "Evening Echo." He hated the very +sight of it. The "Morning Sun" was good enough for him. He remembered +the thrill of pride he had felt when his Chief had said one day in +debate, that he wanted nothing better than the "Sun" and the Bible. +It was an able utterance, he thought, reminding one of the good old +Queen's reply to the Ethiopian Prince, and should have made its appeal +even to the Opposition; but the leader had said, in commenting on it, +that he was glad to know his honorable friend was broad-minded enough +to read both sides! + +And now he was told to look up the Opposition paper, and the very page +was given. His first thought was that it was a personal attack upon +himself. But how could that be? He never opened his mouth in the +house--he never even expressed an opinion, and as the campaign had not +yet begun--he had not done anything. + +He read the telegram again. In desperation he went back to the long +distance booth, but found the line still out of order, and a wire had +come giving the details of the damage done by the storm. It would be +several days before communication could be established. There was no +help coming from headquarters, and from the wording of the telegram +there seemed to be a reason for their not giving clear details. He +must get a copy of the paper. + +Reluctantly he went to the printing office and made known his errand. +Mr. Driggs was delighted to give him the paper--he had it some place, +though he very seldom opened any of his exchanges. He evidently bore +Mr. Steadman no ill-will for his plain talk two weeks ago. With some +difficulty he found it, with its wrapper still intact. It was a loose +wrapper, which slipped off and on easily. Mr. Steadman remarked +carelessly that there was an editorial in it to which his attention +had been drawn, on hearing which Mr. Driggs turned his head and winked +at an imaginary accomplice. + +Mr. Steadman went over to the livery stable to find a quiet, +clover-scented corner in which he might peruse his paper. An intuitive +feeling cautioned him to be alone when he read it. + +In the office, Mr. Steadman found a chair, and opened his paper. +Bertie, ever on the alert for human interest stories, watched from a +point of vantage. He told Mrs. Crocks afterwards about it. + +"The paper seemed to tangle up at first and stick to his fingers. He +wrastled it round and round and blew on it, and turned over pages and +folded it back--Gee, there was a lot of it. It filled the whole table, +and pieces dropped on the floor. He put his foot on them, like as if +he was afraid they'd get away. At last he found something, and he just +snorted--I got as close as I could, but I couldn't see what it was. +There was a picture of a girl--and he read on and on, and snorted out +three times, and the sweat stood out on his face. Twice he cleared up +his throat like your clock does when it gets ready to strike, and +then he tore out a page of the paper and put it in his pocket, and he +gathered up the rest of it and burned it, all but one sheet that was +under the table, and I got it here." + +Bertie brought home the news at six o'clock. Mrs. Crocks had a copy of +the paper in her hands at six-fifteen. + +Meanwhile, George Steadman, was feeling the need of counsel. His head +swam, and a cruel sense of injustice ate into his heart. He was a +quiet man--he did not deserve this. All his life he had sidestepped +trouble--and here it was staring him in the face. In desperation he +went to Driggs, the editor. He was a shrewd fellow--he would know what +was best to be done. + +He found Mr. Driggs still in a sympathetic mood. He threw back his +long black hair and read the article, with many exclamations of +surprise. In places he smiled--once he laughed. + +"How can any one answer this, Driggs?" asked Mr. Steadman in alarm. +"What can be done about it? I wish you would write something about it. +I can't think who would do this. There were no strangers that day at +the school--not that I noticed. None of our people would do it. What +do you think about it, Driggs? Would the girl write it herself?" + +"No," replied the editor honestly, "I am quite sure Pearl did not do +this." + +Suddenly Mr. Steadman thought of the telegram and the missing man. He +resolved to take Driggs into his confidence. + +Driggs was as quick to see the import of it as King James was to smell +gunpowder on that fateful November day when the warning letter was +read in Parliament. + +"The Government have sent him out to investigate this in your behalf," +he said. + +"But where is he?" asked Mr. Steadman. + +Mr. Driggs' bushy brows drew down over his eyes. + +"There's one person can help us," he said. He threw on his +jute-colored waterproof and his faded felt hat. Mr. Steadman followed +him as he went quickly to the Horse Repository. + +Bertie was hastily consulted, and Bertie as usual ran true. + +"Sure I saw him," said Bertie. "Ain't he back yet? Gee! I'll bet he's +froze! He'll be dead by now for sure. He had on awful nice clothes, +but thin toes on his boots, sharp as needles, and gray socks with dots +on them, and a waist on his coat like as if he wore corsets, and gray +gloves--and a cane, Swell! He was some fine looker, you bet, but he +wouldn't last long in that storm." + +"Where did he go, Bertie," asked Mr. Steadman, trying to hold his +voice to a tone of unconcern. + +"He asked about teachers, and about how far it was to Watsons." + +Mr. Driggs and Mr. Steadman's eyes met. + +"If he's any place," said Bertie cheerfully, "he'll be there." + +To the Watson's Mr. Steadman and Mr. Driggs determined to go, +although, by this time the evening was well advanced. + +The storm had piled the snow into huge drifts which completely filled +the railway cuts, but fortunately for those who travelled the sleigh +roads, the snow was packed so hard that horses could walk safely over +it. Bridges over ravines were completely covered, people made tunnels +to the doors of their stables, and in some cases had to dig the snow +away from their windows to let the light in. But the sun had come +out warm, and the weather prophets said it was the last storm of the +season. + +When Mr. Steadman and Mr. Driggs approached the Watson home, they +found every window lighted and several sleighs in the yard. From the +house came sounds of laughter and many voices. + +"There is no funeral here," said Mr. Driggs lightly. + +George Steadman shuddered, "he may never have reached here," he said +in a voice of awe. + +They knocked at the woodshed door, but no one heard them. Then they +went quietly in, and finding the kitchen door open, went in. + +Mr. Watson, who stood at the door of the "room," shook hands with them +quietly, and said in a whisper:-- + +"They're acting tableaux now, just step up to the door and see them. +The children are having a party. Pearl will explain it in a minute. +Just step in and watch; you're just in time--they're just goin' to do +King Canute." + +The two men looked in. About a dozen young people were in the room, +which was well lighted by a gasoline hanging-lamp. The furniture +was pushed into a corner to leave a good floor space. A curtain was +suspended from one of the beams, and behind it there seemed to be +great activity and whispered directions. Every one was so intently +waiting, they did not notice that the audience had been augmented by +the two men at the door. + +In front of the curtain came Pearl to announce the next tableaux:-- + +"Ladies and gentlemen," she said solemnly, although her audience +began to laugh expectantly, "we will now present to you a historical +tableaux, a living picture of a foolish old king, who thought he could +command the waves to stand still. Seated in his arm-chair on the shore +you will see King Canute. Behind him are the rugged hills of the Saxon +coast. Before him the sea tosses angrily. The tide is rolling in. Each +wave is a little bigger than the last, the seventh wave being the +largest of all. This tableaux, ladies and gentlemen, in the production +of which we have spared no trouble and expense, teaches the vanity of +human greatness. Careful attention has been given to detail, as you +will observe." + +She disappeared behind the curtain for a moment, and when it was +pulled back by invisible hands--(broom wire handled by Mary) she was +discovered sitting robed in purple (one of the girls had brought her +mother's Japanese dressing-gown) with a homemade but very effective +crown on her head. Her throne was an arm-chair, raised on blocks of +wood. As King Canute, Pearl's eyes were eagle-like and keen, her whole +bearing full of arrogance and pride. Dramatically she waved her right +arm towards the sea, and in bitter words chided it for its restless +tossing, and commanded it to hear the words of the ALL HIGH, Great and +Powerful King, and stay--just--where--it--was! + +But even as she spoke, a small wave came rolling in, gently lapping +the shore. It was Danny Watson, with a small white apron tied around +his person, which at each revolution, made a white crest of breaking +foam. + +The King re-doubled his imprecations, and commands, tearing his +hair and threatening to rend his garments, but wave after wave came +rhythmically to shore, growing in size and speed, until the seventh +wave, crested with foam--a pillow-case torn across and fastened with +safety-pins--came crashing to her feet, amid thunderous applause. + +When the company, with the king at one end and the first and smallest +wave at the other, stood up to take their applause, and respond to +curtain calls, next to Pearl stood the seventh wave--crested with +foam, dishevelled of hair--a four days' growth of whiskers on his +face--but a happy-looking wave--nevertheless. + +Mr. Steadman grabbed hold of his friend hysterically. He could not +speak. + +"Well, thank God, he's not dead anyway," he gasped at last. + +"But I fancy," murmured Mr. Driggs, "that he is dead--to the cause!" + +"Make a speech, Pearl," cried one of the company. "Mr. Neelands would +like to hear you do that one of the Premier's, when he laid the +cornerstone, about 'the generations yet unborn.' Go on, Pearl, that's +a good one!" + +"Don't forget 'the waves of emigration breaking at our feet'!" said +Mary, handing Pearl one of Teddy's coats. + +Pearl slipped on the coat, carefully adjusting the collar. Then +fingering an imaginary watch-chain, she began. Her face grew +grave--her neck seemed to thicken. Her voice was a throaty contralto. + +"We are gathered here today." she declaimed, "to take part in a +ceremonial, whose import we cannot even remotely guess! Whose full +significance will be revealed, not in your time or mine, but to the +generations yet unborn!" + +Peter Neelands gave a shout of recognition! Mr. Driggs felt a strong +hand on his arm. George Steadman whispered hoarsely. "Come away, +Driggs. That girl frightens me. This is no place for us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COMING OF SPRING + + +The Spring was late, cruelly late, so late indeed that if it had been +anything else but a season, it would have found itself in serious +trouble--with the door locked and a note pinned on the outside telling +it if it could not come in time it need not come at all. But the +Spring has to be taken in, whenever it comes--and be forgiven too, and +even if there were no note on the door, there were other intimations +of like effect, which no intelligent young Spring could fail to +understand. Dead cattle lay on the river bank, looking sightlessly up +to the sky. They had waited, and waited, and hung on to life just as +long as they could, but they had to give in at last. + +Spring came at last, brimful of excitement and apologies. It was a +full-hearted, impulsive and repentant young Spring, and lavished all +its gifts with a prodigal hand; its breezes were as coaxing as June; +its head burned like the first of July; its sunshine was as rich and +mellow as the sunshine of August. Spring had acknowledged its debt +and the overdue interest, and hoped to prevent any unpleasantness by +paying all arrears and a lump sum in advance; and doing it all with +such a flourish of good fellowship that the memory of its past +delinquency would be entirely swept away! + +The old Earth, frozen-hearted and bleached by wind and cold, and +saddened by many a blighted hope, lay still and unresponsive under the +coaxing breezes and the sunshine's many promises. The Earth knew what +it knew, and if it were likely to forget, the red and white cattle +on the hillside would remind it. The Earth knew that these same warm +breezes had coaxed it into life many times before, and it had burst +into bud and flowers and fruit, forgetting and forgiving the past with +its cold and darkness, and the earth remembered that the flowers had +withered and the fruit had fallen, and dark days had come when it had +no pleasure in them, and so although the sun was shining and the warm +winds blowing--the earth lay as unresponsive as the pulseless cattle +on its cold flat breast. + +But the sun poured down its heat, and the warm breezes frolicked into +the out-of-the-way places, where old snowdrifts were hiding their +black faces, and gradually their hard hearts broke and ran away in +creeping streams, and the earth returned to the earth that gave it; a +mist too, arose from the earth, and softened its bare outlines, and +soon the first anemone pushed its furry nose through the mat of gray +grass, and scored another victory on the robin; the white poplar +blushed green at its roots; the willows at the edge of the river +reddened higher and higher, as the sap mounted; headings of mouse-ears +soon began to show on their branches--a green, glow came over the +prairie, and in the ponds, It millions of frogs, at the signal from an +unknown conductor, burst into song. + +Then it was that the tired old Earth stopped thinking and began to +feel--a thrill--a throb--a pulsing of new life--the stirring of new +hopes which mocked its fears of cold or frost or sorrow or death. + +The Souris Valley opened forgiving arms to the repentant young Spring, +and put forth leaves in gayest fashion. The white bones, fantastically +sticking through faded red hides, were charitably hidden by the grass, +so that the awakened conscience of the tender young Spring might not +be unduly reminded of its cruelty and neglect. + +The woman who lived alone at Purple Springs always expected great +things of the Spring. She could not grow accustomed to the coldness of +her neighbors, or believe that they had really cut her off from any +communication, and all through the winter which had just gone she had +kept on telling herself that everything would be different in the +Spring. Looking day after day into the white valley, piled high with +snow, she had said to herself over and over again: "There shall be no +more snow--there shall be no more snow"--until the words began to mock +her and taunt her, and at last lost their meaning altogether like an +elastic band that has stretched too far. If she had been as close a +student of the Bible as her mother, back in Argylshire, she would have +known that her impatience with the snow, which all winter long had +threatened and menaced her, and peered at her with its thousand eyes, +was just the same feeling that prompted John on the Isle of Patmos, +wearied by the eternal breaking of the waves on his island prison, to +set down as the first condition in the heavenly city: "There shall be +no sea." + +Three years before, Mrs. Gray had come to the Souris Valley, and +settled on the hill farm. It had been owned by a prospector, who once +in a while lived on it, but went away for long periods, when it was +believed he had gone north into that great unknown land of fabled +riches. He had not been heard from for several years, and the people +of the neighborhood had often wondered what would be done with the +quarter-section, which was one of the best in the district, in case he +never came back. The Cowan's, who lives nearest, had planted one of +the fields, and used the land for the last two seasons. The Zinc's had +run their cattle in the pasture, and two of the other neighbors were +preparing to use the remaining portions of the farm, when there +arrived Mrs. Gray and her seven-year-old son to take possession. + +It was Mr. Cowan who demanded to know by what right she came, and when +she had convinced him by showing him the deed of the farm, she came +back at him by demanding that he pay her the rent for the acres he had +used, which he did with a bad grace. + +She had not been long in the neighborhood when there came to +demonstrate a new sewing machine a drooping-eyed, be-whiskered man, +in a slim buggy, drawn by a team of sorrel ponies. He claimed to have +known Mrs. Gray in that delightfully vague spot known as "down East," +and when he found how eagerly any information regarding her was +received, he grew eloquent. + +Mrs. Cowan departed from her hard and fast rule, and the rule of her +mother before her, and asked him to stay for dinner, and being an +honest man, in small matters at least, the agent did his best to pay +for his victuals. He told her all he knew--and then some, prefacing +and footnoting his story with the saving clause "Now this may be only +talk--but, anyway, it is what they said about her." He was not a +malicious man--he bore the woman, who was a stranger to him, no +grudge; but that day as he sat at dinner in the Cowan's big, bare +kitchen, he sent out the words which made life hard for the woman at +Purple Springs. + +So much for the chivalry of the world and the kindly protection it +extends to women. + +Vague rumors were circulated about her, veiled, indefinite +insinuations. The Ladies' Aid decided they would not ask her to join, +at least not until they saw how things were going. She might be all +right, but they said a church society must be careful. + +The women watched each other to see who would go to see her first. She +came to church with her boy, to the little church on the river flat, +and the minister shook hands with her and told her he was glad to +see her. But the next week his wife, spending the afternoon at Mrs. +Cowan's, "heard something," and the next Sunday, although he shook +hands with her and began to say he was glad to see her, catching Mrs. +Cowan's eye on him, he changed his sentence and said he was glad to +see so many out. + +All summer long the women at Purple Springs held to the hope that +someone would come to see her. At first she could not believe they +were wilfully slighting her. It was just their way, she thought. They +were busy women; she often saw them out in their gardens, and at such +times it was hard for her to keep from waving to them. + +The woman who lived the nearest to her, geographically, was Mrs. +Cowan, and one day--the first summer--she saw Mrs. Cowan beating rugs +on the line, and as the day was breezy, it seemed as if she waved her +apron. Mrs. Gray waved back, in an ecstacy of joy and expectation--but +there came no response from her neighbor--no answering signal, and as +the lonely woman watched, hoping, looking, praying--there rolled +over her with crushing sadness the conviction that all her hopes of +friendliness were in vain. The neighborhood would not receive her--she +was an outcast. They were condemning her without a hearing--they were +hurling against her the thunders of silence! The injustice of it ate +deeply into her soul. + +Then it was that she began to make the name "Purple Springs" out of +the willow withes which grew below the house. She made the letters +large, and with a flourish, and dyed them the most brilliant purple +they would take, and set them on a wire foundation above her gate. The +work of doing it gave solace to her heart, and when the words were set +in place--it seemed to her that she had declared her independence, +and besides, they reminded her of something very sweet and +reassuring--something which helped her to hold her head up against the +current of ill thoughts her neighbors were directing toward her. + +That was the year the school was built, and no other name for it but +"Purple Springs" was even mentioned, and when the track was extended +from Millford west, and a mahogany-red station built, with a tiny +freight shed of the same color, the name of Purple Springs in white +letters was put on each end of the station. So, although the neighbors +would not receive the woman, they took the name she brought. + +Her son Jim, a handsome lad of seven, went to school the first day it +was opened. Her mother heart was fearful for the reception he might +get, and yet she tried to tell herself that children were more just +than their elders. They would surely be fair to Jim, and when she +had him ready, with his leather book-bag, his neat blue serge +knickerbocker suit, his white collar and well-polished boots, she +thought, with a swelling of pride, that there would not be a handsomer +child in the school, nor one that was better cared for. + +Down the hill went Jim Gray, without a shadow on his young heart. So +long as he had his mother, and his mother smiled at him, life was all +sunshine. + +He gave his name to the teacher, and answered all her questions +readily, and was duly enrolled as a pupil in Grade I, along with +Bennie Cowan, Edgar Zinc and Bessie Brownlees, and set at work to make +figures. He wondered what the teacher wanted with so many figures, but +decided he would humor her, and made page after page of them for her. +By noon the teacher decided, on further investigation, to put Master +James Gray in Grade II, and by four o'clock he was a member in good +standing of Grade III. + +That night there was much talk of James Gray, his good clothes, and +his general proficiency, around the firesides of the Purple Springs +district. + +The next day Bennie Cowan, who was left behind in Grade I, although a +year older than Jim Gray, made the startling announcement: + +"Jim Gray has no father." + +He sang the words, gently intoning, as if he took no responsibility of +them any more than if they were the words of a song, for Bennie was a +cautious child, and while he did not see that the absence of a father +was anything to worry over, still, from the general context of the +conversation he had heard, he believed it was something of a handicap. + +The person concerned in his announcement, being busy with a game of +marbles, did not notice. So quite emboldened, Bennie sang again, "Jim +Gray has no father--and never had one." + +The marble game came to an end. + +"Do you mean me?" asked Jim, with a puzzled look. + +The others stopped playing, too. It was a fearsome moment. Jim Gray +was the most unconcerned of the group. + +"That's all you know about it," he said carelessly, as he shut one eye +and took steady aim at the "dib" in the ring, "I've had two." + +"Nobody can have two fathers--on earth," said Bessie Brownlees +piously--"we have one father on earth and one in heaven." + +"Mine ain't on earth," said Jimmy, "mine are both in heaven." + +That was a poser. + +"I'll bet they're not," said Bennie, feeling emboldened by Jim's +admission of a slight irregularity in his paternal arrangements. + +"How do you know?" asked Jim, still puzzled. It did not occur to him +that there was anything unfriendly in the conversation--"You never saw +them!" + +"Well," said Bennie, crowded now to play his highest card, "anyway, +your mother is a bad woman." + +Jim looked at him in blank astonishment. His mother a bad woman, his +dear mother! The whole world turned suddenly red to Jim Gray--he did +not need any one to tell him that the time had come to fight. + +The cries of Bennie Cowan brought the teacher flying. Bennie, with +bleeding lip and blackened eyes, was rescued, and a tribunal sat +forthwith on the case. + +James Gray refused to tell what Bennie Cowan had said. His tongue +could not form the words of blasphemy. The other children, all of whom +had heard his history unfavorably discussed at home, did not help him, +and the case went against the boy who had no friends. Exaggerated +tales were told of his violence. By the end of the week he had struck +Bennie Cowan with a knife. A few days later it was told that he had +kicked the teacher. Nervous mothers were afraid to have their children +exposed to the danger of playing with such a vicious child. + +One day a note was given to him to take home. It was from the +trustees, asking Mrs. Gray if she would kindly keep her son James at +home, for his ungovernable temper made it unsafe for other children to +play with him. + +That was three years ago. Annie Gray and her son were as much a +mystery as ever. She looked well, dressed well, rode astride, wore +bloomers, and used a rifle, and seemed able to live without either the +consent or good-will of the neighborhood. + +In harvest time she still further outraged public opinion by keeping +a hired man, who, being a virtuous man, who had respect for public +opinion, even if she hadn't, claimed fifteen dollars a month extra for +a sort of moral insurance against loss of reputation. She paid the +money so cheerfully that the virtuous man was sorry he had not made it +twenty! + +It was to this district, with its under-current of human passions, +mystery and misunderstanding, that Pearl Watson came. The miracle of +Spring was going on--bare trees budding, dead flowers springing; the +river which had been a prisoner all winter, running brimming full, +its ice all gone, and only little white cakes of foam riding on its +current. Over all was the pervading Spring smell of fresh earth, and +the distant smoulder of prairie fires. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PRINCE OF THE HOUSE OF CLAY + + +When the train came in from the west, Dr. Clay stepped off and walked +quickly to his office. He called at the drug store before going to his +private office, and inquired of the clerk: + +"Any one wanting me, Tommy?" + +"Sure--two or three--but nothing serious. Bill Snedden wanted you to +come out and see his horse." + +"See his horse!" exclaimed the doctor in surprise. + +"Yes, Democracy hasn't been feeling well. Just sort of mopin' around +the stall. Not sick--just out of sorts, you know, down-hearted like." + +"Well, why doesn't he get Dr. Moody? Horses are not my line." + +"O but he says this is different. Democracy is more like a human being +than a horse, and Dr. Moody don't know much about a horse's higher +nature. He says he's scared to have Dr. Moody come out anyway--every +time he comes, a horse dies, and he's gettin' superstitious about it. +T'aint that he has anything against Dr. Moody. He spoke well of him +and said he was nice to have around in time of trouble, he's so +sympathetic and all that, but he don't want to take any chances with +Democracy. He would have liked awful well to see you, doctor. I told +him you'd be home tonight, and he'll give you a ring. No, there was +nothing serious. There was a young fellow here from the city came out +to see Pearl Watson, they said, about some set of books or something. +He got lost in the storm, and frozen pretty badly. He's out at Watsons +yet, I think. But they didn't phone, or anything--at least, I didn't +get it. I just heard about it." + +"All right, Tommy," said the doctor, and went on. + +In his own apartment he found everything in order. Telephone messages +were laid beside his mail. His slippers and house-coat were laid out. +The coal fire gleamed its welcome. + +The doctor's heart was lighter than it had been. His interview with +the old doctor had been very encouraging. + +"You are looking better, Clay," the old man had said. "Have you gained +in weight? I thought so. You are going a little easier, and sleeping +out--that's right. And you see you can save yourself in lots of +ways--don't you? Good! I'm pleased with you. I hear they are after you +to run against the Government. You won't touch it, of course. No good +for a man in your condition. Anyway, a doctor has his own work--and if +you keep your head down, and get away every winter, you'll live to be +an old man yet." + +The doctor sat down to read his mail. There were the usual letters +from old patients, prospective patients, people who had wonderful +remedies and had been cruelly snubbed by the medical profession. He +glanced through them casually, but with an absentmindedness which did +not escape his housekeeper when she came in. + +Mrs. Burns was determined to tell him something, so determined, that +as soon as she entered, he felt it coming. He knew that was why she +came. The bluff of asking him if he got his telephone messages was too +simple. + +Mrs. Burns was a sad looking woman, with a tired voice. It was not +that Mrs. Burns was tired or sad, but in that part of the East from +which she had come, all the better people spoke in weary voices of +ladylike weakness. + +"Well, Mrs. Burns," the doctor said, "what has happened today?" He +knew he was going to get it anyway--so he might as well ask for it. + +"George Steadman was in an awful state about the young fellow who came +out from the city to see Pearl Watson. He got lost in the storm, and +stayed three days at Paines, and then Pearl came over and took him +home with her. Some say the Government sent him about the piece in the +paper, and some say he's her beau. I don't know. Mrs. Crocks saw Pearl +when she brought him in, and she could get nothing out of her. He's at +the hotel still, though nobody seems to know what his business is." + +"O well," laughed the doctor, "we'll just have to watch him. Don't +leave washings on the line, and lock our doors--he can't scare us." + +Mrs. Burns afterwards told Mrs. Crocks that "Doctor Clay can be +very light at times, and it seems hardly the thing, considering his +profession." + +Mrs. Burns could never quite forgive herself for leaving so early that +night, and almost lost her religion, because no still small voice +prompted her to stay. Just as she left the office, the young man, the +mysterious stranger, came to the door, and Mrs. Burns knew there was +no use going back through the drug store and listening at the door. +The doctor had heavy curtains at each door in his office, and had a +way of leaving the key in the door, that cut off the last hope. So she +went home in great heaviness of spirit. + +P.J. Neelands presented his card, and was given a leather chair +beside the fire. He asked the doctor if he might smoke, and was given +permission. + +"I am going to talk to you in confidence, Doctor Clay," he said, +nervously. "I guess you're used to that." + +The doctor nodded encouragingly: "That's what doctors are for. Go +right on, Mr. Neelands." + +"The fact of the matter is--I'm in love," said Peter, taking the head +plunge first. + +"O that's nothing," said the doctor. "I mean--that's nothing to worry +about." + +"But she does not care a hang for me. In fact, she laughs at me." + +Peter's face was clouded in perplexity. + +"But I'll begin at the beginning: I belong to the Young Men's +Political Club in the city, and I was sent out here--at least, I +mean I asked to come on a delicate mission. I'm speaking to you +confidentially, of course." + +"Of course," said the doctor, "have no fears." + +"Well, perhaps you saw this." He produced the article that had caused +the fluttering in the Governmental nest. + +The doctor suddenly came to attention. + +"Do you know who wrote it? No! Well anyway, I came out to see about +it--to investigate--look over the ground. But, doctor, I got the +surprise of my life. This girl is a wonder." + +"Well," the doctor's sympathetic manner had gone. He was sitting +up very straight in his chair now, and his eyes were snapping with +suppressed excitement. "What did you think you could do about it? Did +you think you could stop her--hush her up--or scare her--or bribe +her--or what?" + +"I did not know," said Peter honestly. "But I want to tell you what +happened. I was three days at Paine's--caught by the storm--do you +know them? Well, it's a good place to go to see what women are up +against. I was mad enough to throw old Paine out of his own house, and +I found out he was going to sell the farm over her head, and By Jove! +I see why the women want to vote, don't you?" + +"I've always seen why," replied the doctor. "I thought every one with +any intelligence could see the justice of it." The doctor's manner was +losing its friendliness, but Peter, intent on his own problems, did +not resent it. + +"Well, just when this man Gilchrist came to sign the papers, the +morning I left, she came in--Pearl Watson, I mean--and Doctor, I +never heard anything like it. Talk about pleading a case! She did not +plead--she just reviewed the case--she put it up to Gilchrist--it was +marvellous! If she had asked me to shoot the two of them, I would +have done it. She had me--she has me yet--she's the most charming, +sweet-souled and wonderful girl I ever saw." + +The doctor endeavored to speak calmly: + +"Well, what about it?" he said. "I agree with you--she is all of +that." + +"I am going back to resign from the party. I am going to throw my +weight on the other side," Peter spoke with all the seriousness +of youth. "The girl has shown me what a beastly, selfish lot the +politicians are, and I am going back to denounce them, if they won't +change. But I want to ask you something, Doctor--you won't think I am +cheeky, will you? She gave me absolutely no hope--but girl's sometimes +change their minds. I would wait for years for her. I simply can't +live without her. I thought from the way she spoke there was some +one else--if there is--I will just crawl away and die--I can't live +without her!" + +"O shut up," said the doctor impatiently. "Better men than you have to +live without--the women they love--that's foolish talk." + +"Well, tell me, doctor," cried Peter desperately, "I just have to +know. Is there any reason why I can't hope to win her? Do you know of +any reason--you know Pearl well. Is there any reason that you know of? +Has any one any right--to stop me from trying?" + +The doctor considered. Here was just the situation he had told Pearl +he hoped would arise. This young fellow was clean, honest, and there +was no doubt of his deep sincerity. He had told Pearl she must forget +him. He had tried to mean it, and here it was--here was the very +situation he said he hoped for. He would play up--he could make +himself do what was right, no matter how he felt. + +He heard himself say mechanically: + +"There is no reason, Mr. Neelands; Pearl is free to decide. No one has +the smallest claim on her." + +Peter sprang up and caught his hand, wondering why it should be so +cold. He also wondered at the flush which burned on the doctor's +cheeks. + +"Thanks, old man," he cried impulsively, "I cannot tell you how I +thank you. You have rolled a house off me--and now, tell me you wish +me well--I want your good word." + +The doctor took his outstretched hand, with an effort. + +"I wish you well," he said slowly, in a voice that was like a shadow +of his own. + +When Peter had gone, the doctor rose and paced the floor. + +"I'm a liar and a hypocrite," he said bitterly. "I don't wish him +well. I said what was not so when I said I hoped to see her married +to some one else--I don't--I want her myself. I can't give her up! I +won't give her up!" + +The next morning, before the doctor started to make his calls, Robert +Gilchrist, President of the Political Club, came to see him, again. + +"I am not satisfied with that interview we had with you, doctor," he +said, "the day the organizer was here. That fellow made a mess of +everything, and I don't blame you for turning it down. But I tell you, +there's more in it than this fellow thinks. There is a real moral +issue to be decided, and I am here to admit I've had a new look at +things in the last few days. I am going into the city to see our +leader, and I want to see how he feels. But, doctor, some of our laws +are simply disgraceful; they've got to be changed." + +He went on to tell the doctor of the day he went to buy Sylvester +Paine's farm. + +"I never felt any meaner than when Pearl told me what it meant, and +what I was doing. Doctor, if you had seen the look in Mrs. Paine's +face when Pearl was putting it up to me; Lord, it was tragic. It was +as if her hope of Heaven was in dispute, and didn't Pearl put it to +me? Say, doctor, that girl can swing an election. No one can resist +her arguments--she's so fair about everything--no one can get away +from her arguments. The reason these laws have been left the way they +are, is that no one knows about them. Did you know that a man can sell +everything, and do what he likes with the money, no matter what his +wife says--and did you know a man can take his children away from the +mother--Did you know about these?" + +"I did," said the doctor, "in a vague way. Fortunately they do not +often come up--men are better than the laws--and they would need to +be." + +"Well, doctor, I'll tell you what I want to say. I believe it is your +duty to run. The women need a few members there to stick up for them. +Pearl thinks our party is all right too--she says they'll grant the +vote--if they get in--and she was at the big meeting where the women +asked them to make it a plank in their platform. She says some of +the old hide-bound politicians gagged a little, but they swallowed +it--they had to." "I wish you could hear Pearl talk, doctor. She +seemed disappointed when I told her you weren't going to run." + +"You haven't thought of any one else, Bob?" the doctor asked, after a +pause. "You wouldn't consider it yourself?" + +"Any one else but you will surely lose his deposit. The bridge at +Purple Springs will hold them over there, and they have taken off a +slice on the east of the riding and put it in Victoria--where it is +sure to go against the Government anyway. No, this will go to Steadman +by acclamation, unless you let us nominate you." + +"Well, I'll reconsider," said the doctor, "and phone you inside of +twenty-four hours." + +When Mr. Gilchrist had gone, the doctor sat with his hands behind his +head. His eyes were very bright, and a flush mantled his cheek. His +heart thumped so hard, he could hear it. + +"Keep away from excitement, Clay," he could hear the old doctor +saying, "excitement eats up your energy and does not give the builders +a chance. With care, and patience, you may win--but if you will not +save yourself, and nurse yourself, and go slow--you are a dead man!" + +He pressed his hands tightly to his head. + +"Pearl had been disappointed," Bob had said. It would be a disgrace to +let this riding go by default. There was the liquor question which had +hung fire for fourteen years, while the Government had simply played +with it, and laughed at the temperance people. If women had the vote, +what a power Pearl would be! + +Still, one vote in Parliament was nothing--one man could do but +little--and besides, the old doctor had found him improved--he might +be able to beat out the disease yet--by being careful. A campaign +would mean late hours, long drives, meeting people--making +speeches--which he hated--the worst kind of excitement--to move a vote +of thanks tired him more than a week's work. + +Still, Pearl would be pleased--he hadn't done much for Pearl. He had +won her love--and then had to turn it away--and had seen those eyes of +her's cloud in disappointment. It had been a raw deal. + +Looking through the window, he saw Bertie, with his team, waiting +outside the door. He was letting Bertie take full care of his horses +now, and saving himself in that way. + +The sorrel horse on the side next him tossed his head, and chewed the +bit, with a defiant air that set waves of memory in motion. He had +bought this fine four-year-old, because he had reminded him of old +Prince--the same color--the same markings, and the same hard mouth and +defiant red eye. + +Usually, he did not keep Bertie waiting--but this morning it did not +matter--there were other things to be decided. The sorrel horse seemed +to be looking at him through the office window. + +"There was another sorrel horse to take your place, Prince," said the +doctor, looking at the big sorrel, but thinking of his predecessor; +"although that did not influence you in any way--you left that to me +to find out--you considered that my business. I believe I will be safe +in leaving it to some one higher up to get another doctor to take my +place--doctors--and sorrel horses--there are plenty of them. You had +the right philosophy, Prince. No one else could have saved the woman's +life--so you did that--and let me rustle for another horse. I'll do +the same--after all--it is not individuals who count--it is the race. +We do our bit--and pass on. Straight ahead of me seems to be a piece +of work I can do--and if I have to pay for the privilege of doing +it--I'll pay--without regrets." + +He reached for the telephone, and called Mr. Gilchrist. + +"Hello Bob," he said steadily, "I've reached a decision. No, it didn't +take me long. Yes, I will. I'll accept the nomination. All right +Bob--I hope so. Thank you for your good opinion--All right." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PETER'S REPORT + + +When Peter J. Neelands returned to the city, he sought an interview +with his Chief. It was a bold stroke, Mr. Neelands knew, but the +circumstances warranted it. He must lay the matter before his superior +officer; as a loyal member of the party, he must bring in a warning. +He must make the Government understand. + +The old leader was one of the most approachable of men, genial, +kindly, friendly. The interview was arranged without difficulty, and +Peter, with his heart beating uncomfortably, was shown by the old +retainer who kept guard in the outside office through the blue velvet +hangings into the Chief's private office. + +At a long oaken table, on which were scattered a few trade journals +and newspapers, he found the great man. An unlighted cigar was in his +mouth, and he sat leaning back in a revolving chair. + +"Well, Peter, my son--how are you?" he said gaily, extending his hand. +"And so you feel you must see the old man on business of importance, +vital importance to our country's welfare. That's good; glad to see +you, take a chair beside me and tell uncle who hit you." + +The Chief was a man of perhaps sixty years of age, of florid +countenance, red mustache, turning gray, splendidly developed +forehead, dark gray eyes with wire-like wrinkles radiating from them, +which seemed to have been caused more by laughter than worry; a big, +friendly voice of great carrying power, and a certain bluff, good +fellowship about him which marked him as a man who was born to rule +his fellowmen, but to do it very pleasantly. + +Peter was complimented to be received so cordially. He was sure he +could make this genial, courteous, kindly old gentleman see certain +questions from a new view-point. He must see it. + +"Perhaps you have heard of a girl at Millford who is making somewhat +of a stir along the lines of the Woman Suffrage question," Peter +began. + +The great man nodded, and having begun to nod, absent-mindedly +continued, much to Peter's discomfiture. Peter hastily reviewed the +case, though he could see his listener was bored exceedingly. + +"Now, what I want you to do, sir," he said earnestly, "is this. Let +this girl come and address the members of the Government and the +Legislature--I mean our members--privately, of course. Let her show +you the woman's side of the question. I know, sir, you turned them +down when the delegation came, but a man can always change his mind. +The thing is inevitable; the vote is coming. If this Government does +not give it--the Government will go down to defeat." + +The Chief stopped nodding, and the amiability of his face began to +cloud over. He sat up very suddenly and spread his plump hands on the +table. + +"The Opposition have endorsed Woman Suffrage, sir," said Peter +earnestly. "They are making it a plank in their platform." + +"Sure they have," cried the Premier, with a laugh, "sure they have. +They are big enough fools to endorse anything! What do we care what +they endorse?" + +"But I want to get this over to you, Mr. Graham, that we are losing +our opportunity to do a big thing, something that will live in +history, if we fail to give women the vote. Women are human, they have +a right to a voice in their own government, and if you would just let +this girl come out and talk to you--and the members." + +"Look here, Peter," said the great man tolerantly, "I like +enthusiasm--the world is built on it. But I'm an old man now, and have +been a long time dealing with the public and with politics. Politics +is a dirty mess--it's no place for women, and I certainly do not +need to be instructed by any eighteen-year-old girl, pleasant as the +process might be. I believe all you say about her--and her charm. You +had better go and marry her--if you want to." + +Peter's face colored. "I would be very happy to do so, but she turned +me down, sir." + +"Don't be discouraged, lad; a woman's 'no' generally means 'yes'," +said his Chief. "Now, even if she could talk like the Angel Gabriel, I +won't let her at the members of this Government--I'll tell you why. +I have these fellows trotting easy. They're good boys--they do as +they're told. Now what's the use of getting them excited and confused. +Peter, you know how it is with the Indians--in their wild state, +eating rabbits and digging roots--they're happy, aren't they? Sure +they are. If you bring them into town, show them street-cars and shop +windows and take them to theatres, you excite them and upset them, +that's all. O no, Peter, I'll take no chances on spoiling my +simple-hearted country members by turning loose this orb-eyed young +charmer who has thrown you clean off your trolley." + +"But, sir, consider the case yourself; won't you admit, sir, that the +laws are fearfully unjust to women?" Peter began to explain, but the +Premier interrupted: + +"Peter, the world is very old; certain things are established by +usage, and the very fact that this is so argues that it should be so. +Women are weaker than men--I did not make them so--God made them so. +He intended them to be subject to men. Don't get excited over it. It +sounds well to talk about equality--but there's no such thing. It did +not exist in God's mind, so why should we try to bring it about? No, +no, Peter, women are subject to men, and always will be. It would +not do to make them independent in the eyes of the law, independent +economically. If they were they would not marry. Look at the women +in the States--where in some places they vote--look at the type that +develops. What does it bring?--race-suicide, divorce--free love. I'm +an old-fashioned man, Peter, I believe in the home." + +"So do I," said Peter, "with all my heart." + +The great man began to show signs of impatience. + +"Before I go," said Peter earnestly, "let me make one more appeal to +you. This is a live issue. It cannot be dismissed by a wave of the +hand. Will you listen to a debate on it--will you let it be discussed +in your hearing?" + +The old man considered a moment--then he said: + +"This will wear off you, Peter. I, too, have been young. I understand. +Forget it, boy, and get back to normal. No, I will not hear it +discussed. I know all about it--all I want to know. I don't know why +I am wasting so much time on you and your particular type of +foolishness, Peter. I have people like you seeing me every day. +Usually they are dealt with by Mr. Price, in the outer office. He has +orders to put the can on them and open the door. O no, Peter, there +will be no radical measures while I sit at the helm--I am too old to +change my mind." + +Peter began to put on his gloves. The older man held out his hand. + +"Well, good-bye, Peter," he said kindly, "come again--come any +time--always glad to see you." + +"I will not be back," said Peter quietly, "this is good-bye. If I +cannot show you that you are wrong, I will go out and help the women +to show the people that you are wrong. Pearl says if the Premier is +too old to change his mind we will do the next best thing." + +"And what is that?" + +"Change the Premier," Peter replied, steadily. + +The old man laughed, with uproarious mirth. + +"Peter, you're funny, all right; you're rich; I always did enjoy the +prattle of children, but I can't fool away any more time on you--so +run along and sell your papers." + +Peter went through the blue velvet hangings, past the worthy henchman, +who sat dozing in his chair, and made his way to the front door. The +mural decorations in the corridor caught his eye--the covered wagon, +drawn by oxen plodding patiently into the sunset--the incoming +settlers of the pioneer days. + +"I wonder if the women did not do their full share of that," he +thought. "They worked, suffered, hoped, endured--and made the country +what it is. I wonder how any man has the nerve to deny them a voice in +their own affairs." + +While Peter was taking his departure, and before he had reached the +front gate, one of the many bells which flanked the Premier's table +was wildly rung. + +"Send Banks to me," he said crisply, to the lackey who appeared. + +The genial mood had gone; his brows were clamped low over his eyes. He +had chewed the end off his cigar. + +"Every time the women raise ructions it sets me thinking of her. I +wonder what became of her," he murmured. "The ground seems to have +swallowed her. She might have known I did not mean it; but women don't +reason--they just feel." + +The news of P.J. Neelands' resignation from the Young Men's Political +Club made a ripple of excitement in Government circles, and brought +forth diverse comments. + +"There's a girl in it, I hear," said one of the loungers at the Maple +Leaf Club; "some pretty little suffragette has won over our Peter." + +"He does not deny it," said another, "he'll tell you the whole +story--and believe me, Peter is an enthusiastic supporter of the +women's cause now. I see in this morning's paper he made a speech for +them last night called 'The Chivalry of the Law.' Peter has the blood +of the martyrs in him for sure--for he was in a straight line for the +nomination here in 'Centre.'" + +"Peter Neelands makes me tired," said a third gloomily. "Why does he +need to get all fussed up over the laws relating to women--they have +too much liberty now--they can swear away a man's character--that's +one thing I'd like to see changed. It's dangerous, I tell you." + +The first man finished the discussion: + +"I always liked Peter, and am sorry he's quit us. He'll have a +following, too, just because he does believe in himself." + +Though the loungers at the Maple Leaf Club took the news of Peter +Neeland's secession with composure, mingled with amusement, the chief +organizer, Mr. Banks, viewed it with alarm, and voiced his fears to +the head of his department, who sat in his accustomed chair, with a +bottle of the best beside him. The Honorable member listened, but +refused to be alarmed. It was past the third hour of the afternoon, +and the rainbow haze was over everything. + +"I tell you," said Mr. Banks, "something is going to break if we +can't get this thing stopped. The women are gaining every day. Their +meetings are getting bigger, and now look at Peter Neelands. This +Watson girl has got to be canned--got rid of--if we have to send her +to do immigration work in London, England." + +The honorable member did his best to hold his head steady. + +"Do what you like, Banks," he said thickly, "only save the country. +My country if she's right; my country if she's wrong; but always my +country! 'Lives there a man with soul so dead,' eh, Banks? That's the +dope--what? Damn the women--but save the home--we gotta' save the +home." + +Oliver Banks looked at him in deep contempt, and shook his head. +"These birds make things hard for us," he murmured. "He looks like a +Minister of the Crown now, doesn't he? Lord! wouldn't he make a sight +for the women! I'd like to hear their description of him just as he +sits now." + +The minister sat with his pudgy hands spread out on the arms of his +chair. His head rolled uncertainly, like a wilting sunflower on a +broken stalk. His under lip was too full to fit his face. If he had +been a teething infant one would have been justified in saying he was +drooling. + +The organizer called a waiter and instructed him to phone to the +gentleman's house and speak to his chauffeur. + +"Tell him to take the old man home," he said briefly, "he seems to +be--overtaken." + +"Very good, sir," said the waiter, without a flicker of an eyelash. + +Then the organizer went to a telephone booth and called George +Steadman, of Millford, requesting him to come at once to the city on +important business. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE WOMAN OF PURPLE SPRINGS + + +None of us has lived long without discovering that everything he +has he pays for; that every gain has a corresponding loss; that a +development even of one of our own faculties, is at the expense of +the others. The wild wheat is small and dwarfed in size in its native +state, but very hardy. Under persistent cultivation it grows bigger +and more productive, but, unfortunately, susceptible to the frost. The +wild rabbit when domesticated grows bigger and more beautiful, but +loses his speed and cleverness. So it is all through life--it all +comes in the bill--we cannot escape the day of reckoning. + +If Pearl Watson had not had a taste for political speeches and +debates; if she had read the crochet patterns in the paper instead of +the editorials, and had spent her leisure moments making butterfly +medallions for her camisoles, or in some other ladylike pursuit, +instead of leaning over the well-worn railing around the gallery of +the Legislative Assembly, in between classes at the Normal, she would +have missed much; but she would have gained something too. + +For one thing, she would have had an easier time getting a +boarding-house in the Purple Springs District, and would not be +standing looking disconsolately out at the Spring sunshine, one day at +the end of April, wondering, with a very sore heart, why nobody wanted +to give her board and shelter. It was a new and painful sensation for +Pearl, and it cut deeply. + +Mrs. Zinc could not keep her beyond May the first, for relatives were +coming from the East. Mrs. Cowan could not take her, for she had too +much to do as it was--and could not get help that wasn't more trouble +than it was worth. They would waste more than their wages, and what +they did not waste they would steal. Mrs. Cowan's tongue was unloosed +by the memory of her wrongs, and it was half an hour before Pearl +could get away. Mrs. Cowan had surely suffered many things at the +hands of help of all nationalities. She had got them from employment +bureaus, government and private; from the Salvation Army and from +private friends in the old country. Her help had come from everywhere +except from the Lord! No indeed, she couldn't take any one to board. + +A careful canvass of the neighborhood had resulted in disappointment; +not one home was available. Embarrassment had sat on the faces of many +of the women when they talked with her about it, and Pearl was quick +to see that there was something back of it all, and the antagonism of +the unknown lay heavily on her heart. + +The yellow Spring sun, like liquid honey, fell in benediction on the +leafless trees, big with buds, and on the tawny mat of grass through +which the blue noses of anemones were sticking. Cattle eagerly cropped +the dead grass and found it good, and men were at work in the fields. +They all had homes and beds, Pearl thought, with a fresh burst of +homelessness. + +She had prepared her blackboards for the next day, and made her desk +tidy, and was just about to leave for the day and walk the mile to +Mrs. Howser's to see if she could make it her abiding place, when +Bessie Cowan came running with a letter. + +"Please, teacher," said Bessie, out of breath from running, "Ma +thought this might be an important letter, and you should have it +right away. It came in our mail." + +Pearl took it, wonderingly. It bore the official seal of the +Department of Education. Only once had she received such a letter, and +that was when she received permission to attend the Normal. When she +opened it, she read: + +"Dear Madam:--You have been recommended to us by the Principal of the +Normal School for special work required by this Department, and we +will be pleased to have you come to our office inside of the next week +for instructions. We will pay you a salary of one hundred dollars a +month, and travelling expenses, and we believe you will find the work +congenial. Kindly reply as soon as possible." + +Pearl's heart was throbbing with excitement. Here was a way of escape +from surroundings which, for some unknown reason, were uncomfortable +and unfriendly. + +Bessie Cowan watched her closely, but said not a word. Bessie was a +fair-skinned little girl, with eyes far apart, and a development of +forehead which made her profile resemble a rabbit's. + +"Thank you, Bessie" said Pearl, "I am glad to have this." She sat +at her desk and began to write. Bessie ran home eagerly to tell her +mother how the letter had been received. + +Pearl decided to write an acceptance, and to 'phone home to her mother +before sending it. + +When the letter was written she sat in a pleasant dream, thinking of +the new world that had opened before her. "Travelling expenses," had a +sweet sound in her young ears--she would go from place to place, +meet new people, and all the time be learning something--learning +something--and forgetting. + +Pearl winced a little when she recalled Mrs. Crock's words when she +came through Millford on her way to Purple Springs: + +"The doctor should be the candidate, but I guess Miss Keith won't let +him. They say he's holdin' off to run for the Dominion House next +Fall. You maybe could coax him to run, Pearl. Have you seen him +lately? Miss Keith was down twice last week, and he went up for +Sunday. It looks as if they were keepin' close company--oh well, he's +old enough to know his own mind, and it will be nice to have the +Senator's daughter livin' here. It would give a little style to the +place, and that's what we're short of. But it's nothing to me--I don't +care who he marries!" + +Pearl had hurried away without answering. Mrs. Crocks' words seemed +to darken the sun, and put the bite of sharp ice in the gentle spring +breeze. Instead of forgetting him, every day of silence seemed to lie +heavier on her heart; but one thing Pearl had promised herself--she +would not mope--she would never cry over it! + +She read the letter over and tried to picture what it would mean. A +glow of gratitude warmed her heart when she thought of the Normal +School Principal and his kindness in recommending her. She would +fulfil his hopes of her, too. She would do her work well. She would +lose herself in her work, and forget all that had made her lonely and +miserable. It was a way of escape--the Lord was going to let her down +over the wall in a basket. + +There was a very small noise behind her, a faint movement as if a +mouse had crossed the threshold. + +She turned quickly, and gave a cry of surprise and delight. + +At the door, shyly looking in at her, was a little boy of perhaps ten +years of age, with starry eyes of such brilliance and beauty she could +see no other feature. He looked like a little furry squirrel, who +would be frightened by the slightest sound. + +For a moment they looked at each other; then from the boy, in a +trembling voice, clear and high pitched, came the words: + +"Please, teacher!" + +The tremble in his voice went straight to Pearl's heart. + +"Yes, dear," she said, "come right in--I want you--I'm lonesome--and I +like little boys like you." + +His eyes seemed to grow more luminous and wistful. + +"I can't come in," he said. "I can't come into the school at all--not +the least little bit--I have an ungovernable temper." + +"I'm not afraid," said Pearl gravely, "I am very brave that way, and +don't mind at all. Who says you have?" + +"The trustees," he said and his voice began to quiver. "They sent +mother a letter about me." + +"O, I know you now, James," said Pearl, "come in--I want to talk to +you. I was going to see you just as soon as I got settled." + +Cautiously he entered; the out-door wildness was in his graceful +movements. He stooped a few feet away from her and said again: + +"Please, teacher." + +Pearl smiled back, reassuringly, and his eyes responded. + +"Did you get a place yet?" he asked eagerly. + +"No, I didn't," she answered. She was going to tell him that she would +not need a place, for she was going away, but something stopped her. +Somehow she could not dim the radiance of those eager eyes. + +"Teacher!" he cried coming nearer, "would you come and live with us? +My mother is just sweet, and she would like to have you. She is away +today, to Millford, and won't be home till eight o'clock. I stayed at +home because I wanted to see you. My mother watched you going to the +houses--we can see all of them from our house--and every time you +came away from them--she was glad. We have a spy-glass, and we could +see--that's how we knew how nice you were, teacher"--he was almost +near enough to touch her now. "You can have my bed if you will come." + +Pearl wanted to draw him to her and kiss the fear forever from his +face, but she was still afraid he might vanish if she touched him. + +"My mother thinks you are nice," he said softly. "We saw you patting +Cowan's dog and walking home with the children. One day we saw you +walking home with Edgar Zinc. He held your hand--and my mother got to +thinking that it might have been me that you had by the hand, and +she cried that day, and couldn't tell why. It wasn't because she was +lonely--because she never is lonely. How could she be when she has me? +She tells me every day she is not lonely. But we'd like fine to have +you live with us, teacher, because you're nice." + +Pearl's arm was around him now, and he let her draw him over to her. + +"Tell me all about yourself," she said, with a curious tugging at her +heart. + +"We're orphans," he said simply, "mother and I--that means our people +are dead. We had no people, only just our daddy. We didn't need any +people only him, and he's dead. And then we had Mr. Bowen--and he's +dead. Don't it beat all how people die? Are you an orphan?" + +Pearl shook her head. + +James continued: "We're waiting here until I get bigger and mother +gets enough money--and then we're going back. It's lovely to be going +back. This isn't the real Purple Springs--we just called it that for +fun, and because we love the name. It makes us happier when we say it. +It reminds us. Mother will tell you if you live with us." + +"At night we light the fire and watch it crackling, and I sit on +mother's knee. Ain't I a big boy to sit on a lady's knee?--and she +tells me. At Purple Springs there's pansies as big as plates--mother +will draw them for you--and the rocks are always warm, and the streams +are boiling hot, and nobody is ever sick there or tired. Daddy +wouldn't have died if we'd stayed there. But there's things in life no +one understands. We'll never leave when we go back." + +The boy rambled on, his eyes shining with a great excitement. Pearl +thought she was listening to the fanciful tales with which a lonely +woman beguiled the weary hours for her little son It was a weirdly +extravagant fairy story, and yet it fascinated Pearl in spite of it's +unlikeness to truth. It had all the phantasy of a midsummer night's +dream. + +The boy seemed to answer her thoughts. + +"Ain't it great to have something lovely to dream over, teacher? I bet +you've got sweet dreams, too. Mother says that what kills people's +souls is when they have no purple springs in their lives. She says +she's sorry for lots of people They live and walk around, but their +souls are dead, because their springs have dried up." + +Pearl drew him closer to her. He was so young--and yet so old--so +happy, and yet so lonely. She wanted to give him back a careless, +happy, irresponsible childhood, full of frolicking fun and mischief, +without care or serious thought. She longed to see him grubby-fisted +bare-footed, tousle-haired, shouting and wrestling with her young +tykes of brothers. It was not natural or happy to see a child so +elfin, so remote, so conscious of the world's sorrows. + +"Will you come with me now, teacher?" he asked eagerly. + +Pearl could not resist the appeal. The sun hung low in an amber haze +as they left the school and took the unfrequented road to the brown +house on the hill--the house of mystery. + +The air was full of the drowsy sounds of evening; cattle returning +after their day's freedom in the fields, cow-bells tinkling +contentedly. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked; and on the gentle +breeze came the song of a hermit thrush, with an undertone of cooing +pigeons. The acrid smell of burning leaves was in the air. + +The river valley ran into the sunset with its bold scrub-covered +banks, on the high shoulder of which the railway cut made a deep welt, +purple now with evening. Every day the westbound train, with its gray +smoke spume laid back on its neck like a mane, slid swiftly around the +base of the hill until the turn in the river made it appear to go into +a tunnel, for the opposite bank obscured it from view. It re-appeared +again, a mile farther west, and its smoke could be followed by the eye +for many miles as it made its way to the city. This year it was the +Government's promise that the river would be bridged at Purple Springs +and the road made more direct. + +"Mother says no one could be lonely when they can see the trains," +said James Gray. "Mother just loves the trains--they whistle to us +every day. They would stop and talk to us only they're in such a +hurry." + +When her young escort led Pearl Watson into the living-room she gave +an exclamation of delight. A low ceiling, with weathered beams; a +floor covered with bright-colored, hand-made rugs, bookcases +filled with books, a few pictures on the wall, and many pieces of +artistically constructed furniture. + +"Mother makes these in the winter, she and I. We work all evening, +and then we make toast at the fireplace and play the phonograph and +pretend we have visitors. Ever since we knew you were coming you've +been our visitor, and now tonight I'll hide you, and mother will think +I'm just pretending, and then you'll come out, and mother will think +she's dreaming again." + +Pearl helped her young friend to milk the two fine cows that came up +to the bars expectantly, after which the evening meal was prepared, +and Pearl was amazed at the deft manner in which the boy set about his +work. He told her more about calories and food values and balanced +meals than the Domestic Science Department at the Normal School had +taught her. + +"How do you know all this?" she asked him in surprise. + +"Mother reads it in books and tells me. Mother learns everything +first, and tells me--she is determined," said the boy gravely, "that +I will have just as good a chance as other children. She says if +she ever did anything that wasn't right, and which made it hard for +me--she'll make it up. Mother says God is often up against it with +people, too. He has to let things happen to them--bad things--but He +can always make it up to them--and He will! Do you think that too, +teacher?" + +"I am sure of it," said Pearl, with a catch in her throat and a sudden +chill of doubt. Were there some things which even God could not make +up to us? + +The fireplace was laid with red willow wood, and when everything was +ready, and the hour had come when Mrs. Gray was expected home, Pearl +and James waited in the big chair before the fire, which darted +tongues of purple flame and gave a grateful heat, for the evening was +chilly. They did not light the lamp at all, for the light from the +fire threw a warm glow over the room. + +A great peace seemed to have come to Pearl's heart. The neighbors of +Purple Springs, with their inhospitable hearts, seemed far away and +unreal. That thought in some occult way came to her with comforting +power from the spirit which dwelt in this home. + +For three years no friendly foot had come to this threshold, no one +had directed a friendly thought to the woman who lived here, nor to +the child; yet woman and child had lived on happily in spite of this, +and now to Pearl, on whom the taboo of the neighborhood had also +fallen, there came the peace of mind which could set quietly at +defiance the opinion of the little world which surrounded her. + +So intent were Pearl and James on the story that Pearl was telling +they did not hear the buggy, which drove up to the house. Mrs. Gray +got out and took out her parcels at the front door. The leaping flames +from the fire-place in the pretty room, made a picture she loved well. +It was so significant of home--and it is those who have not always had +a home who love it best. She stopped to watch the light as it danced +on the shelves of books and the brightly colored hangings and rugs. + +Seeing Pearl in the big chair, with her arm around the boy, Annie +Gray's heart gave a leap of rapture. Her boy had a companion--a human +comrade other than herself. It had come at last! The dream had come +true! She watched Pearl, fascinated, fearful. Was it a dream, or was +there really a human being, and such a lovely one, a guest at her +fireside? + +With a quick movement she flung open the door James ran to his mother +with a welcoming shout. Then Pearl stood up, and the two women shook +hands without a word. They looked long into each other's eyes; then +with a quick impulse, and a sudden illumination, Pearl put her arms +around the older woman and kissed her. + +Annie Gray held her away from her, so she could look at her again. +Then with a laugh that was half a sob, she said: + +"Prayers--are--sometimes--answered," and without any warning, +surprising herself even more than she did the others--she began to +cry. Three years is a long time. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE END OF A LONELY ROAD + + +When Pearl opened her eyes the next morning it was with a delicious +sense of well-being, which increased as she looked about her. It may +have been the satiny smoothness of the sheets, the silk eiderdown +quilt, with its plumy yellow chrysanthemums, the pale yellow scrim +curtains, across whose lower borders young brown ducks followed each +other in stately procession; the home-made table with its gray linen +runner, across which a few larger ducks paraded, and which held a +large lamp, with a well-flounced shade; the soft buff walls, with +their border of yellow autumn woods, sun-sweet and cool, with +leaf-strewn paths that would be springy to walk on. It may have been +these, for Pearl's heart could easily be set tingling by a flash of +color that pleased her. But there is no doubt the room had a presence, +a strong, buoyant, cheerful presence. It had been furnished to defy +loneliness. Who could be lonely looking down at a thick plushy rug of +woolly white sheep, shading into yellow, lying on the very greenest of +grass, beside a whimsical little twisting stream that you were just +sure had speckled trout in it, darting over its gravelly bottom, if +your eyes were only quick enough to catch the flash of them; and who +wouldn't be glad to wash in a basin that was just lined with yellow +roses, with a few of them falling out over the sides; and who wouldn't +accept the gift of a towel from a hospitable oak hand, which held out +a whole bouquet of them--one on each finger; towels with all sorts of +edgings and insertions and baskets of flowers and monograms on them +just begging you to take your choice. And if anything else were needed +to keep the heart from dull gray loneliness, or ugly black fear, on +the wall over the bed was a big gilt-framed picture of an amber-eyed, +white-collared, blessed collie dog, with the faintest showing of his +red tongue, big and strong and faithful, just to remind you that +though changes befall and friends betray and hopes grow cold, +faithfulness and affection have not entirely vanished from the earth. + +Pearl's sense of freedom, of power, of comfort, seemed to increase as +she lay watching the spot of sunshine which fell on the rug with its +flock of sheep and seemed to bring them alive. The whole room seemed +to fit around her, the ceiling bent over her like a kind face, +the walls, pictures, and furniture were like a group of friends +encouraging her, inspiring her, soothing her. + +Pearl searched her mind for a word to describe it. "It feels +like--Saturday--" she said at last, "--freedom, rest, plans, +ambitions--it has them all, and it has something deeper still in +it--it is like a section of a tree, in which history can be read, +storms and winds and sunshine," for Pearl knew instinctively that it +was a tower-room that Annie Gray had made for an armor for her soul, +so it would not be pierced by the injustice and unkindness of the +world. + +"They do not understand," Pearl said again, "that's all--they do not +mean to be so horrid to her--it's queer how badly people can treat +each other and their conscience let them get away with it. Even if +Mrs. Gray had been all they said, she had not done any wrong to +them--why should they feel called upon to punish her? Well, I can tell +them a few things now." + +A fire burned in the fireplace, and the breakfast-table was set in +front of it. Mrs. Gray, in an attractive mauve house-gown, came in +from the kitchen. She was a tall woman, with steel gray eyes, with +pebblings of green--the eyes of courage and high resolve. Her features +were classical in their regularity, and reminded Pearl of the faces in +her history reproduced from the Greek coins, lacking only the laurel +wreath. Her hair was beginning to turn gray, and showed a streak at +each side, over her temples. A big black braid was rolled around her +perfectly round head; a large green jade brooch, with a braided silver +edge, fastened her dress. Her hands were brown and hard, but long, +shapely and capable looking. + +The boy was sleeping late, so Pearl and her hostess ate their +breakfast alone. + +"Will you let me stay with you, Mrs. Gray," Pearl asked, when +breakfast was over. "I will make my own bed, keep my things tidy, try +not to spill my tea. I will wipe my feet, close the screen door, and +get up for breakfast." + +Mrs. Gray looked across the table, with her dear eyes fastened on her +guest. Suddenly they began to grow dim with tears. + +"Pearl," she said, laughing, "I don't know what there is about you +that makes me want to cry. I've gone through some rough places in life +without a tear, but you seem to have a way all your own to start me +off." + +"But I don't hurt you, do I?" Pearl asked, in distress. "Surely I +don't--I wouldn't do that for the world." + +"Not a bit of it," laughed her hostess, as she wiped her eyes, and +then, blinking hard to clear away the last traces of grief, she said: + +"Pearl, before you come to board with me you should know something +about me; you have no doubt heard some strange things." + +Pearl did not deny it. + +"And you should know the whole story, and then judge for yourself +whether you consider I am a fit person to live with." + +"But I do already," said Pearl. "I consider you a very proper and +delightful person to live with. I don't want to know a thing about +you unless you care to tell me. You don't know anything about me +either--we both have to take a chance--and I am willing if you are." + +"But there will be an insurrection in the neighborhood. They won't let +you, Pearl. They can't forgive me for coming here without reference or +character, and with a child, too." + +"Well, he's a pretty fine child," said Pearl, "and, I should say, a +sort of certificate for his mother." + +"Well, no matter how fine a child he is--no matter what care a mother +has taken in his training--nothing can atone, in the eyes of society +for the failure of conforming to some of their laws. Society's laws, +not God's laws. Society is no friend to women, Pearl." + +"But it is just because people do not think," said Pearl, "They have +made certain laws--and women have not made any protest, so the men +think they are all right." + +"And do you know why, Pearl?" she asked. "Women who are caught in the +tangle of these laws, as I was, cannot say a word--their lips +are dumb. The others won't say a word for fear of spoiling their +matrimonial market. The worst thing that can be said of a woman is +that she's queer and strong-minded--and defies custom. If you want to +be happy, Pearl, be self-centered, virtuous, obey the law, and care +nothing for others." + +"You don't mean that," said Pearl. "You've been hard hit some way I +do not want to know until you want to tell me. But I am going to stay +with you if you will keep me. I am determined to stay." + +Annie Gray's steely eyes clouded over again, like a sun-kissed lake +when a cloud passes over it. They grew deeper, grayer, and of misty +tenderness. + +"You are doing something for me, Pearl, that I thought could never be +done; you are restoring my faith. Remember, I have not been as unhappy +as you may think. I had my happiness--that's more than some women can +say. I have had the rapture, the blessedness of love--I've had +it all--the rapture of holding and the agony of loss--I'm only +thirty-one, but I've lived a thousand years. But, Pearl, you've done +something for me already; you have set my feet again on something +solid, and I am a different woman from yesterday. Some day I'll tell +you a strange story until then, you'll trust me?" + +"Until then--and far beyond it--forever," said Pearl. "I'll trust +you--I have an idea you and I are going to stick together for a long +time." + +Pearl went back to the school and found her letter of acceptance in +the desk. She tore it up and wrote another, thanking the department +for their kindness in offering her such a splendid position, but +explaining that she had decided to stay at the school at Purple +Springs. She made her decision without any difficulty. There was a +deep conviction that the threads of destiny were weaving together her +life and Annie Gray's, and she knew, from some hidden source in +her soul, that she must stand by. What she could do, was vague and +unformed in her mind, but she knew it would be revealed to her. + +Pearl, child of the prairie, never could think as clearly when her +vision was bounded by walls. She had to have blue distance--the great, +long look that swept away the little petty, trifling, hampering +things, which so slavishly dominate our lives, if we will let them. So +she took her way to a little lake behind the school, where with the +school axe she had already made a seat for herself under two big +poplar trees, and cut the lower branches of some of the smaller ones, +giving them a neat and tidy appearance, like well-gartered children +dressed for a picnic. + +There were a few white birches mixed with the poplars, so delicately +formed and dainty in their slender branches and lacy leaves, they +looked like nice little girls with flowing hair, coming down to bathe +in the blue lake, timidly trying out the water with their white feet. +The trees formed a semi-circle around the east side of the lake, +leaving one side open to view, and she could see the prairie falling +away to the river, which made a wide detour at this point. + +Pearl settled herself in her rustic seat, putting the newspaper, which +she had left for the purpose, behind her back as she leaned against +the tree, to keep the powdery bark from marking her blue coat, and +leaning back contentedly, she drank in the spring sounds. + +The sun, which stood almost at noon, seemed to draw the leaves out +like a magnet; she could almost believe she saw them unfolding; above +her head there was a perfect riot of bird's song, and a blue-bird, +like a burst of music, went flashing across the water. A gray squirrel +chattered as he ran up a tree behind her, and a rabbit, padding over +the dead leaves on his way to the lake, made a sound like a bear. + +Up through the tree tops there had climbed a few blue rags of smoke, +for behind her a sleepy prairie fire was eating backward toward a +ploughed fire-guard, and the delightful acrid smell brought back the +memory of past prairie fires, pleasant enough to think of, as life's +battles are, if they end victoriously. Not a breath stirred in the +trees, and the prairie fire that smouldered so indolently was surely +the gentlest of its race. + +Suddenly there came a gust of wind through the trees, which set them +creaking and crackling with vague apprehension, for the wind is +always the mischief maker--the tattler--the brawler who starts the +trouble--and the peaceful, slumbering absent-minded prairie fire, +nibbling away at a few dead roots and grass, had been too much for it. +Here was a perfectly good chance to make trouble which no wind could +resist. + +A big black cloud went over the sun, and all in a minute the placid +waters of the lake were rasped into a pattern like the soles of new +rubbers--the trees were bending--crows cawing excitedly, and the fire, +spurred by the wind, went racing through the lake bottom and on its +way up the bank toward the open country. The cattle, which had +been feeding at the east side of the lake, sniffing danger, turned +galloping home to furnish an alibi in case of trouble. + +But the excitement was short-lived owing to a circumstance which the +wind had overlooked. The wind had made a mistake in its direction, and +so the fire had one wild, glorious race up the bank only to find its +nose run right into a freshly ploughed fire-guard, steaming damp and +richly brown. The fire sputtered, choked and died down, black and +disappointed, leaving only a few smoking clumps of willows. + +Then the wind, seeing no further chance of trouble, went crackling +away over the tree tops, and the sun came back, brilliant and warm +as ever, and there was nothing to show that there had been any +excitement, save only the waves on the lake. The wind was gone, +laughing and unrepentant, over the tree-tops; the sun had come back as +genially as if it had never been away--but the lake could not forget, +and it fretted and complained, in a perfectly human way, pounding the +bank in a futile attempt to get back at some one. The bank had not +been to blame, but it had to take the lake's repinings, while the real +culprit went free and unreproached. + +Pearl could tell what the lake was saying, as it lashed itself foaming +and pounding just below her feet. It called to the world to listen. + +"Look how I'm used," it sobbed, "and abused--and confused." + +Pearl put her hands in the silk-lined pockets of her coat, and thought +about what she had just seen. + +"Life is like this," she said at last, "human nature is full of +mischief. It loves to start trouble and fan a fire into a destructive +mood; and there's only one way to stop it--plough a fire-guard. I wish +there had been some one here to plough a fire-guard when the fires of +gossip began to run here three years ago." + +"I'll go now and dress up, and break the news to the neighborhood that +I am going to the house at Purple Springs to board. There will be +a row--there will be a large row--unless I can make the people +understand, and in a row there is nothing so sustaining as good +clothes--next to the consciousness of being right, of course," she +added after a pause. An hour later, Pearl Watson, in her best dress +of brown silk, with her high brown boots well polished, and her small +brown hat, made by herself, with a band of crushed burnt orange +poppies around the crown, safely anchored and softened by a messaline +drape; with her hair drawn over the tops of her ears, and a smart +fawn summer coat, with buttons which showed a spot of red like a +pigeon-blood ruby. Pearl looked at herself critically in the glass: + +"These things should not count," she said, as she fastened a thin veil +over her face and made it very neat at the back with a hairpin, "but +they do." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ANNIE GRAY'S STORY + + +The Purple Springs district was going through a period of intense +excitement. Housework languished, dough ran over, dish-water cooled. +The news which paralyzed household operations came shortly after one +o'clock, when Mrs. Cowan phoned to Mrs. Brownless that the teacher had +just been in, and said she was going to board with the woman who lived +alone. The teacher had said it, according to Mrs. Cowan, in the "most +off-hand manner, just as if she said she had found her jackknife or +her other rubber--just as easy as that, she said she had found a +boarding house. Mrs. Howser could not take her, but Mrs. Gray could, +and she was moving over right away." + +Mrs. Cowan, according to her own testimony, nearly dropped. She did +not really drop, but any one could easily have knocked her down; +she could have been knocked down with a pin feather. She could not +speak--she just stared. She went all "through other," and felt queer. + +"Do you know that woman has a child?" she managed to say at last, and +the teacher said, "Sure--one of the nicest I've ever seen--a perfect +beauty." + +Mrs. Cowan admitted to Mrs. Brownlees, who sympathized with her, that +she did not know what to say then. + +At last she said, "But she has no right to have a child," and the +teacher said: + +"Why not if she wants to. She's good to him, dresses him well and +trains him well. My mother had nine--and got away with it--and likes +them all. Having a child is nothing against her." Now, wasn't that an +awful way for her to talk? + +Mrs. Brownlees said it certainly was fierce! and the other listeners +on the phone, for the audience had been augmented as the conversation +proceeded, politely said nothing, but hung up their receivers with +haste, and acquainted the members of their household with the +disquieting news. + +Mrs. Switzer threw her apron over her head and ran out to the pump, +where Bill was watering his three-horse team. Bill received the news +in that exasperating silence which is so hard to bear. When urged for +an opinion, he said crustily: "Well, what's the girl goin' to do? None +of you women would take her--she can't starve--and she can't sleep in +the school woodpile. Mrs. Gray won't bite--she's a fine lookin' woman, +drives a binder like a man, pays her debts, minds her own business. I +don't see why it wouldn't be a good boardin' place." + +In telling about it afterwards to Mrs. Howser, Mrs. Switzer said, "You +know what men are like; in some ways they are hardly human--they take +things so easy." + +Pearl was surprised at the storm that burst, but soon realized the +futility of further speech. They would not listen--they were so intent +on proving the woman's guilt, they would hear no defence. From what +they said, Pearl gathered that they knew nothing about Mrs. Gray +except what the sewing-machine agent had told them, and even he had +not claimed that he had any definite knowledge. The worst count +against her was that she would not tell anything about herself. +That she would not tell anything about herself, could only have one +explanation! There must be nothing good to tell! + +On Sunday, at the little stone church in the valley of the river Pearl +took her place among the worshippers. The attendance was unusually +large. A new bond of interest was binding the neighborhood together, +and they spoke of it as they congregated in the church-yard before the +service. Pearl sat inside and watched them as they talked together +excitedly. Snatches of their conversation came to her. "Well-behaved +people should stay with well-behaved people, I say"--this was from +Mrs. Switzer. + +The men did not join in the conversation, but stood around, ill at +ease in their stiff collars, and made an attempt to talk about summer +fallowing and other harmless topics. Their attitude to the whole +affair was one of aloofness. Let the women settle it among themselves. + +From the window where she sat Pearl could see far down the valley. The +river pursued its way, happily, unperturbed by the wrongs or sorrows +of the people who lived beside it. Sometimes it had reached out and +drowned a couple of them as it had done last year--but no one held it +against the river at all. + +The rejuvenation of nature was to be seen everywhere, in springing +grass and leafing tree. Everything could begin life over again. Why +were the people so hard on Annie Gray, even if all they believed about +her were true? Pearl wondered about the religion of people like the +group who were so busily talking just outside the window. Did it not +teach them to be charitable? The Good Shepherd, in the picture above +the altar, had gone out to find the wandering sheep, even leaving +all the others, to bring back the lost one, sorry that it had been +wayward, not angry--but only sorry--Pearl hoped that they would look +at it when they came in. She hoped too, that they would look at the +few scattered tombstones in the churchyard, over which the birds were +darting and skimming, and be reminded of the shortness of life, and +their own need of mercy--and she hoped that some of the dead, who lay +there so peacefully now, might have been sinners who redeemed the past +and died respected, and that they might plead now with these just +persons who needed no repentance. + +But when the service was over, and a brief sermon on Amos and his good +deeds, the congregation separated, and Pearl went back to the brown +house with a heavy heart, and the cry of her soul was that God would +show her a way of making the people understand. "Plough a fire-guard, +O Lord," she prayed, as she walked, "and let these deadly fires of +gossip run their noses square into it and be smothered. Use me if you +can--I am here--ready to help--but the big thing is to get it done." + +Around the open grate-fire that night, after James had gone to bed, +Pearl and Mrs. Gray sat long before the pleasant wood fire For the +first time Annie Gray felt she had found some one to whom she could +talk and tell what was in her heart, and the story of the last eleven +years was revealed, from the time that pretty Annie Simmons, fresh +from Scotland, arrived at the Hudson's Bay post at Fort Resolution, +coming by dog-train the last two hundred miles to her cousin, the +factor's wife--the thin-lipped daughter of the Covenanters--who kept +the pretty young cousin closely at work in the kitchen with her pots +and pans when the traders came in, for Mrs. McPherson had no intention +of losing Annie and her capable help after bringing her all the way +from the Isle of Skye. + +After a year of hard work, and some lonesome times, too, in the long, +dark winter, there came to the Post a young trapper and prospector, +Jim Gray. + +"When I saw him," said the woman, with the silver bands of gray +encircling her shapely head, "I knew him for my own man. He was tall +and dark, with a boyish laugh that I loved, and a way of suddenly +becoming very serious in the middle of his fun--a sort of clouding +over of his face as if the sun had gone under for a minute." + +She spoke haltingly, but Pearl knew what was in her heart, and her +quick imagination painted in the details of each picture. She could +see the homesick Scotch girl, in the far Northern post, hungry for +admiration and love, and trying to make herself as comely as she +could. She could sense all the dreams and longings, the hopes and +thrills. + +"Tell me more about him," Pearl urged. + +"He had the out-of-doors look," said Mrs. Gray, "big, gentle, +fearless. I knew as soon as I looked in his eyes that I would go with +him if he asked me--anywhere. I would dare anything, suffer anything +for him. Nothing mattered; you will know it some time, Pearl, I hope. +It brings sorrow, maybe, but it is the greatest thing in life. Even +now, looking back down these black years, I would do the same--I would +go with my man. + +"My cousin and her husband, the factor, forbade him the house when they +saw what was happening. They had nothing against him. Every trapper +said Jim Gray was straight as a gun-barrel. It was just that they +would not let me go--they wanted my work, but I had already worked out +my passage money, and considered myself free. They locked me in my +room at night, and treated me like a prisoner. They said abominable +things. + +"One night a tapping came at the little square window It was a heavy, +dark night in July, with thunder rolling in great shaking billows. It +was Jim, and he asked me if I would come with him. He had spoken to +the missionary at the post, who would marry us. Would I come? I did +not know whether he had a house, or even a blanket. I only knew I +loved him. + +"Under cover of the storm Jim took out the window-frame, lifted me +out, and we were off through the rain and the storm. But when we got +to the missionary's he would not marry us--the factor had forbidden +him. Jim would have taken me back but I was afraid. The factor had +said he would shoot him if he ever came for me. He was a high-tempered +man and ruled the post and every one in it with his terrible rages. +What would you have done, Pearl?" + +"Was there no one else?" said Pearl, "no magistrate--no other +missionary or priest?" + +"There was a missionary at the next post, sixty miles away. We could +reach him in two days. What would you have done, Pearl?" + +Pearl was living with her every detail, every sensation, every thrill. + +"What would I have done?" she said, trembling with the excitement of a +great decision. "I would have gone!" + +Annie Gray's hand tightened on hers. + +"I went," she said, "and I was never sorry. Jim was a man of the big +woods; he loved me. The rain, which fell in torrents, did not seem to +wet us--we were so happy." + +"At the missionary's house at Hay River we were married, and the wife +of the missionary gave me her clothes until mine dried. We stayed +there three days and then we went on. Jim had a cabin in a wonderful +hot springs valley, and it was there we were going. It would take us +a month, but the weather was at its best, hazy blue days, continuous +daylight, only a little dimming of the sun's light when it disappeared +behind the mountains. We had pack-dogs from the post--Jim had left +them there--and lots of provisions. I dream of those campfires and the +frying bacon, and the blue smoke lifting itself up to the tree-tops." + +She sat a long time silent, in a happy maze of memory. + +"I had as much happiness as most women, but mine came all at once--and +left me all at once. We reached the valley in September. I was wild +with the beauty of it! Set in the mountains, which arched around it, +was this wonderful square of fertile land, about six miles one way and +seven the other. The foliage is like the tropics, for the hot springs +keep off frost. The creeks which run through it come out of the rocks +boiling hot--but cool enough to bathe in as they run on through the +meadows. Their waters have a peculiar purplish tinge, which passes +away after it stands a while, and a delicate aroma like a fragrant +toilet water. I called it the Valley of purple springs'." + +"Our house was of logs, and built on a rock floor, which was always +warm. There were skins on the floor worth fortunes, for the animals +came to the valley in winter by the hundreds, black foxes and silver, +martins and bear. They came in, stayed a few days and passed out +again. The ferns in the valley stood seven feet high, and the stalks +were delicious when boiled and salted. + +"Jim had planted a garden before he left, and we had everything, +cabbages, cauliflower, beets, mushrooms. Jim got the skins he +wanted--he didn't kill many--and we tanned them in the Indian way. + +"At first the Indians had been afraid to come. They called it 'The +Devil's Valley,' and though the young bucks might come in and spend a +night, just as a bit of bravado, they were frightened of it; but after +I came they took courage and came in. + +"We found out that the water in the streams had healing power, and +made one's skin feel soft as velvet, especially one stream which had +the deepest color. One old squaw, whose eyes had been sore for years, +was healed in three weeks and went back to her people with her +wonderful tales of the valley. After that we had Indians with us all +the time. They brought their sick children and their old people, and +the results were marvelous. I never knew the stream to fail. Even the +tubercular people soon began to grow rosy and well. The food seemed to +have healing power, too, and some who came hollow-cheeked, feverish, +choking with their cruel paroxysms of coughing, soon began to grow fat +and healthy. At first the sick people just slept and slept on the warm +rocks, and then came the desire to bathe in the stream, and after that +they went searching for the herbs they needed. + +"We lived there three years. At the end of the first year little Jim +was born--my precious Jim, with his wonderful eyes, reflecting the +beauty of the valley. The Indian women tanned the softest buckskin for +his little things, and he had the most elaborately beaded garments. +No little prince was ever more richly dressed. He grew lovlier every +day." + +Pearl could refrain no longer: "Why did you ever leave?" she asked +breathlessly. + +"Conscience," said Annie Gray, after a pause. "We couldn't keep it all +to ourselves and be happy over it. We couldn't forget all the sick +people to whom our purple springs would bring healing. Mind you, we +tried to deaden our consciences; tried to make ourselves believe it +was not our duty to give it to the world. We fought off these spells +of conscience--we tried to forget that there was a world outside. But +we couldn't--we owed a duty, which we had to pay. + +"One day, with our winter catch of furs packed on the dogs, we came +out. The Indians could not understand why we were leaving, and stood +sorrowfully watching us as far as we could see them--there was a +heaviness on our spirits that day, as if we knew what was coming. + +"On the Judah Hill, at Peace River, came the accident. The train went +over the bank. When I came to I was in the Irene Hospital there, with +little Jim beside me quite unhurt. But I knew--I knew. I saw in the +nurses' face--my Jim had been killed." + +All the color had gone from her voice, and she spoke as mechanically +as a deaf person. + +"He was instantly killed--they did not let me see him. + +"I went on. I knew what I should do. I would carry out as far as +possible what Jim and I had started out to do. We had filed on the +land, and I had the papers--I have them still. In Peace River we had +sold the furs, and I had quite a lot of money, for furs were high that +year. + +"Jim had told me a lot about his father, a domineering but kindly old +fellow, the local member of Parliament in a little Eastern town--a man +who had had his own way all his life. Jim had not got along well with +him, and had left home at eighteen. + +"I remembered Jim had said that he wouldn't tell his father about the +valley until he had talked it over with a lawyer and got everything +settled, for the old man would run the whole thing. So when I went to +his home I said little about our valley, except to tell them of the +beauty of it. + +"I was very unhappy. He raged about Jim and his wild ways. I could +not bear it. He knew nothing of the real Jim that I knew, the tender, +loving, sweet-souled Jim. I could see how he had raised the devil in +the boy with his high-handed ways. + +"He was passionately fond of the little Jim, and foolishly indulgent. +He would give the child a dollar for a kiss, but if he did not come +running to him the very moment he called he would be angry. Yet I +could see that he adored the little fellow, and was very proud of his +clever ways. + +"One day he told me he was going to send Jim to a boy's school in +England as soon as he was nine. I told him it could not be. Jim had +said to me that we would bring up our boy in the wild, new country, +where men are honorable and life is simple. I would follow Jim's +wishes--our boy would not go to England. I defied him. I saw his +temper then. He told me I had nothing to say about it, he was his +grandson's guardian. Jim had made a will before he left home, making +his father executor of his estate. He told me the father was the only +parent the child had in the eyes of the law, and I had no claim on my +boy. + +"I had no one to turn to. Jim's mother was one of those sweet, +yielding women, who said 'Yes, dear,' to everything he said. She +followed him around, picking up the things he scattered and the chairs +he kicked over in his fits of temper. Sometimes when he swore she +dabbed her eyes with a daintily trimmed handkerchief. That was her +only protest. She advised me to say nothing, but just do whatever +'father' told me, and I said I would see him in hell first, and at +that she ran out with her fingers in her ears. + +"Then a strange thing happened. McPherson, my cousin's husband, the +factor from Fort Resolution, met Jim's father at a lodge meeting, and +told him Jim and I had gone away without being married--the missionary +had refused to marry us--and we had gone away. I think he knew better, +for in the north country every one knows everyone else, and it was +well known that Jim and I were married at Hay River. He came home +raging and called me names. I'll never forget how they went crashing +through my brain. He was a proud man, and this 'disgrace' of Jim's, +as he said, was the finishing touch. But when he began to abuse Jim +I raged too. I said things to him which perhaps had better been left +unsaid. I was sorry afterwards, for Jim was fond of his father for all +his blustering ways. I did not tell him that Jim and I were legally +married, for the fear was on me that he could take little Jim from +me, and it did not matter to me what they thought of me. I had one +thought--and that was to keep my boy and bring him up myself--bring +him up to be a man like his father. + +"That night I left. I was proud, too, and I left money to pay for +the time I had been with them. I had a few hundred dollars left, not +enough to take me back to Purple Springs. My first plan was to get a +housekeeper's position, but I soon found I could not do that--the +work was hard, and Jim was not wanted. I worked as waitress in a +restaurant, and as saleslady in a country store, but Jim was not +getting the care he should have. + +"One day I saw an advertisement in a paper. A prospector, crippled +with rheumatism, wanted a housekeeper. It said 'a woman with sense and +understanding,' and I liked the tone of it. It was blunt and honest. + +"When I went to see him I found a grizzled old fellow of about sixty, +who had been most of his life in the north, and when I found he had +known Jim, and had trapped with him on the Liard River, and knew what +a splendid fellow he was, I just begged him to let us stay. He was as +glad to get me, as I was to find a home. + +"I cared for him until he died. He was a good man, a man of the big +woods, whose life was simple, honest and kindly. + +"In the little town where we lived the people gossiped when I came to +him. They wanted to know where I had come from, and all about me. I +told them nothing. I was afraid. I had changed my name, but still I +was afraid Jim's father might find me. Mr. Bowen thought it would be +better if we were married, just to stop their tongues, but I couldn't +marry him. Jim has always been just as real to me as when he was with +me. Mr. Bowen was kind and gentlemanly always, and many a happy hour +we spent talking of the big country with its untold riches. If I could +have taken him to Purple Springs he could have been cured, but we knew +he could not stand the journey, for his heart was weak. + +"I went to night school while I was with him, and learned all I could +for Jim's sake. But he died at last, and left me very lonely, for I +had grown fond of him. + +"By his will he left me all he had, and the deed of this farm was part +of his estate. So, after his death, Jim and I came here. Mr. Bowen had +advised me to stay on this farm--he had taken it because there were +indications of oil, and he believed there would be a big strike here +some day. He also left me four thousand dollars, and I have added to +it every year. Sometimes I've been tempted to sell out and get back +north, but Jim is too young yet, I think, I should go somewhere and +let him go to school. I thought when I came he could go here. I have +only one thought, one care, one ambition--I've lived my life--I've had +my one good, glorious day, and now I want to see that Jim gets his. + +"It's a queer story, isn't it, Pearl? I ran away and got married, +and then I ran away from marriage to keep my boy. I could prove in a +moment that my marriage was legal, of course, the certificate is here, +and the marriage was registered by the missionary, who has come back +now and lives in the city. But I dare not tell who I am--Jim does not +know who his grandfather is." + +"He surely couldn't take your boy," cried Pearl. "There is no justice +in that." + +"Only the unmarried mother has the absolute right to her child," said +Annie Gray, as one who quotes from a legal document. "I talked to a +lawyer whom Mr. Bowen sent for. He showed it to me in the law." + +"Peter Neelands was right," said Pearl after a while, "it is exactly +the sort of a law he said the other one was." + +The two women sat by the fire, which by this time was reduced to one +tiny red coal. There was not a sound in the house except the regular +breathing of little Jim from the adjoining room. A night wind stirred +the big tree in front of the house, and its branches touched the +shingles softly, like a kind hand. + +"I'll tell you the rest of it, Pearl, and why I am so frightened. +Perhaps I grow fearful, living here alone, and my mind conjures up +dreadful things. Jim's grandfather has moved to this Province from the +East. I read about him in the papers. He is a powerful man--who +gets his own way. He might be able to get doctors to pronounce me +insane--we read such things. He has such influence." + +"Who is he?" asked Pearl wonderingly. + +"He is the Premier of this Province," said Annie Gray. "Now do you +wonder at my fear?" + +Pearl sat a long time silent. "A way will be found," she said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE OPENING OF THE WAY + + +"I wonder where they are," Pearl said to herself, as she looked +anxiously out of the window of the school on Monday morning. The roads +leading from the Purple Springs school lay like twisted brown ribbons +on the tender green fields, but not a child, not a straw hat, red +sweater, sun-bonnet; not a glint of a dinner-pail broke the monotony +of the bright spring morning. + +The farm-houses seemed to be enjoying their usual activity. The +spielers among the hens were announcing that the day's business was +off to a good start, with prospects never brighter, dogs barked, +calves bawled, cow-bells jangled--there was even a murmur of talking. + +"They are not dead," said Pearl, as she listened, bareheaded, at the +gate, "not dead, except to me--but they are not going to let the +children come! + +"They have turned me down!" + +At nine o'clock, a flash of hope lighted up the gloom that had settled +on her heart. The Snider twins, two tiny black dots, side by side like +quotation marks, appeared distinctly against the vivid green of their +father's wheat field and continued to advance upon the school-house, +until they were but half a mile away. Then, noticing that no one else +was abroad, they turned about and retraced their steps in haste, +believing it must be Sunday, or a holiday--or something. + +They were quite right on the last guess. It was something. But not +even the teacher knew just what. The school room was clammily, +reproachfully silent, every tick of the elm clock which told off +the time without prejudice, seemed to pile up evidence of a hostile +nature. + +Pearl's brows were knitted in deep thought, as she looked in vain down +the sparkling roads. What was back of it all? What had she done, or +failed to do? Why did no one want to give her board and shelter? This +latest development--the boycott of the school--was of course a protest +against her association with the woman of Purple Springs. + +Pearl squared her shoulders and threw back her head. She remembered +the advice she had given her young brothers, "Don't pick a fight. +Don't hit harder than you need to--but when trouble comes, be facing +the right way." She would try to keep her face in the right direction. +Here was prejudice, narrowness, suspicion, downright injustice and +cruelty--of this she was sure--there were other elements, other +complications of which she had no knowledge. Peter Neelands had +told her the Government was watching her, but she had not taken it +seriously. + +She began to wonder if the invitation to work in the Educational +Department might not be a plan to get her safely out of the way until +after the election. It seemed too absurd. + +Life was not so simple and easy as she had thought, or was it true +that the element of trouble was in her own mind. Did she attract +trouble by some quality of heart or brain. But what else could she +have done? Hadn't she told the truth and done what seemed right all +the way? But to be turned down in her school--left alone--boycotted. + +Pearl's depression, poignant and deep though it was, did not last +long. There would be a way out--there was always a way out! She would +be shown the way! + +"They that are with us," said Pearl solemnly, struggling with a wave +of self pity, "are greater than they that are against us. I wish I +could get them all lined up and talk to them. There is no use in +talking to them one by one--they won't listen--they're too busy trying +to think of something to say back. But if I had them all together, +I could make them see things--they would have to see it. They are +positively cruel to Mrs. Gray, and the dear little Jim--and without +cause--and they should be told. Nobody would be so mean--if they +knew--even the old grandfather would feel sorry." + +When ten o'clock came, and not one pupil had arrived, Pearl decided +she would go over to the post-office for her mail. There would be a +letter from home, and never before had she so much needed the loving +assurance that she had a home where a welcome awaited her, even if the +world had gone wrong. The Watson family would stand by her, no matter +what the verdict of Purple Springs. + +In addition to the home letter, with its reassuring news that four +hens were set and the red cow had come in, and the boys had earned +three dollars and fifteen cents on their gopher tails, and the +twenty-fourth being a holiday. Jimmy would come over for her--in +addition to this, there was a large square envelope from the city. The +letter was from the Woman's Club, telling her that they were preparing +a political play and wanted her to come at once to the city to take an +important part. They had heard of her ability from Mr. Neelands. Would +she please let them know at once? + +A smile scattered the gloom on Pearl's face. Here was a way out. Would +she go? To play an important part in a play? Would she go? + +Pearl went down the road on light feet, to where Mr. Cowan, the +Secretary, was ploughing stubble. Mr. Cowan was expecting a call, and +dreading it, for in spite of careful rehearsing, he had been unable +to make out a good case. He was an awkward conspirator, without +enthusiasm, and his plain country conscience reminded him that it was +a mean way to treat a teacher whom he--himself--had selected. But why +hadn't she accepted the offer to go to the city, and get away from a +neighborhood where she could not be comfortable. Naturally, he could +not urge it--that would give away the whole game. But he could hardly +keep from asking her. + +He resolved to say as little as possible, when he saw her coming. +There was no trace of either gloom or resentment in her face when she +greeted him. Mr. Cowan was equally friendly. + +"I want to ask you something, Mr. Cowan," said Pearl. "What is wrong +with me? Why don't the people like me? What have I done?" + +Mr. Cowan had stopped his team, and lifting the lines from behind his +back, he wound them deliberately around the handles of the plow before +speaking. His manner indicated that it was a long story. + +"Well, you know what women are like. No one can reason with women, +and they won't stand for you boarding with Mrs. Gray. They're sore on +her--and don't think she's just what she should be--and--" + +Pearl interrupted him: + +"But, Mr. Cowan, even before I went there, there was something wrong. +Why wouldn't they give me a boarding place? You thought that I could +get a boarding place when you hired me. Come on, Mr. Cowan, you may +just as well tell me--it's the easiest way in the end--just to speak +out--it saves time. If you ask me not to tell--I won't." + +George Cowan did not expect to be cornered up so closely, and in +desperation he said what was uppermost in his mind: + +"Why don't you take the offer to go to the city, that's a great +chance." + +He had forgotten to be discreet. + +"I am going to," said Pearl quickly, "that's what I came over to tell +you--I want to go. I wanted to ask you if it would be all right." + +"Now you're talking," cried her trustee gladly--a great burden had +been lifted from his heart. "Sure you can go--it would be a, shame for +you to miss a chance like this." + +In his excitement he hardly knew what he was saying. This was just +what he had been hoping would happen. Wouldn't George Steadman be +pleased! He had given out a delicate piece of work to be done, and it +had been successfully managed. + +"You were just fooling us by pretending you were going to board at +Mrs. Gray's--weren't you? You knew all the time you were going to the +city; You were just playing a joke on us--I know. Well the joke's on +us all right, as the cowboys said when they hanged the wrong man." + +George Cowan rubbed his hands; the whole world had grown brighter. The +political machine was the thing--real team-play--that's what it was. +It's hard to beat the machine--and the best of it all was, there was +no harm done, and nobody hurt. She would be as safe as a church when +she was in the employ of the Government--and in a good job too--away +ahead of teaching. No government employee could mention politics. +Some people thought women were hard to manage! but it just required a +little brains--that was all. Diplomacy was the thing. + +"You are sure you don't mind my going," said Pearl, "without notice?" + +"Not a bit--and we'll be glad to have you back, say for the Fall term. +I'll fix the salary too and make out your cheque for the full month. +It wouldn't be right for us to stand in your way--of course you may +not want to come back--but if you do just drop me a line. I suppose +you will want to go home before you go into the city. I can take you +over this afternoon in the car." + +"Thank you, Mr. Cowan," Pearl said, "you are very kind. I'll be ready +at one o'clock. But tell me--how did you know I had an invitation to +the city? That was pretty clever of you." + +Mr. Cowan was untwisting the lines from the plow handles preparatory +to making another round. He suddenly remembered to be discreet, and +winked one eye with indescribable slyness. + +"A little bird whispered to me," he laughed. + +At noon, when he told Mrs. Cowan about it, he said it was queer how +that answer of his seemed to hit the teacher. She went away laughing, +and he could hear her for fully a quarter of a mile kind of chuckling +to herself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE PLAY + + +"Sorry, sir," said the man in the box-office of the Grand, "but the +house has been sold out for two days now. The standing room has gone +too." + +"Can you tell me what this is all about, that every one is so crazy to +see it?" the man at the wicket asked, with studied carelessness. He +was a thick-set man, with dark glasses, and wore a battered hat, and a +much bedraggled waterproof. + +"The women here have got up a Parliament, and are showing tonight," +said the ticket-seller. "They pretend that only women vote, and women +only sit in Parliament. The men will come, asking for the vote, and +they'll get turned down good and plenty, just like the old man turned +them down." + +"Did the Premier turn them down?" asked the stranger. "I didn't hear +about it." + +"Did he? I guess, yes--he ripped into them in his own sweet way. Did +you ever hear the old man rage? Boy! Well, the women have a girl +here who is going to do his speech. She's the woman Premier, you +understand, and she can talk just like him. She does everything except +chew the dead cigar. The fellows in behind say it's the richest thing +they ever heard. The old boy will have her shot at sunrise, for sure. + +"He won't hear her," said the man in the waterproof, with sudden +energy. "He won't know anything about it." + +"Sure he will. The old man is an old blunderbuss, but he's too good +a sport to stay away. They're decorating a box for him, and have his +name on it. He can't stay away." + +"He can if he wants to," snapped the other man. "What does he care +about this tommyrot--he'll take no notice of it." + +"Well," said the man behind the wicket, "I believe he'll come. But +say, he sure started something when he got these women after him. +They're the sharpest-tongued things you ever listened to, and they +have their speeches all ready. The big show opens tonight, and every +seat is sold. You may get a ticket though at the last minute, from +some one who cannot come. There are always some who fail to show up at +the last. I can save you a ticket if this happens. What name?" + +"Jones," said the gentleman in the waterproof. No doubt the irritation +in his voice was caused by having to confess to such a common name. +"Robertson Jones. Be sure you have it right," and he passed along the +rail to make room for two women who also asked for tickets. + +The directors of the Woman's Parliament knew the advertising value of +a mystery, being students of humanity, and its odd little ways. They +knew that people are attracted by the unknown; so in their advance +notices they gave the names of all the women taking part in the play, +but one. The part of the Premier--the star part--would be taken by a +woman whose identity they were "not at liberty to reveal." Well-known +press women were taking the other parts, and their pictures appeared +on the posters, but no clue was given out as to the identity of the +woman Premier. + +Long before sundown, the people gathered at the theatre door, for +the top gallery would open for rush seats at seven. Even the ticket +holders had been warned that no seat would be held after eight +o'clock. + +Through the crowd came the burly and aggressive form of Robertson +Jones, still wearing his dark glasses, and with a disfiguring strip of +court plaster across his cheek. At the wicket he made inquiry for his +ticket, and was told to stand back and wait. Tickets were held until +eight o'clock. + +In the lobby, flattening himself against the marble wall, he waited, +with his hat well down over his face. Crowds of people, mostly women, +surged past him, laughing, chattering, feeling in their ridiculous +bags for their tickets, or the price of a box of chocolates at the +counter, where two red-gold blondes presided. + +Inside, as the doors swung open, he saw a young fellow in evening +dress, giving out handbills, and an exclamation almost escaped him. He +had forgotten all about Peter Neelands! + +Robertson Jones, caught in the eddies of women, buffeted by them, his +toes stepped upon, elbowed, crowded, grew more and more scornful of +their intelligence, and would probably have worked his way out--if he +could, but the impact of the crowd worked him forward. + +"A silly, cackling hen-party," he muttered to himself. "I'll get out +of this--it's no place for a man--Lord deliver me from a mob like +this, with their crazy tittering. There ought to be a way to stop +these things. It's demoralizing--it's unseemly." + +It was impossible to turn back, however, and he found himself swept +inside. He thought of the side door as a way of escape, but to his +surprise, he saw the whole Cabinet arriving there and filing into the +boxes over which the colors of the Province were draped; every last +one of them, in evening dress. + +That was the first blow of the evening! Every one of them had said +they would not go--quite scornfully--and spoke of it as "The Old +Maid's Convention"--Yet they came! + +He wedged his way back to the box office, only to find that there was +no ticket for him. Every one had been lifted. But he determined to +stay. + +Getting in again, he approached a man in a shabby suit, sitting in the +last row. + +"I'll give you five dollars for your seat," he whispered. + +"Holy smoke!" broke from the astonished seat-holder, and then, +recovering from his surprise, he said, "Make it ten." + +"Shut up then, and get out--here's your money," said Mr. Jones +harshly, and in the hurriedly vacated seat, he sat down heavily. + +Behind the scenes, the leader of the Woman's Party gave Pearl her +parting words: + +"Don't spare him, Pearl," she said, with her hand around the girl's +shoulder, "it is the only way. We have coaxed, argued, reasoned, we +have shown him actual cases where the laws have worked great injustice +to women. He is blind in his own conceit, and cannot be moved. This +is the only way--we can break his power by ridicule--you can do it, +Pearl. You can break down a wall of prejudice tonight that would take +long years to wear away. Think of cases you know, Pearl, and strike +hard. Better to hurt one, and save many! This is a play--but a deadly +serious one! I must go now and make the curtain speech." + +"This is not the sort of Parliament we think should exist," she said, +before the curtain, "this is the sort of Parliament we have at the +present time--one sex making all the laws. We have a Parliament of +women tonight, instead of men, just to show you how it looks from the +other side. People seem to see a joke better sometimes when it is +turned around." + +Robertson Jones shrugged his shoulders in disgust. What did they hope +to gain, these freaks of women, with their little plays and set little +speeches. Who listened or noticed? No one, positively no one. + +Then the lights went out in the house, and the asbestos curtain came +slowly down and slowly crept into the ceiling again, to reassure the +timorous, and the beautiful French garden, with its white statuary, +and fountain, against the green trees, followed its plain asbestos +sister, and the Woman's Parliament was revealed in session. + +The Speaker, in purple velvet, with a sweeping plume in her +three-cornered hat, sat on the throne; pages in uniform answered the +many calls of the members, who, on the Government side were showing +every sign of being bored, for the Opposition had the floor, and the +honorable member from Mountain was again introducing her bill to give +the father equal guardianship rights with the mother. She pleaded +eloquently that two parents were not any too many for children to +have. She readily granted that if there were to be but one patent, it +would of course be the mother, but why skimp the child on parents? +Let him have both. It was nature's way. She cited instances of grave +injustice done to fathers from having no claim on their offspring. + +The Government members gave her little attention. They read their +papers, one of the Cabinet Ministers tatted, some of the younger +members powdered their noses, many ate chocolates. Those who listened, +did so to sneer at the honorable member from Mountain, insinuating she +took this stand so she might stand well with the men. This brought a +hearty laugh, and a great pounding of the desks. + +When the vote was taken, the House divided along party lines. +Yawningly the Government members cried "No!" + +Robertson Jones sniffed contemptuously; evidently this was a sort +of Friday afternoon dialogue, popular at Snookum's Corners, but not +likely to cause much of a flutter in the city. + +There was a bill read to give dower rights to men, and the leader of +the Opposition made a heated defence of the working man who devotes +his life to his wife and family, and yet has no voice in the +disposition of his property. His wife can sell it over his head, or +will it away, as had sometimes been done. + +The Attorney General, in a deeply sarcastic vein, asked the honorable +lady if she thought the wife and mother would not deal fairly--even +generously with her husband. Would she have the iron hand of the law +intrude itself into the sacred precincts of the home, where little +cherub faces gather round the hearth, under the glow of the +glass-fringed hanging lamp. Would she dare to insinuate that love had +to be buttressed by the law? Did not a man at the altar, in the +sight of God and witnesses, endow his wife with all his goods? Well +then--were those sacred words to be blasphemed by an unholy law which +compelled her to give back what he had so lovingly given? When a man +marries, cried the honorable Attorney General, he gives his wife his +name--and his heart--and he gives them unconditionally. Are not these +infinitely more than his property? The greater includes the less--the +tail goes with the hide! The honorable leader of the Opposition was +guilty of a gross offense against good taste, in opening this question +again. Last session, the session before, and now this session, she has +harped on this disagreeable theme. It has become positively indecent. + +The honorable leader of the Opposition begged leave to withdraw her +motion, which was reluctantly granted, and the business of the House +went on. + +A page brought in the word that a delegation of men were waiting to be +heard. + +Even the Opposition laughed. A delegation of men, seemed to be an old +and never-failing joke. + +Some one moved that the delegation be heard, and the House was +resolved into a committee of the whole, with the First Minister in the +chair. + +The first minister rose to take the chair, and was greeted with a +round of applause. Opera glasses came suddenly to many eyes, but the +face they saw was not familiar. It was a young face, under iron gray +hair, large dark eyes, and a genial and pleasant countenance. + +For the first time in the evening, Mr. Robertson Jones experienced a +thrill of pleasure. At least the woman Premier was reasonably good +looking. He looked harder at her. He decided she was certainly +handsome, and evidently the youngest of the company. + +The delegation of men was introduced and received--the House settled +down to be courteous, and listen. Listening to delegations was part of +the day's work, and had to be patiently borne. + +The delegation presented its case through the leader, who urged that +men be given the right to vote and sit in Parliament. The members of +the Government smiled tolerantly. The First Minister shook her head +slowly and absent-mindedly forgot to stop. But the leader of the +delegation went on. + +The man who sat in the third seat from the back found the phrasing +strangely familiar. He seemed to know what was coming. Sure enough, it +was almost word for word the arguments the women had used when they +came before the House. The audience was in a pleasant mood, and +laughed at every point. It really did not seem to take much to amuse +them. + +When the delegation leader had finished, and the applause was over, +there was a moment of intense silence. Every one leaned forward, +edging over in their seats to get the best possible look. + +The Woman Premier had risen. So intent was the audience in their study +of her face, they forgot to applaud. What they saw was a tall, slight +girl whose naturally brilliant coloring needed no make-up; brilliant +dark eyes, set in a face whose coloring was vivid as a rose, a +straight mouth with a whimsical smile. She gave the audience one +friendly smile, and then turned to address the delegation. + +She put her hands in front of her, locking her fingers with the thumbs +straight up, gently moving them up and down, before she spoke. + +The gesture was familiar. It was the Premier's own, and a howl +of recognition came from the audience, beginning in the Cabinet +Minister's box. + +She tenderly teetered on her heels, waiting for them to quiet down, +but that was the occasion for another outburst. + +"Gentlemen of the Delegation," she said, when she could be heard, "I +am glad to see you!" + +The voice, a throaty contralto, had in it a cordial paternalism that +was as familiar as the Premier's face. + +"Glad to see you--come any time, and ask for anything you like. You +are just as welcome this time as you were the last time! We like +delegations--and I congratulate this delegation on their splendid, +gentlemanly manners. If the men in England had come before their +Parliament with the frank courtesy you have shown, they might still +have been enjoying the privilege of meeting their representatives in +this friendly way." + +"But, gentlemen, you are your own answer to the question; you are the +product of an age which has not seen fit to bestow the gift you ask, +and who can say that you are not splendid specimens of mankind? No! +No! any system which can produce the virile, splendid type of men we +have before us today, is good enough for me, and," she added, drawing +up her shoulders in perfect imitation of the Premier when he was about +to be facetious, "if it is good enough for me--it is good enough for +anybody." + +The people gasped with the audacity of it! The impersonation was +so good--it was weird--it was uncanny. Yet there was no word of +disrespect. The Premier's nearest friends could not resent it. + +Word for word, she proceeded with his speech, while the theatre rocked +with laughter. She was in the Premier's most playful, God-bless-you +mood, and simply radiated favors and goodwill. The delegation was +flattered, complimented, patted on the head, as she dilated on their +manly beauty and charm. + +In the third seat from the back, Mr. Robertson Jones had removed his +dark glasses, and was breathing like a man with double pneumonia. A +dull, red rage burned in his heart, not so much at anything the girl +was saying, as the perfectly idiotic way the people laughed. + +"I shouldn't laugh," a woman ahead of him said, as she wiped her +eyes, "for my husband has a Government job and he may lose it if the +Government members see me but if I don't laugh, I'll choke. Better +lose a job than choke." + +"But my dear young friends," the Premier was saying, "I am convinced +you do not know what you are asking me to do;" her tone was didactic +now; she was a patient Sunday School teacher, laboring with a class of +erring boys, charitable to their many failings and frailties, hopeful +of their ultimate destiny, "you do not know what you ask. You have not +thought of it, of course, with the natural thoughtlessness of your +sex. You ask for something which may disrupt the whole course of +civilization. Man's place is to provide for his family, a hard enough +task in these strenuous days. We hear of women leaving home, and we +hear it with deepest sorrow. Do you know why women leave home? There +is a reason. Home is not made sufficiently attractive. Would letting +politics enter the home help matters. Ah no! Politics would unsettle +our men. Unsettled men mean unsettled bills--unsettled bills mean +broken homes--broken vows--and then divorce." + +Her voice was heavy with sorrow, and full of apology for having +mentioned anything so unpleasant. + +Many of the audience had heard the Premier's speech, and almost all +had read it, so not a point was lost. + +An exalted mood was on her now--a mood that they all knew well. It +had carried elections. It was the Premier's highest card. His friends +called it his magnetic appeal. + +"Man has a higher destiny than politics," she cried, with the ring in +her voice that they had heard so often, "what is home without a bank +account? The man who pays the grocer rules the world. Shall I call men +away from the useful plow and harrow, to talk loud on street corners +about things which do not concern them. Ah, no, I love the farm and +the hallowed associations--the dear old farm, with the drowsy tinkle +of cow-bells at even tide. There I see my father's kindly smile so +full of blessing, hardworking, rough-handed man he was, maybe, but +able to look the whole world in the face.... You ask me to change all +this." + +Her voice shook with emotion, and drawing a huge white linen +handkerchiefs from the folds of her gown, she cracked it by the corner +like a whip, and blew her nose like a trumpet. + +The last and most dignified member of the Cabinet, caved in at this, +and the house shook with screams of laughter. They were in the mood +now to laugh at anything she said. + +"I wonder will she give us one of his rages," whispered the Provincial +Secretary to the Treasurer. + +"I'm glad he's not here," said the Minister of Municipalities, "I'm +afraid he would burst a blood vessel; I'm not sure but I will myself." + +"I am the chosen representative of the people, elected to the highest +office this fair land has to offer. I must guard well its interests. +No upsetting influence must mar our peaceful firesides. Do you never +read, gentlemen?" she asked the delegation, with biting sarcasm, "do +you not know of the disgraceful happenings in countries cursed by +manhood suffrage? Do you not know the fearful odium into which the +polls have fallen--is it possible you do not know the origin of that +offensive word 'Poll-cat'; do you not know that men are creatures of +habit--give them an inch--and they will steal the whole sub-division, +and although it is quite true, as you say, the polls are only open +once in four years--when men once get the habit--who knows where it +will end--it is hard enough to keep them at home now! No, history is +full of unhappy examples of men in public life; Nero, Herod, King +John--you ask me to set these names before your young people. Politics +has a blighting, demoralizing influence on men. It dominates them, +hypnotizes them, pursues them even after their earthly career is over. +Time and again it has been proven that men came back and voted--even +after they were dead." + +The audience gasped at that--for in the Premier's own riding, there +were names on the voters' lists, taken, it was alleged, from the +tombstones. + +"Do you ask me to disturb the sacred calm of our cemetries?" she +asked, in an awe-striken tone--her big eyes filled with the horror of +it. "We are doing wery well just as we are, very well indeed. Women +are the best students of economy. Every woman is a student of +political economy. We look very closely at every dollar of public +money, to see if we couldn't make a better use of it ourselves, before +we spend it. We run our elections as cheaply as they are run anywhere. +We always endeavor to get the greatest number of votes for the least +possible amount of money. That is political economy." + +There was an interruption then from the Opposition benches, a feeble +protest from one of the private members. + +The Premier's face darkened; her eyebrows came down suddenly; the +veins in her neck swelled, and a perfect fury of words broke from her +lips. She advanced threateningly on the unhappy member. + +"You think you can instruct a person older than yourself, do +you--you-with the brains of a butterfly, the acumen of a bat; the +backbone of a jelly-fish. You can tell me something, can you? I +was managing governments when you were sitting in your high chair, +drumming on a tin plate with a spoon." Her voice boomed like a gun. +"You dare to tell me how a government should be conducted." + +The man in the third seat from the back held to the arm of the seat, +with hands that were clammy with sweat. He wanted to get up and +scream. The words, the voice, the gestures were as familiar as his own +face in the glass. + +Walking up and down, with her hands at right angles to her body, she +stormed and blustered, turning eyes of rage on the audience, who +rolled in their seats with delight. + +"Who is she, Oh Lord. Who is she?" the Cabinet ministers asked each +other for the hundredth time. + +"But I must not lose my temper," she said, calming herself and letting +her voice drop, "and I never do--never--except when I feel like +it--and am pretty sure I can get away with it. I have studied +self-control, as you all know--I have had to, in order that I may be a +leader. If it were not for this fatal modesty, which on more than +one occasion has almost blighted my political career, I would say +I believe I have been a leader, a factor in building up this fair +province; I would say that I believe I have written my name large +across the face of this Province." + +The government supporters applauded loudly. + +"But gentlemen," turning again to the delegation, "I am still of the +opinion even after listening to your cleverly worded speeches, that +I will go on just as I have been doing, without the help you so +generously offer. My wish for this fair, flower-decked land is that I +may long be spared to guide its destiny in world affairs. I know there +is no one but me--I tremble when I think of what might happen these +leaderless lambs--but I will go forward confidently, hoping that the +good ship may come safely into port, with the same old skipper on the +bridge. We are not worrying about the coming election, as you may +think. We rest in confidence of the result, and will proudly unfurl, +as we have these many years, the same old banner of the grand old +party that had gone down many times to disgrace, but thank God, never +to defeat." + +The curtain fell, as the last word was spoken, but rose again to show +the "House" standing, in their evening gowns. A bouquet of American +beauty roses was handed up over the foot-lights to the Premier, who +buried her face in them, with a sudden flood of loneliness. But the +crowd was applauding, and gain and again she was called forward. + +The people came flocking in through the wings, pleading to be +introduced to the "Premier," but she was gone. + +In the crowd that ebbed slowly from the exits, no one noticed the +stout gentleman with the dark glasses, who put his hat on before he +reached the street, and seemed to be in great haste. + +The comments of the people around him, jabbed him like poisoned +arrows, and seared his heart like flame. + +"I wonder was the Premier there," one man asked, wiping the traces +of merriment from his glasses, "I've laughed till I'm sore--but I'm +afraid he wouldn't see the same fun in it as I do": + +"Well, if he's sport enough to laugh at this, I'll say he's some man," +said another. + +"That girl sure has her nerve--there isn't a man in this city would +dare do it." + +"She'll get his goat--if he ever hears her--I'd advise the old man to +stay away." + +"That's holding a mirror up to public life all right." + +"But who is she?" + +"The government will be well advised to pension that girl and get her +out of the country--a few more sessions of the Women's Parliament, and +the government can quit." + +He hurried out into the brilliantly lighted street, stung by the +laughter and idle words. His heart was bursting with rage, blind, +bitter choking. He had been laughed at, ridiculed, insulted--and the +men, whom he had made--had sat by applauding. + +John Graham had, all his life, dominated his family circle, his +friends, his party, and for the last five years had ruled the +Province. Success, applause, wealth, had come easily to him, and he +had taken them as naturally as he accepted the breath of his nostrils. +They were his. But on this bright night in May, as he went angrily +down the back street, unconsciously striking the pavement with his +cane, with angry blows, the echo of the people's laughter in his ears +was bitter as the pains of death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +COMPENSATION + + +The next day the Premier kept to his room, and refused to look at the +papers. The cabinet ministers telephoned in vain; he was out, the +maid said. He hated them, every one--for their insane laughter their +idiotic applause--this disloyal attendance at such a place! He could +not speak to them or see them. + +When his wife spoke to him, he snapped back at her like an angry +rattlesnake, and asked her why she had never tried to develop a mind +of her own. Her patience, submissiveness, the abject way she deferred +to him and tried to please him--the very qualities he had demanded of +her, now infuriated him beyond words. He began to despise her for her +spiritless submission. + +Fortunately for her, the days that followed took him away from home, +and the household breathed easier each time he departed. + +"This settles it," said Rosie, the housemaid, when he went out angrily +slamming the front door. "I will never marry a member of Parliament, +no, not though he goes on his bended knee to ask me. I may not have +wealth or fame--but I'll have peace." + +"Don't be too sure," said the cook, who was Scotch, and a +Presbyterian. "You can't be sure of any of them--they are all queer. +You never know what a man will do till he's dead." + +The Woman's Parliament held sessions for three nights in the city +before it began its tour of the country with every night an audience +that packed the theatre to the roof. Each night the woman "Premier" +took her curtain calls and received the bouquets which came showering +in, but not a word could the public find out about her. The papers +said her identity would remain a mystery until all the engagements +were filled. + +On the last night, when Pearl went to her room--she was staying with +the President of the Woman's Club--a box of flowers was on her table. +When she opened it, she found an armful of American Beauty roses, and +a letter. Pearl's face went suddenly aflame like the roses, and a +jagged flash of lightning tore her heart. He had not forgotten her! + +Hastily locking her door, for no one must interrupt her, Pearl read +her letter. She had faced three thousand people two hours before, but +her hand trembled now as she read: + +"I have been in your audience, Pearl, drinking in every word you say, +rejoicing over you, loving you--but glad every minute that I played +the game fair. You have won the election--of that I am sure--for you +have set the whole Province laughing at the old-style politician. It +is easy going for the rest of us now. Our old friend George Steadman +has had the ground torn from under his feet. They all think you left +Purple Springs to take some gentle and safe job in the Department of +Education, and are breathing curses on this mysterious stranger who +has upset the foundations of the Government. Driggs suspected as soon +as he heard about the play, and he and I came into the city to see for +ourselves--we held hands to keep from disgracing ourselves last night +when you got up to speak. + +"The leader of the Opposition, who seems to be a solid sort of chap, +would like to meet you when it is all over--he is well pleased with +the women's activities, and especially your part, and wants to meet +you personally. + +"I do not need to tell you, dear, what I think. I believe you know. +I am in a mellow and pleasant state of being able to say 'I told you +so.' + +"I am not sending you roses because I think you are short of bouquets, +but just because there are certain things a red rose can say, that I +can not. H.C." + +"And why can't you say it?" Pearl whispered, "and why don't you say +it, and me hungry for it. Who is stopping you from saying it--I'm sure +it's not me." + +She threw aside her pride, and going to the phone, called the hotel +where she knew he stayed. + +"Is Dr. Clay of Millford there?" she asked, trembling with eagerness. + +"Just a minute," said the clerk. + +Pearl's heart was pounding in her throat, her ears sang, her mouth was +dry with excitement. She wanted to hear his voice--she wanted to see +him. + +It seemed a long, long time--then the clerk's voice, mechanical and +dull as the click of an adding machine: + +"No, Dr. Clay checked out tonight." + +Pearl hung up the receiver listlessly. The ripple of laughter and +waves of voices came from the drawing-room below. A company of people +had come over from the theatre, some one was calling to her outside +her door, asking her if she would come down. + +Suddenly it had all become distasteful to her, +hollow--useless--vain--what was there in it?--a heavy sense of +disappointment was on her. After all, was life going to disappoint +her, cheat her--giving her so much, and yet withholding the greatest +joy of all? + +She caught the roses in her arms, and kissed them fiercely. "I love +you--red roses," she said, "but you are not enough. You do not say +much either, but I wish you would tell me why he is so stingy with +me!" + + * * * * * + +In a week, the election was over, and the Government defeated. The +newspapers, in red headlines, gave the women the credit, and declared +it to be the most sensational campaign the country had ever seen. "The +barbed arrows of ridicule had pierced the strong man's armor," one +editorial said, "and accomplished something that the heaviest blows of +the Opposition had been powerless to achieve." Dr. Clay had defeated +George Steadman by a large majority, and the Millford "Mercury" was +free to express itself editorially, and did so with great vigor. + +The Premier had fought valiantly to the last, but his power was +gone--the spell broken--he could no longer rouse an audience with his +old-time eloquence. His impassioned passages had lost their punch, for +the bitterness, the rage which filled his heart, showed in his words +and weakened them; and the audiences who before had been kindled with +his phrases, showed a disposition now to laugh in the wrong place. + +The week of the campaign had been to him a week of agony, for he knew +he was failing as a leader, and only his stern pride kept him going. +He would let no one say he was a "welsher." The machine worked night +and day, and money was freely spent, and until the last, he hoped, +his party would be returned, and then he could resign and retire +honorably. He did not believe the machine could be defeated. They had +too many ways of controlling the vote. + +When the news of the Government's defeat began to come in from the +country places--the city seats having all gone to the Opposition--the +old man went quietly home, with a set face of ashy pallor. He walked +slowly, with sagging shoulders, and the cane which he used, did not +beat the pavement in rage, but gropingly felt its way, uncertainly, as +if the hand which guided it was hesitant and weak. + +In his house on Water Street, a big, square brick house, with +plain verandahs, the ex-Premier sat alone that night. A few of his +followers--the close-in favorites--had called to see him, but had been +denied. His wife, flutteringly made excuses. He sat in his big black +leather chair, looking into the fireplace, where no fire was kindled, +and when one of the maids had come in to build the fire, he had gently +told her he liked it better as it was, dull, bleak and dead, it suited +the occasion--and she had gone out hurriedly, and in the kitchen burst +into tears. + +"It ain't natural for him to be mild like that," she sobbed to the +cook. "I'd rather have him damn me up and down. The old man's heart is +broken, that's what it is. He's sittin' there so calm and quiet--it +would make any one cry that has known him in his good days. I don't +believe we'll ever hear him rip and tear again--the blessed old dear." + +"Well indeed, I'll be glad if we don't," said the cook grimly. "He's +raised enough hell in his time for one man, if he never does another +turn at it. I've put up with him for over fifteen years. I saw him +drive out Master Jim, and Jim's poor wife, with the dearest little pet +of a grandson any man ever had. He was sorry enough after, but that +didn't bring them back. I hope he will sit still for a while and think +it all over, and give the poor missis a rest. She's been bawled at, +and sworn at enough too, and her that gentle and pleasant." + +"She's cryin' in her room now," said the housemaid, dabbin' her +eyes with her handkerchief and wishin' he'd come up and rage over +anything." + +"O, is she?" said the cook. "I'll bet she's not. The house is so quiet +it makes her nervous--that's all! But she'll get used to it. O no, +Rosie dear, he's got his, and it's about time. I ain't worryin' over +him, for all I like the old man--but I believe the day of judgment +begins here. He's reaping what he sowed--and all I wonder at is that +the harvest has been so late." + +"That's all right for you--you're a Presbyterian," said Rosie +tearfully, "but I belong to the Army. You know God's side of it +bettern' I do, but we're all for the sinner, and I can't bear to see +him so quiet and mild. It's just like havin' a corpse in the house +to see him there in front of the dead fire; I wouldn't wonder if the +morning light will find him cold and stiff in death." Rosie's tears +gushed forth anew at this sad picture. + +"No chance," said the cook, "I haven't cooked breakfast for him for +fifteen years without knowin' him better than that. He'll come back." + +But the Presbyterian cook, so sure of her theology and her knowledge +of human nature, had no breakfast to cook for him the next day, for +the ex-Premier kept his bed, and declined to see any one except +his wife, whom he did not let out of his sight. His gentleness was +terrible--he was even pleasant. When Rosie brought the mail to the +door, he actually thanked her, which brought on another paroxysm of +tears, and made even the cook shake her head doubtfully. + +He spoke little, and made no complaint. He was only tired, he +said--just a little weary. No, he would not see a doctor--it was not a +doctor he needed. + +Beside him sat his wife, the quiet, self-effacing little woman who had +had no thought or ambition apart from him. Under half closed eyes, he +watched her, wonderingly. What were the thoughts of her heart--this +gentle-faced woman who had so tenderly cared for him, and put up with +him all these years. Many a time he had made her cry--he had driven +away her son--and her grandson--and yet she had offered no word of +remonstrance. How old and sad she looked when her face was in repose. +It was a face of deep lines and great sadness--a wistful, troubled, +hungry face, but dominated by a self-control of iron power. She sat +beside the bed, without moving; waiting, watchful. + +"You've been good to me, Jessie," he said at last, as he stroked her +hand. + +She started nervously. + +"Better than I have been to you--but I am going to be better--it is +not too late yet." + +With eyes of alarm, growing wider every moment--she watched him as he +spoke. + +"I guess I needed a set-back," he said, "and I got it--and I've +learned a lot in a short time. One thing was that you are more to me +than I thought. My friends--in politics--were everything to me--but +they valued me only for what I could do for them. I could harangue the +crowd--gather in the votes--keep things going. I remembered every one, +slapped every one on the back, called them by their first name--and it +went. But they laughed at me behind my back. Their only interest in me +was that I could carry elections. With you, it has been different. I +don't know why you stuck to me. Why did you, Jessie?" + +Without replying, she hastily left the room--and phoned for the +doctor. + +The papers that night reported the ex-Premier's condition as "causing +grave apprehension to his friends." + +When Pearl read it in the evening papers, she made a quick resolve. A +letter must be sent to Purple Springs. + +When Annie Gray and Jim went to the post-office for the mail, two days +after the election, they were not disappointed, for Pearl had written. + +"It is all over," wrote Pearl, "and the Government has gone down to +defeat. The new Government will make good its promises too. But I am +sure from what I have heard and seen of your father-in-law, you have +nothing to fear from him. He would not take little Jim away from you +even if he could. You can tell the people of Purple Springs all about +yourself now, and wouldn't I like to see Mrs. Cowan's face when she +hears who your father-in-law is?" + +"Tonight's paper says he is not well, and I am wondering if you hadn't +better come in to the city, you and Jim. You will know best about +this. I feel sorry for Mr. Graham. He is a domineering old man, full +of prejudice and narrow ways. There could be no progress so long as he +was at the head of affairs--so he had to be removed. He held the +door shut just as long as he could, and when the crash came, quite +naturally he was trampled on, and that is never a pleasant experience. +But the whole thing has a pathetic side. I wish it could have been +settled without this. + +"The night of the election, women paraded the streets, singing and +cheering, mad with joy, it made my eyes blur to see them. I am sorry +it had to come to a show-down, for it seems to set men and women +against each other--at least, I know some men feel that way. Of course +we had lots of men helping us--we could not have got far without them. +Peter Neelands has been one of the best. He was elected in one of the +city seats, and we are all so glad. + +"Here are some stamps and two balloons for Jim. I do hope you will +come--. Lovingly, Pearl." + + * * * * * + +The winds of June, which whipped the dust of Water Street into +miniature whirlwinds under the noses of the horses, were heavy with +the unmistakable perfume of wild roses. The delivery man, sniffing +the air, decided he would go that night to the Beach, just to see the +fields of roses; the streetcar-conductor went suddenly homesick for a +sight of the poplar trees, with the roses on the headlands, and the +plushy touch of green grass under his feet, and the wizened little +Scotch milliner across the road took what she called a "scunner" at +the silk and muslin flowers, with their odious starchy, stuffy smell, +and wondered where the farmer was, who two years ago had asked her +to marry him. The wind--heavy with the perfume that stirred so many +hearts with longing, eddied carelessly into the garden of the big +brick house with the plain verandas, doubling round to the garden +at the back, where, in an old-fashioned rocking chair with chintz +cushions, sat the ex-Premier. + +The wind, still charged with wild roses, stirred the lilac trees and +mountain ash, and circled noiselessly around the chair where he sat, +and played queer tricks with his memory, for all of us are young in +June, when the pageant of summer is passing by. + +"I like to see you knitting, Jessie," he said gently "it is a peaceful +art, untouched by worldly cares. I wish I could hear hens cackling, +and the drowsy sounds of a farmyard, all set in nature's honest key. +I'm tired of people and machinery and telephones and committees, and +all these other inventions of the devil." + +Rosie, scrubbing the veranda, hearing the last part of the sentence, +piously thanked God for the master's returning health of body and +mind, and flattened her head against the veranda post, to catch more. + +"The things I have given my life to," he said sadly, "have fallen away +from me--I built on a foundation of sand, and when the rains descended +and the floods came, my house fell and left me by the ruins, groping +in the ashes." + +"It isn't so bad as that, James," his wife said timidly. "You are a +respected man still, you know you are--you have plenty of friends, if +you would only let them come. It's no disgrace for a public man to be +defeated." + +"It's not that, Jessie," he said. "It doesn't matter to me now what +the world thinks, it can't think any worse of me than I think of it. +No, the bitterest part of all this to me is that I have none of my +own. I want some one of my own. I was too harsh--too hasty." + +"If Jim had lived," she began, wistfully-- + +The front veranda bell pealed loudly, and Rosie hastily wiped her +hands on her petticoat, and went to answer it, sorry to miss any part +of the conversation. + +"I won't see any one," said the ex-Premier, again. "She knows--I +won't. Go and tell her I won't." + +When Rosie opened the door, a card was put in her hand, and the +visitor, a young lady, asked her if she would be good enough to give +it to the ex-Premier. + +"He won't see you," said Rosie quickly. "He won't see any one. I am +turning them away by the dozens." + +The visitor took the card from Rosie's hand, and hastily wrote a few +words on it. Rosie told the cook about it afterwards. + +"She had eyes like a fairy princess, lips like cherries, and the +nicest clothes, but you could tell she wasn't thinkin' about them. I +just wanted her to stay and talk to me. 'Will you give this to him,' +she said to me, 'I'll wait here, and if he doesn't want to see me--it +is all right--I will go away--but I think he will want to see me,' +says she, with a smile at me that made me want him to see her too, and +she sat down on one of the veranda chairs. + +"When I gave him the card, he read it out loud--ain't he the nicest +ever? Lots of people wouldn't have read it out. 'Miss Pearl Watson,' +says he, and what's this, 'teacher at Purple Springs,' and he nearly +jumped out of his chair. + +"'My God!' he says, and he reached for his cane, like as if he was +going somewhere. 'Bring her here,' he said, and his voice was more +natural than it has been since--it made me all prickle," said Rosie. + +When Pearl was taken around to the back garden, Rosie retired to a +point of vantage on the sleeping-porch above, and got most of the +conversation, by abandoning all scrubbing operations, and sitting very +still. + +The ex-Premier's wife arose as if to leave, but he motioned her to +stay. + +"This concerns you too, Jessie," he said. + +For a moment a silence fell on them, as the wind gently stirred the +lilacs in front of them and a humming bird on silken wings went +flashing past, like a flower that had come alive. + +"You are a teacher, your card says, at Purple Springs. Is that in the +far North?" The ex-Premier endeavored to speak calmly. + +"No," said Pearl, "it is only a hundred miles from here." + +His face clouded with disappointment. + +"But it was named for the valley in the far North, by a woman who came +from there." + +"Where is the woman now," he asked, with a fine attempt to make his +question casual. + +"I came to tell you about her," said Pearl, with evasion. "That is, of +course, if you would like to hear. It is an interesting story." + +He motioned to her to begin, trembling with excitement. + +Pearl told the story that had been told to her the night she and Annie +Gray had sat by the dying fire, told it, with many a touch of pathos +and realism, which made it live before him. His eyes never left her +face, though he could not discover how much she knew, and yet the very +fact of her coming to him seemed to prove that she knew everything. + +The old man's face twitched painfully when she spoke of the young +widow's quarrel with her husband's father. + +"He was not accustomed to having his wishes thwarted," said Pearl +simply. "He was a man whose word was law in his own household and +among his friends. But she had the freedom of the wilderness in her +blood, and they quarrelled violently. He was determined to send the +boy to England for his education." + +"He only said that--he wouldn't have done it--he loved the boy too +well," he burst in, impatiently. + +"Well, of course, the young mother did not know that--not being a +mind-reader, she had no way of telling--and besides, he threatened to +take the child from her altogether. He was his son's heir, and he was +therefore the guardian of the child. The law was with him, I believe, +in that. That is one of the laws that have roused the women to take a +hand in public matters. + +"So, to save her boy, to keep him for her very own--she allowed her +father-in-law to think she had not been legally married. She gave up +her good name, to keep her boy. She went away--with only her two hands +to make a living for them both." + +"Where is she?" cried the old man, with something of his old +imperiousness. + +Pearl did not at once reply. He should hear all of the story. She did +not minimize the hard struggle that Annie Gray had had in her attempts +at self support, even when she saw the old man wince. He got it all. + +"When she came to the farm on the Souris, she could not tell her +story--the fear was on her night and day that she might be discovered, +and the child taken from her." + +"No judge in the country would do that," he cried stormily. "She had +nothing to fear even if--if--" + +"Unfortunately," said Pearl quietly, "she did not know that. She +believed her father-in-law. She thought it was true, because he had +said so, and she knew that the illegitimate child belongs to the +mother, and to her alone, so she chose to let it stand at that. + +"The people at Purple Springs adopted the name she had put upon her +gate--but ostracized her. The fact that she did not tell them anything +of her part, was proof to them she was not a good woman, and a man +from Ontario, who knew something about the case, fed the curiosity of +her neighbors with gossip which confirmed their suspicions." + +"For three years she has lived alone, not a neighbor has come to her +door--and she has kept herself and little Jim; has worked the +farm, educated her boy, for the trustees would not let him come to +school--kept sweet and sane in spite of it all. + +"When I went to see her, she cried with joy to see a human being of +kindly intention in her house. But the neighbors cut me dead, and kept +the children home from school because I went to live with her." + +A groan broke from him. "Poor girl!" he said brokenly, "Poor girl, she +didn't deserve that." + +Pearl's heart was softening, so she hurried on. + +"The little fellow got into a fight at school, because a boy said +things about his mother. He is the sweetest tempered child I ever +knew, but he knew when to fight, and thrashed a boy a head taller than +himself; and the trustees turned him out." + +"What kind of people are they?" he stormed. "It was a brave thing for +the boy to defend his mother--a brave thing I tell you. The other boy +should have been expelled--you are the teacher--why did you let them?" + +Pearl let him rage, then very quietly she said, "It happened three +years before I knew them--but you should not blame the boy, Mr. +Graham, or even the trustees. They were under no obligation to protect +the woman or her boy. The boy's own grandfather had said much worse +things about her than the boy at the school. He not only insulted +her, but his own son as well--when the rage was on him. So why should +strangers spare her?" + +"Go on," he said hoarsely, "let me hear it all." + +She was standing in front of him now, and her eyes were driving the +truth deep into his soul. Something about her eyes, or her voice with +its rich mellowness, caused him to start and exclaim. + +"Who are you, girl--tell me, who you are--I have heard your voice +somewhere! My God! was it you? was it you?" + +"Yes," said Pearl, "it was me; and when the women of the city here, +who had come to you and tried to break down your stubborn prejudices, +tried to reason with you, but found it all in vain; when they told me +that first night to think of some sad case that I had known of women +who had suffered from the injustice of the law and men's prejudice, +and strike without mercy, I thought of your daughter-in-law and all +that she had suffered. I saw again the hungry look in her sweet face, +when I went to see her. I saw the gray hairs and the lines of sorrow; +I saw again the heroic efforts she makes to give her boy everything +that the world is bent on denying him--I thought of these things--and +the rest was easy. There was no other way, sir; you would not listen; +you would not move an inch--you had to be broken!" + +Speechless, almost breathless, he looked at her--all the fight had +gone out of him. + +"I am going now, sir," she said. "I have delivered her message. She +only wanted to clear your son's memory. She will tell the people now +who she is, and prove her marriage, for little Jim's sake. + +"Don't go, girl," he cried, "sit down--tell me more. Tell me what the +boy is like--how big is he?" "The boy is like you," said Pearl, "a +tall lad for ten; clever far beyond his years." + +"Does he know about me--does he hate me--has she told him?" His voice +was pitiful in its eagerness. + +"Not a word--the boy has a heart of love, and as sunny a disposition +as any child could have. She has made his life a dream of happiness, +in spite of all." + +The old man's face began to quiver, and a sob tore its way upward from +his heart. His face was hidden in his hands. + +"Would she ever forgive me?" he said, at last, lifting his head. +"Would she believe me if I said I was sorry--would she have pity on a +broken old man, who sees the evil he has done--would the boy let +me love him--and try to make it up to him and his mother? You know +her--why don't you answer me girl? Is there no hope that she might +forgive me?" + +Pearl stepped back without a word, as Annie Gray came quickly across +the lawn. She had been standing in the shade of a maple tree, waiting +for Pearl's signal. + +A cry broke from Mrs. Graham, Jim's mother, a welcoming cry of joy. + +The old man rose to his feet, uncertainly holding out both his hands. + +"My girl," he cried "I don't deserve it--but can you forgive me?" + +And Annie Gray, who had suffered so bravely, so tearlessly, found her +heart swept clean of resentment or bitter memory as she looked at him, +for it was Jim's father, old, sad and broken, who called to her, and +to Jim's father's arms she went with a glad cry. + +"Dad!" she said, "Oh Dad! Little Jim and I are very tired of being +orphans!" + +And on the back veranda behind them, where she had been crouching with +her ear to the paling, Rosie came out of hiding and burst out like a +whole hallelujah chorus, and with the empty scrub pail in one hand, +and the brush in the other, beat the cymbals as she sang: + + "O that will be glory for me, + Glory for you and glory for me, + When by His grace I shall look on His face, + That will be glory for me!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HOME AGAIN + + +Quit your whistlin' Jimmy, and hold your whist--all of you--don't you +know your poor sister is dead for sleep. Hasn't she been up hill and +down dale this last six weeks. I never saw the like of it, and it's a +God's mercy she ever lived through it--and then last night when she +drove over from her school nothing would do your pa but she must talk +half the night, when she should have been in bed. So now clear out you +lads, and let's keep the house quiet, for Pearl is a light sleeper and +always was." + +"And a light stepper too, ma, for here I am--up and dressed, and +hungry as a bear." It was Pearl herself who opened the stairs' door. + +A shout of joy arose from the assembly in the kitchen, dearer to Pearl +than any burst of hand-clapping she had ever heard in a theatre, and +there was a rush for the first kiss, which Danny landed neatly, though +we must admit it was done by racing over his brother Patsey, who sat +on the floor tying his boot, and Patsey's ruffled feelings did not +subside until Pearl opened her valise, which stood inside the "room" +door, and brought out jack-knives for the youngest four boys. Patsey +declared, still smarting over the indignity of being run over, and +stood upon, that Danny should not get a knife at all, but Mrs. Watson +interposed for her latest born by saying: + +"O Patsey, dear, don't be hard on him. He was just that overjoyed at +seein' Pearl, he never noticed what he was standin' on; anything would +ha' done him just as well as you." + +"I'll overjoy him, you bet," grumbled Patsey--tenderly feeling the +back of his neck, "when I get him outside. I'll show him what it feels +like to have some one stand on your neck, with heavy boots." + +Danny made no defence, but gazed rapturously on his sister, and +expectantly at the valise, whose bulging sides gave forth promise of +greater treasures yet to come. + +"I have some things here for broken hearts and rainy days," said +Pearl, "that Ma and Mary will be placed in charge of. I believe a +skinned neck should qualify, so if Patsey Watson will dry his tears +and iron out his face and step back against the wall, close his +eyes--and smile--he will get a pleasant surprise." + +Patsey complied with all the conditions. Indeed, he not only smiled, +he grinned, showing a gaping expanse in the front of his mouth from +which the middle tooth had gone, like a missing gate in a neat white +fence. + +When Pearl placed a box in his hands, which contained the makings and +full directions for setting up a red and black box-kite, a picture of +which in full flight adorned the cover, a war-whoop of joy rent the +air. + +"Ain't you the luckiest kid!" cried Tommy enviously, as he crowded to +get another look. "If there's anything goin', you get it." + +"Now clear out, all you boys, and let Pearl get her breakfast," said +Mary. "I haven't had a chance to speak to her yet, and I want to know +how the girls are wearing their hair and how long a girl of sixteen +should wear her skirts, and lots of things." + +The boys departed to make whistles with the new knives, Pearl offering +a prize for the shrillest and fartherest reaching; to be tried at +twelve o'clock noon, and silence settled once more on the kitchen. + +"It's sort of too bad you came home on Saturday, Pearl," said her +mother anxiously, as she toasted a slice of bread over the +glowing wood coals. "The boys will pester you to death today and +tomorrow--though of course I know you have no other time." + +"I like to be pestered, ma," said Pearl, as she began on a generous +helping of bacon and eggs. "Home is the best place, ma, and I never +knew just how good it was to have home and folks of my own, as the day +I went to school and found no children there. Isn't it queer, ma, +how hard people can be on each other. It makes me afraid God must be +disappointed lots of times, and feel like pulling down another flood +and getting away to a fresh start again. + +"But I am not going to talk about anything--until I get back to +feeling the way I did when I went away. I want to see the hens and +the cows and the new pigs. I want to get out in the honest, freckly +sunshine. Do the potatoes need hoeing, ma? All right, pa and I will +go at them. I like people, and all that, but I have to mix in lots of +blue sky and plants, and a few good, honest horses, cows, dogs and +cats--who have no underlying motives and are never suspicious or +jealous, and have no regrets over anything they've done." + +"But don't you like the city, Pearl?" Mary asked. "Don't you wish we +all lived there? I do, you bet." + +"I am glad my people live right here, Mary, out in the open, where +there's room to breathe and time to think. O, I like the city, with +its street cars weaving the streets together like shuttles; I love +their flashing blue and red and green lights, as they slide past the +streets, clanging their bells, and with faces looking out of the +windows, and every one of the people knowing where they are going. I +like the crowds that surge along the streets at night, and the good +times they are having. I like it--for a visit. It's a great place to +go to--if you have your own folks with you--I think I'd like it--on a +wedding trip--or the like of that. + +"But I want to see everything 'round home," said Pearl quickly. "Is +the garden all up, and what did you sow, and where are the hens set, +and did the cabbage plants catch?" + +"You bet they did," said Mary proudly. "I transplanted them, and I put +them in close. Pa said I would need to take out every second one, but +I said we'd try them this way for once. You know the way cabbages +sprawl and straggle all over the place--all gone to leaves. Well, mine +won't, you bet, they'll heart up, because there's nothing else for +them to do. Pa admits now its the best way. They've got no room to +grow spraddly and they're just a fine sight already. Cabbages are just +like any one else; it doesn't do to give them too much of their own +way, and let them think they own the earth." + +When breakfast was over, Pearl, Mary and Mrs. Watson went out into +the hazy blue sunshine. The ravine below the house was musical with +thrushes and meadow-larks. The blossoms had gone, and already the wild +cherries and plums were forming their fruit. Cattle fed peacefully on +the river banks, and some were cropping the volunteer growth of oats +that had come on the summer fallow. The grain was just high enough to +run ripples of light, as the gentlest of breezes lazily passed. + +Pearl remembered the hopes and visions that had come to her the first +day she and her father had come to the farm, and through all its +dilapidation and neglect, she had seen that it could be made into a +home of comfort and prosperity, and now the dream had come true. The +Watson family were thriving; their farm had not failed them; comforts, +and even a few luxuries were theirs, and Pearl's heart grew very soft +and tender with a sense of gratitude. + +It was not too good to be true, she thought, as she looked at the +comfortable home, the new barn and the populous farmyard spread out +under the quivering sunshine. + +"It was not too good to be true," thought Pearl. "I can't complain, +even if some of my dreams have failed me--and maybe--who knows?" + +"It's got to come right," she thought it so hard, she looked up to see +if Mary or her mother noticed. But they were busy with a hidden-away +nest, just found in the willow windbreak. + +The news of the neighborhood was given to her by Mary. + +"The Paines are putting up a new house, Pearl, and Mrs. Paine has some +real nice clothes, and they seem to be getting on far better." + +"That's good," said Pearl, and then added, with such deep conviction, +as if she were trying to convince some one, she said: + +"There's nothing too good to be true." + +At noon, when all the family had been fed, and the horses were resting +in the well-bedded stalls--John Watson gave himself and his horses a +two hours' rest in the heat of the day--when every one was present, +Pearl told them something of her adventures on the six weeks of her +absence. Especially did she tell the young brothers of the lonesome +little boy who had no playmates, but who loved his mother so much he +would not let her know that he was lonely. + +Patsey had a solution of the difficulty: + +"Take me back, when you go, Pearl, and I'll play with him, and let him +fly my kite n' everything." + +"O, he isn't lonely now," Pearl said, "thank you all the same--but I'm +going to bring him over in the holidays, for he needs to play with +boys of his own age." + +"Danny better not run over him, and stand on his neck, though--he +ain't used to it--the way we are," Patsy said, but was promptly +advised to forget it, and let Pearl go on with the story, by Danny +himself, to whom the subject was growing painful. + +"His grandfather and grandmother came out when we did," Pearl said, +"and they're staying at Purple Springs, and Jim and his grandfather +are together all the time. Mrs. Gray--her real name is Mrs. Graham +now--doesn't want her boy brought up in the city, and his grandfather +is tired of the city too, so they're all living in the brown house, +and every day's a picnic day." + +"But oh! say we did have one of the grandest picnics a week after we +got home from the city. On Mrs. Graham's farm there's a little stream +which runs down to the river, and we got it cleaned out, and a big, +long table made, and seats and all. Jim and his grandfather did the +work--he was brought up on a farm, and can do anything. And the two +women cooked for days, and I went round and asked every one to come to +the picnic--and I told them who Mrs. Gray was, and all about it." + +"Told each one in a secret, I suppose, and told them not to tell," +said her father, smiling. + +"I hope you rubbed it in, good and plenty," said Mary, "about them +bein' so mean and full of bad thoughts." + +"I did my best," said Pearl, "especially with some of them who had had +so much to say, and they were keen to come, I tell you, to meet the +Premier. That's what he'll always be called, too, and he sure looked +that day when he sat at the head of the table, with the sunshine +dappling the long table, with its salads and jellies and plates of +sliced ham, and all the people sitting around kind of humble and +sheepish. He wore his Prince Albert coat and his silk hat. He didn't +want to--he thought it wasn't the thing for a picnic, but I held him +up to it, for I didn't want the people to see him in his corduroy +hunting suit. I know how impressed they would be with the fine +clothes, and I was determined they should have every thrill. + +"So he put on all his good clothes, even to his gray spats. I had to +argue a long time to get them on him. He said they looked foppish, but +I just got the button-hook and put them on him while he was arguing, +and asked him who thought of this picnic anyway! and he just laughed +and said he guessed he had to pass under the rod. + +"And after all the people had been introduced, and the men were +standing back, pretty hot and uncomfortable in their white shirts, he +got up and asked every one to have a seat at the table, for he wanted +to say a few words before we began to eat. + +"You could have heard a leaf fall, it was so still, and then he told +them all about his son, and how he didn't understand him, and never +made a chum of him, and how he was so taken up with politics he forgot +to be a father to his own boy. And he told about his son's marriage, +and the whole story, right up to the time I went to see him in the +city." + +"'It's not easy telling this,' he said, 'but I put my daughter-in-law +in wrong in this neighborhood, and I am going to make it right if I +can. She is a noble, brave woman,' he said, 'and I am proud of her. I +lost the election,' he continued, 'but I am glad of it, for in losing +it, I found a daughter and a grandson,' and then he put his hand on my +shoulder and said, 'and here's the deepest conspirator in the country, +who managed the whole thing. This is the girl who made fun of me, and +lambasted me, but who brought my daughter-in-law and me together, +and when she runs for the Legislature, I promise I will get out and +campaign for her.' + +"Every one laughed then, and the people crowded up around him, and +Annie, and you never saw so many people laughing and crying at the one +time in your life. + +"We had a big boiler of coffee on the little tin stove in the trees, +and I grabbed off the white pitchers, and the biggest girls from the +school helped serve, and we got the people all started in to eat, for +it doesn't do to let people's feelings go too far. + +"When they had quieted down a little, and were nearly through eating, +the minister, who was at the other end of the table, got up and said +he had an idea he wanted to pass on. + +"'I'm ashamed,' he said--and I know he was--'of the way this community +has treated Mrs. Gray and Jimmy,'--he didn't seem able to call her +anything else either. 'On behalf of the district of Purple Springs, I +apologize. We'll show our apology in something better than words, too, +I hope,' he said, kind of swallowing his Adam's apple. 'We denied her +child the right to play with our children, through our stupid and +cruel thoughtlessness, now let us apologize by doing something for all +the children of this neighborhood. This is a beautiful spot, a natural +park; let us make it the Jim Gray Playgrounds, with swings, and +sand-pile and acting bars and swimming pool, with a baseball ground up +on the hill; where all our children, young people and old people too, +can gather and be young and human and sociable together.' + +"The people broke out into cheers and cries of 'We'll do it!' It +seemed to relieve them. + +"'And let us hold our church service here on Sundays, too, when the +weather is fine. Our religion has been too stuffy, too mouldy, too +damp, too narrow. It needs the sunshine and the clear air of heaven to +sweeten it and revive it. I feel it today, that God is in the sunshine +more than in the narrow limits we have tried to set upon Him.' + +"'We sometimes deplore the tendency of our young people to go to the +city,' he continued, 'but I don't know as I blame them. We've been +living dull, drab lives for sure. Let us liven things up a bit, and +give our people something to look forward to during the week, and +something pleasant to remember. It's the utter dreariness of life that +kills people--not hard work.' + +"And then," said Pearl, "I could see the people wanted to sing or cry, +or dance, or something, to work off their emotions; so I signalled to +Bessie Cowan, who is one of our best singers, to start a hymn that the +children sing every morning. They knew it well, and the people had +learned it from them. I never heard anything like it. It flashed up +through the highest branches of the trees, into the blue air. I am +sure God heard it, and was pleased: + + "God is in His temple + Let the earth keep silent." + +"Little Jim knew it too, and his voice was sweeter than all the rest. +It seemed easy for every one to talk or sing or laugh--or do whatever +they wanted to do. It was wonderful to see people come out of their +hard brown husks and be natural and neighborly." + +"Sure, and it was more like a revival meetin' than a picnic, Pearlie," +said her father, laughing. + +"It was that, pa," she answered, "and like a term in a reform school +for some of them. There had been a big quarrel among them about a +road-scraper, and the next day every one was offering to wait, instead +of grabbing at it the way they had been; and the women who had fallen +out over a sleeve pattern and fought rings round, and called each +other everything they could name, made it up right there. + +"Before they parted, they agreed to have the services there on +Sunday--that's tomorrow, and the ex-Premier is going to speak after +the service on 'How to Build a Community.' All the women are baking, +and everybody will bring their visitors, instead of staying home from +church the way they've been doing, and the children can play in the +sand-pile, and sail their boats on the little creek, and it looks as +if Purple Springs has experienced a change of heart." + +"Don't you think there's a danger of leadin' them to thinkin' too +light of the Lord's day, Pearlie, picknicking that way," asked her +mother anxiously, "and maybe makin' them lose their religion?" + +"O, I'm not worried about that neighborhood losing its religion, ma," +said Pearl. "Any neighborhood that could treat a stranger the way +they did! But I do believe the sunshine and blue sky, the flowers and +birds, and the getting together, along with the words of the sermon +and the hymns they'll sing, will make them a lot more human. I never +can think it would hurt God's feelings a bit to see children playing, +and neighbors happy together on His day. + +"They want us all to come; if you don't think it's too far to drive +with the whole family, and I've been training the children all week to +sing--it looks like a good time." + +"We'll go!" cried Danny and Patsey, with one voice, and with brotherly +unity prevailing--for once. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +"THERE IS NOTHING TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE" + + +"O don't touch it--it hurts," Danny wailed, when Pearl examined his +grimy little foot, from which a trickle of blood was showing through +the murk of prairie soil. + +"Just let me wash it, dear," said Pearl soothingly. "We cannot tell +how badly you are hurt until we get the dirt off. It may not be so bad +at all." + +This was the afternoon of the same day. + +Danny's tears came in torrents. "It is bad," he sobbed. "It's the +worst sliver there's ever been in this family--or maybe in these +parts." + +"Well now, maybe it is. I wouldn't wonder if we'll have to send for +the doctor," said Pearl, "and that will be one on Patsey--he never +had a doctor in his life--and maybe never will. Just let me see how +serious it is--and I'll promise you if I can't pull it out with my +fingers--the doctor will be phoned for at once, and told to hurry." + +With this promise to sustain him, Danny bravely submitted to a +thoroughly good washing of the afflicted member, and even the +cleansing of the other, for Pearl explained to him that feet came in +pairs, and had to be treated alike in matters of washing. + +But the sliver refused to move, though Pearl appeared to try to pull +it out. + +"Send for the doctor, Pearl," Danny gasped. "I'm getting weaker +every minute, and everything is goin' from me--and now its gettin' +dark--can't some of yez light a lamp?" + +Danny had heard his mother tell so many times the story of his +grandfather's last moments--it came easily to him now, and he revelled +in the sensation he was making. + +"Rouse yourself, Danny dear," his mother cried tearfully, "speak to +us, darlin' and don't let yourself go to sleep--I'm feart it's gone to +his heart." + +"It couldn't, ma," said Pearl, "it's only a sliver--it's not a +telephone pole--a dash of cold water in the face will bring him back." + +Danny suddenly returned to the earth, that his young soul seemed about +to spurn, and the look he gave his sister was at once an appeal and a +reproach. + +"Haven't you anything in your rainy-day box that's good for slivers?" +he asked. + +"Sure there is," said Pearl, "I think in a case of this kind, an +accident that calls for medical treatment entitles its owner to a very +substantial donation from the emergency chest. Mary, will you please +make a selection, while I go and phone, and remember, your youngest +brother is grievously wounded; do your best for him." + +Pearl went to the phone, with a curiously lightened heart. At least +she would hear him speak--she would see him. Not once had she seen him +since the day she had been in his office. Not once--and that was three +months ago. Three months, which seemed like three years! + +"Give me twenty-one, please Central," she said steadily. + +She knew the way he took off the receiver. + +"Dr. Clay, this is Pearl speaking," she hurried on, without giving him +time for reply. "Danny has a sliver in his foot, and we want you to +come out. Can you come?" + +"Right away," he answered. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Is it +very bad, Pearl?" + +"No, not very--I nearly got it out myself." + +"Well, I'm glad you didn't,"--his voice was eager. + +"But he wanted you--" + +"Good for Danny--he was always a wise child." + +When the patient was made comfortable in a rocking-chair, with a +package of Japanese water "Flowers" and a cup of water in which to +expand them, as a means of keeping his mind from despair, Pearl made +a hurried survey of herself in the mirror, and pulled her brown hair +into curls over her ears. + +"Ears are not good this year, Mary," she laughed. "They must not be +seen." + +A roar of pain from Danny brought her flying back to him. + +"Stay with me Pearl," he shouted, "I'm a sick man, and tell the kids +to keep quiet--it jars me--I can't stand it--it makes me all go cold!" + +Pearl sat down beside him, making a rather unsuccessful effort to be +becomingly solemn. Mary hushed the shouts of the others, who +were quite ready to be thrilled by their brother's precarious +condition--and when the doctor came in, the Watson brothers assembled +to hear the verdict. + +"He will recover," said the doctor. "Not only recover, but regain the +full use of the injured member. But it's a bad, bad sliver just the +same, and some boys would cry if they had it." + +Danny set his lips tightly together, as one who was determined to +endure to the end. + +Very tenderly the doctor took him on his knee, and examined the little +foot. "I'll have a basin of water, Pearl, please," he said. + +"It has been washed," Danny cried, with indignation. "Pearl washed +both of them." + +"Sure enough," the doctor said, "but you just watch and see what I am +going to do." + +The doctor opened his black bag to get out a lance, the sight of which +was too much for Danny's reserve of courage, and in spite of his brave +efforts, the tears burst forth. + +The doctor laid the lance back in the bag, and said, "Now Danny, I am +going to tell you a real true story, and we won't touch your foot at +all, unless you ask me to. + +"There's a bad, bold sliver about this long, that ran into Danny +Watson's foot. No one asked the sliver to go in--no one wanted it--but +it went. Danny's foot does not like it--and every nerve is crying +'Pull it out--pull it out,' and the blood has gathered round to see +what's wrong, just like a crowd of people on the street, growing +bigger every minute, so Danny's foot is beginning to swell and get red +and hot. + +"Now, if we leave the sliver alone, the foot will get it out its own +way, but it will take a long time. The foot will get redder, hotter, +sorer. It will be very stiff, and Danny will not be able to walk on +it. And even after the sliver works out, it will take quite a while +to heal, and there may be an ugly mark here for a long time. Still, +that's one way to get rid of slivers. + +"There's another way. It is to let me cut the skin with this sharp +knife--sharp like a razor-blade--and then take these little tweezers, +catch the end of the sliver, and give one quick jerk. Then we'll +put your foot in the warm water and let all the blood that has been +gathering to see what was wrong, run away, and then we'll put on +something nice and soft, and some absorbent cotton, and make a fine +bandage, and about tomorrow it will be as good as the other one. + +"Which way will we do it, Danny?" + +Danny had followed every word of the story, his eyes meeting the +doctor's calmly. + +"Which way, Danny?" the doctor repeated. + +Danny buried his head in the doctor's shoulder, and said one word: + +"Jerk!" + +In a few minutes it was all over, and Danny, looking a little pale, +with his foot resting on a pillow, was taken for a ride in the new +wheelbarrow, well padded with fresh hay by his thoroughly concerned +and solicitous young brothers. Danny, knowing the transitory nature of +his popularity, was not too overcome by his recent operation to accept +promptly the presents his brothers offered, and did so with a sweetly +wan and patient smile which kindled a noble rivalry in the matter of +gifts. Patsey, now very repentant, brought his catapult, Bugsey his +alleys, his loveliest "pure," and the recumbent lamb set in a ball of +clear glass; Tommy surrendered his pair of knobbies. Their mother, +watching the procession leaving the gate, was moved almost to tears by +these expressions of brotherly love. + +"They fight and squabble and jander at each other, but when trouble +comes, they cling together. That's what the psalmist means when he +says 'A brother is born for adversity.' It's the day of trouble that +proves what your own mean to you." + +Mary and her mother were at the kitchen door, having come out to get +the patient properly started for his ride. + +"I never knew it meant that, ma," said Mary, "but that's a nice +meaning anyway." + +She looked into the living-room, where Pearl and the doctor sat +without speaking, and just as her mother was about to go to join them, +she said: + +"I believe there's cream for a churnin', ma, it will be too sour +before Monday. If you come out and stay with me, I'll do it, but I +hate to work alone." + +As she flung the cream from end to end of the barrel-churn, while her +mother sat beside her mending the boys' shirts for the Sabbath, Mary +said to herself: + +"A sister is born for adversity, too--you bet." Meanwhile, the doctor +and Pearl, left alone, had broken the silence which fell upon them at +first. + +"Come out for a ride, Pearl," he said at last. "Saturday is the +teacher's happy day, and I haven't seen you for months--not to speak +to you--and I want to hear all about what you've been doing. You +haven't told me yet that you are glad I was elected." + +"But I wrote you a note, didn't I?" + +"Oh yes indeed, you did," he agreed, "but you know even the best notes +in the world lack color--or something." + +"Even roses," said Pearl, "lack something too, though it isn't color." + +"You will come, won't you, Pearl?" he urged. + +Pearl sat on the flowered lounge, looking at him intently. + +"Just wait a minute, doctor," she said, "your explanation of slivers +and their treatment interests me very much. I think I had better +consult you now as my physician. I have never had a physician, but it +would no doubt be you if I should need one." + +"Thank you, Miss Watson," he said, quite gravely, "I appreciate the +compliment," and waited for her to speak. + +"I have a sliver, too," she said at last. "No, not in my foot. It is +in my heart, and I am afraid I have been trying the foolish way of +letting it work out. You are quite right in saying it is slow, and +painful--and attracts attention to itself. It does. Now that day, the +second day of March, you and I had some serious conversation. I didn't +understand why you said what you did. I don't yet. I am sure you +said what you thought you should say. You may have been telling the +truth--or if not, something you considered better than the truth, +easier, more comfortable, less painful." + +"Sometimes a very bitter thought comes to me--a sore thought--it is +the sliver. I am not trying to be tactful now, just truthful. Tact and +truth do not always combine naturally. This is one of the times. I am +going to ask you something--but, don't speak until I am all done." + +Here Pearl straightened her fine young shoulders, and her eyes grew +very dark and luminous. + +"Was it really because you think I am too young to know my own mind, +that you spoke as you did, or is there another reason?" + +She was looking into his eyes with such intensity, with such +directness, that he knew he was going to tell her everything. It +seemed as if she must read whatever was in his heart. + +"My people are common, working people," she went on--and her head was +held very high now, and her voice, all silver as it was, had an inner +foundation of steel, like the famous silverware. "My people have +always worked for a living. They are honest, kindly, honorable people, +but they are what the vulgar would call--and do call--people who have +no 'class.' My father eats with his knife; my mother does not know +anything about having her subject and predicate agree in certain fine +points in which subjects and predicates are supposed to agree. She +knows how to work in harmony with her family and her neighbors, but +her adjectives, verbs and nouns do sometimes tangle. I don't mind. +These are small matters to me. I love my own people--admire and honor +them." + +Pearl's cheeks were flaming now. + +"If you care greatly for these things--I know many do--and feel they +are too serious, I want you to do something for me as my physician. +You can do it with one word. It will hurt, but not for long. It will +heal quickly. I will wash out the place with pride, and put on a +bandage of the love I bear my own people. It will just be the first +shock--there will be no after effects. Tell me the one word. Was it +because--my father eats with his knife? Danny buried his face in your +shoulder so he could not see. I will use a pillow--it is--more seemly. +All right! Ready! Jerk!" + +The pillow was thrown across the room, and Pearl found herself looking +into his eyes, as he held her close. + +"No, Pearl," he cried, "it is not that. I love you--more than all the +world. I would marry you--if every relative you ever had had been +hanged on the highest hill. There are no two people I know, to whom I +would rather be related, than your father and mother. But there is a +gap between us. I did not tell you the truth that day, because I felt +it was more honorable to hide it. But I will tell you everything now." + +When he was done, Pearl's eyes were soft and tender, and her arms +tightened around him. + +"Is that all?" she said happily. "Is that all?" + +"You don't understand, dear, how serious it is," he said, "I couldn't +ask you to marry a sick man." + +"But you love me?" she said, "You want me--you have been miserable +trying to give me up." + +"It has been a bitter fight," he said, "a miserable, lonesome fight." + +Pearl stood up suddenly, and he thought he had never seen her so +beautiful, so queenly or so compelling. He knew he was going to do +whatever she said. The weight of responsibility seemed to be lifted. + +"Come out," she said quickly, "we are too happy to stay inside. I must +breathe the sunshine and look up at the sky. My heart is too full for +a house." + +They drove to the river bank, a mile away, and sat on a fallen log at +the head of a ravine, which fell sharply to the river below. Through +the opening in the trees, they would see the slow running Souris, on +which the sunshine glinted, making its easy way to join its elder +brother, the Assiniboine, on the long, long march to the sea. Across +the river plumy willows, pale green and tremulous, grew paler still as +a wind passed over them. + +The afternoon sun was sinking in a sea of wine-red mist, throwing +streamers of light into the upper sky, like a giant's fan. + +"I know now," said Pearl, "why I was led to Purple Springs, and why I +felt when I met Annie Gray that my life would be knit with hers;" +and then as they sat, hand-in-hand, with the glory of the sunset +transfiguring the every-day world, she told him of the wonder valley +of hot springs in the far North, whose streams have magical powers of +healing. The valley of Purple Springs--away beyond the sunset. + +"We'll go over tomorrow," said Pearl, "and Annie will tell you all +about it, with its arch of mountains, its tropical flowers, the size +of the vegetables and grains which grow there, and the delight of the +Indians when they find their sick people growing well again. Annie has +been longing to go, and I told her yesterday I would go with her, and +we can still get there before the cold weather." + +The doctor made one last effort to hold to his original intention: + +"Pearl, I cannot let you bind yourself to me until I am well again. +I am holding my own, Dr. Brander says. He thought the election would +pull me down, but it didn't. My case is a hopeful one. It's too much +like taking advantage of your romantic way of looking at this. To +marry a sick man is a serious affair, and I cannot ask a girl like +you, so full of promise, so splendid in every way, to do it." + +"You won't need to," she laughed, slipping her arm through his. "It's +all settled--I'll just marry you without being asked. The covenant +between you and me was made before the foundations of the world. +You're my man. I knew you the moment I saw you. So when I say, 'I, +Pearl, take you, Horace,' it's not a new contract--it's just a +ratification of the old. It's just the way we have of letting the +world know. You see dear, you just can't help it--it's settled." + +"But are you sure, Pearl; you are so young in years; I mean--are you +sure you will not be sorry? I love you Pearl--I want you, but I desire +still more to see you get the most out of life." + +"I'm sure," she said steadily. "If I can't have you, life has fooled +me--cheated me--and I do not believe God ever intended that. Peter +Neelands said I was in love with life, with romance; that because you +were the nearest hero I had selected you and hung a halo around you, +and that maybe I was mistaken." + +"What does he know about it?" asked the doctor sharply. + +"I told him," said Pearl. "He was the only person I could talk to, and +when there came not a word from you--and Mrs. Crocks told me you went +quite often to the city to see Miss Keith, I began to wonder if I +could be mistaken--so I tried to forget you." + +"You did!" + +"Yes. I worked two weeks on it, when I was in the city." + +"How did you go about it?" he asked, after a pause. + +"Peter said most girls were so romantic and ready to fall in love, +they often loved a man who cared nothing for them, but who married +them rather than break their hearts, and that's what causes so many +unhappy homes. Of course, it works the other way too, and he said +the way to tell if it were a real true, undying love, was to try the +'expulsive power of a new love.' That's a fine phrase, isn't it?" + +"Well, Peter was willing to be experimented on. He said if he had come +to Millford about the same time you did, I might have selected him +instead of you, and made a hero of him." + +"He has his nerve," exclaimed the doctor. + +"O, I don't know," she said. "I mean I didn't know. I was willing to +see. So Peter stuck around all the time, and he drove me everywhere, +and always saw me home. I like him--all right--but you see I couldn't +make my heart beat when he came into the room, and there was no +rainbow in the sky, or music in the air, when he came to see me, and +every day I got more lonesome for you, until it just seemed as if I +couldn't go on. The three years when I thought you loved me, I saved +up a lot of happiness--sort of money in the bank--and I used it every +day and told myself you would tell me everything some day--and it +would all come right. I got that mixed in with my prayers every night. +But when you didn't come--and didn't come--my balance in the bank grew +less and less--and I got panicky, and afraid I had been mistaken. So +just to be sure, I did try to like Peter--not because I wanted to, +but just to see if it could be done--in the interest of scientific +research, Peter said it was." + +"But I couldn't get accustomed to having him with me--he tired me +sometimes--he talked too much, and I never could let him pay for my +lunch, when we had lunch together. I could not let him spend a cent on +me--not even the price of a movie." + +"I'm glad you didn't, Pearl," the doctor said quickly. "You were quite +right about that, but you won't feel that way about me, will you dear? +These new women can get to be so independent--they are uncomfortable +to live with." + +Pearl rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, like a well-pleased +kitten. + +"No chance!" she said. "I'll let you pay every time--I'll just love +spending your money--I won't ever know it from mine." + +"O won't you?" laughed the doctor. "Well now, I am glad to be warned, +and I am glad there are some laws to protect poor simple-minded men +like me. I'll speak to Driggs about it as soon as I go back, and you +may expect to see on the front page of the 'Mercury' something like +this: 'I, Horace Clay, physician of the village of Millford, hereby +warn the public I will not be responsible for my wife's debts.'" + +At that, they laughed so much that the woodpecker in the tree above +them stopped drumming, to listen, and when he found out how matters +stood, he turned the whole story into telegraphic code and sent it up +and down the valley; and a brown squirrel looked at them through +a tangle of cranberry leaves, and when he got the drift of +their conversation, he raced to the top of the highest tree and +chee--chee--chee-d the news to all the other squirrels in the woods; +and old silver-spot, the crow, scenting a piece of gossip, came +circling over the trees and made a landing on a stump quite near them, +and with his head on one side, listened for a few minutes, and then, +with an insufferable smirk, rose cautiously and, circling high over +the trees, made a rapid flight up the river, without uttering a sound. + +The doctor watched him as he disappeared around the bend. "Do you know +where he's off to, Pearl?" he said. "He's going to tell Mrs. Crocks. +She understands Crow, of course--it's left over from her last +re-incarnation. This will save an announcement!" + +All afternoon, a black cloud, thick and thunderous, had huddled over +the hills to the north, but before the sun went down, there came +across its shoulder, a shining ribbon of rainbow. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10221 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f1913f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10221 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10221) diff --git a/old/10221.txt b/old/10221.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fdd1ad --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10221.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9990 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Purple Springs, by Nellie L. McClung + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Purple Springs + +Author: Nellie L. McClung + +Release Date: November 23, 2003 [eBook #10221] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PURPLE SPRINGS*** + + +E-text prepared by Brendan Lane, Josephine Paolucci, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +PURPLE SPRINGS + +BY + +NELLIE L. McCLUNG + +1921 + + + + + + + + CONTENTS + + I. THE DAY BEFORE + II. THE DAY + III. THE HOUSE OF CLAY + IV. TANGLED THREADS + V. WHERE MRS. CROCKS THREW THE SWITCH + VI. RED ROSES + VII. THE INNOCENT DISTURBER + VIII. THE POWER OF INK + IX. THE DOCTOR'S DECISION + X. THE WOMAN WITH A SORE THOUGHT + XI. ENGAGED + XII. THE MACHINE + XIII. THE STORM + XIV. THE SEVENTH WAVE + XV. THE COMING OF SPRING + XVI. PRINCE OF THE HOUSE OF CLAY + XVII. PETER'S REPORT + XVIII. THE WOMAN OF PURPLE SPRINGS + XIX. THE END OF A LONELY ROAD + XX. ANNIE GRAY'S STORY + XXI. THE OPENING OF THE WAY + XXII. THE PLAY + XXIII. COMPENSATION + XXIV. HOME AGAIN + XXV. THERE IS NOTHING TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DAY BEFORE + + +It was the last day of February, the extra day, dead still, and biting +cold, with thick, lead-colored skies shading down to inky blue at the +western horizon. In the ravine below John Watson's house trees cracked +ominously in the frost, and not even a rabbit was stirring. The hens +had not come out, though an open door had extended an invitation, and +the tamworths had burrowed deeper into the stack of oat straw. The +cattle had taken refuge in the big shed, and even old Nap, in spite of +his thick Coat, had whimpered at the door to be let in. + +Looking out of the western window, Pearl Watson, with a faint wrinkle +between her eyebrows, admitted to herself that it was not a cheerful +day. And Pearl had her own reasons for wanting fine weather, for +tomorrow was the first of March, and the day to which she had been +looking forward for three years to make a momentous decision. + +The thought of this day had gone with her in the three years that had +passed, like a radiant gleam, a glorious presence that brightened and +idealized every experience of life, a rainbow that glorified every +black cloud, and there had been some clouds in her life black enough +to bring out the rainbows' colors too; as when her mother's serious +illness had called her back from the city, where she was attending +school. But each day had brought her one day nearer the great day, +which now she could call "Tomorrow." + +It had never occurred to Pearl to doubt the young doctor's sincerity, +when, three years before, he had said he would wait until she was +eighteen years old before he asked her something. + +"And it will depend on your answer," he had said, "what sort of a day +it is. It may be a dark, cold, horrible day, with cruel, biting wind, +or it may be a glorious day, all sunshine and blue sky--that will all +depend on your answer." And she had told him, honestly and truthfully, +not being skilled in the art of coquetry, that "it generally was fine +on the first of March." + +That the young doctor might have forgotten all about the incident +never crossed her mind in the years that followed. She did not know +that there was witchery in her brown eyes and her radiant young beauty +that would stir any young man's heart and loosen his tongue, causing +him to say what in his sober moments he would regard as foolishness. + +Pearl did not know this; she only knew that a great radiance had come +to her that day, three years before, a radiance whose glory had not +dimmed. Every thought and action of her life had been influenced by +it, and she had developed like a fine young tree on which the spring +sunshine had perpetually fallen, a fine young tree that had been +sheltered from every cold blast, watered by the rains and bathed in +perpetual sunshine, for Pearl's young heart was fed from the hidden +springs of love and romance. For her the darkest night was lighted by +stars; for her the birds sang of love and hope and happiness; for her +the commonest flower was rich in beauty and perfume; and so the end of +the three years found her a well developed, tall, boyishly athletic +girl, with a color in her cheeks like an Okanagon peach, hair of +richest brown, with little gleams of gold, waving back naturally from +a high forehead; a firm chin, with a dimple; and great brown eyes, +full of lights, and with a dazzling brilliance that registered every +thought of her brain and emotion of her heart. + +From the time when she was twelve years old the young doctor, who had +then just come to Millford, had been her hero--worshipped afar, and in +great secrecy. + +Many a time when the family lived in the village, and Pearl was left +to mind the swarm of boys while her mother was out working, she had +raced to the window just to see him drive by, and, having seen him and +perhaps caught a smile or nod, if he noticed her, she would go back to +her strenuous task of keeping her young brothers clothed and happy and +out of the wealth of a quickened imagination she would tell them more +and more wonderful tales of the glorious world into which their young +feet had strayed. + +When the doctor had time and inclination to talk to her, Pearl's +young heart swam in a crimson sea of delight, but if by any chance +he hurried by, his mind filled with other things, she suffered for +a brief season all the pangs of unrequited affection, and looked +anxiously in the glass many times to see if her face showed signs of +early decay. + +But the mood soon passed and optimism again reigned. During the times +of depression many a sunflower had its yellow petals torn away, as she +sought to wring from it definite information regarding the state of +his affections. If the sunflower brought in an adverse decision, +without a moment's hesitation Pearl began upon another, and continued +until a real, honest, authentic flower declared in her favor. But that +she did not really trust the oracles was shown by the great frequency +with which she consulted them! + +As she grew older, Pearl would have liked to talk to some one about +her dreams, but it was hard to begin. There was really nothing to +tell. She might as well try to explain the sparkle of the sunshine, or +the joyousness of the meadowlark's song in the spring, as to try to +analyze the luminous wonder that had come into her own heart that day +when the purple mist lay on the Tiger Hills, and the snowdrifts were +beginning to sink and sag and break into little streams. It could not +be done. + +But still she wondered what experiences other people had had, and +wished that someone would talk to her about it. At the Normal the +girls had talked about "crushes" and "mashes" and people having a +"bad case," and she knew that the one qualification they demanded in +matters of the heart was that the young man should have the means +and inclination to "show a girl a good time." She could not talk to +them--there did not seem to be any point of contact. And when the +subject of love and marriage was discussed around the family circle, +her mother's dictum was always brief and concise: + +"You'll get who's for ye--and you'll have your number. There's lots of +trouble for them that don't marry, and there's lots more for them that +do. But there's no use in advisin' or warnin'; it's like the pigs and +the hot swill--one will stick in his nose and run away squalin'; the +next one will do the same, and the next and the next. They never take +warnin's; it's the way of the world!" + +But nothing dimmed the glory of Pearl's rainbow dream or stilled the +happy songs her heart sang day and night. She had often pictured the +day the Doctor would come and tell her that the three years were past. +He would drive out with his team, for the snow would be too deep for +his car, and she would first hear the sleigh-bells, even before old +Nap would begin to bark, and he would come in with his cheeks all red +and glowing, with snow on his beaver coat; and he would tell her it +was too fine to stay in, and wouldn't she come for a ride? + +So sure was she that he would come that she had laid out on her bed, +in the little room under the rafters, her heavy coat, overshoes and +scarf, and had spent some time deciding whether her red tam or the +brown velvet hat was the most becoming, and finally favored the tam, +because she had once heard the Doctor say that red was the color for +winter, and besides, the brown hat had a sharp rim that might give a +person a nasty poke in the eye ... in case.... + +She made all her preparations on the day before, because, she told +herself, a doctor's time was so uncertain that he might, remembering +this, be afraid of being called away on The Day, and so come a day +sooner. + +Pearl thought of all this as she stood at the window and looked out on +the bare farm yard, swept clean of beast or fowl by the bitter cold +which had driven them all indoors. A bright fire burned in the +Klondike heater, and from the kitchen came the cheerful song of a +canary. The house was in a state of great tidiness, with its home made +lounge in front of the fire, piled high with gaily flowered cushions, +and the brightly striped rag carpet which was the culmination of the +united efforts of the family the winter before, and before the fire a +tiger-striped cat with her paws stretched out to the heat. + +Pearl was alone in the room, for all the children were at school, her +father and Teddy out, and her mother in the kitchen making the last of +the mincemeat into pies, which sent out a real baking odor of cinnamon +and cloves; a roast of pork that had been "doing too fast," was now +sitting on the top of the high oven, its angry, sparking, sizzling +trailing off into a throaty guttering. Some sound or smell of it +seemed to have penetrated Nap's dreams, for he wakened suddenly and +sat up, licking his lips and pounding the floor with his tail. + +Suddenly the telephone rang, the three short and one long, which +indicated that it was the Watson family who were wanted. Pearl's heart +thrilled with expectation. Of course he would phone before he came to +make sure she was at home. The receiver was in her hands in a moment. + +"Hello!" she called, almost choking with excitement. + +"Will you tell your father," called back a man's voice at the end +of the wire, "that the cattle are coming home from the range. Last +night's snow was too much for them, and Jim Fidler has just phoned +through to warn us. They're comin' on mad for feed, tramplin' and +bawlin', and they'll hit your place first--mos' likely--tho' they may +turn south at Beckers--better phone Beckers and see." + +"All right!" said Pearl, in a steady voice, "all right, and thank +you." + +Pearl hastily put on a coat and went to the barn to give the unwelcome +news to her father and Teddy, who were busy fanning out the weed seeds +from the seed grain. + +"They're comin' airly," said John Watson, slowly, as he shook down the +bag of seed wheat that he had just filled; "but I guess they are the +best judge of whether they can make a livin' outside any longer. Well, +what we have we'll share, anyway. There's no use in contradictin' a +bunch of hungry steers. Keep a watch on the phone, Pearlie dear, and +find out which way they turn at Beckers'. We'll open up an oat stack +for them, anyway--so if they come rampin' in in the middle of the +night there'll be something ready." + +Pearl ran back across the wind-swept yard to the house, for the one +thought in her mind was that a message might come over the phone for +her! Ordinarily the home-coming of the hungry cattle would have been +an event of such importance that it would have driven out all others; +but there was only one consuming thought in her mind today. + +When she came in the phone was ringing, and her mother, with her hands +in the pie-crust, said: "Pearlie, dear, run in to the phone--that's +twice it's rung since you were out, and sure I couldn't go--and me +this way." + +Pearl took the receiver down and found a conversation in progress. She +had no thought of listening in--for at once she surmised it might be +a message regarding the cattle going to one of the other houses. The +first sentence, however, held her in its grip, and all thought of what +she was doing was driven from her mind. + +"They are going to offer the doctor the nomination tomorrow--he'll +make the best run of any one in these parts." + +It was a man's voice, far away and indistinct. + +"That will please Miss Morrison--she always wanted to get into +politics;" it was a woman who replied--"but I'm not so sure she has +any chance, the doctor is a pretty cautious chap. I often think he has +a girl somewhere--he goes to Hampton pretty often." + +"He's not worried over women, believe me," the man's voice cut in. "I +think he likes that young Watson girl as well as any one, and she has +them all skinned for looks--and brains too, I guess." + +The woman's voice came perceptibly nearer, and seemed to almost hiss +in her ear--unconsciously she felt the antagonism. "That's absurd," +she said, with sudden animation; "why, these people are nobody, +the mother used to wash for me a few years ago. They are the very +commonest sort--the father was only a section man. The doctor enjoys +her cute speeches, that's all, but there's absolutely nothing in +it--he as much as told me so." + +Pearl hung up the receiver with a click, and, pressing her lips +together, walked over to the window with two crimson spots burning +like danger signals on her cheeks. When Pearl's soul was burdened she +always wanted to get outside, where the sky and the wind and the big +blue distance would help her to think. But the day was too cold for +that, so instinctively she walked to the window, where the short +afternoon sun was making a pale glow on the heavy clouds. + +Old Nap came from his place behind the table and shoved his cold nose +into her hand, with a gentle wagging of his tail, reminding her that +all was not lost while she still had him. + +Dropping down on her knees beside him, Pearl buried her face in his +glistening white collar, and for one perilous moment was threatened +with tears. But pride, which has so often come to our rescue just in +time, stepped into her quivering young heart, she stood up and shook +her head like an angry young heifer. + +"'Common,' are they?" she said, with eyes that darted fire; "not half +common enough--decent people that do their work and mind their own +business,--helpin' a friend in need and hurtin' no wan--it would be a +better world if people like them were commoner! 'And the mother washed +for ye, did she, you dirty trollop? Well, it was a God's mercy that +some one washed for you, and it was good clane washin' she did, I'll +bet--and blamed little she got for it, too, while you lay in your bed +with your dandruffy hair in a greasy boudoir cap, and had her climb +the stairs with your breakfast. And you'd fault her for washin' for +you--and cleanin' your house--you'd fault her for it! I know the kind +of ye--you'd rather powder ye'r neck than wash it, any day!" + +No one would recognize the young Normalite who two weeks before had +taken the highest marks in English, and had read her essay at the +closing exercises, and afterwards had it printed, at the editor's +request, in the _Evening Echo_, for Pearl's fierce anger had brought +her back again to the language of her childhood. + +"And he as much as told you, did he?" she whispered, turning around +to glare in stormy wrath at the unoffending telephone--"he as much as +told you there was nothing in it?" + +Pearl puckered her lips and shut one eye in a mighty mental effort to +imagine what he would say, but in trying to hear his words she could +only see his glowing face, the rumpled hair she loved so well, and +then her voice came back like a perfect phonograph record, that +strong, mellow, big voice which had always set her heart tingling and +drove away every fear. She couldn't make him say anything else but the +old sweet words that had lived with her for the last three years. + +The storm faded from her eyes in a moment, and in the rush of joy that +broke over her, she threw herself down beside old Nap and kissed the +shiny top of his smooth black head. Then going over to the telephone, +she shook her fist at it: + +"Did my mother wash for you, ma'am? She did--and you never had better +washin' done! Are we common people?--we are, and we're not ashamed. +We're doin' fine, thank you--all the children are at school but me, +and I've gone thro' the public school and Normal too. The crops are +good--we have thirty head of cattle and six horses, sound in wind and +limb. Some day we'll have a fine new house, and we'll live all over it +too. John Watson did work on the section, and they'd be fine and glad +to get him back. He owes no man a dollar, and bears no man a grudge. +I wouldn't change him for the Governor-General for me dad--and now +listen--I'm tellin' ye something, I'm goin' to marry the doctor--if he +wants me--and if you don't like it there's a place you can go to. +I'll not be namin' it in the presence of Nap here, for he's a good +Christian." + +"And you, sir,"--she addressed the telephone again,--"I thank you for +your kind words regarding brains and looks. I hope it is a true word +you speak, for I may need both before I'm done." + + + +The home-coming of the cows at eventime has been sung about, written +about, talked about, painted, and always it has had in it the +restfulness of evening,--the drowsy whirr of insects' wings, the +benediction of the sunset, the welcoming gladness of a happy family. +But these pictures have not been painted by those of us who have seen +the hungry cattle come in from the range when the snow covers the +grass, or the springs dry up, and under the influence of fear they +drive madly on. + +All day long the range cattle, about three hundred in number had +searched the river bottom for the grass which the heavy snowfall of +the night before had covered; searched eagerly, nervously all the +while, bawling, ill-naturedly pushing and horning, blaming each other +in a perfectly human way. Disconsolately they wandered over the river +to the other bank feeling sure they would find grass there, only to +find the snow over everything, and not even a little rosebush showing +its head. + +Then it was that the old cow, an acknowledged leader of the herd, +who bore the name of the "Broncho," on account of her wildness, her +glaring red eyes and her branching horns, with an angry toss of her +head to shake the water from her eyes, lifted her voice in one long, +angry, rolling bellow that seemed to startle the whole herd. It had +in it defiance, and determination. Like the leading spirit among the +leprous men who sat at the gate of Samaria, the "Broncho" gathered up +the feeling of the meeting in one long soul-stirring, racuous bawl, +which, interpreted, meant, "Why sit we here until we die?" + +The primitive law of self-preservation was at work--even a cow will +not starve quietly. The grass had been scarce for days, and she had +lain down hungry each night for a week; and now, when the grass had +gone entirely, the old cow had taken her determination; she would go +home and demand her right to live. This thought surging through her +soul, gave decision to her movements. Whether the other cattle came or +not did not matter in the least--she knew what she was going to do. +The strong northwest wind which began to whip the fresh snow into +loose waves, turned the cattle to face the south east, in which +direction the settlement lay. Miserable cattle, like miserable people, +are easily led. It is only the well-fed and comfortable who are not +willing to change their condition, and so when the others saw the +"Broncho" forging up the hill, the whole herd, as if at a word of +command, lurched forward up the bank. + +They surged onward, bawling, crowding, trampling, hooking without +mercy. Companions they had been for months before, eating together, +sleeping together, warming each other, playing together sometimes when +the sun was bright. That was all forgotten now, for the hunger-rage +was on them, and they were brutes, plain brutes, with every kind +instinct dead in their shivering breasts. They knew but one law, the +law of the strongest, as they drove onward, stumbling and crowding, +with the cold wind stinging them like a lash. + +The night closed in, dark and cheerless, closed in early, under +the dull gray, unrelenting skies, and although lights blinked out +cheerfully from uncurtained windows, and willow plumes of smoke spread +themselves on the cold night air above all the farm-houses, the hearts +of the people were apprehensive. + +It was the last day of February--green grass was still far away--and +the cattle, hungry, red-eyed and clamorous, were coming home! + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DAY! + + + "When time lets slip one little perfect day, + O take it--for it may not come again." + +When Pearl woke on the morning of March 1st, it was with a heart so +light and happy it brought back the many Christmas mornings that +lay scattered behind her like so many crimson roses, spilling their +perfume on the shining road which led back to childhood. The sunshine +that sifted through the white muslin curtains of the one small window, +was rich and warm, as if summer had already come, and Pearl suddenly +remembered that the sky had been overcast and heavy the day before, +and the air stinging cold. + +She went to the window, and looking out saw that that the clouds had +all gone, leaving no trace in the unscarred sky. The sun was throwing +long blue shadows over the fields, brightening the trees on the river +bank, with a thin rinse of pale gold. Down in the ravine, the purple +blue of the morning twilight was still hanging on the trees. The house +was very quiet--there did not seem to be anyone stirring, either +inside or out. + +Pearl dressed herself hastily, humming a tune in happy excitement. Her +whole being was charged with happiness--for the great day had come. + +Coming down stairs on light feet, she threw a red sweater around her +shoulders and went out the front door. In her great moments, Pearl +craved the open sky and great blue distances, and on this day of all +days, she wanted to breathe deep of its golden air. Somewhere she had +read about air that tasted like old wine! And as she stood facing the +early sun that had come up in a cloudless sky of deepest blue, she +knew what was meant. + +From the dull tomb of yesterday, with its cavern-like coldness +and gloom, had come the resurrection of a new day, bright, blue, +sparkling, cloudless, for March had slipped in quietly in the night, +with a gentle breeze of wonderful softness, a quiet breeze, but one +that knew its business, and long before daylight it had licked the +hard edges of the drifts into icy blisters, and had purred its way +into all sorts of forgotten corners where the snow lay thickest. + +It went past Pearl's face now with velvety smoothness--patting her +cheeks with a careless hand, like a loving friend who hurries by with +no time for anything but this swift re-assurance. But Pearl knew that +the wind and the sun and the crisp white snow, on which the sunbeams +danced and sparkled, were her friends, and were throbbing with joy +this morning, because it was her great day. + +She went in at last, remembering that the children must be washed and +fed for school, and found Danny's garter for him just in time to save +him from the gulf of despair which threatened him. She made up the two +tin pails of lunch with which her young brothers would beguile the +noontide hour. She put a button on Mary's spat, in response to her +request of "Aw, say Pearl, you do this--I can't eat and sew." The +sudden change in the weather forced a change in the boys' foot-gear, +and so there had to be a frenzied hunt for rubbers and boots to +replace the frost-repelling but pervious moccasin. + +One by one, as the boys were ready, fed, clothed and rubbered, they +were started on their two-mile journey over the sunny, snowy road, +Danny being the first to so emerge, for with his short, fat legs, he +could not make the distance in as short a time as the others. + +"Mr. Donald wants you to come over on Friday, Pearl--I almost forgot +to tell you--he wants you to talk to us about the city, and the +schools you were in--and all that. I told him you would!" + +This was from Jimmy, the biggest of the Watson boys now attending +school. + +"All right," said Pearl, "sure I will." + +There was more to the story, though, and Jimmy went on,-- + +"And the Tuckers said they bet you thought yourself pretty smart since +you'd been to the city.... + +"And then what happened," asked Pearl, when he paused; + +"He went home--it wouldn't stop bleedin'! but Mr. Donald says a +good nose-bleed wouldn't hurt him--though of course it was wrong to +fight--but it was no fight--you know what they're like--one good +thump--and they're done!" + +"Good for you, Jimmy" said his sister approvingly, "never pick a +quarrel or hit harder than you need, that's all!--but if trouble +comes--be facing the right way!" + +"You bet," said Jimmy, as he closed the door behind him and the +stillness which comes after the children have gone fell on the Watson +home. + +"Sure and ain't the house quiet when they're gone," said Mrs. Watson, +looking out of the window across the gleaming landscape, dotted in six +places by her generous contribution to the Chicken Hill school. + +"And it won't be long until they're gone--for good." + +"Cheer up, honest woman," cried Pearl gaily, "you havn't even lost +either Teddy or me, and we're the eldest. It looks to me as if you +will have a noisy house for quite a while yet, and I wouldn't begin to +worry over anything so far away--in fact, ma, it's a good rule not to +worry till you have to, and don't do it then!" + +Pearl was bringing back "the room" to the state of tidiness it enjoyed +during school hours, moving about with joyous haste, yet with strict +attention to every detail, which did not escape her mother's eye. + +"It's grand to be as light of heart as you are, Pearlie child," she +said, "I'm often afraid for you--when I think of all the sad things in +life and you so sure that everything will happen right. It is to them +that the world is brightest that the darkest days can come, and the +lightest heart sometimes has heaviest mournin'." + +A little wither of disappointment went over Pearl's bright face, but +she shook it off impatiently. She wished her mother would not talk +like this on this day--of all days. + +"Don't spoil a good day, ma, with sad talk. Look out at the Spring sun +there, and the cattle, even the wild ones from the range, with their +sides steaming and then nosing around so happy now, for getting all +about the bad times they had even as late as last evening. There's +no use telling them there's cold days coming--they wouldn't believe +now--and anyway they'll know soon enough. Isn't it best to let every +one have their sunny day--without a cloud on it." + +Before her mother could form an answer, the one long and two short +rings came on the phone. Pearl's heart turned over in its bounding +joy. It had come--she knew it had come. + +She took down the receiver: + +"Hello," she said, in a thin voice. + +"Pearl," said the voice, deep, mellow, eager. She thought she had +remembered what his voice was like, but she hadn't. It was a hundred +times sweeter than it had been in her memory. + +"Yes," she said, holding the receiver so tightly her knuckles went +white with the pressure. + +"What day is it, Pearl," he said, with the laugh in his voice, the +bantering laugh that made his patients love him. + +"O I know" she said--"I know." + +"You haven't forgotten what we said?" + +"Not a word of it." + +His voice came nearer, though he spoke lower. + +"The train is not in yet, it is stuck out in the hills, but likely to +get out any minute. Dr. Brander is on it, coming out from the city to +operate for me in a very serious case, I'm not sure when I can get +out--but you'll wait for me--won't you, Pearl?" + +She put her red young lips close to the transmitter. + +"For a thousand years!" she said. + +"Well, it won't be that long," he said, with his happy laugh. + +Pearl knew exactly how his brows were lifted, and his eyes wide +opened. + +"But it's great to have as good a margin, Pearl--and listen--" his +voice fell again until it seemed to whisper in her ear--"did you +happen to notice what sort of a day it is?" + +"Well," said Pearl, "I am not surprised. Didn't I tell you it would +be?" + +"You told me!" he said. + +Then it was that from Pearlie Watson's young heart there opened up a +shining path straight up into heaven, and every inch of that radiant +highway was bright with the gleam of angel's wings, and as she stood +there leaning against the wall, her eyes dazzled with the glory of it, +it seemed as if all the sweet songs that lovers have ever sung, and +all the tender words they have ever spoken came marching, gaily +marching down the shining high way, right into her heart. + +Outside the sun gleamed and beat on the melting snow, which sent back +quivery vibrations that smote the eyeballs like fire. The cattle shook +the water from their sun-dazzled eyes, and turned their heads away +from it, but it climbed steadily higher until it stood right over +them, and blazing down upon the snowy world, defied old man Winter to +his face. + +Pearl was never quite sure about it in after years. But that day +she did not doubt her eyes, that star dust danced in the waves of +sunshine; that the gray snow birds played crack the whip outside the +window; that the willow hedge, palpitating in the sunshine, beat time +with its silvery branches to the music that lilted through her heart; +that the blue in the sky was bluer than it had been, and the sunshine +more golden than it ever was in the highest noon in highest June. + +She was quite sure it was so, for every spot of color within doors was +glorified too. The roses in the cushions on the lounge glowed like +a fire in the heart of a green wood; the cat's eyes gleamed like +olivines, but of course Pearl knew from the way he rubbed his head +against her shoulder as she sat on the lounge beside him, and from +the way he blinked at her--he knew, having no doubt in some occult +cat-way, listened in on the phone! There was no mistaking his +swaggering air of importance--he was in on it! and gave much credit to +himself for having brought it all about. + +The old dog, being just a plain, honest-hearted, loving dog, only +knew that Pearl was very happy over something. He did not probe the +cause--if it pleased her--it was enough. + +At four o'clock there came another message--which set Pearl's heart +dancing, and spotted her cheeks with a glowing color--the operation +was over--apparently successful--and they were driving back to town. +The other train might be late too, so it would be impossible for him +to come out--but would she still wait? Did the thousand year limit +still hold? + +There was just a hint of fatigue in his voice, which awakened all the +maternal instincts in Pearl, and made her heart very tender to him. + +"I will wait--forever," said Pearl. + +"Just until tomorrow," came back the voice--"just till tomorrow--and +it will be fine tomorrow--won't it, Pearl! Say it will be fine." + +"Finer still," she replied, with her cheeks like the early roses in +June. + +The day went by on satin wings--with each minute so charged with +happiness that Pearl could well believe that heaven had slipped down +to earth, and that she was walking the streets of the new Jerusalem. +She sang as she worked in the house, her sweet, ribbony voice filling +the room with a gladness and rapture that made her mother, with her +mystical Celtic temperament almost apprehensive. + +"She's a queer girl, is Pearlie," she said that night, when Pearl had +gone upstairs to arbitrate a quarrel which had broken out between +Bugsey and Danny as to whose turn it was to split the kindling wood. +"Day about" it had been until Bugsey had urged that it be changed to +"week about," and the delicate matter in dispute now was as to the day +on which the week expired. Danny, who had been doing the kindling, was +certain that the date of expiry had arrived, but Bugsey's calendar +set the day one day later, and the battle raged, with both sides ably +argued, but unfortunately not listened to by the opposing forces. + +"She's a queer child, is Pearlie," said Mrs. Watson, as she beat up +the bread-batter downstairs, "she's that light-hearted and free from +care, and her eighteen years old. She's like somethin' that don't +belong on earth, with her two big eyes shinin' like lamps, and the way +she sings through the house, settin' the table or scourin' the milk +pails or mendin' a coat for the boys--it don't seem natural. She's too +happy, whatever its' about, and it makes me afraid for her. She's the +kind that sees nothin' wrong, and won't see trouble comin' till its +too late. I often feel afraid she's too good and happy for this world. +She's always been the same, liltin' and singin' and makin' everyone +happy around her." + +Jimmy was washing his face in the enamel basin which stood on a box +below the mirror, and looking around with a dripping wet face, felt +with a wildy swinging motion of his arms for the towel. When he had +secured it, and all danger of soapsuds getting into his eyes was +removed, he joined the conversation. + +"Gosh, Ma!" he said, "you don't know Pearl, she's not the saint you +take her for. I'll bet the Tucker kids don't think she's too good to +live. Not much! They know she can hold up her end of a row as well as +any one. When she found out they had killed the cat they got from +us, and tanned the skin to make a rim on a cap, you should have seen +Pearl. She just cut loose on the two of them, and chased them through +the sloughs and up the road clear home--larrupin' them with a binder +whip, as fast as she could swing it--the yowls out of them would have +done your heart good!" + +Mrs. Watson stopped her work, with her floury hands raised in +consternation. + +"God's mercy," she cried, "did Pearl do that--and both of them +bigger'n her. Ain't it a wonder they did not turn on her?" + +"Turn"---Jimmy cried scornfully, "Turn--is it? They were too busy +runnin'. Gosh--they would'a flew if they knew how. Served them +right--they knew blame well they deserved it, for Pearl would never +have given them the cat if they hadn't worked it so smooth. They told +her they wanted a strain of Tiger in their cats, for all of theirs +were black--and Pearl, gave them our fine young Tom--and they promised +all sorts to be good to him--and when Pearl saw his skin on their +caps, and put it to them, they said they hadn't said it was a 'strain +of tiger for their cats' they wanted, but a 'strand of tiger for their +caps'--that's what made Pearl so mad." Mr. Donald said Pearl did +quite right, and he told the Tuckers they were the making of great +politicians--they were so smart at getting out of things. But Gosh, +you should have seen Pearl! She finished the job off right, too, you +bet, and made them put up slab at the school and did the printin' on +it in red ink. You can see it there,--they have had to print it over +once or twice. We all know the words off by heart: + + Young Tom, + Tiger cat, + Owned by P. Watson, + Given away in good faith April 1st, + Wickedly killed to make a cap, April 15th, + Avenged by former owner, May 1st. + T. Tucker. S. Tucker. + +People all look at it when they come to the church, and I guess the +Tuckers feel pretty small. Pearl says if they are really sorry, it is +all right, and young Tom has not died in vain. Every cat has to die +sometime, and if he had softened the Tucker's hearts--it is all right. +Pearl said she wasn't real sure about them, and I guess if they kill +another cat, she'll kill them sure--she said that's the way to do with +people like them. Make them repentant--or dead!" + +"God save us all," cried Mrs. Watson, in real distress, "whatever will +happen to her when she goes out into the world. That's awful talk for +a girl especially. Whatever will become of her when she leaves home. +She'll be in hot water all the time." + +"No fear of Pearlie!" said her father proudly--as he opened the end +door of the stove and picked up a coal for his pipe, placing it +without undue haste in the bowl, and carefully pressing it down with +his thumb. Leaning back in the chintz-covered rocking chair, he spread +his feet out to the heat which came from the oven door, and repeated, +"No fear of Pearlie--there ain't a girl in the country better able +to do for herself. Faith--and she's no fool--and never was--I ain't +worrying about Pearlie wherever she goes--or whatever she meets--I +ain't worrying." + +"You don't worry about anything, John," said Mrs. Watson, in reproof, +as she covered the bread with many wrappings and fixed two chairs to +hold it behind the stove for the night; "you didn't even worry the +night the crop froze, sleepin' and snorin' the whole night through, +with me up every half hour watching the thermometer, and it slippin' +lower and lower, and the pan o' water on the woodpile gettin' its +little slivers of ice around the edge, and when the thermometer went +to thirty, I knew it was all up with the wheat, but do you think I +could wake you--you rolled over with a grunt, leavin' me alone to +think of the two hundred acres gone in the night, after all our hard +work ... and then to have you come down in the mornin', stretchin' +and yawnin', after a good night's sleep, and says you, as cheerful as +could be, 'Cold mornin', Ma!'" + +John Watson took his pipe from his mouth, and laughed quietly. + +"And what was wrong with that, Ma--sure now it was cold--you said +yourself it was," he said gently. + +The boys joined in the laugh, but Mrs. Watson repeated her point. + +"Cold it was, sure enough, but think o' me up frettin' and fumin', and +you come down as cheerful as if starvation wasn't starin' us in the +face." + +"But we didn't starve, Ma," said Billy, coming to his father's +defense, "the crop was all right for feed, and we did well after all. +You had all your frettin' for nothing." + +"It's that way mostly," said John Watson, "I never saw any good yet in +frettin'. Anyway, Ma does enough of it for all of us, so that lets +me out. There's the two kinds of Irish--them that don't fret over +anything--and them that frets over every thing--that's me and you, +Ma--and it works out fine--it runs about even. You've always been so +sure that things were goin' wrong, I've just had to be a little surer +that they wern't. And then of course I knew that night that you would +watch the frost--if there was any watchin' to it." + +"John, it is well for you that you have some one to do your watchin'," +said Mrs. Watson. "You're an easy goin' man, John, but I'll say this +for you, that a better natured man never lived." + +When all the family had gone to bed, and the last sound had died out +in the house, Pearl stood long at the window and looked out at the +moonlit valley. The warm day had melted the frost from the window, and +when she put out the lamp, the moonlight seemed almost as clear as +day. Silvery-mauve and blue it lay on the quiet, snowy fields, with a +deeper color on the trees, as if they had wound yards and yards of the +gauzy stuff around their bare shoulders, for the night was chilly. To +Pearl it was even more beautiful than the sunshine of the day, for in +its silvery stillness, she could think and dream without interruption. + +The night was too beautiful to sleep, and the riot of joy in her heart +made her forget that anyone ever grew weary or tired. She was part of +the moonlight, with its glistening witchery, part of the overarching +sky, with its wealth of glittering stars, part of the velvety night +wind that caressed the trees in its gentle passing. Her young soul was +in tune with them all! For the greatest thing in life had come to +her in those few common-place words that had come to her over the +telephone. He had not forgotten--he was coming tomorrow! + +The tired note in his voice had awakened an entirely new chord in the +song her heart sang. He needed her. He needed some one to look after +him, care for him, watch him, save him from the hundred little +worrying things that were sapping his energy. People did not +understand that he ever got tired--he was so strong, so buoyant, so +ready to do things for them. Well, there will be someone now, thought +Pearl, with a glow that surged through her veins and made her cheeks +flame, to take care of him. + +"Is the doctor in, Mrs. Clay?" + +"He is--but he's sleeping--maybe I can tell you what you want to +know--step in here--so he won't hear us--he was out all night--and he +must not be wakened...." + +And when he had to go--she would harness the team and drive him, so he +could sleep all the way, and when the roads were fit for it, she would +drive the car--and soon she would be able to set bones and do common +things like that. He would show her--and then they would go to New +York--in two or three years maybe--he had told her once he wanted to +do this--for a post-graduate course--and they would have a little +suite, and she would study, too. + +And always, always, always they would be together--and no matter how +many people there were praising him and wanting him--he would just be +her man--and at night, when he was tired--and all the noise of the day +was over and everyone was gone, she would have him all to herself. + +Pearl's head sank on the window sill, while an ecstacy of joy swept +over her--happy tears filled her eyes--life was so sweet--so rich--so +full.... + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HOUSE OF CLAY + + +When the operation was over, the two doctors drove back to Millford, +the younger man so deeply engrossed in his own thoughts he hardly +heard the older doctor's incessant conversation. But that did not in +any wise discourage Dr. Brander, for to him, talking was much like +breathing, it went on easily, unconsciously, and without the necessity +of a listener. + +On Dr. Clay there had fallen the pleasant, drowsy feeling of one +whose work is done for the day, and a hard day it had been, with its +uncertainty of the delayed train, and his patient's condition. But all +had gone well, and his patient's reaction had been satisfactory. More +than that, the older doctor had concurred in all that he had done, and +commended his treatment of the case from the beginning. + +So, comfortably seated in the cutter, with a brown bear robe over +their knees, and the mate of it over the seat, the two doctors drove +home in the purple-blue twilight, seated side by side, but with minds +far removed from each other. + +The doctor's horses knew every road that led home, and trotted on +without any guidance or word from him--they were a fine team of glossy +chestnuts of whom the young doctor was extremely proud. But tonight, a +strange lassitude of spirit was upon him and he only wanted to relax +his weary brain and dream away the snowy miles to the rhythmic beat of +the horses' hoofs. + +He had never been more contented in his life. His work was going +well--that day the Liberals had offered him the nomination for the +coming provincial election! It was an honor which he appreciated, +though he had no desire to enter politics. He loved his work--the +people he served were devoted to him--he could read it in their faces +and their stammering words. He knew what they wanted to say, +even though it was conveyed in a few halting fragments of +sentences--"You're all right--Doc--sure--glad you got here--we knew +you'd make it--somehow--you and them high steppers of yours can get +through the snow--if any one can." + +Slowly, for a great weariness was on him, he began to think of Pearl, +the red-cheeked shining-eyed Pearl, who had singled him out for her +favor ever since he came to the village six years ago; Pearl, with her +contagious optimism and quaint ways, who had the good gift of putting +every one in good humor. He smiled to himself when he thought of +how often he had made it convenient to pass the school just at four +o'clock, and give Pearl and the rest of them a ride home, and the +delight he had always had in her fresh young face, so full of lights +and shadows. + +"Robbing the cradle, eh, Doc?" Sam Motherwell had once said, in his +clumsy way, when he met them on the road--"Nothin' like pickin' them +out young and trainin' them up the way you want them." + +He had made no answer to this, but he still felt the wave of anger +that swept over him at the blundering words. "All the same, I wish +Pearl were older"--he had admitted to himself that day. "If she +keeps her wise little ways and her clever tongue, she'll be a great +woman--she has a way with her." + +At the rink, he had always looked forward to a skate with her--it was +really a dull night for him if she were not there, and now he wondered +just what it was that attracted him so. There was a welcoming gladness +in her eyes that flattered him, a comradeship in her conversation that +drew him on to talk with more ease and freedom; there was a wholesome +friendliness in what she said, which always left him a sense of +physical and mental well-being. + +"What a nurse she would make," he thought, "what a great nurse;" "I +wish she were older ... eighteen is too young for a girl to marry--I +wouldn't allow it at all--if I didn't know who she is getting--that +makes all the difference in the world ... of course her father and +mother may object, but I believe what Pearl says, goes--what Pearl +says will go--with all of us! The Parker house can be bought--and +fixed up ... we'll have a fireplace put in, and waterworks--I wish I +did not feel so tough and tired ... but she said she'd wait a thousand +years!" + +Suddenly the voice of Dr. Brander rasped through his brain, and +brought him to attention: + +"Clay, you're in love, or something--I don't believe you've heard a +word I said, you young scamp, in the last six miles--and you've missed +a fine exposition on cancers--causes and cure." + +"I beg your pardon, Dr. Brander," he apologized, "I believe I was +almost asleep. I get into a drowsy habit on my long drives--especially +when I am coming home--when the days' work is over--it seems good to +stretch out--but I do apologize: What were you saying?" + +"O, I'm done now," said his companion, not in the least disturbed; "I +want you to tell me about yourself and your work here. You know you +interest me, Clay. You are a sort of popular idol with all these +people, and I have been wondering how you do it. A man must give +freely of himself to be as popular as you are, Clay--do you ever find +yourself giving out under the strain, and in need of a rest?" + +"Just a little tired, sometimes," the young man confessed, "but it's +nothing--at all." + +The old man watched him narrowly, taking careful note that the pallor +of his face had suddenly changed to a heightened color. "When we get +supper, Clay, I want to have a serious talk with you. You may remember +that I approached this subject the last time you were in the city. +I want to give you the report on the examination I gave you at that +time." There was a quality in his voice which gave the young man a +momentary sense of dread, not unmixed with a certain impatience. He +was too tired to be bothered. He wanted nothing but a chance to think +his own thoughts, as the sorrel team struck off the miles with their +tireless feet. + +When they had had supper at the Chinese restaurant, they went to the +doctor's office. The sun, though long since set, still threw spikes +of light upon the western sky and caught the under side of one ragged +cloud which seemed to have been forgotten in an otherwise clear sky. + +In the office, a cheerful coal fire glowed through its mica windows, +and in front of the doctor's leather chair, were his slippers, and +over it was thrown a brightly colored house coat. + +A gasoline lamp threw a strong white light on the comfortable room, +and the city papers lay, still unfolded, on the table beside a pile of +letters. + +The old doctor exclaimed with delight: + +"Who fixes you up so fine, Clay--surely there's a woman around this +place!" + +"My landlady"--said the young doctor, "looks after me." + +"I know, I know," said the older man, "I know the kind of fellow you +are--the kind women love to fuss around. I'll bet you get dozens of +bedroom slippers and ties and mufflers at Christmas. Women are like +cats--they love to rub their heads against any one that will stroke +them and say 'poor pussy'--they're all the same." + +The old doctor seated himself in the big chair and warmed his hands +before the glowing coals. + +"And now, Clay, I want to talk to you. There are certain facts that +must be told. I have been interested in your case ever since I met +you. You are a distinct type, with your impulsive temperament, clear +skin and tapering fingers. But what I have to say to you would have +been said easier if I did not know you so well--and if I had not been +here and seen you in your native setting--as it were.... Being +a medical man yourself, Clay, you know the difficulties of the +situation." + +The young doctor sat down suddenly, and smiled wanly: + +"There need be no difficulty, Dr. Brander", he said, "I am ready to +hear ..." he left the sentence unfinished. + +The old doctor went on: + +"There is no immediate cause for alarm," he said, speaking slowly, +"people live for years with it, as you know--a cracked plate sometimes +outlasts the good one--and as a matter of fact none of us are entirely +free from it." + +The old doctor was swaying backwards as he spoke, and his voice rose +and fell with the motion, as the tone of a phonograph when the door is +opened or shut. + +"You will have to be more careful, though, Clay, you will have to call +a halt on your activities--there must be no more of the all night +sessions of yours--and those fifty mile drives--it is just like +this--you are carrying a mortgage on your business--a heavy +mortgage--and yet one that the business can carry--with care, great +care. Many a good business man carries a heavy mortgage and pays well +too, but of course it cannot stand financial strain or stress like the +business which is clear of debt. With great care, you should be good +for many years--but you must not draw on your reserves--you must never +spend your capital--you must never be tired, or excited, or hurried, +or worried." + +And this climate is a bit strenuous in winter--you must get out before +another one comes, and live some place that is easier. This country +keeps a man on his toes all the time, with its brilliant sunshine, +its strong winds, its bracing air. You need a softer air, a duller +atmosphere, a sleepier environment that will make you never do today +what you can put off till tomorrow, and never put off till tomorrow +what you might as well put off till the day after tomorrow." + +"What a life!" broke from the young man's lips. + +"A very fascinating life, my dear sir," said the old doctor, intoning +his words like a very young clergyman--"a fascinating life, and one +that I would enjoy. Here we hurry up in the morning and hurry to bed +at night so we can hurry to get up again in the morning--we chase +ourselves around like a cat in the ancient pursuit of its own tail, +and with about the same results. The Western mind is in a panic all +the time--losing time by the fear of losing time. The delights of +mediation are not ours--we are pursued, even as we pursue; we are the +chasers and the chased; the hunter and the hunted; we are spending and +the spent; we are borrowed and lent--and what is the good of it all? I +have always wanted to be an Oriental, dreaming in the shade of a palm +tree, letting the sun and the wind ripen my fruits and my brain, while +I sat--with never a care--king of the earth--and the air--O, take it +from me, young fellow, there are wonderful delights in contemplation, +delights of which we are as ignorant as the color blind are of the +changing hues of the Autumn woods, or the deaf man is of music. We are +deaf, blind and dumb about the things of the soul! We think activity +is the only form of growth." + +The young doctor, whose handsome face had grown pale, watched him with +a sort of fascination. The words seemed to roll from his lips without +the slightest effort, and apparently without causing his heart one +emotion. If the young doctor had not known him so well, he would have +thought him entirely unconcerned: + +"We are cursed, you and I, and all of us," he resumed, with too much +activity. We are obscessed with a passion for material achievement! We +are hand-worshippers--leg-worshippers--speed-worshippers. We mistake +activity for progress." + +"But it is progress," burst from the young man, "activity does bring +achievement--development." + +The door of the office opened suddenly, and two young fellows rushed +in. + +"Are you coming to the lacrosse meeting, Doc,--we are going to +organize, and we want you for President again, of course." + +Then, seeing the city doctor, whom they recognized,-- + +"Excuse the interruption, but we can't get on without Dr. Clay, he's +the whole works of the lacrosse team." + +"I will not be able to go over tonight, boys," said the Doctor, "but +you'll get on all right. You are getting to work pretty early--this is +the first fine day." + +When the lacrosse boys had gone, Dr. Clay finished his argument: + +"These fellows prove what I was saying. When I came here six years +ago, there was not even a baseball team in the place--the young +fellows gathered on street corners in summer, loafing and +idling, revelling in crazy, foolish degrading stories--absolute +degenerations--now see them--on the tail of a blizzard, they dig out +their lacrosse sticks and start the game on the second fine day. +From the time the hockey is over now, until hockey time again--these +fellows talk and dream lacrosse, and a decenter, cleaner lot of lads +you won't find anywhere. Activity has saved them--activity _is_ +growth, it is life--it is everything!" + +The old man shook his head slowly: + +"They are not saved, my dear boy--none of us are--who depend on +outward things for your happiness. Outward things change--vanish. +'As a man thinketh in his heart--so is he!'--that is the secret of +triumphant living. As a man thinketh. These fellows of yours--for I +know this lacrosse team has been one of the many ways you took of +sapping your energy--do not think. They play, run, scrap, cheer, but +there's no meditation--no turning inward of the thoughts, no mental +progress. + +"It would not be natural for growing boys, alive to their fingertips, +to sit yapping like lazy collie dogs, just thinking," said the young +doctor heatedly. "They want avenues of self-expression, and in +lacrosse and hockey they find it." + +"Artificial aids to happiness--every one of them--crutches for lame +souls--the Kingdom of Heaven is within you," the old doctor rambled +on, "but it is all a part of this great new country--this big west is +new and crude and distinct--only the primary colors are used in the +picture, there are no half tones, no shadows, and above all--or +perhaps I should say behind all--no background. A thing is good or +bad--black or white--blue or red. We are mostly posters here in this +great big, dazzling country." + +In the silence that fell on them, the young man's mind went limping +back to the old doctor's first words--the dreadful, fateful, +significant words. He had said it--said the thing that if it were true +would exile him from the world he loved! On him the ban had fallen! + +"I suppose," said he, standing behind his chair, whose back he held +with nervous fingers, "there is no chance that you might be mistaken. +It is hard for me to believe this. I am so strong--so well--so much +alive, except my cough--I am as well as ever I was, and the cough is a +simple thing--this seems impossible to me!" + +The old doctor had gone to the window to watch the throng of boys +and girls who raced past on their way to the hill for an evening's +sleigh-ride. + +"It always seems impossible," he said, with the air of a man who is +totally disassociated from human affairs, and is simply stating an +interesting fact, "that is part of the disease, and a very attractive +part too. The people who have it, never think they have--even to the +last they are hopeful--and sure they will be better tomorrow. No, I am +afraid I am not mistaken. You know yourself the theory Clay, of the +two sets of microbes, the builders and the destroyers. Just at the +present moment, the destroyers have the best of it--they have put one +over on the builders--but that does not say that the good microbes are +not working--and may yet win. You are young, buoyant, happy, hopeful, +temperate in your habits--all of which gives you a better chance--if +you will throw the weight of your influence on the side of the +builders--there is a good chance of winning--I should think with your +Irish blood you would enjoy the fight, Clay." + +The young doctor turned around suddenly and threw back his head, with +an impatient gesture. + +"I love a fight, Dr. Brander, but it has to be of something worth +while. I have fought for the life of a man, a woman, a child, and I +have fought joyfully--for life is sweet, and I desired it for these +people, believing it to be a good gift. But in the fight you outline +for me, I see nothing to fire man's heart. I won't fight for life if +it means just breathing and scraping along at a poor, dying rate, +cheating the undertaker of a nice little piece of legitimate +business--I can't grow enthusiastic over the prospect of +always thinking about myself--and my rest--and my sleep--or my +clothes--always looking for a draught or fleeing from the night air or +a thunderstorm--never able to do a man's job or a day's work. I can't +do it, Dr. Brander, and you couldn't do it. It's a poor, miserable, +dull existence, unhappy for me, and no service to any one." + +Two red spots burned in his cheeks, and the old doctor, noticing them, +wished again that he had come to see him sooner. + +"See here, Clay," he said, sitting down again, with his hands spread +out on his knees, "you exaggerate this thing. You do not think you +are working unless you are slaving and owling around all hours of the +night, setting bones and pulling teeth, or ushering into this wicked +world sundry squalling babies who never asked to come, and do not like +it now they are here. You have been as strong as an ox, and keen as +a race-horse, now you have to slow up--you have to get out of this +country before another winter, and when you come back in Spring you +can go on with your patients--always with care." + +The young doctor surveyed him with curling lip. + +"Resume my practice," he said, "how simple. Send word ahead, I +suppose, by circular letter-- + +"'Dear Friends, I will be with you May 1st, to attend to your medical +needs. Save your appendicitis and neuralgia and broken bones for +me. Medical season opens for business May 1st, every one welcome'. +Something like that ought to be sufficient to hold my practice. It has +always seemed to me very inconsiderate for people to get sick in +the winter, and certainly it is no time for infants to begin their +career.... Now, see here, Dr. Brander, I appreciate all you say. I +know why you are talking this way to me. It is out of the kindness +of your heart--for you have a soft old heart behind all that +professionalism. But it does not look reasonable to me that a man who +has really lived, can ever drag along like you say. Who wants to live, +anyway, beyond the time of usefulness? I don't. I want to pass out +like old Prince--you remember my good old roan pacer, do you?" + +"That red-eyed old anarchist of yours that no one could harness but +you?" + +"That's the one--as good a horse as ever breathed--misunderstood, that +was all--well, he passed on, as the scientists say, last Fall, passed +on in a blaze of glory too, but just how glorious his death was, I +don't believe I realized until tonight. + +"How did it happen?" + +"I had a thirty mile drive to see Mrs. Porter, at Pigeon Lake--and +just as I was about to start, another message came that it was very +urgent if her life was to be saved. Old Prince would not drive +double--and my team was tired out. So I started with him alone. The +snow came on when I was half way there, and that made the going +bad--to add to the difficulties, a strong wind drove the blinding +snow in our faces. But the old boy ploughed on like a wrecking +engine--going out in a storm to clear the track. He knew all about it, +I never had to urge him. The last mile was the worst--he fell once, +but staggered to his feet and went on, on three legs.... When we got +to the house, I knew it was all up with old Prince--he had made his +last journey." + +"But he was still living when I came out to see him four hours later. +The men had put him in a box stall, and had done all they could, but +his eyes were rolling, and his heart missed every fourth beat." + +"The two little girls came out and cried over him, and told him he had +saved their mother's life, and tried to get him to eat sugar lumps ... +and--right to the last there was the same proud look in his red eyes, +and he gave me a sort of wink which let me know it was all right--he +didn't blame me or any one--and so I kissed him once, on the white +star on his honest forehead, and I put my left arm around his head so +he couldn't see what was coming, and sent a bullet through his brain." + +"We buried him on the hillside overlooking the lake, and the little +girls put a slab up over him, which says: + + "Prince of the house of Clay + Who saved our mother's life, + Lies here in peace, and lives + In grateful memory in our hearts." + +There was a silence, in which each man's mind went back to the one +overwhelming thought--that bound them so close together. + +Then the young doctor said slowly: "If what you say is true, I envy +Prince--and would gladly change places with him." + +The old man recovered himself in a moment: "You take things too +seriously, Clay," he said quickly: "be glad you are not married. A +wife and children clutter up a man's affairs at a time like this--you +are quite free from family ties, I believe?" + +"Quite free," the young man replied, "all my relatives live in the +East, all able to look after themselves. I have no person depending on +me--financially, I mean." + +"Marriage," began the old doctor, in his most professional tone, as +one who reads from a manuscript, "is one-fourth joy and three-fourths +disappointment. There is no love strong enough to stand the grind of +domestic life. Marriage would be highly successful were it not for the +fearful bore of living together. Two houses, and a complete set of +servants would make marriage practically free from disappointments. +I think Saint Paul was right when he advised men to remain single if +they had serious work to do. Women, the best of them, grow tiresome +and double-chinned in time." + +The young doctor laughed his own big, hearty laugh, the laugh which +his devoted patients said did them more good than his medicine. + +"I like that," he said, "a man with a forty-two waist measure, wearing +an eighteen inch collar, finding fault with a woman's double chin. You +are not such a raving beauty yourself." + +The old man interrupted him: + +"I do not need to be. I am a doctor, a prescriber of pills, a mender +of bones, a plumber of pipes ... my work does not call for beauty. +Beauty is an embarrassment to a doctor. You would be happier, young +fellow, without that wavy brown hair and those big eyes of yours, with +their long lashes. A man is built for work, like a truck. Gold and +leather upholstering do not belong there. Women are different; it is +their place in life to be beautiful, and when they fail in that, they +fail entirely. They have no license to be fat, flabby double-chinned, +flat-footed. It is not seemly, and of course you cannot tell how any +of them may turn out. They are all pretty at sixteen. That is what +makes marriage such a lottery." + +"I don't agree with you at all," said his companion, "it is absurd to +expect a woman of fifty to have the slim grace of a girl of eighteen. +My mother was a big woman, and I always thought her very beautiful. +I think you have a pagan way of looking at marriage. Marriage is a +mutual agreement, for mutual benefit and comfort, for sympathy and +companionship. Family life develops the better side of human nature, +and casts out selfishness. Many a man has found himself when he gets a +wife, and in the caring for his children has thrown off the shackels +of selfishness. People only live when they can forget themselves, for +selfishness is death. Your a great doctor, Dr. Brander, but a poor +philosopher." + +The older man smiled grimly. + +"See here, Clay," he said, "did you ever think of how nature fools us +poor dupes? Nature, old Dame Nature, has one object, and that is to +people the earth--and to this end she shapes all her plans. She makes +women beautiful, graceful, attractive and gives them the instinct to +dress in a way that will attract men. Makes them smaller and weaker +than men, too, which also makes its appeal. Why, if I hadn't watched +my step, I'd been married a dozen times. These little frilled and +powdered vixens have nearly got me.... If nature used half as much +care in keeping people healthy and free from accidents, as she does +in getting them here--it would be a happier world. But that is not +nature's concern--She leaves that to the doctors!" + +"Well, how does the time go? Isn't that the train whistle?" + +"No hurry," said Dr. Clay, rising, "it stops at the water-tank, and +that whistle is for the hill." + +They walked over to the station in silence, and stood watching the red +eye that came gliding through the moonlit valley. The train seemed to +be slipping in to the station without a sound, in the hope that no one +would notice how late it was. + +"Come up and see me, Clay," said the old man kindly. "I want to give +you a thorough examination--and I will expect you in a week--we'll +talk things over, and see what is best. You have my bag, don't bother +coming on--all right then--here's a double seat--so I can stretch +out--though it's hardly worth while for an hour. Goodbye Clay, +remember all I told you!" + +When the doctor went back to his office, he sat long in his chair in +front of the fire, and thought. The place was the same--the cheerful +fire--the rows of books--the Fathers of Confederation picture on +the wall--and his college group. Everything was the same as it had +been--only himself. Everything in the room was strong, durable, almost +everlasting, able to resist time and wear. He was the only perishable +thing, it seemed. + +He wondered how people act when confronted by the ruin of their hopes. +Do they rave and curse and cry aloud? He could not think clearly--his +mind seemed to avoid the real issue and refuse to strike on the sore +place, and he thought of all sorts of other things. + +The permanence--the dreadful permanence of everything in the room +seemed to oppress him. "Man is mortal," he said, "his possessions +outlive him every last one of these things is more durable than I am". +The gray wall of the office--so strong and lasting--what chance had +an army of microbes against it--the heavy front door, with its cherry +panels and brass fittings, had no fear of draughts or cold. It had +limitless resistance. The stocky stove, on its four squat legs, could +hold its own and snap its fingers at time. They were all so arrogantly +indestructible, so fearfully permanent--they had no sympathy, no +common meeting ground with him. + +A knock sounded on the door, and when he opened it, the station agent +was there, with a long box in his hand. + +"It's marked 'Rush,' so I thought I had better shoot it over to you, +Doc," he said. + +"Thanks, old man," the Doctor said mechanically, and put the box down +on the table. On a white label, in bright red letters, stood out the +word 'Perishable.' + +The word struck him like a blow between the eyes. "Perishable!" Then +here was something to which he might feel akin. He opened the box, +with detached interest. A sweet breath of roses proclaimed the +contents. He had forgotten about sending for them until now--Pearl's +roses for this day--nineteen American Beauties! + +He carefully unpacked the wrapping, and held up the sheaf of +loveliness, and just for one moment had the thrill of joy that beauty +had always brought to him. Pearl's roses! The roses, with which he +had hoped to say what was in his heart--here they were, in all their +exquisite loveliness, and ready to carry the words of love and hope +and tenderness--but now ... he had nothing to say ... love and +marriage were not for him! + +He sat down heavily, beside the table over which the roses lay +scattered, spilling their perfume in the room. + +He fingered them lovingly, smoothing their velvety petals with a +tender hand, while his mind sought in vain to readjust itself to the +change the last two hours had brought. + +He turned again to the fire, which glowed with blue and purple lights +behind the windows of isinglass, curling and flaming and twisting, +with fascinating brilliance. Long he sat, watching it, while the +sounds outside in the street grew less and less, and at last when he +went to the window, he found the street in darkness and in silence. +The moon had set, and his watch told him it was two o'clock. + +The wind whimpered in the chimney like a lonesome puppy, rising and +falling, cying out and swelling with eerie rhythm; a soft spring wind, +he knew it was, that seemed to catch its breath like a thing in pain. + +Looking again at the roses, he noticed that the leaves were drooping. +He hastily went into the dispensary and brought out two graduates +filled with water to put them in; but when he lifted them--he +saw, with poignant pain--they were gone past helping--they were +frost-bitten. + +Then it was that he gathered them in his arms, with sudden passion, +and as he sat through the long night, he held them closely to him, for +kin of his they surely were--these frosted roses, on whose fragrant +young hearts the blight had so prematurely fallen! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +TANGLED THREADS + + +At daybreak, when the light from the eastern sky came in blue at the +window blind, and the gasoline lamp grew sickly and pale, the doctor +went to bed. He had thought it all out and outlined his course of +action. + +He did not doubt the old doctor's word; his own knowledge gave +corroborative evidence that it was quite true, and he wondered he had +not thought of it. Still, there was something left for him to do. He +would play up and play the game, even if it were a losing fight. His +own house had fallen, but it would be his part now to see that the +minimum amount of pain would come to Pearl over it. She was young, +and had all the world before her--she would forget. He had a curious +shrinking from having her know that he had the disease, for like most +doctors, he loathed the thought of disease, and had often quoted +to his patients in urging them to obey the laws of physiological +righteousness, the words of Elbert Hubbard that "The time would come +when people would feel more disgrace at being found in a hospital than +in a jail, for jails were for those who broke men's laws, but those in +the hospital had broken the laws of God!" + +He shuddered now when he thought of it, it all seemed so +unnecessary--so wantonly cruel--so so inexplicable. + +Above all, Pearl must not know, for instinctively he felt that if she +knew he was a sick man, she would marry him straight away--she would +be so sweet about it all, and so hopeful and sure he would get well, +and such a wonderfully skilful and tender nurse, that he would surely +get well. For one blissful but weak moment, which while it thrilled +it frightened him still more--he allowed himself to think it would be +best to tell her. Just for one weak moment the thought came--to be +banished forever from his mind. No! No! No! disaster had come to him, +but Pearl would not be made to suffer, she would not be involved in +any way. + +But just what attitude to take, perplexed him. Those big, soft brown +eyes of hers would see through any lie he tried to invent, and he +was but a poor liar anyway. What could he tell Pearl? He would +temporize--he would stall for time. She was too young--she had seen so +little of the world--it would be hard to wait--he believed he could +take that line with her--he would try it. + +When he awakened, the sun was shining in the room, with a real spring +warmth that just for a minute filled him with gladness and a sense of +wellbeing. Then he remembered, and a groan burst from his lips. + +The telephone rang: + +Reaching out, he seized it and answered. + +"It's me," said a voice, "It's Pearl! I am coming in--I know you're +tired after yesterday, and you need a long sleep--so don't disturb +yourself--I'll be in about two o'clock--just when the sun is +brightest--didn't I tell you it would be finer still today?" + +"You surely did, Pearl," he answered, "however you knew." + +"I'm not coming just to see you--ma wants a new strainer, and Bugsey +needs boots, and Mary has to have another hank of yarn to finish the +sweater she's knitting--these are all very urgent, and I'll get them +attended to first, and then...." + +She paused: + +"Then you'll come and see me, Pearl"--he finished, "and we'll have the +meeting which we adjourned three years ago--to meet yesterday." + +"That's it," she said, "and goodbye until then." + +He looked at his watch, it was just ten--there was yet time. + +Reaching for the telephone, he called long distance, Brandon. "Give me +Orchard's greenhouses," he said. + +After a pause he got the wire: + +"Send me a dozen and a half--no, nineteen--American Beauty roses on +today's train, without fail. This is Dr. Clay of Millford talking." + +He put back the telephone, and lay back with a whimsical smile, +twisting his mouth. "The frosted ones are mine," he said to himself, +"there will be no blight or spot or blemish on Pearl's roses." + +It was quite like Pearl to walk into the doctors' office without +embarrassment. It was also like her to come at the exact hour she had +stated in her telephone message--and to the man who sat waiting for +her, with a heart of lead, she seemed to bring the whole sunshine of +Spring with her. + +Ordinarily, Dr. Clay did not notice what women wore, they all looked +about the same to him--but he noticed that Pearl's gray coat and furs +just needed the touch of crimson which her tam o'shanter and gloves +supplied, and which seemed to carry out the color in her glowing +cheeks. She looked like a red apple in her wholesomeness. + +He had tried to get the grittiness of the sleepless night out of his +eyes, and had shaved and dressed himself with the greatest care, +telling himself it did not matter--but the good habit was deeply +fastened on him and could not be set aside. + +There was nothing about the well-dressed young man, with his carefully +brushed hair and splendid color, to suggest disease. Pearl's eyes +approved of each detail, from the way his hair waved and parted back; +the dull gold and purple tie, which seemed to bring out the bronze +tones in his hair and the steely gray of his eyes; the well-cut +business suit of rough brown tweed, with glints of green and bronze, +down to the dark brown, well-polished boots. + +Pearl was always proud of him; it glowed in her eyes again today, +and again he felt it, warming his heart and giving him the sense of +well-being which Pearl's presence always brought. All at once he felt +rested and full of energy. + +When the first greetings were over, and Pearl had seated herself, at +his invitation, in the big chair, he said, laughing: + +"'Tis a fine day, Miss Watson." + +"It is that!" said Pearl, with her richest brogue, which he had often +told her he hoped she would never lose. + +"And you are eighteen years old now," he said, in the same tone. + +"Eighteen, going on nineteen," she corrected gaily. + +"All right, eighteen--going on--nineteen. Three years ago there was a +little bargain made between us--without witnesses, that we would defer +all that was in our minds for three years--we'd give the matter a +three years' hoist--and then take it up just where we left it!" + +She nodded, without speaking. + +"Now I have thought about it a lot," he went on, "indeed I do not +think a day has gone by without my thinking of it, and incidentally, +I have thought of myself and my belongings. I wish to draw your +attention to them--I am twenty-nine years old--I've got a ten years' +start of you, and I will always expect to be treated with respect on +account of my years--that's clearly understood, is it?" + +He was struggling to get himself in hand. + +"Clearly understood," she repeated, with her eyes on him in +unmistakable adoration. + +"Six years ago," he seemed to begin all over gain--"I came out of +college, with all sorts of fine theories, just bubbling over with +enthusiasm, much the same as you are now, fresh from Normal, but +somehow they have mostly flattened out, and now I find myself settling +down to the prosy life of a country doctor, who feeds his own horses +and blackens his own boots, and discusses politics with the retired +farmers who gather in the hardware store. I catch myself at it quite +often. Old Bob Johnson and I are quite decided there will be a war +with Germany before many years. We don't stop at Canadian affairs--the +world is not too wide for us! Yes, Pearl, here I am, a country doctor, +with an office in need of paint--a very good medical library--in need +of reading--a very common-place, second-rate doctor--who will never +be a great success, who will just continue to grub along. With you, +Pearl, it is different. You have ambition, brains--and something about +you that will carry you far--I always knew it--and am so glad that at +the Normal they recognized your ability." + +A puzzled look dimmed the brightness of her eyes just for a moment, +and the doctor stumbled on. + +"I am all right, as far as I go--but there's not enough of me--I'm not +big enough for you, Pearl." + +Pearl's eyes danced again, as she looked him up and down, and he +laughed in spite of himself. + +"For goodness sake, girl," he cried, "don't look at me, you make me +forget what I was saying--I can't think, when you train those eyes of +yours on me." + +Pearl obediently turned her head away, but he could still see the +dimple in her cheeks. + +"I have had a long fight with myself, Pearl," and now that he was back +to the truth, his voice had its old mellowness that swept her heart +with tenderness--"a long fight--and it is not over yet. I'm selfish +enough to want you---that is about 99.9% of me is selfish, the other +infinitesimal part cries out for me to play the man--and do the square +thing--I am making a bad job of this, but maybe you understand." + +He came over and turned her head around until she faced him. + +"I have begun at the wrong end of this, dear, I talk as if you had +said--you cared--I have no right to think you do. I should remember +you are only a child--and haven't thought about--things like this!" + +"O, haven't I, though," she cried eagerly. "I've been thinking--all +the time--I've never stopped thinking--I've had the loveliest time +thinking." + +The doctor went on in a measured tone, as one who must say the words +he hates to utter. All the color had gone from his voice, all the +flexibility. It was as hard as steel now, and as colorless as a dusty +road. + +"Pearl, I am going to say what I should say, not what I want to +say.... Supposing I did induce you to marry me now. Suppose I could +... in ten years from now, when you are a woman grown, you might +hate me for taking advantage of your youth, your inexperience, your +childish fancy for me--I am not prepared to take that risk--it would +be a criminal thing to run any chances of spoiling a life like yours." + +Her eyes looked straight into his, and there was a little muttered cry +in them that smote his heart with pity. He had seen it in the faces of +little children, his patients, who, though hurt, would not cry. + +"And I am selfish enough to hope that in a few years, when you are old +enough to choose, you will think of what I am doing now, and know the +sacrifice I am making, and come to me of your own free will--no, I did +not intend to say that--I do not mean what I said--the world is yours, +Pearl, to choose as you will--I have no claim on you! You start fair." + +Pearl's cheeks had lost a little of their rosy glow, and her face +had taken on a cream whiteness. She stood up and looked at him, with +widely opened eyes. A girl of smaller soul might have misunderstood +him, and attributed to him some other motive. Though Pearl did not +agree with him, she believed every word he had said. + +"Supposing," she said eagerly, "that I do not want to start +fair--and don't want to be free to choose--supposing I have made my +choice--supposing I understand you better than you do yourself, and +tell you now that you are not a second-hand doctor--that you are a sun +and a shield to this little town and country, just as you have been to +me--you bring health and courage by your presence--the people love and +trust you--suppose I remind you that you are not only a doctor, +but the one that settles their quarrels and puts terror into the +evil-doer. Who was it that put the fear into Bill Plunkett when he +blackened his wife's eyes, and who was it that brought in the two +children from the Settlement, that were abused by their step-father, +and took the old ruffian's guns away from him and marched him in too! +That's a job for a second-rate doctor, isn't it? I hear the people +talking about you, and I have to turn my back for fear they hear my +eyes shouting out, 'That's my man you're praising' and here he is, +telling me he is a second-rate doctor! Is that what you were when the +fever was so bad, and all the Clarke's had it at once, and you nursed +six of them through it? Mrs. Clarke says the only undressing you did +was to loosen your shoe-laces!" + +"Don't you see--I know you better than you do yourself. You don't see +how big your work is. Is it a small thing to live six years in a place +and have every one depending on you, praising you--loving you--and +being able to advise them and lead the young fellows anyway you +like--making men of them, instead of street loafers--and their mothers +so thankful they can hardly speak of it." + +"You evidently don't know what we think of you, any of us--and here +I am--I don't know when it began with me--the first day I saw you--I +think, when I was twelve--I've been worshipping you and treasuring up +every word you ever said to me. I don't know whether it is love or +not, it's something very sweet. It has made me ambitious to look my +best, do my best and be my best. I want to make you proud of me--I +will make you proud of me--see if I don't--I want to be with you, to +help you, look after you--grow up with you--I don't know whether it is +love or not--it--is something! There is nothing too hard for me to do, +if it is for you--everything--any thing would be sweet to me--if you +were with me. Is that love?" + +She was standing before him, holding his hand in both of hers, and her +eyes had the light in them, the tender, glowing light that seemed to +flame blue at the edges, like the coal fire he had watched the night +before. + +Impulsively he drew her to him, and for a moment buried his face in +her warm, white neck, kissing the curling strands of her brown hair. + +"O Pearl," he cried, drawing away from her, "O Pearl--you're a hard +girl to give up--you make me forget all my good resolutions. I don't +want to do what I ought to do. I just want you." + +There was a smothered cry in his voice that smote on Pearl's heart +with a sudden fear. Mothers know the different notes in their +children's cries--and in Pearl, the maternal instinct was strong. + +She suddenly understood. He was suffering, there was a bar between +them--for some reason, he could not marry her! + +She grew years older, it seemed, in a moment, and the thought that +came into her brain, clamoring to be heard, exultantly, insistently +knocking for admission, was this--her mother's pessimistic way of +looking at life was right--there were things too good to be true--she +had been too sure of her happiness. The thought, like cold steel, lay +against her heart and dulled its beating. But the pain in his eyes +must be comforted. She stood up, and gravely took the hand he held out +to her. + +"Doctor," she said steadily, "you are right, quite right, about +this--a girl of eighteen does not know her own mind--it is too serious +a matter--life is too long--I--I think I love you--I mean I thought I +did--I know I like to be with you--and---all that--but I'm too young +to be sure--and I'll get over this all right. You're right in all you +say--and it's a good thing you are so wise about this--we might have +made a bad mistake--that would have brought us unhappiness. But it has +been sweet all the time, and I'm not sorry--we'll just say no more +about it now and don't let it worry you--I can stand anything--if +you're not worried." + +He looked at her in amazement--and not being as quick as she, her +words deceived him, and there was not a quiver on her lips, as she +said: + +"I'll go now, doctor, and we'll just forget what we were saying--they +were foolish words. I'm thinking of going North to teach--one of the +inspectors wrote me about a school there. I just got his letter today, +and he asked me to wire him--I'll be back at the holidays." + +She put the red tam on her brown hair, tucking up the loose strands, +in front of the glass, as she spoke. Manlike, he did not see that her +hands trembled, and her face had gone white. He sat looking at her in +deep admiration. + +"What a woman you are, Pearl," broke from his lips. + +She could not trust herself to shake hands, or even look at him. Her +one hope was to get away before her mask of unconcern broke into a +thousand pieces by the pounding of her heart, which urged her to throw +her arms around him and beg him to tell her what was really wrong--oh, +why wouldn't he tell her! + +"You'll think of this dear," he said, "in a few years when you are, I +hope, happily married to the man of your choice, and you will have a +kindly thought for me, and know I was not a bad sort--you'll remember +every word of this Pearl, and you will understand that what is +strange to you now--and you will perhaps think of me--and if not with +pleasure, it will at least be without pain." + +He wanted to give her the roses, which had come just a few moments +before she came in, but somehow he could not frame a casual word of +greeting. He would send them to her. + +She was going now. + +"Pearl, dearest Pearl," he cried "I cannot let you go like this--and +yet--it's best for both of us." + +"Sure it is," she said, smiling tightly, to keep her lips from +quivering. "I'm feeling fine over it all." The pain in his voice made +her play up to her part. + +"I can't even kiss you, dear,'" he said. "I don't want you to have one +bitter memory of this. I want you to know I was square--and loved you +too well to take the kiss, which in after life might sting your face +when you thought that I took advantage of your youth. A young girl's +first kiss is too sacred a thing." + +Suddenly Pearl's resolution broke down. It was the drawn look in his +face, and its strange pallor. + +She reached up and kissed his cheek. + +"A little dab of a kiss like that won't leave a sting on any one's +face," she said. + +She was gone! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WHERE MRS. CROCKS THREW THE SWITCH + + +When Pearl came out of the doctor's office into the sunshine of the +village street, she had but one thought--one overwhelming desire, +expressed in the way she held her head, and the firm beat of her +low-heeled shoes on the sidewalk--she must get away where she would +not see him or the people she knew. She realized that whatever it was +that had come between them was painful to him, and that he really +cared for her. To see her, would be hard on him, embarrassing to them +both, and she would do her share by going away--and she remembered, +with a fresh pang--that when she had spoken of this, he had made no +objection, thus confirming her decision that for her to go would be +the best way. + +The three glorious years, so full of hopes and dreams, were over! +Pearl's house of hopes had fallen! All was over! And it was not his +fault--he was not to blame. Instinctively, Pearl defended him in her +mind against a clamorous sense of injustice which told her that she +had not had a square deal! The pity of it all was what choked her and +threatened to storm her well guarded magazine of self-control! It was +all so sudden, so mysterious and queer, and yet, she instinctively +felt, so inexorable! + +Pearl had always been scornful of the tears of lovelorn maidens, and +when in one of her literature lessons at the Normal, the sad journey +of the lily-maid on her barge of black samite, floating down the +river, so dead and beautiful, with the smile on her face and the lily +in her hand, reduced form A to a common denominator of tears, and +made the whole room look like a Chautauqua salute, Pearl had stoutly +declared that if Elaine had played basketball or hockey instead +of sitting humped up on a pile of cushions in her eastern tower, +broidering the sleeve of pearls so many hours a day, she wouldn't have +died so easily nor have found so much pleasure in arranging her own +funeral. + +But on this bright March day, the village street seemed strangely dull +and dead to her, with an empty sound like a phone that has lost its +connection. Something had gone from her little world, leaving it +motionless, weary and old! A row of icicles hung from the roof of the +corner store, irregular and stained from the shingles above, like an +ugly set of ill-kept teeth, dripping disconsolately on the sidewalk +below, and making there a bumpy blotch of unsightly ice! + +In front of the store stood the delivery sleigh, receiving its load +of parcels, which were thrown in with an air of unconcern by a blocky +young man with bare red hands. The horse stood without being tied, in +an apparently listless and melancholy dream. A red and white cow +came out of the lane and attempted to cross the slippery sidewalk, +sprawling helplessly for a moment, and then with a great effort +recovered herself and went back the way she came, limping painfully, +the blocky young man hastening her movements by throwing at her a +piece of box lid, with the remark that that would "learn her." + +The sunshine so brilliant and keen, had a cold and merciless tang in +it, and a busy-body look about it, as if it delighted in shining into +forbidden corners and tearing away the covers that people put on their +sorrows, calling all the world to come and see! Pearl shuddered with +the sudden realization that the sun could shine and the wind could +blow bright and gay as ever, though hearts were writhing in agony! + +She hoped she would not see any of the people she knew, for the pain +that lay like a band of ice around her heart might be showing in her +face--and Pearl knew that the one thing she could not stand was a word +of sympathy. That would be fatal. So she hurried on. She would send a +wire of acceptance to her inspector friend, and then go over to the +stable for her horse, and be on her way home. + +But there is something whimsical about fate. It takes a hand in our +affairs without apology, and throws a switch at the last moment. If +Pearl had not met Mrs. Crocks at the corner, just before she took the +street to the station, this would have been a different story. But who +knows? We never get a chance to try the other way, and it is best and +wisest and easiest of comprehension to believe that whatever is, is +best! + +Mrs. Crocks was easily the best informed person regarding local +happenings, in the small town of Millford. She really knew. Every +community has its unlicensed and unauthorized gossips, who think they +know what their neighbors are thinking and doing, but who more often +than not get their data wrong, and are always careless of detail. Mrs. +Crocks was not one of these. + +When Bill Cavers got drunk, and spent in one grand, roaring spree all +the money which he and his wife and Libby Anne had saved for their +trip to Ontario, there were those who said that he went through six +hundred dollars that one night, making a rough guess at the amount. +Mrs. Crocks did not use any such amateur and unsatisfactory way of +arriving at conclusions. She did not need to--there was a way of +finding out! To the elevator she went, and looked at the books under +cover of looking up a wheat ticket which her husband had cashed and +found that Bill Cavers had marketed seventeen hundred and eight +dollars worth of wheat. From this he had paid his store bill, and the +blacksmith's bill, which when deducted, left him eight hundred and +fourteen dollars--she did not bother with the cents. The deductions +were easily verified--both the storekeeper and the blacksmith were +married men! + +This was the method she followed in all her research--careful, +laborious and accurate at all costs, with a fine contempt for her less +scientific contemporaries. The really high spots in her life had been +when she was able to cover her competitors with confusion by showing +that their facts were all wrong, which process she referred to as +"showing up these idle gossips." + +James Crocks, her husband, had chosen for himself a gentler avocation +than his wife's, and one which brought him greater peace of +mind--proprietor of the big red stable which spread itself over half a +block, he had unconsciously defined himself, as well as his place of +business, by having printed in huge white letters with black edging +across the shingled roof, the words: + +"HORSE REPOSITORY" PROP.J. CROCKS. + +Here the tired horses could forget the long trail and the heavy loads, +in the comfortable stalls, with their deep bedding of clean straw; and +here also, James Crocks himself was able to find the cheerful company, +who ate their meals in quietude of heart, asking no questions, +imputing no motives, knowing nothing of human intrigue, and above +all, never, never insisting that he tell them what he thought about +anything! Most of his waking hours were spent here, where he found the +gentle sounds of feeding horses, the honest smell of prairie hay and +the blessed absence of human chatter very soothing and restful. + +As time went on, and James Crocks grew more and more averse to human +speech--having seen it cause so much trouble one way'n another, Mrs. +Crocks found it was an economy of effort to board one of the stable +boys, and that is how it came about that Mr. Bertie Peters found +himself called from the hay-mow above the stable, to his proprietors' +guest chamber, and all the comforts of a home, including nightly +portions of raisin pie--and best of all, an interested and +appreciative audience who liked to hear him talk. Mrs. Crocks as usual +had made a good choice, for as Bertie talked all the time, he was sure +to say something once in a while. A cynical teacher had once said of +Bertie, that he never had an "unuttered thought." + +But even though the livery stable happenings as related by Bertie gave +Mrs. Crocks many avenues of information, all of her prescience could +not be explained through that or any other human agency. The young +doctor declared she had the gift or divination, was a mind reader, and +could see in the dark! Many a time when he had gone quietly to the +stable and taken out his team without as much as causing a dog to +bark, removing his sleigh bells to further cover his movements, and +stealing out of town like an absconding bank-teller, to make a call, +returning the same way, still under cover of night, and flattering +himself that he had fooled her this time, she would be waiting for +him, and timed her call to the exact minute. Just as he got in to his +room after putting his team away, his phone would ring and Mrs. Crocks +would ask him about the patient he had been to see. She did not always +call him, of course, but he felt she knew where he had been. There was +no explanation--it was a gift! + +Pearl had been rather a favorite with Mrs. Crocks when the Watsons +family lived in Millford, but since they had gone to the farm and +prosperity had come to them as evidenced by their better clothes, +their enlarged house, their happier faces, and more particularly +Pearl's success in her school work in the city, all of which had +appeared in the local paper, for the editor was enthusiastic for his +own town--Mrs. Crock's friendly attitude had suffered a change. She +could put up with almost anything in her friends, but success! + +But when she met Pearl on the street that day, her manner was +friendly. + +"Hello stranger," she said, "I hear you have been doing big things +down there in the city, winnin' debates and makin' speeches. Good for +you, Pearl--I always said you were a smart girl, even when your people +were as poor as get-out. I could see it in you--but don't let it spoil +you, Pearl--and don't ever forget you are just a country girl. But I +am certainly glad you did so well--for your mother's sake--many a time +I was dead sorry for her having to work so hard! It's a comfort to her +now to see you doin' so well. Where have been now? I saw you comin' +out of the doctor's office just now--anybody sick? You're not looking +as pert as usual yourself--you haven't been powdering' your face, I +hope! No one sick, eh? Just a friendly call then, was it? See here, +Pearl--when I was young, girls did not do the chasin', we let the men +do that, and I'm here to tell you it's the best way. And look here, +there's enough girls after Doctor Clay without you--there was a man +from the city telling Bertie at the stable that he seen our doctor in +a box at the Opera with the Senator's daughter two weeks ago, and that +she is fair dippy about him, and now that he is thinking of goin' +into politics, it would be a great chance for him. The other side are +determined to make him run for them against old Steadman, and the old +lady is that mad she won't let his name be mentioned in the house. She +says the country owes it to Mr. Steadman to put him in by acclamation! +And the doctor hasn't accepted it yet. The committee went to see +him yesterday and he turned them down but they won't take no for an +answer, and they asked him to think it over--I suppose he told you all +about it--" + +For the first time Mrs. Crocks stopped for breath. Her beady eyes were +glistening for excitement. Here was a scoop--if Pearl would only tell +her. She would be able to anticipate the doctor's answer. + +"What is he goin' to do, Pearl, I know he would tell you; I have +always said that doctor thinks more of you than he does of any of the +other girls! What did he say about it, will he take it?" + +Pearl was quite herself now--composed, on her guard, even smiling. + +"I think the doctor would prefer to make his own announcement," she +said, "and he will make it to the committee." + +Mrs. Crocks' eyes narrowed darkly, and she breathed heavily in her +excitement. Did Pearl Watson mean to tell her in as many words, to +mind her own business. But in Pearl's face there was no guile, and she +was going on her way. + +"Don't be in a hurry, Pearl," said Mrs. Crocks, "can't you wait a +minute and talk to an old friend. I am sure I do not care a pin +whether the doctor runs or not. I never was one to think that women +should concern themselves with politics--that surely belongs to the +men. I have been a home body all my life, as you know, and of course I +should have known that the doctor would not discuss his business with +a little chit like you--but dear, me, he is one terrible flirt, he +cannot pass a pretty face. Of course now he will settle down no doubt, +every one thinks he will anyway, and marry Miss Keith of Hampton--the +Keith's have plenty of money, though I don't believe that counts as +much with the doctor as family, and of course they have the blue +blood too, and her father being the Senator will help. What! must you +go--you're not half as sociable as you used to be when you brought the +milk every morning to the back door--you sure could talk then, +and tell some of the weirdest things. I always knew you would be +something, but if you freeze up like a clam when you meet old +friends--it does not seem as if education has improved you. Can't you +stay and talk a minute?" + +"I could stay," said Pearl, "and I can still talk, but I have not been +able to talk to you. You see I do not like to interrupt any one so +much older than myself!" + +When Pearl walked away, Mrs. Crocks looked after her with a look of +uncertainty on her face. Pearl's words rang in her ears! + +"She's smart, that kid--she's smart--I'll say that for her. There is +not a man in town who dare look me in the eye and take a rise like +that out of me, but she did it without a flicker. So I know I had her +mad or she wouldn't have said it, but wasn't she smooth about it?" + +Then her professional pride asserted itself, reminding her that a +slight had been put upon her, and her mood changed. + +"Of all the saucy little jades," she said to herself--"with the air of +a duchess, and the fine clothes of her! And to think that her mother +washed for me not so long ago, and that girl came for the clothes and +brought them back again! And now listen to her! You put your foot in +it, Pearl my young lady, when you rubbed Jane Crocks the wrong way, +for people cannot do that and get away with it! And remember I am +telling you." + +When Pearl left Mrs. Crocks standing on the street she walked quickly +to the station, but arriving there with the yellow blank in her hand, +she found her intention of accepting a school in the North had grown +weak and pale. She did not want to go to North, or any place. She +suddenly wanted to stay. She would take a school some place near--and +see what was going to happen; and besides--she suddenly thought of +this--she must not decide on anything until she saw Mr. Donald, her +old teacher, and got his advice. It would not be courteous to do +anything until she saw him, and tomorrow was the day he wanted her to +go to the school to speak to the children. Why, of course, she could +not go---and so Pearl reasoned in that well-known human way of backing +herself up in the thing she wanted to do! So she tore off a couple of +blank forms and put them in her purse, and asked the agent if he knew +how the train from the East was, and he gave her the assurance that it +had left the city on time and was whoopin' it along through the hills +at Cardinal when last heard from--and stood a good chance of getting +in before night. + +All the way home, Pearl tried to solve the tangle of thoughts that +presented themselves to her, but the unknown quantity, the "X" in this +human equation, had given her so little to work on, that it seemed +as though she must mark it "insufficient data" and let it go! But +unfortunately for Pearl's peace of mind it could not be dismissed in +that way. + +One thing was evident--it was some sudden happening or suggestion that +had changed his attitude towards her, for there was no mistaking the +tenderness in his messages over the phone the day before--and why did +he remember the day at all, if it were only to tell her that she +was too young to really know her own mind. The change--whatever it +was--had taken place in the interval of his phoning, and her visit, +and Mrs. Crocks had said that a committee had gone to see him and +offer him the nomination! What difference would that make? The subtle +suggestion of the senator's daughter came back to her mind! Was it +possible--that the Watson family were--what she had once read of in an +English story--'socially impossible.' Pearl remembered the phrase. The +thought struck her with such an impact that she pulled her horse up +with a jerk, and stood on the road in deep abstraction. + +She remembered the quarrel she had once had with a girl at school. It +all came back in a flash of rage that lit up this forgotten corner of +her memory! The cause of the quarrel did not appear in the record, but +that the girl had flung it at her that her people were nothing and +nobody--her mother a washerwoman and her father a section hand--now +stood out in letters of flame! Pearl had not been angry at the +time--and she remembered that her only reason for taking out the +miserable little shrimp and washing her face in the snow was that +she knew the girl had said this to be very mean, and with the pretty +certain hope that it would cut deep! She was a sorrel-topped, anaemic, +scrawny little thing, who ate slate-pencils and chewed paper, and she +had gone crying to the teacher with the story of Pearl's violence +against her. + +Mr. Donald had found out the cause, and had spoken so nicely to Pearl +about it, that her heart was greatly lifted as a result, and the +incident became a pleasant recollection, with only the delightful +part remaining, until this moment. Mr. Donald had said that Pearl was +surely a lucky girl, when the worst thing that could be said to her +was that her two parents had been engaged in useful and honorable +work--and he had made this the topic for a lesson that afternoon in +showing how all work is necessary and all honorable. Out of the lesson +had grown a game which they often played on Friday afternoons, when a +familiar object was selected and all the pupils required to write +down the names of all the workers who had been needed to bring it to +perfection. + +And the next day when lunch time came, Mr. Donald told them he had +been thinking about the incident, and how all that we enjoy in life +comes to us from our fellow-workers, and he was going to have a new +grace, giving the thanks to where it belonged. He said God was not the +kind of a Creator who wanted all the glory of the whole world--for he +knew that every man and woman or boy or girl that worked, was entitled +to praise, and he liked to see them thanked as they deserved. + +A new grace was written on the board, and each day it was repeated by +all the pupils. Pearl remembered that to her it had seemed very grand +and stately and majestic, with the dignity and thrill of a pipe-organ: + +"Give us to know, O God, that the blessings we are about to enjoy +have come to us through the labors of others. Strengthen the ties of +brotherhood and grant that each of us may do our share of the world's +work." + +But the aesthetic emotions which it sent through her young soul the +first time she said it, did not in any way interfere with the sweet +satisfaction she had in leaning across the aisle and wrinkling up her +nose at her former adversary! + +She began to wonder now if Mr. Donald had been right in his idealistic +way of looking at life and labor. She had always thought so until this +minute, and many a thrill of pride had she experienced in thinking of +her parents and their days of struggling. They had been and were, the +real Empire-builders who subdued the soil and made it serve +human needs, enduring hardships and hunger and cold and bitter +discouragements, always with heroism and patience. The farm on which +they now lived, had been abandoned, deserted, given up for a bad job, +and her people had redeemed it, and were making it one of the best +in the country! Every farm in the community was made more valuable +because of their efforts. It had seemed to Pearl a real source of +proper pride--that her people had begun with nothing, and were now +making a comfortable living, educating their children and making +improvements each year in their way of living and in the farm itself! +It seemed that she ought to be proud of them, and she was! + +But since she had been away, she learned to her surprise that the +world does not give its crowns to those who serve it best--but to +those who can make the most people serve them, and she found that +many people think of work as a disagreeable thing, which if patiently +endured for a while may be evaded ever afterwards, and indeed her +mother had often said that she was determined to give her children an +education, so they would not need to work as hard as she and their +father had. Education then seemed to be a way of escape. + +Senator Keith, of Hampton, with his forty sections all rented out, did +not work. Miss Keith, his daughter, did not work. They did not need to +work--they had escaped! + +It was quite a new thought to Pearl, and she pondered it deeply. The +charge against her family--the slur which could be thrown on them was +not that of dishonor, dishonesty, immorality or intemperance--none of +these--but that they had worked at poorly paid, hard jobs, thereby +giving evidence that they were not capable of getting easier +ones. Hard work might not be in itself dishonorable--but it was a +confession. + +Something in Pearl's heart cried out at the injustice of this. It was +not fair! All at once she wanted to talk about it to--some one, to +everybody. It was a mistaken way of looking at life, she thought; the +world, as God made it, was a great, beautiful place, with enough of +everything to go around. There is enough land--enough coal--enough +oil. Enough pleasure and beauty, enough music and fun and good times! +What had happened was that some had taken more than their share, and +that was why others had to go short, and the strange part of it all +was that the hoggish ones were the exalted ones, to whom many bowed, +and they--some of them--were scornful of the people who were still +working--though if every one stopped working, the world would soon be +starving. + +"It is a good world--just the same," said Pearl, as she looked away to +her left, where the Hampton Hills shoved one big blue shoulder into +the sky-line. "People do not mean to be hard and cruel to each +other--they do not understand, that's all--they have not thought--they +do not see." + +From the farm-houses set back in the snowy fields, came the cheerful +Spring sounds of scolding hens and gabbling ducks, with the occasional +bark of a dog. The sunshine had in it now no tang of cold or +bitterness, for in Pearl's heart there had come a new sense of +power--an exaltation of spirit that almost choked her with happiness. +Her eyes flashed--her hands tingled--her feet were light as air. Out +of the crushing of her hopes, the falling of her house of dreams, had +come this inexplicable intoxication, which swept her heart with its +baptism of joy. + +She threw back her head and looked with rapture into the limitless +blue above her, with something of the vision which came to Elisha's +servant at Dothan when he saw the mountains were filled with the +horses and the chariots of the Lord! + +"It is a good world," she whispered, "God made it, Christ lived in +it--and when He went away, He left His Spirit. It can't go wrong +and stay wrong. The only thing that is wrong with it is in people's +hearts, and hearts can be changed by the Grace of God." + +A sudden feeling of haste came over her--a new sense of +responsibility--there were so many things to be done. She roused the +fat pony from his pleasant dream, to a quicker gait, and drove home +with the strange glamour on her soul. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +RED ROSES + + +When Pearl rode in to the farmyard, she saw her brother Tommy coming +in great haste across the fields, waving his arms to her with every +evidence of strong excitement. The other children were on their way +home, too, but it was evident that Thomas had far outrun them. Tommy +had a tale to tell. + +"There is going to be real 'doin's' at the school on Friday," he +cried, as soon as he was within calling distance of her. "Mr. Donald +has asked all the big people, too, and the people from Purple Springs, +and the women are going to bring pies and things, and there will be +eats, and you are to make the speech, and then maybe there will be a +football match, and you can talk as long as you like, and we are all +to clap our hands when your name is mentioned and then again when you +get up to speak--and it's to be Friday." + +Tommy told his story all in one breath, and without waiting to get +a reply, he made his way hurriedly to the barn where his father and +Teddy were working. There he again told it, with a few trifling +variations. "You are all to come, and there will be a letter tomorrow +telling you all about it, but it is a real big day that is going to be +at school, and all the big people, too, and it is to hear Pearl talk +about what she saw and heard in the city, and there will be cakes and +stuff to eat and the Tuckers said they would not come and Jimmy said +'Dare you to stay away' and they did not take his dare." + +Teddy, in true brotherly fashion, professed some doubts of the success +of the undertaking. + +"Pearl is all right to talk around home, but gee whiz, I don't believe +she can stand right up and talk like a preacher, she'll forget what +she was goin' to say, I couldn't say two words before all those +people." + +John Watson went on with the fanning of the wheat. He had stopped the +mill only long enough to hear Tommy's message, and Teddy's brotherly +apprehensions, he made no comment. But a close observer would have +noticed that he worked a little faster, and perhaps held his shoulders +a little straighter--they had grown stooped in the long days when he +worked on the section. Although his shoulders had sagged in the long +hard struggle, there had always burned in his heart the hope that +better days would come--and now the better days were here. The farm +was doing well--every year they were able to see that they were making +progress. The children were all at school, and today--today Pearlie +was asked to speak to all the people in the neighborhood. Pearlie had +made a name for herself when she got the chance to get out with other +boys and girls. It was a proud day for John Watson, and his honest +heart did not dissemble the pride he felt in his girl. + +Pearl herself had a momentary feeling of fear when she heard the plans +that were being made. The people she knew would be harder to speak +to than strangers. But the exaltation that had come to her heart was +still with her, and impelled her to speak. There were things which +should be said--great matters were before the country. Pearl had +attended many political meetings in the city, and also as many +sessions of the Legislature as she could, and so she knew the +Provincial political situation, and it was one of great interest. + +The government had been in power for many years and had built up a +political machine which they believed to be invincible. They had the +country by the throat, and ruled autocratically, scorning the feeble +protests of the Opposition, who were few in number and weak in debate. +Many a time as Pearl sat in the Ladies' Gallery and listened to the +flood of invective with which the cabinet ministers smothered any +attempt at criticism which the Opposition might make, she had longed +for a chance to reply. They were so boastful, so overbearing, so +childishly important, it seemed to her that it would be easy to make +them look ridiculous, and she often found herself framing replies +for the Opposition. But of course there was a wide gulf between the +pompous gentlemen who lolled and smoked their black cigars in the +mahogany chairs on the redcarpeted floor of the House, and the +bright-eyed little girl who sat on the edge of her seat in the gallery +and looked down upon them. + +She had been in the gallery the day that a great temperance delegation +had come and asked that the bar might be abolished, and she had +listened to every word that had been said. The case against the bar +had been so well argued, that it seemed to Pearl that the law-makers +must be moved to put it away forever. She did not know, of course, +that the liquor interests of the province were the strong supporters +of the Government, and the source of the major portion of their +campaign funds; that the bars were the rallying places for the +political activities of the party, and that to do away with the bars +would be a blow to the Government, and, as the Premier himself had +once said, "No Government is going to commit suicide," the chances for +the success of the delegation were very remote. Pearl did not know +this, and so she was not prepared for it when the Premier and one of +his Ministers stoutly defended the bar-room as a social gathering +place where men might meet and enjoy an innocent and profitable hour. + +"It is one of our social institutions that you are asking us to +destroy," cried the Minister of Education, "and I tell you frankly +that we will not do it. The social instincts distinguish man from the +brute, and they must be cherished and encouraged. Your request is +not in the best interests of our people, and as their faithful +representatives who seek to safeguard their interests and their +highest welfare, we must refuse." + +And the Government desks were pounded in wild enthusiasm! And Pearl +had come away with a rage in her heart, the wordless rage of the +helpless. After that she attended every meeting of the Suffrage +Society, and her deep interest and devotion to the cause won for her +many friends among the suffrage women. + +The news of the proposed meeting in the school brought out many and +varied comments, when it was received in the homes of the district. +Mr. Donald sent to each home a letter in which he invited all the +members of each family to be present to "do honor to one who has +brought honor to our school and district." + +Mrs. Eben Snider, sister of Mrs. Crocks, a wizened little pod of a +woman with a face like parchment, dismally prophesied that Pearl +Watson would be clean spoiled with so much notice being taken of her. +"Put a beggar on horseback," she cried, when she read the invitation, +"and you know where he will ride to! The Watsons are doing too +well--everything John Watson touches turns to money since he went on +that farm, and this last splurge for Pearl is just too much. I won't +be a party to it! It is too much like makin' flesh of one and fowl of +the other. Mr. Donald always did make too much of a pet of that girl, +and then all those pieces in the paper, they will spoil her, no girl +of her age can stand it--it is only puttin' notions in her head, and +from what I can hear, there's too much of that now among women. I +never had no time to be goin' round makin' speeches and winnin' +debates, and neither has any other decent woman. It would suit Pearl +better to stay at home and help her mother; they say she goes around +town with her head dressed up like a queen, and Jane says she's as +stiff as pork when a person speaks to her. I'll tell Mr. Donald what I +think of it." + +At the Steadman home, the news of the meeting had a happier reception, +for Mr. Steadman, who was the local member of Parliament, was asked +to preside, and as the elections were likely to take place before the +year was out, he was glad of this chance to address a few remarks to +the electors. He had been seriously upset ever since he heard that the +young doctor was to be offered the nomination for the Liberals. That +would complicate matters for him, and make it imperative that he +should lose no opportunity of making himself agreeable to his +constituents. + +Before the news of the meeting was an hour old, Mr. Steadman had begun +to arrange his speech, and determined that he would merely make a few +happy random extempore remarks, dashed off in that light, easy way +which careful preparation can alone insure; and Mrs. Steadman had +decided that she would wear her purple silk with the gold embroidery, +and make a Prince of Wales cake and a batch of lemon cookies--some of +them put together with a date paste, and the rest of them just loose, +with maybe a date or a raisin in the middle. + +Mrs. Watson was in a state of nerves bordering on stage fright, from +the time that Tommy brought home the news, a condition which Pearl did +her best to relieve by assuming a nonchalance which she did not feel, +regarding the proposed speech. + +"What ever will you talk about, Pearlie, dear," her mother cried in +vague alarm; "and to all them people. I don't think the teacher should +have asked ye, you could do all right with just the scholars, for any +bit of nonsense would ha' done for them, but you will have to mind +what you are sayin' before all the grown people!" + +Pearl soaked the beans for tomorrow's cooking, with an air of +unconcern. + +"Making a speech is nothing, Ma," she said, "when a person knows how. +I have listened to the cabinet ministers lots of times, and there's +nothing to it. It is just having a good beginning and a fine flourish +at the end, with a verse of poetry and the like of that--it does not +matter what you say in between. I have heard the Premier speak lots of +times, and they go crazy over him and think he is a wonderful speaker. +He tells how he was once a farmer's boy and wandered happily over the +pasture fields in his bare feet, and then how he climbed the ladder +of fame, rung by rung--that is fine stuff, every one likes that; and +whenever he got stuck he told about the flag of empire that waves +proudly in the breeze and has never known defeat, and the destiny of +this Canada of ours, and the strangers within our gates who have come +here to carve out their destiny in this limitless land, and when he +thought it best to make them sniffle a little he told about the sacred +name of mother, and how the tear-drop starts at mention of that dear +name, and that always went big, and when he began to run down a +little, he just spoke all the louder, and waved his arms around, and +the people did not notice there was nothing coming; we used to go over +and listen to the speeches and then make them when the teachers were +not in the room--it was lots of fun. I know lots of the Premier's +speeches right off. There is nothing to it, Ma, so don't you be +frightened." + +"Pearl, you take things too light," said her mother severely, "a +person never knows when you are in earnest, and I am frightened about +you. You should not feel so careless about makin' speeches, it is +nothing to joke about. I wish you would be for writin' out what you +are goin' to say, and then we could hear you go over it, and some one +could hold the paper for you and give you the word if you forget--it +would be the safest way!" + +"All right, Ma," said Pearl, "I'll be making it up now while I peel +the potatoes." + +While they were talking there came a knock at the door, and when it +was opened, there stood Bertie from the livery stable, with a +long green-wrapped box in his hand, which he gave to Mrs. Watson, +volunteering without delay, all the information he had regarding it. +Bertie never failed to reveal all the truth as he knew it--so, keeping +nothing back, he gave the history of the box so far as he had been +able to gather it. + +"It's for Pearl--and the doctor sent it out. I don't know why he +didn't give it to her when she was in, for she was in his office--it's +flowers, for it is marked on it--and they came from Hampton." + +Bertie would have stayed to see the flowers opened, for he knew that +Mrs. Crocks would be much interested to know just what they were, and +what Pearl said, and what her mother said--and if there was a note +inside--and all the other good stuff he would be able to gather, but +Pearl took them, with an air of unconcern, and thanking Bertie, said +quite carelessly: + +"Don't wait for an answer, Bertie, I can phone if there is any need, +and I know you are in a hurry--we must not keep you." + +And before Bertie knew what had happened, he found himself walking +away from the door. + +When the roses had been put in water, and each of the children had +been given a smell and a feel of the velvety petals, and Mrs. Watson +had partially recovered from the shock that the sight of flowers in +the winter, always gave her for they reminded her so of her father's +funeral, and the broken pillar which the Oddfellows sent; Pearl read +the card: + + "To Pearl--eighteen-going-on-nineteen, + Hoping that the years will bring her nothing + but joy." + +It was written on one of the doctor's professional cards, and that was +all. But looking again into the envelope there was a folded note which +she did not read to the assembled and greatly interested group. When +she was alone in the little beamed room upstairs, she read it: + +"Dear Pearl:--I forgot to give you the roses when you were in this +afternoon. Accept them now with my deep affection. You have been a +bright spot in my life, and you will always be that--like a red rose +in a dull room. Your success will always be very dear to me, and my +prophecy is that you will go far. I will always think of you with +deepest admiration and pride. Ever yours, + +"HORACE CLAY." + +Pearl read it twice; then impulsively pressed it to her cheek. + +"It sounds like good-bye," she said, with her lips trembling, "it +sounds like the last of something. Why won't he tell me? It is not +like him." + +A wither of loneliness went over her face as she clasped the note +between her hands. + +"I don't believe it is that," she said fiercely. "I won't believe it!" +Mrs. Crocks' words were taunting her; "the doctor thinks more of blue +blood than he does of money, and if he goes into politics it will mean +a lot to him to be related to the senator." + +An overwhelming rage was in Pearl's heart, in spite of her +determination not to believe the suggestion; a blind, choking rage--it +was all so unfair. + +"My dad is more of a man than Senator Keith," she said to herself, +"for all his fine clothes and his big house. He was nothing but a +heeler for the party, and was made Senator because there was no dirty +job that he would not do to get votes for them. I know how he bought +liquor for the Galicians and brought them in by the car-load to vote, +like cattle, and that's blue blood, is it? Sure it is--you can see it +in his shot-silk face and his two bad old eyes swollen like oysters! +If the doctor wants him he can have him, and it's blamed little +frettin' I'll do!... My dad eats with his knife, does he? All right, +he bought the knife with honest money, and he earned what's on it too. +All the dirty money they have would not buy him, or make him do a mean +trick to any one. I am not ashamed of him--he suits me, and he can go +on eating with his knife and wearing his overalls and doing anything +he wants to do. He suits me!" + +When Pearl went back to the kitchen, her father was taking off his +smock. Supper was ready, and he and Teddy had just come in. The dust +of the fanning-mill was on his face and his clothes. His unmittened +hands were red and rough, and bore traces of the work he had been +doing. In his hair were some of the seeds and straws blown out by the +mill. There was nothing very attractive about John Watson, unless it +was his kindly blue eye and the humorous twist of his mouth, but +in Pearl's heart there was a fierce tenderness for her father, a +protective love which glorified him in her eyes. + +"Did you hear the news, pa," she cried, as she impulsively threw her +arms around his neck. "Did you know that I am going to speak in the +school, and they are all coming out to hear me. Are you glad, Pa, and +do you think I can do it?" + +Her burning cheek was laid close to his, and he patted her shoulder +lovingly. + +"Do I think you can do it, Pearlie, that I do--you can do whatever you +go at--I always knew that." + +"Pearl, child," cried her mother, "don't be hugging your Pa like that, +and you with your good dress on; don't you see the dust and dirt on +him--you will ruin your clothes child." + +Pearl kissed him again, and gave him one more hug, before she said, +"It is clean dirt, Ma, and it will brush off, and I just couldn't +wait; but sure and it's clean dirt anyway." + +"It is gettin' colder," said John Watson, as he hung up his smock +behind the door, "our Spring is over for awhile, I think. I saw two +geese leggin' it back as fast as they could go, and each one scoldin' +the other one--we'll have a good spell or winter yet, I am afraid, in +spite of our two warm days and all the signs of Spring." + +"Weather like you is too good to last," said Mrs. Watson complacently, +"I knew it wasn't the Spring, it was too good to last." + +Pearl went to the window and looked out--already there was a threat of +snow in the whining wind, and as she watched, a stray flake struck the +window in front of her. + +"It was too good to last," she said with a sigh which broke into a sob +in the middle, "It was too good to be true!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE INNOCENT DISTURBER + + +If there was any lack of enthusiasm among the parents it had no +reflection in the children's minds, for the Chicken Hill School, after +the great announcement, simply pulsated with excitement. Country +children have capabilities for enjoyment that the city child knows +nothing about, and to the boys and girls at Chicken Hill the prospect +of a program, a speech from Pearl Watson, and a supper--was most +alluring. Preparations were carried on with vigor. Seats were scrubbed +by owners, and many an ancient landmark of ink was lost forever. +Frayed window blinds that had sagged and dropped, and refused to go up +or down, were taken down and rolled and put back neat and even, and +the scholars warned not to touch them; the stove got a rubbing +with old newspapers; mousy corners of desks were cleaned out--and +objectionable slate rags discarded. Blackboards were cleaned and +decorated with an elaborate maple leaf stencil in green and brown, and +a heroic battle cry of "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee" executed +in flowing letters, in the middle. Mary Watson was the artist, and +spared no chalk in her undertaking, for each capital ended in +an arrow, and had a blanket of dots which in some cases nearly +obliterated its identity. But the general effect was powerful. + +The day before, every little girl had her hair in tight braids +securely knotted with woollen yarn. Boudoir caps were unknown in the +Chicken Hill School, so the bare truth of these preparations were to +be seen and known of all. Maudie Steadman had her four curls set in +long rags, fastened up with pins, Mrs. Steadman having devised a new, +original way of making Maudie's hair into large, loose "natural" +curls, which were very handsome, and not until this day did Mrs. +Steadman show to the public the method of "setting." + +Mr. Donald had placed all details of the entertainment in the hands +of Mary Watson and Maudie Steadman, and no two members of a +House-Committee ever worked harder, or took more pleasure in making +arrangements. + +"Let's not ask the Pipers--they're dirt poor," said Maudie, when they +sat down at noon to make out the list of providers. + +"Indeed, we will," said Mary, whose knowledge of the human heart was +most profound. "If people are poor, that's all the more reason why +they would be easily hurt, and it's not nice for us to even know that +they are poor. We'll ask them, you bet--and Mrs. Piper will bring +something. Besides--if we didn't ask them to bake, they wouldn't +come--and that's the way rows start in a neighborhood. We'll manage it +all right--and if there are any sandwiches left over--we'll send them +to the smaller children, and the Pipers will come in on that. It ain't +so bad to be poor," concluded Mary, out of her large experience, "but +it hurts to have people know it!" + +When Pearl, with her father and mother arrived at the school on the +afternoon of the meeting, it came to her with a shock, how small the +school was, and how dreary. Surely it had not been so mouse-gray and +shabby as this when she had been there. The paint was worn from the +floor, the ceiling was smoked and dirty, the desks were rickety and +uneven--the blackboards gray. The same old map of North America hung +tipsily between the blackboards. It had been crooked so long, that it +seemed to be the correct position, and so had escaped the eye of the +House-Committee, who had made many improvements for this occasion. + +In the tiny porch, there were many mysterious baskets and boxes and +tin pails of varying sizes, and within doors a long table at the back +of the room had on it many cups and saucers, with a pile of tissue +paper napkins. A delightful smell of coffee hung on the air. + +Pearl wore her best brown silk dress, with a lace collar and cuff set +contributed the Christmas before by her Aunt Kate from Ontario, and at +her waist, one of the doctor's roses. The others had been brought +over by Mary, and were in a glass jar on the tidy desk, where they +attracted much attention and speculation as to where they had +come from. They seemed to redeem the bare school-room from utter +dreariness, and Pearl found herself repeating the phrase in the +doctor's letter, "Like a rose in a dark room." + +The children were hilariously glad to see Pearl, and her lightness of +heart came back to her, when a group of them gathered around her to +receive her admiration and praise for their beautifully curled hair, +good clothes and hair ribbons. Bits of family history were freely +given to her too, such as Betty Freeman's confidential report on her +mother's absence, that she dyed her silk waist, and it streaked, and +she dyed it again--and just as soon as she could get it dry, she would +come--streaks or no streaks--and would Pearl please not be in a hurry +to begin. + +Then the meeting was called to order, and the smaller children were +set like a row of gaily colored birds around the edge of the platform, +so their elders could sit on their little desks in front, and the +schoolroom was filled to its last foot of space. There were about a +dozen chairs for the older people. + +Pearl had gone to the back of the room to speak to the old gardener +from Steadman's farm, a shy old man, who just naturally sought the +most remote corner for his own. Her affectionate greeting brought a +glow into his face, that set Pearl's heart throbbing with joy: + +"It's good to see you, Pearl," he said, "you look like a rose to me, +and you don't forget an old friend." + +Pearl held the hard old gnarled hand in her own, and her heart was +full of joy. The exaltation of the day she rode home was coming +to her. Love was the power that could transform the world. People +everywhere, all sorts of people, craved love and would respond to it. +"If I can cheer up poor old Bill Murray, and make him look like this, +with a glisten in his eyes, I'm satisfied," she thought. + +To Mr. Donald Pearl looked like a rose, too, a rose of his own +growing, and his voice trembled a little when he called the meeting to +order and in his stately way bade everyone welcome. + +"I am going to hand over the meeting to Mr. Steadman in a moment," he +said, "but before I do I wish to say that the Chicken Hill School +is very proud today to welcome one of its former pupils, Miss Pearl +Watson." + +At this the gaily colored company who bordered the platform, burst +into ecstatic hand clapping, in which the older members joined rather +shamefacedly. Demonstrations come hard to prairie people. + +"The years she spent in this school were delightful years to me," went +on Mr. Donald. "She helped me with the younger children--she helped +me to keep up enthusiasm for the work--she helped me to make life +pleasant for all of us--she did more--she helped me to believe that +life is worth the struggle--she helped me to believe in myself. I was +not surprised that Pearl made a record in her work in the city; she +could not fail to do that. She is in love with life--to me, she is the +embodiment of youth, with all its charms and all its promise." + +"I have wanted to hear her impressions of the city. Nothing, to her, +is common-place--she sees life through a golden mist that softens its +sharp outlines. I am glad that every one could come today and give a +welcome home to our first graduate from Chicken Hill School!" + +This threatened to dislodge the seating arrangement on the platform, +for in their enthusiastic applause, the Blackburn twins on account +of the shortness of their legs and the vigor of their applause, lost +their balance and fell. But they bore it well, and were restored +without tears! The excitement was so great that no one of the young +row would have known it if they had broken a bone! + +"And now I will ask our local member, Mr. Steadman, to take charge +of the meeting, and give the neighborhood's welcome to our first +graduate!" + +Then Mr. Steadman arose! He was a stout man, with a square face, and +small, beady black eyes and an aggressive manner; a man who felt sure +of himself; who knew he was the centre of his own circle. There was a +well-fed, complacent look about him too which left no doubt that he +was satisfied with things as they were--and would be deeply resentful +of change. There was still in his countenance some trace of his +ancestor's belief in the Divine right of kings! It showed in his +narrow, thought-proof forehead, and a certain indescribable attitude +which he held toward others, and which separated him from his +neighbors. Instinctively, the people who met him, knew he lacked human +sympathy and understanding, but he had a hold on the people of his +constituency, for through his hands went all the Government favors and +patronage. Anyone who wanted a telephone, had to "see Mr. Steadman." +The young people who went to the city to find employment, were wise to +see Mr. Steadman before they went. So although he was not liked, he +had a prestige which was undeniable. + +Mr. Steadman began his remarks by saying how glad he was to be offered +the chair on this glad occasion. He always liked to encourage the +young, and he believed it our duty to be very tolerant and encouraging +to youth. + +The boundaries of the platform began to wriggle. They had heard Mr. +Steadman before--he often came in and made speeches--but he never +brought any oranges--or peanuts or even "Farmers' Mixed." + +"Youth is a time of deep impressions," went on the chairman; "wax to +receive--granite to retain. Youth was the time of learning, and he +hoped every boy and girl in his presence would earnestly apply himself +and herself to their books, for only through much study could success +be attained. That is what put him where he was today." + +More wriggles, and some discussion at his feet! + +He was glad to know that one of Mr. Donald's pupils had been able to +do so well in the city. Three cheers for the country! He had always +believed it was the best place to be brought up--and was glad to say +that he too, had spent his youth on a farm. Most of the successful men +of the world came from the farms. + +He believed absolutely in education for women, education of a suitable +kind, and believed there was a definite place for women in the +world--a place which only women could fill. That place was +the home--the quiet precincts of home--not the hurly-burly of +politics--that was man's sphere--and a hard sphere it was, as he knew +well. He didn't wish to see any woman in such a hard life, with its +bitter criticism and abuse. He was sorry to notice that there was a +new agitation among women in the city--it had come up in the session +just closed--that women wanted to vote. + +Mr. Steadman threw out his hands with a gesture of unconcern: + +"Well," I say, "let them vote--if they want to--let them run the whole +country; we'll stay at home. It's time we had a rest, anyway!" + +A little dry cackle of laughter went over the room at this, in which +Mr. Donald did not join--so it got no support from the pupils of +Chicken Hill, who faithfully followed their teacher's lead. + +Mr. Steadman went on blithely: + +"I am old fashioned enough to want my wife to stay at home. I like +to find her there when I come home. I don't want her to sit in +Parliament; she hasn't time--for one thing." + +Mrs. Steadman sat in front, with the purple plume in her hat nodding +its approval: + +"And I say it in all kindness to all women--they havn't the ability. +They have ability of their own, but not that kind. Parliaments are +concerned with serious, big things. This year, the program before +our Provincial Parliament, is Good Roads. We want every part of this +Province to enjoy the blessing of of good roads, over which they can +bring their produce to market, binding neighborhoods together in the +ties of friendship. Good roads for everyone is our policy." + +"Now what do women know about making roads? They are all right to go +visiting over the roads after they are built, but how much good would +they be in building them?" + +This was greeted with another scattered rattle of laughter, followed +by a silence, which indicated intense listening. Even the restless +edging of the platform knew something was happening, and listened. + +"Our Opposition is coming forward with a foolish program of fads and +fancies. They want the women to have the vote; they want to banish the +bar! They want direct legislation. These are all radical measures, +new, untried and dangerous. With women voting, I have no sympathy, +as I said. They are not fitted for it. It is not that I do not love +women--I do--I love them too well--most of them." + +He paused a moment here--but no one laughed. The audience did not +believe him. + +"There are some women in the city whom I would gladly send to jail. +They are upsetting women's minds, and hurting the homes. Don't let us +take any chances on destroying the home, which is the bulwark of the +nation. What sight is more beautiful then to see a mother, queen of +the home, gathering her children around her. She can influence +her husband's vote--her son's vote.--she has a wider and stronger +influence than if she had the vote to herself. Her very helplessness +is her strength. And besides, I know that the best women, the very +best women do not want to sit in Parliament. My wife does not want +to--neither did my mother--no true woman wants to, only a few +rattle-brained, mentally unbalanced freaks--who do not know what they +want." + +Pearl smiled at this. She had heard this many times. + +"Now, as to banishing the bar, you all know I am not a drinker. I can +take it--or leave it--but I am broad minded enough to let other people +have the same privilege that I ask for myself. Men like to gather in +a friendly way, chat over old times or discuss politics, and have a +glass, for the sake of good fellowship, and there's no harm done. +There are some, of course, who go too far--I am not denying that. But +why do they do it? They did not get the right home training--that +is why. In the sacred precincts of home, the child can be taught +anything--that's the mother's part, and it is a more honorable part +than trying to ape men--and wear the pants." + +This brought a decided laugh--though if Mr. Steadman had been sensible +to thought currents, he would have felt twinges in his joints, +indicating that a storm was brewing. But he was having what the +preachers call a "good time," and went merrily on. + +"Direct legislation is a dangerous thing, which would upset +representative government. It is nothing less than rabble rule, +letting the ignorant rabble say what we are to do. Our vote is too +wide now, as you know, when every Tom, Dick and Harry has a vote, +whether they own an inch of ground or not. Your hired man can kill +your vote, though you own a township of land. Do you want to give him +more power? I think not! Well if the opposition ever get in power, the +women and the hired men, and even the foreigners will run the country, +and it will not be fit to live in. We're doing all right now, our +public buildings, our institutions are the best in Canada. We have +put the flag on every schoolhouse in the country--we have good, +sane, steady government, let us stick to it. I believe that the next +election will see the good ship come safely into port with the same +old skipper on the bridge, and the flag of empire proudly furling its +folds in the breeze. We have no fears of the fads and fancies put +forward by short-haired women and long-haired men." + +That being the end of his speech, the place where his superior always +sat down, amidst thunderous applause. Mr. Steadman sat down, too, +forgetting that he had been asked to be the Chairman, and introduce +Pearl. + +The applause which followed his remarks, was not so vociferous as he +had expected, partly because there were no "Especially instructed +clappers." No one was very enthusiastic, except Mrs. Steadman, who +apparently agreed with all he said. + +Rising to his feet again he said: "The good ladies have bountifully +provided for our needs today--what would we do without the ladies? but +before we come to that very interesting item on our program, we are +going to hear from Pearl Watson. Pearl Watson is one of the girls who +has taken full advantage of our splendid educational system, than +which there is none better in Canada--or in the world. As a member of +the Legislature, I am justly proud of our Department of Education, and +today we will be entertained by one of our own products, Pearl Watson, +on whom we might well hang the label 'Made in Canada.' I do not know +whether she intends to say a piece--or what, but bespeak for her a +respectful and courteous hearing." + +Mr. Steadman sat down, adjusting his gold and blue tie, and removed +his glasses, which he put away in a large leather case that closed +with a snap. His attitude indicated that the real business of the day +was over, now that he had spoken. + +Pearl came forward and stepped to the platform, displacing temporarily +one of the twins, to make a space where she might step. Having +restored him safely, she turned to the people. There was a smile in +her eyes that was contagious. The whole roomful of people smiled back +at her, and in that moment she established friendly relations with her +audience. + +"It has been a real surprise to me," she began, in a conversational +tone, "to hear Mr. Steadman make a speech. I am sure his colleagues in +the House would have been surprised to have heard him today. He is a +very quiet man there--he never speaks. The first night I went to the +House with a crowd of Normalites, I pointed out our member, to let +those city girls see what we could raise in the country--but it seems +the speeches are all made by half a dozen, the others just say 'Aye' +when they're told. All on one side of the House say 'Aye'; the other +side say 'No.' I have heard Mr. Steadman say 'Aye,' lots of times--but +nothing more. The Premier, or one of the Cabinet Ministers tells them +when to say it--it all looks very easy to me. I would have thought +even a woman could do it. The girls used to tease me about how quiet +my representative was. He sat so still that it just seemed as if he +might be asleep, and one girl said she believed he was dead. But one +day, a window was left open behind him--and he sneezed, and then he +got right up and shut it--Do you remember that day, Mr. Steadman?" + +He shook his head impatiently, and the expression of his face was not +pleasant. Still, no one would attribute anything but the friendliest +motive to Pearl's innocent words. + +"My! I was glad that day," she said, "when you sneezed, it was a quick +stop to the rumor--I tell you--and I never heard any more about it. +I am sorry Mr. Steadman is not in favor of women voting, or going to +Parliament, and thinks it too hard for them. It does not look hard to +me. Most of the members just sit and smoke all the time, and read the +papers, and call the pages. I have seen women do far harder work than +this. But of course what Mr. Steadman says about building roads all +over the country, is a new one on me. I did not know that the members +were thinking of doing the work! But I guess they would be glad to get +out and do something after sitting there all cramped up with their +feet asleep for the whole winter." + +"Still, I remember when Mr. Steadman was Councillor here, and there +was a bridge built over Pine Creek--he only let the contract--he did +not build it--it was his brother who built it!" + +There was a queer thrill in the audience at this, for Bill Steadman +had got the contract, in spite of the fact that he was the poorest +builder in the country--and the bridge had collapsed inside of two +years. George Steadman winced at her words. + +But Pearl, apparently innocent of all this, went on in her guileless +way: + +"I think Mr. Steadman is mistaken about women not wanting to sit in +Parliament. He perhaps does not know what it feels like to stand over +a wash-tub--or an ironing board--or cook over a hot stove. Women who +have been doing these things long would be glad to sit anywhere!" + +There was a laugh at this, in which Mr. Steadman made a heroic attempt +to join, shaking his head as he did so, to counteract any evil effect +which the laugh might cause. + +"But I did not intend to speak of politics," said Pearl, "I intended +to tell you how glad I am to be back to Chicken Hill School, and how +good home looks to me. No one knows how to appreciate their home until +they have left it--and gone away where no one cares particularly +whether you are sick or well--happy or miserable. Do you boys find it +pretty hard to wash your necks--and you wish your mother hadn't such a +sharp eye on you--be glad you have some one who thinks enough of you +to want your neck to be clean. You hate to fill the wood-box, do you? +O, I know what a bottomless pit it is--and how the old stove just +loves to burn wood to spite you. But listen! By having to do what you +do not want to do, you are strengthening the muscles of your soul--and +getting ready for a big job. + +"Having to do things is what makes us able to do more. Did you ever +wonder why you cannot walk on water. It is because water is so +agreeable--it won't resist you. It lets you have your own way. + +"The teachers at the Normal talked to us every Friday afternoon, about +our social duties, and rural leadership and community spirit and lots +of things. They told us not to spend our time out of school tatting +and making eyelet embroidery, when there were neighborhoods to be +awakened and citizens to be made. That suits me fine, for I can't tat +anyway. One of the girls tried to show me, but gave it up after three +or four tries. She said some could learn, and some couldn't. It was +heredity--or something. + +"Anyway, Dr. McLean said teachers were people who got special training +for their work, and it was up to them to work at it, in school and +out. He said that when we went out to teach, we could be a sort of +social cement, binding together all the different units into one +coherent community, for that's what was needed in Canada, with its +varied population. One third of the people in Canada do not speak +English, and that's a bad barrier--and can only be overcome by +kindness. We must make our foreign people want to learn our language, +and they won't want to, unless they like us. + +"He said Canada was like a great sand-pile, each little grain of sand, +beautiful in its own way, but needing cement to bind it to other +grains and it was for us to say whether we would be content to be only +a sand pile, or would we make ourselves a beautiful temple. + +"I wish I could give it all to you--it was great to hear him. He said +no matter how fine we were as individuals, or how well we did our +work, unless we had it in our hearts to work with others, and for +others--it was no good. If we lacked social consciousness, our work +would not amount to much. I thought of our old crumply horn cow. She +always gave a big pail of milk--but if she was in bad humor, she would +quite likely kick it over, just as the pail was full. I used to think +maybe a fly had stung her, but I guess what was really wrong was +that she lacked social consciousness. She did not see that we were +depending on her. + +"That's why the liquor traffic is such a bad thing, and should be +outlawed. Individuals may be able to drink, and get away with it, but +some go under, some homes are made very unhappy over it. If we have +this social consciousness, we will see very clearly that the liquor +traffic must go! No matter how much some people will miss it. If it +isn't safe for everybody, it isn't safe for anybody. I used to wish +Dr. McLean could talk to the members of Parliament. + +"He told us one of the reasons that the world had so many sore spots in +it was because women had kept too close at home, they were beginning +to see that in order to keep their houses clean, they would have to +clean up the streets, and it was this social consciousness working in +them, that made them ask for the vote. They want to do their share, +outside as well as in. + +"There was a woman who came and talked to us one day at the Normal. She +is the editor of the Women's section of one of the papers, and she put +it up to us strong, that there was work for each of us. We had to make +a report of her address, and so I remember most of it. + +"She said that Canada is like a great big, beautiful house that has +been given to us to finish. It is just far enough on so that you can +see how fine it is going to be--but the windows are not in--the +doors are not hung--the cornices are not put on. It needs polishing, +scraping, finishing. That is our work. Every tree we plant, every +flower we grow, every clean field we cultivate, every good cow or hog +we raise, we are helping to finish and furnish the house and make it +fit to live in. Every kind word we say or even think, every gracious +deed, if it is only thinking to bring out the neighbor's mail from +town, helps to add those little touches which distinguish a house from +a barn. + +"We have many foreign people in this country, lonesome, homesick +people--sometimes we complain that they are not loyal to us--and that +is true. It is also true that they have no great reason to be loyal +to us. We are not even polite to them, to say nothing of being kind. +Loyalty cannot be rammed down any ones' throat with a flag-pole." + +Mr. Steadman cleared his throat at this--and seemed about to +speak--but she went on without noticing: + +"Loyalty is a gentle growth, which springs in the heart. The seeds +are in your hands and mine; the heart of our foreign people is the +soil--the time of planting is now--and the man or woman who by +their kindness, their hospitality, their fair dealing, honesty, +neighborliness, makes one of the least of these think well of Canada, +is a Master Builder in this Empire. + +"If we do not set ourselves to finish the house, you know what will +happen to it. I remembered this part of her speech because it made me +think about our school-house the year before Mr. Donald came--when +we could not get a teacher. Do you remember? Windows were broken +mysteriously--the rain beat in and warped and drenched and spoiled the +floors. The chimney fell. Destruction always comes to the empty house, +she said--the unfinished house is a mark for the wantonly mischievous. +To keep what we have, we must improve it from year to year. And to +that end we must work together--fighting not with each other--but with +conditions, discouragements, ignorance, prejudice, narrowness--we must +be ready to serve, not thinking of what we can get from our country, +but what we can give to it." + +In the silence that fell, the people sat motionless. They did not +notice that Pearl was done speaking--for their thoughts went on--she +had given them a new view of the service they might give. + +Mrs. Piper, on whose heart, Pearl's words had fallen like a +benediction, saw that in making her rag-carpet, over which she had +worked so hard--she was helping to furnish one little corner of her +country, for it would make her front room a brighter place, and there +her children, and the boys and girls of the neighborhood would have +good times and pleasant memories. She had thought of it in a vague way +before, but Pearl had put it into words for her--and her heart was +filled with a new rapture. It was worth while to work and struggle and +try her best to make a pleasant home. There was a purpose in it all--a +plan--a pattern. + +Even Mrs. Thompson had a glimmering of a thought regarding her +precious flowers, the slips of which she never gave away. With them +she could gladden the hearts of some of her neighbors, and Noah +Thompson, her husband, who made it his boast that he never borrowed or +lent, became suddenly sorry he had refused a neck yoke to his Russian +neighbor. + +George Steadman, too, found his soul adrift on a wide sea, torn +away from the harbor that had seemed so safe and land-locked, so +unassailable; and on that wider sea there came the glimpses of a +sunrise, of a new day. It puzzled him, frightened him, angered him. +In the newness of it all, he detected danger. It blew across his +sheltered soul like a draught, an uncomfortable, cold-producing +draught--and when he found himself applauding with the others, he +knew that something dangerous, radical, subtle and evil had been let +loose--the girl would have to be watched. She was a fire-brand, an +incendiary--she would put notions in peoples' heads. It was well he +had heard her and could sound the warning. But he must be politic--he +would not show his hand. The children were singing, and every one had +risen. Never before had he heard the Chicken Hill people sing like +this: + + "O Canada, our home, our native land, + True, patriot love, in all our sons command; + With glowing hearts we see thee rise, + Thou true land, strong and free, + And stand on guard, O Canada + We stand on guard for thee." + +The children began the second verse, the people following lamely, for +they did not know the words; but the children, proud of their superior +knowledge, and with a glow in their impressionable little hearts, sang +exultantly--this song of home and country. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE POWER OF INK + + +The Chicken Hill correspondent of the Millford "Mercury" described the +meeting in the school as follows: + +"The Chicken Hill School was the scene of a happy gathering on Friday +afternoon last, when the neighbors and friends gathered to welcome +home Pearl Watson, who has just completed a successful First Class +Teacher's Normal course in Winnipeg. Pearl is a great favorite, and +certainly disappointed no one, for she gave an address on present day +questions which will not soon be forgotten. Pearl is an out and out +believer in temperance and woman suffrage, and before she was through, +she had every one with her--as one man put it, he'd like to see +the woman vote, if for nothing else than to get Pearl Watson into +parliament, for there would sure be hides on the barn door if she ever +got there, and a rustling of dry bones." + +"After Pearl's address, the ladies of the district served +refreshments, and a good time was spent. Pearl's arm must have ached, +shaking hands, and if she could be spoiled with praise, she would be +spoiled for sure, but Pearl is not that kind. It is rumored that she +will be offered the Purple Springs school, and if she accepts, we +congratulate Purple Springs." + +When George Steadman read the Chicken Hills news, his face became a +yellowish gray color--much like the hue of badly laundried clothes. +His skin prickled, as if with an electric current, for hot rage ate +into his soul. His name was not even mentioned. He wasn't there at +all--and he was the member for Millford. Of all the silly rot--well, +he'd see about it. + +On Monday morning, with the offending sheet in his hand, Mr. Steadman +made his way to the "Mercury" office, a dingy, little flat-roofed +building, plastered with old circus posters outside, and filled with +every sort of junk inside. At an unpainted desk piled high with +papers, sat the editor. His hair stood up like a freshly laundried, +dustless mop; his shirt was dirty; his pipe hung listlessly in his +mouth--upside down, and a three days' crop of black beard peppered his +face. He looked like a man who in early youth had slept on newspapers +and drank ink, and who now would put his feet on the table if there +had been room, but there was scarcely room for them on the floor, for +it was under the table that he kept his exchanges. There were shelves +around the walls, but they were filled with rubber boots, guns, +baskets of letters, a few books, miscellaneous articles of clothing +and some empty tobacco jars. + +So on account of the congested condition on and under the table, Mr. +Driggs was forced to sit in an uncomfortable position, with his legs +and those of the table artistically entwined. + +Mr. Steadman began, without replying to the editor's friendly +greeting: + +"Who writes this balderdash from our district," he asked harshly. + +"Professional secret," replied Mr. Driggs, speaking through his shut +teeth, for he did not wish to dislodge his pipe; the last time he let +it out of his mouth he had had no end of a time finding it. "Never +give away names of contributors, not etiquette." + +"I don't care a hang for your etiquette--I want to know. The member +for Millford was not in a trifling mood. + +"Sorry," said Mr. Driggs, holding his pipe still closer. + +"See here, Driggs," said Mr. Steadman haughtily, "do you know who +you're talking to--I have it in my power to throw you a good deal of +business one way'n another--I've thrown you a good deal of business. +There's an election coming on--there will be bills, cards, streamers, +what not; good money in printing for the Government--do you savvy?" + +"I savvy," said Mr. Driggs cheerfully. + +"Well then"--George Steadman was sure now he was going to get the +information--"who writes this this stuff from Chicken Hill?" + +"I don't know," said the editor calmly, "honest, I don't. This was a +new one--strange writing--and all that. I called up Pearl Watson to +see if there had been a meeting, and she verified it, but didn't tell +me anything. She said you presided. Then I ran the item--I thought it +was very good--what's wrong with it? It seemed like real good country +correspondence to me--with that bucolic freshness which we expect to +find in country contributors, perhaps not the literary polish found in +Stoddarts' lectures, but rattling good stuff just the same." + +"See here Driggs," the other man interrupted, "listen to me. There's +an election coming on--you've always been with us--I don't know what +you think--and it don't matter. This girl Watson is against us--and +she's as smart as they make them, and has plenty of nerve. Now I don't +want to see that girl's name in the paper again. A few more spreads +like this--and every district in the country will want her. She don't +know her place--she's got nerve enough to speak anywhere. She spits +out things, hardly knowing what she means--she's dangerous, I tell +you. If the other side got hold of her and primed her what to say, she +could do us a lot of harm--here, for mind you, she's got a way with +her. We don't want any trouble. There's a little talk of runnin' Doc. +Clay, but I believe he's got more sense than to try it. The last man +that ran against me lost his deposit. But, understand, Driggs, no +mention of this girl, cut out her name." + +Then Mr. Driggs slowly took his pipe from his mouth, and laid it +carefully on the lowest pile of papers. It's position did not entirely +suit him, and he moved it to another resting place. But the effect was +not pleasing even then--so he placed it in his pocket, taking a red +handkerchief from his other pocket, and laying it carefully over the +elusive pipe, to anchor it--if that were possible. + +"Mr. Steadman," he said, in his gentlest manner, "sit down." + +Removing an armful of sale bills from the other chair, he shoved it +over to his visitor, who ignored the invitation. + +"You must not attempt to muzzel the press, or take away our +blood-bought liberties. Blood-bought liberties is good! It's a serious +matter to come to a natural born, heaven inspired Editor, and tell +him to curb his news instinct. Pearl Watson is a particular friend of +mine. Pearl's sayings and doings are of interest to me as a citizen, +therefore, I reason they are of interest to all citizens. She is a +young lady of great charm, who does honor to our little town. I stand +absolutely for home boosting. Shop at home--shop early--sell your +hammer and buy a horn--my motto! Pearl Watson--one of the best ads we +have--I'm for her." + +"All right," said Mr. Steadman harshly, "you defy me then, and when +you defy me, you defy the Government of the Province, the arm of the +Government reaches far--Driggs, and you know that before you are done, +I'll put you out of business before two weeks have gone by. You owe +every one--you owe the paper people--you owe on your printing press. +Your creditors are all friends of the Government. All I have to do is +to say the word and they'll close you out. The Government will put a +man in here who has sense enough to do as he is told." + +Mr. Driggs' faced showed more concern than he had exhibited before. +There were certain bills he owed--forgotten to be sure in normal +times--but now they came up blinking to the light, rudely disinterred +by Mr. Steadman's hard words. They had grown, too, since their last +appearance, both in size and numbers--and for a moment a shade of +annoyance went over his face. Details of business always did annoy +him! + +But an inner voice cautioned him to be discreet. There was always a +way around a difficulty. Mr. Driggs believed in the switch system +which prevails in our railroading. When two trains run towards each +other on a track one must go off on a switch, to avoid a collision. It +does not take long and when the other train has gone roaring past, the +switched train can back up and get on the track and go serenely on--he +resolved to be tactful. + +"Mr. Steadman," he said, "I am surprised at all this. Pearl is only a +slip of a girl. What harm can she do you? You are absolutely solid in +this neighborhood. The government has this country by the throat--the +old machine works perfectly. What are you afraid of?" + +"We're not afraid--what have we to be afraid of? We have only sixteen +opposition members in the House--and they're poor fish. We're solid +enough--only we don't want trouble. The women are getting all stirred +up and full of big notions. We can hold them down all right--for they +can't get the vote until we give it to them--that's the beauty of it. +The Old Man certainly talked plain when they came there askin' for the +vote. He just laid them out. But I can see this girl has been at their +meetings--and women are queer. My women, even, thought there was a lot +of truth in what the Watson girl said. So there was--but we're not +dealing with truth just now--politics is not a matter of truth. We +want to get this election over without trouble. We want no grief over +this, mind you--everything quiet--and sure. So you got your orders +right now. Take them or leave them. But you know where your bread is +buttered, I guess." + +Mr. Steadman went out of the office, shutting the door with a strong +hand. The editor buried his face in his hands and gently massaged his +temples with his long-ink-stained fingers, and to all appearance, his +soul was grieved within him. It seemed as though his proud spirit was +chafing at the bonds which the iniquitous patronage system had laid on +him. + +For brief period he sat thus, but when he raised his head, which he +did suddenly, there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face +which spread and widened until it burst into a laugh which threatened +to dislodge the contents of the table. He threw himself back in his +swing chair and piled both feet on the table, even if there was no +room for them--if ever there had come a time in his history when he +was in the mood to put his feet on the table, that time was now. + +He addressed his remarks to his late guests: + +"You fragrant old he-goat, you will give orders to me, will you--you +are sure some diplomat--you poor old moth-eaten gander, with your +cow-like duplicity." + +Mr. Driggs could not find the figure of speech which just suited the +case, but he was still trying. + +"You poor old wall-eyed ostrich, with your head in the sand, thinking +no one can see you, you forget that there is a portion of your anatomy +admirably placed--indeed in my mind's eye I can see the sign upon it. +It reads 'Kick me.' It is an invitation I will not decline. He thinks +he can wipe our good friend Pearlie off the map by having her name +dropped from the Millford 'Mercury,' forgetting that there are other +ways of reaching the public eye. There are other publications, perhaps +not in the class with the Millford 'Mercury,' but worthy little sheets +too. + +"There is the 'Evening Echo,' struggling along with a circulation of +a quarter of a million--it will answer our purpose admirably. I will +write the lead today while the lamp of inspiration burns, and I will +hear Pearl speak, and then oh, beloved, I will roll up my sleeves +and spit on my hands and do a sketch of the New Woman--Pearlie, my +child--this way lies fame." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DOCTOR'S DECISION + + +When Pearl left him so abruptly, Dr. Clay found himself battling +with many emotions. His first impulse was to call her back--tell her +everything. Pearl was not a child--she would know what was best. It +was not fair to deceive her, and that was just what he had done, with +the best intentions. + +But something held him back. The very heart of him was sick and full +of bitterness at the sudden slap which fate had given him. His soul +was still stinging with the pain of it. Everything was distorted and +queer, and in the confusion of sensations the outstanding one was the +instinct to hide all knowledge of his condition. No one must know. He +would go to see the old doctor and swear him to secrecy. After all, +his life was his own--he was under obligation to no one to stretch it +out miserably and uselessly. + +He would go on as long as he could, and live it out triumphantly. +He would go out like Old Prince. He thought of the hymn which gives +thanks to God, "Who kindly lengthens out our days," and the thought +of it was mingled with something like scorn. He did not want any +lengthening out of his time if there could not be real power, real +service in each day. He would live while he lived, and die when he +had to, and with that resolution he tried to get back his calmness of +spirit. + +Looking at himself in the glass, he had to admit his face was haggard, +and thinner than it had been, and he knew he had lost weight. Still, +that could be recovered--he was not going to worry or think about +himself. He had always contended that disease was ninety per cent. +imagination and ten per cent. reality, and now he was going to see. +Every one is under the death sentence; the day is set for each man. "I +am no worse off," he thought, "than I was before--if I could only see +it that way--and I will--I am going to be the Captain of my soul--even +though it may be for a very short cruise--no disease or whimpering +weakness will usurp my place--'Gladly I lived--gladly I died. And I +laid me down with a will,'" he quoted, but his mouth twisted a little +on the words. Life was too sweet. He loved it too well to lay it down +gladly. O no, there could be no pretence of gladness. + +He found himself thinking of Pearl, and the tender, loving, caressing +light in her eyes, her impulsive kiss--her honest words of heavenly +sweetness; what a girl she was! He had watched her grow from a little +bright-eyed thing, who always interested him with her wisdom, her +cheerfulness, her devotion to her family, until now, when she had +grown to be a serious-minded, beautiful girl, with a manner full of +repose, dignity, grace--a wonderfully attractive girl--who looked +honestly into his eyes and told him she loved him, and he had had to +turn away from his happiness and tell her it could not be. And he had +seen the dimming of those shining eyes and the tightening of her lips. +He had had to hurt Pearl, and that was the bitterest thought of all. + +Again the temptation came to tell her! But the stern voice of +conscience cried out to him that if she knew she would consider +herself bound to him, and would not take her liberty, and the finest +years of her young life would be spent in anxiety and care. + +"I might live to be an old man," he said bitterly. "If I were sure I +could drop out soon, it would not matter so much. Pearl would still +have her life ahead of her, and I would come to be but a memory, but +as it is--there's but one straight and honorable course--and I will +take it." + +Then he thought of the roses, and wrote a card and a note, and called +Bertie at the Livery Stable to come to the office. When Bertie +arrived, much out of breath, the doctor charged him to be quick in his +errand of delivering them. Bertie was anxious to talk, and volunteered +the information that Pearl Watson was an awful pretty girl, but Mrs. +Crocks had just met her on the street and been talkin' to her a little +while, and she thought Pearl was gettin' pretty stuck up. + +"Bertie, dear," the doctor said, not unkindly, "did any one ever tell +you that you talk too easy?" + +"Sure they did," said Bertie honestly, "but Mrs. Crocks likes me to +talk." + +"O well," the doctor smiled, "you and Mrs. Crocks are not really +dangerous--but Bertie, remember this, silence does not often get any +one into trouble, and if you are ever in doubt about whether to tell +things or not--don't tell them! It's the best way--now, will you try +to remember?" + +"Yes, sir," said Bertie pleasantly. + +All of which Bertie carefully hid in his heart, but his object in so +doing was not to attain the scriptural sequence--"that he sin not +with his mouth," It was that he might rehearse it accurately to Mrs. +Crocks! + +The doctor had forgotten all about the committee who were going to +wait on him that evening to receive his decision regarding the coming +election. His mind had been too full of his own affairs. But promptly +at eight o'clock, his office bell rang, and the gentlemen came in. + +It seemed years to the doctor since he had seen them. Life had so +changed for him in the interval. The committee had come back with +greater enthusiasm than ever. Corroborative evidence had been pouring +in; the doctor was the only man who could defeat the present member. + +"Doctor, it is sure up to you," said the President, a stocky man, +whose face had a patchy beard resembling a buffalo-robe on which the +moths had played their funny tricks, "and I'll tell you why. The women +are beginning to raise hell all over the country. They have societies +now, and they're holding debates, and getting up plays--and all that. +They have the Government scared. My stars, I remember the time women +didn't bother no more about politics than a yellow dog does about +religion. But that good day is gone. They're up and comin' now, and +comin' with a whoop. Now, that's why we want you,--at least it's one +reason--the women like you--you have a way with them--you listen to +them--and feel sorry over their aches and pains--cure them--if you +can--but the big thing is--you feel sorry. Now, if you will run, the +women will try to make their men vote for you--I don't think any one +of the women will go against you. The men here are mostly for the +Government, and this year they have the bridge at Purple Springs for +a bait. It's goin' on for sure--work for every one--that votes right. +The Government has been in so long, you've just had to be on their +side to hold your job--they have their fingers on everything. You know +our candidate has lost his deposit for three elections--but there's a +chance this year--if you'll run." + +Then the field organizer took up the argument. He was a young man sent +out from the city office to rally the faithful and if possible see +that the best candidates were selected. He was a shop-worn young man, +without illusions. He knew life from every angle, and it was a dull +affair in his eyes. + +"Politics is a game of wits," he said; "the smartest one wins, and +gets in and divides the slush money. The other side howl--because they +didn't get any. We're sore now because we haven't had a look-in +for fourteen years--we're thirsty and dry--and we long for the +water-brooks--which is, government jobs. There's just one distinction +between the parties," he said, "one is in and one is out! That's all. +Both parties have the same platform too, there is only one principle +involved, that is the principle of re-election. But it really seems as +if our time is coming." + +Young Mr. Summersad lighted a cigarette and blew billows of smoke at +the ceiling. His whole bearing was that of a man who had drunk the cup +of life to the very dregs and found even the dregs tasteless and pale. + +"You are pessimistic," said the doctor, "you surely take a +materialistic view of the case. Is it really only a matter of getting +in to the public treasury? That hardly seems worth a man's effort; it +looks more like a burglar's job." + +"I mean, Clay," said the organizer, with slightly more animation, "the +political game is not a game of sentiment or of high resolves. One man +cannot do much to change the sentiment of a whole province; we must +take things as we find them. People get as good government as they +deserve--always. This year the advantage comes to us. 'It is time for +a change' is always a good rallying cry, and will help us more than +anything." + +"What is the opposition platform this year," said the doctor, "what +would I have to believe? Haven't you decided on a program, some sort +of course of action?" + +"O sure," replied the other, "we have a great platform--woman +suffrage--banish the bar--direct legislation--we have a radical +platform--just the very thing to catch the people. I tell you +everything is in our favor, and with your popularity here, it should +be a cinch." + +The doctor looked at him, without enthusiasm. + +"But the platform needn't worry you," he hastened to explain, "it's +not necessarily important--it's a darn good thing to get in on--but +after that--" + +"It can be laid away," said the doctor, "for another election. Well +now, as I understand it, the case against the present Government is +just that. They promised prohibition years ago, and got in on that +promise--but broke it joyously, and canned the one man who wanted to +stand for it--that's why they deserve defeat and have deserved it all +these years. But if the Opposition have the same ethics, what's the +use of changing. Better keep the robbers in we know, than fly to +others that we know not of." + +While the organizer had been speaking, the remainder of the committee +were vaguely uncomfortable. He was not getting anywhere; he was +spoiling everything. They knew the doctor better than he did. + +The doctor stood up, and there was something about the action which +announced the adjournment of the meeting. + +"It does not appeal to me," he said, "not as outlined by you. It's +too sodden, too deeply selfish. I see no reason for any man who has a +fairly decent, self-respecting job, to give it up and devote his time +to politics, if you have given me a correct picture of it." + +The organizer became deeply in earnest:-- + +"Look here, Clay," he said, "don't be hasty. I'm telling you the truth +about things, that's all. You can be as full of moral passion as +you like--the fuller the better. The Opposition can always be the +Simon-pure reformers. I'm not discouraging you--in fact, we want you +to be that." + +The doctor interrupted him, impatiently:-- + +"But I must not expect anything to come of it. Moral reform--and all +that--is fine for election dope, but governments have no concern with +it, these promises would not be carried out." + +"I am not saying what we mean," said Mr. Summersad, with abundant +caution; "I say we want to defeat the Government--that's our business. +We want to get in--further than that we have no concern. The new +Premier will set our policy. But if you ask me my opinion, I do not +mind telling you that I don't think any government of men are very +keen on letting the women vote--why should they be? But there's always +a way out. What will happen is this--if our fellows get in, they will +grant a plebiscite, men only voting of course, and it will go strong +against the women--but that will let us out." + +The doctor's eyes snapped:-- + +"That's surely a coward's way out," he said, "and why should any woman +have to ask for what is her right. Women, although they are not so +strong as men, do more than half the work, and bear children besides, +and yet men have been mean enough to snatch the power away from them +and keep it. Well, you have certainly been frank, Mr. Summersad, I +must thank you for that. I will be equally frank. I do not see +that there is anything to choose between the two parties. If your +presentation of the case is correct, the country is in a bad way, and +the political life is a re-incarnation of that fine old game of 'pussy +wants a corner!' I never did see much in it, so I will decline +the nomination. I am sorry, Mr. Gilchrist," he said to the local +President. His words had a ring of finality. + +When the committee were leaving they met Miss Keith, of Hampton, on +the street. Miss Keith was worth looking at, with her white fox furs, +high-heeled shoes and long black ear-rings. Miss Keith carried a muff +as big as a sheaf of wheat, and a sparkling bead-bag dangled from her +wrist. Miss Keith's complexion left nothing to be desired. When she +passed the committee there came to them the odor of wood violets. The +committee were sufficiently interested to break into a group on the +corner and so be able to turn around and watch her, without appearing +to stop for that purpose. + +She went into the doctor's office. + +"By gum," said the President, looking at the door through which she +had disappeared, "don't these women beat all? They go where they +like--they do as they like--they wear what they like--they don't care +what men think, any more. They're bold--that's what they are! and I +don't know as I believe in lettin' them vote--By Gosh!" + +The organizer raised his hand in warning, and spoke sternly. + +"Hold your tongue," he said, "they're a long way from votin'. Believe +what you like--no one cares what you believe--but sit tight on it! I +talked too much just now. Let's learn our lesson." + +Bertie, whose other name was now lost in oblivion, and who was known +as "Bertie Crocks" for purposes of identification, standing at the +corner of the "Horse Repository," saw Miss Keith entering the doctor's +office, and wondered again how any one ever thought a small town dull. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE WOMAN WITH A SORE THOUGHT + + +The turning of a key; the opening of a door, are commonplace sounds to +most of us; but to a prisoner, weary of his cell, they are sounds of +unspeakable rapture. The dripping of a tap, may have in it the element +of annoyance--if we have to get up and shut it off before we can get +to sleep, but a thirsty traveller on the burning sands of the desert, +would be wild with joy to hear it. All which is another way of saying +that everything in life is relative. + +On the day that Pearl spoke in the school-house, there sat in one of +the seats listening to her, a sombre-faced woman, who rarely came to +any of the neighborhood gatherings. The women of the neighborhood, +having only the primary hypothesis of human conduct, said she was +"proud." She did not join heartily in their conversations when they +met her, and had an aloofness about her which could only be explained +that way. She had a certain daintiness about her, too, in her way of +dressing--even in the way she did her hair--and in her walk, which +made the women say with certain resentment, that Mrs. Paine would like +to be "dressy." + +But if Mrs. Paine had any such ambitions, they were not likely to be +achieved, for although she and her husband had lived for years in this +favored district, and had had good crops, Sylvester Paine was known +all over the country as a hard man. The women would have liked Mrs. +Paine much better if she had talked more, and complained about +him--she was too close-mouthed they said. They freely told each other, +and told her, of their hopes, fears, trials and triumphs--but Mrs. +Paine's communications were yea and nay when the conversation was on +personal matters, and she had a way of closing her lips which somehow +prevented questions. + +But on the day when Pearl spoke in the school Mrs. Paine's face +underwent a change which would have interested a student of human +nature. Something which had been long dead, came to life again that +day; fluttering, trembling, shrinking. In her eyes there came again +the dead hopes of the years, and it made her face almost pitiful in +its trembling eagerness. There was a dull red rage in her eyes too +that day, that was not good to see, and she was determined that it +should not be seen, and for that reason, she slipped away when Pearl +was through, leaving some excuse about having the chores to do. She +could not bear to speak to the women and have them read her face; she +knew it would tell too much. But she must talk to Pearl. There were +things that Pearl could tell her. + +That night she called Pearl on the phone. The other receivers came +down quickly, and various homely household sounds mingled in her +ears--a sewing-machine's soft purring in one house--a child's cry in +another--the musical whine of a cream separator in a third. She knew +they were all listening, but she did not care. Even if she could not +control her face, she could control her voice. + +When Pearl came to the phone, Mrs. Paine invited her to come over for +supper the next night, to which Pearl gave ready acceptance--and that +was all. The interested listeners were disappointed with the brevity +of the conversation, and spoke guardedly and in cipher to each other +after Pearl and Mrs. Paine had gone: "Somebody is away, see! That's +why! Gee! some life--never any one asked over only at such times--Gee! +How'd you like to be bossed around like that?" + +"She did not begin right--too mealy-mouthed. Did you hear what he's +going to buy? No! I'll tell you when I see you--we've too big an +audience right now. Don't it beat all, the time some people have to +listen in--" + +"O well, I don't care! Anything I say I'm ready to back up. I don't +pretend I forget or try to twist out of things." + +One receiver went up here, and the sound of the sewing-machine went +with it. + +Then the conversation drifted pleasantly to a new and quicker way of +making bread that had just come out in the "Western Home Monthly." + +The next evening Pearl walked over the Plover Slough to see Mrs. +Paine. She noticed the quantity of machinery which stood in the yard, +some under cover of the big shingled shed, and some of it sitting out +in the snow, gray and weather-beaten. The yard was littered, untidy, +prodigal, wasteful--every sort of machine had evidently been bought +and used for a while, then discarded. But within doors there was a +bareness that struck Pearl's heart with pity. The entrance at the +front of the house was banked high with snow, and evidently had not +been used all winter, and indeed there seemed no good reason for its +ever being used, for the front part of the house, consisting of hall, +front room opening into a bed-room, were unfurnished and unheated. + +Mrs. Paine was genuinely, eagerly glad to see Pearl, and there was a +tense look in her eyes, an underglow of excitement, a trembling of her +hands, as she set the table, that did not escape Pearl. + +But nothing was said until the children had gone to bed, and then Mrs. +Paine departed from her life-long habit of silence, and revealed to +Pearl the burdens that were crushing her. + +She was a thin woman, with a transparency about her that gave her the +appearance of being brittle. Her auburn hair curled over her white +forehead, and snakily twisted around her ivory white ears. Her eyes +were amber-brown, with queer yellow lights that rose and fell as +she talked, and in some strange way reminded Pearl of a piece of +bird's-eye maple. She was dressed in the style of twenty years before, +with her linen collar inside the high collar of her dress, which was +fastened with a bar pin, straight and plain like herself. In the +centre of the pin was a cairn-gorm, which reflected the slumbering +yellow light in her eyes. The color of her face was creamy white, like +fine stationery. + +"I thought all my hopes were dead, Pearl," she said with dry lips, +"until you spoke, and then I saw myself years ago, when I came out of +school. Life was as rosy and promising, and the future as bright to me +then as it is to you now. But I got married young--we were brought up +to think if we did not get married--we were rather disgraced, and in +our little town in Ontario, men were scarce--they had all come West. +So when I got a chance, I took it." + +Pearl could see what a beautiful young girl she must have been, when +the fires of youth burned in her eye--with her brilliant coloring +and her graceful ways. But now her face had something dead about +it, something missing--like a beautifully-tiled fireplace with its +polished brass fittings, on whose grate lie only the embers of a fire +long dead. + +Pearl thought of this as she watched her. Mrs. Paine, in her +agitation, pleated her muslin apron into a fan. + +The tea-kettle on the stove bubbled drowsily, and there was no sound +in the house but the purring of the big cat that lay on Pearl's knee. + +"Life is a funny proposition, Pearl," continued Mrs. Paine, "I often +think it is a conspiracy against women. We are weaker, smaller than +men--we have all the weaknesses and diseases they have--and then some +of our own. Marriage is a form of bondage--long-term slavery--for +women." + +Pearl regarded her hostess with astonished eyes. She had always known +that Mrs. Paine did not look happy; but such words as these came as a +shock to her romantic young heart. + +"It isn't the hard work--or the pain--it isn't that--it's the +uselessness of it all. Nature is so cruel, and careless. See how many +seeds die--nature does not care--some will grow--the others do not +matter!" + +"O you're wrong, Mrs. Paine," Pearl cried eagerly; "it is not true +that even a sparrow can fall to the ground and God not know it." + +Mrs. Paine seemed about to speak, but checked her words. Pearl's +bright face, her hopefulness, her youth, her unshaken faith in God and +the world, restrained her. Let the child keep her faith! + +"There is something I want to ask you, Pearl," she said, after a long +pause. "You know the laws of this Province are different from what +they are in Ontario." + +Her voice fell, and the light in her eyes seemed to burn low, like +night-light, turned down. + +"He says," she did not call her husband by name, but Pearl knew who +was meant, "he says that a man can sell all his property here without +his wife's signature, and do what he likes with the money. He wants to +sell the farm and buy the hotel at Millford. I won't consent, but he +tells me he can take the children away from me, and I would have to go +with him then. He says this is a man's country, and men can do as they +like. I wonder if you know what the law is?" + +"I'm not sure," said Pearl. "I've heard the women talking about it, +but I will find out. I will write to them. If that is the law it will +be changed--any one could see that it is not fair. Lots of these old +laws get written down and no one bothers about them--and they just +stay there, forgotten--but any one would see that was not fair, 'Men +would not be as unjust as that'!" + +"You don't know them", said Mrs. Paine; "I have no faith in men. +They've made the world, and they've made it to suit themselves. My +husband takes his family cares as lightly as a tomcat. The children +annoy him." + +She spoke in jerky sentences, often moistening her dry lips, and there +was something in her eyes which made Pearl afraid--the very air of the +room seemed charged with discords. Pearl struggled to free her heart +from the depressing influence. + +"All men are not selfish," she said, "and I guess God has done the +best He could to be fair to every one. It's some job to make millions +of people and satisfy them all." + +"Well, the Creator should take some responsibility," Mrs. Paine +interrupted, "none of us asked to be born--I'm not God, but I take +responsibility for my children. I did not want them, but now they are +here I'll stand by them. That's why I've stayed as long as this. But +God does not stand by me." + +Her voice was colorless and limp like a washed ribbon. It had in it no +anger, just a settled conviction. + +"See here, Mrs. Paine," began Pearl, "you've been too long alone in +the house. You begin to imagine things. You work too hard, and never +go out, and that would make an archangel cross. You've just got to mix +up more with the rest of us. Things are not half so black as they look +to you." + +"I could stand it all--until he said he could take away my home," the +words seemed to come painfully. "I worked for this," she said, "and +though it's small and mean--it's home. Every bit of furniture in this +house I bought with my butter money. The only trees we have I planted. +I sowed the flowers and dug the place to put them. While he is away +buying cattle and shipping them, and making plenty of money--all for +himself--I stay here and run the farm. I milk, and churn, and cook for +hired men, and manage the whole place, and I've made it pay too, but +he has everything in his own name. Now he says he can sell it and take +the money.... Even a cat will fight and scratch for its hay-loft." + +"Oh well," said Pearl, "I hope you won't have to fight. Fighting is +bad work. It's a last resort when everything else fails. Mr. Paine can +be persuaded out of the hotel business if you go at it right. He does +not understand, that's all. That's what causes all the misery and +trouble in life--it is lack of understanding." + +Mrs. Paine smiled grimly: "It's good to be young, Pearl," she said. + +After a while she spoke again: "I did not ask you over entirely for +selfish reasons. I wanted to talk to you about yourself; I wanted to +warn you, Pearl." + +"What about!" Pearl exclaimed. + +"Don't get married," she said; "Oh don't, Pearl, I can't bear to think +of you being tied down with children and hard work. It's too big a +risk, Pearl, don't do it. We need you to help the rest of us. When I +listened to you the other day I came nearer praying than I have for +many years. I said, 'Oh, Lord, save Pearl,' and what I meant was that +He should save you from marriage. You'll have lots of offers." + +"None so far," laughed Pearl, "not a sign of one." + +"Well, you'll get plenty--but don't do it, Pearl. We need you to talk +for us." + +"Well, couldn't I talk if I were married?" asked Pearl, "I have heard +married women talk." + +"Not the same; they haven't the heart. People cannot talk if their +own hearts are sore. That's why we want to keep you light-hearted and +carefree. I wish you would promise me, Pearl, that you won't marry." + +Pearl hesitated, hardly knowing how to meet this. + +"That's asking a lot, Mrs. Paine. Every girl hopes to marry some +time," she said, at last, and if the light had been better Mrs. Paine +would have seen the color rising in Pearl's cheeks; "And you are wrong +in thinking that all men are mean and selfish. My father is not. We've +been poor and all that, but we're happy. My father has never shirked +his share of the work, and he has only one thought now, and that is to +do well for us. There are plenty of happy marriages. I--can't promise +not to but there's no danger yet--I have no notion of it." + +"All right, Pearl," said Mrs. Paine, "keep away from it. Some way I +can't bear to think of you tied down with a bunch of kids, and all +your bright ways dulled with hard work and worry. Well, anyway, you'll +talk about it--about the vote I mean." + +"All the time," Pearl laughingly responded. "Wherever two or three +gather Pearl Watson will rise and make a few remarks unless some one +forcibly restrains her. I will promise that--that's easy." + +When Pearl walked home that night the moon was trying to shine through +a gray rag of a cloud that was wrapped around its face. The snow on +the road caught the muffled rays of light, and she could see her way +quite well after her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. There was +a close, protecting feeling about the gray darkness that suited her +mood. It was a comfortable, companionable night, with a soft air full +of pleasant sounds of dogs barking, and sleigh-bells, and with the +lights in the neighbors' houses for company. Pearl was not conscious +of fear. All her life she had gone about in the night as fearlessly as +by day. + +Mrs. Paine's words troubled her. Was it possible life could be as dull +and drab a thing as it seemed to her. Perhaps, though, she had never +been in love! She had married because she did not want to be an old +maid. Only love can redeem life from its common-place monotony. Maybe +that was why things had gone wrong. + +She thought about Mrs. Paine's words about being tied down with +children and hard work, and how she had pleaded with her to be warned! +Pearl tried to make the warning real and effective--tried to harden +her heart and fill it with ambitions, in which love and marriage had +no place. She tried to tell herself it was her duty to never marry; +she would be free to work for other women. She tried to think of a +future apart from marriage, apart from the hopes and dreams that had +been so dear and sweet. Could it be that she was being called of God +to be a leader in a new crusade against injustice? Was it her part to +speak for other women? Since the day she spoke in the school there +had been a glowing wonder in her heart which told her she could move +people to higher thinking and nobler action. She had seen it in their +eyes that day. She had seen the high resolve in their faces, seen it, +and been glad and fearful too. Was it possible that God was calling +her to declare a message to the people, and could it be that it was +for this reason her sweet dreams had been so suddenly broken? + +Pearl stopped in the road in her agitation of spirit, as the +possibility of this surged over her. Every sound seemed to have died +away, not a dog barked or a tree creaked in the gray darkness which +shrouded the world. Even the lights in the houses seemed to hold a +steady gleam, without as much as winking an eye--waiting for her +answer. + +The whole world seemed to be holding its breath expectantly, in a +waiting, quivering silence. It was as if her name had been called; the +curtain had rolled up, and a great audience waited. + +A sudden, helpless feeling set her heart beating painfully into her +throat, a smothering sense of fear, quite new to her, who had never +known fear. + +"I can't do it!" broke from her, in a cry; "Don't ask me, Lord, I +can't! I can't do it alone--but give me the desire of my heart, oh, +Lord, and I will never tremble or turn back or be afraid. I will +declare the truth before kings!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ENGAGED + + +The trustees of Purple Springs School had reached the climax of their +professional duties. They were about to appoint a teacher, and being +conscientious men, anxious to drive a good bargain for the people, +they were proceeding with deep caution to "look around." + +Looking at the modest equipment of Purple Springs School, the observer +would wonder why such stress was laid on the teacher's qualifications. +The schoolhouse was a bleak little structure of wood, from whose walls +the winds and rain had taken the paint. It was set in an arid field, +that knew no tree or flower. Its three uncurtained windows threw a +merciless light on the gray floor and smoked walls. + +Former teachers had tried to stir the community to beautify the +grounds and make the inside more homelike, but their efforts had been +fitful and without result. Trees died, seeds remained in the ground, +and gray monotony reigned at Purple Springs. Still, the three trustees +believed it was an enviable position they had in their hands to +bestow, and were determined that it should not be given lightly. + +Just at the time that they were hard engaged in "lookin' 'round," the +secretary's wife came back from a visit to Chicken Hill, and told +about Pearl Watson, who had been to the city and come back "quite a +girl," able to talk, and just as nice and friendly as ever. Mrs. Cowan +was not well read in the political situation of the day, and so did +not know that Pearl had been guilty of heretical utterances against +the Government. + +If this had been known to the trustees her candidature would not have +been considered, for all of the trustees were supporters and believers +in the Government--and with reason. Mr. Cowan had a telephone line +built expressly for him; Mr. Brownlees had been given a ditch--just +where he wanted it, digging it himself, and been paid for it by the +Government; the third trustee had been made game warden, at a monthly +salary and no duties; so naturally they would like not to hear their +friends criticized. Mrs. Cowan only read newspapers to see the +bargains, crotchet patterns, and murders, and after that, she believed +their only use was to be put on pantry shelves. So her account of +Pearl's address was entirely without political bias. + +"She's a fine looking girl," said Mrs. Cowan, "and it's nice to hear +her talk, even if she isn't saying anything. She's brown-eyed, tall, +and speaks out plain so every one can hear, and what she says is not +too deep--and you'd never know she was educated, to hear her talk." + +The three trustees resolved to look into the case. Being masters of +duplicity, they decided to call on Miss Watson at her home, and to go +in the early morning hours, believing that the misty light of 8 a.m. +will reveal many things which the glare of high noon might hide. They +would see first would she be up? They had once had a teacher who lay +in bed the whole day on Saturday. Would she have her hair combed? They +were not keen on artistic effects in the school buildings, but were a +unit on wanting a tastefully dressed teacher. It was decided that the +call would be early and unannounced. + +They found Pearl in a pink and white checked gingham house dress, with +her brown hair done up in the style known as a French roll, sewing +at a machine in the front room, and at once Mr. Cowan, who was the +dominant spirit of the party signalled to the others--"So far so +good." Miss Watson, even though the hour was early, was up, dressed +neatly--and at work. All of this was in the glance which Mr. Cowan +shot over to his colleagues. + +Investigating still further, for Mr. Cowan knew the value of detail in +estimating human character; the general arrangement of the room won +his approval. It was comfortable, settled, serene--it looked like +home--it invited the visitor to come in and be at rest. A fire burned +in the heater, a bird sang in the kitchen, a cat lay on the lounge and +did not move when he sat down beside it, showing that its right of way +had not been disputed. Mr. Cowan saw it all. + +After the introductions were over, Mr. Cowan put forth some questions +about her qualifications, and at each answer, his colleagues were +given to understand by a faint twitter of his eyes that Miss Watson +was still doing well. + +"You're young of course," said Mr. Cowan, with the air of a man who +faces facts--but his natural generosity of spirit prompted him to add +"but you'll get over that, and anyway a girl is older in her ways than +a boy." + +"We measure time by heart-beats," said Pearl, as she handed him a +flowered cushion to put behind his head, "not by figures on a dial." + +She tossed it off easily, as if poetry were the language of every day +life to her. + +Mr. Cowan shut one eye for the briefest space of time, and across the +room his two friends knew Miss Watson's chances were growing brighter +every minute. "My wife happened to be down at Chicken Hill the day you +spoke, and she said you sure did speak well, for a girl, and she +was hopin' you'd speak at our school some night--and we could get a +phonograph to liven things up a bit--I guess we're broad-minded enough +to listen to a woman." + +Mr. Cowan's confidence in his companions was amply justified. They +nodded their heads approvingly, like men who are willing to try +anything once. + +"Well, you see," Mr. Cowan went on, "we have a nice district, Miss +Watson. We're farmer people, of course, with the exception of the few +who live at the station; we're farmers but we're decent people--and +we're pretty well-to-do farmers--we have only one woman in the +district--that we sort of wish wasn't there." + +"Why," asked Pearl quickly. + +"Well you see, she got in first, so to speak. She bought the farm +beside the river, and it was her that called the place 'Purple +Springs.' It's an outlandish name, but it seems to kind a' stick. +There's no springs at all, and they are certainly not purple. But she +made the words out of peeled poplar poles, with her axe, and put them +up at the front of her house, facin' the track, and the blamed words +stick. Mind you, she must have spent months twistin' and turnin' them +poles to suit her and get the letters right, and she made a rustic +fence to put them on. They're so foolish you can't forget them. She's +queer, that's all--and she won't tell who she is, nor where she came +from--and she seems to have money." + +Pearl looked at him inquiringly. There must be more than that to the +story, she thought. + +"The women will tell you more about her--that's sure. They gabble a +lot among themselves about her--I don't know--we think it best to +leave her alone. No woman has any right to live alone the way she +does--it don't look well." + +"Well, anyway," Mr. Cowan spoke hurriedly, as one who has been +betrayed into trifling feminine matters, and is anxious to get back to +man's domain, "we'll take you--at seventy-five dollars a month, and +I guess you can get board at Mrs. Zinc's here at about fifteen. That +ain't bad wages for a girl your age. You can stay at Mrs. Zinc's +anyway till you look around--Mrs. Zinc don't want a boarder. Girls can +fit in any place--that's one reason in our neighborhood we like a girl +better--there's no trouble about boardin' them. They can always manage +somehow. Even if things ain't very good--it don't seem to phaze +them--same as a man. We had a man once, and we had to pay him +twenty-five dollars a month extra, and gosh--the airs of him--wanted +a bed to himself and a hot dinner sent to the school. By Gum! and got +it! We'll be lookin' for you at the middle of the month, and you can +stay at Mrs. Zinc's and look around." + +When the delegation had departed, Pearl acquainted her mother with the +result of their visit. Mrs. Watson had retired to the kitchen, all of +a flutter, as soon as the visitors came. + +"I'm going to Purple Springs, Ma," she said, "to take the school, and +they'll give me seventy-five dollars a month." + +Mrs. Watson sat down, dramatically, and applied her print apron to her +eyes--an occasion had come, and Mrs. Watson, true to tradition, would +make the most of it. Her mother had cried when she left home--it was a +girl's birthright to be well cried over--Pearlie Watson would not go +forth unwept! + +"Cheer up, Ma," said Pearl kindly, "I'm not going to jail, and I'm not +taking the veil or going across the sea. I can call you up for fifteen +cents, and I'll be bringing you home my washing every two weeks--so I +will not be lost entirely." + +Mrs. Watson rocked herself disconsolately back and forth in her chair, +and the sound of her sobs filled the kitchen. Mrs. Watson was having a +good time, although appearances would not bear out the statement. + +"It's the first break, Pearlie, that's what I'm thinkin'--and every +night when I lock the door, I'll be lockin' you out--not knowin' where +ye are. When a family once breaks you never can tell if they'll ever +all be together again--that's what frightens me. It was bad enough +when you went to the city--and I never slept a wink for two nights +after you'd gone. But this is worse, for now you're doin' for yourself +and away from us that way." + +"Gosh, Ma," spoke up Mary, "you sure cry easy; and for queer things. I +think it's grand that Pearl can get out and earn money, and then when +I get my entrance, I'll go to the city and be a teacher too. You're +going to get back what you've spent on us, ma, and you ought to be in +great humor. I'm just as proud of Pearl as I can hold, and I'll be +tellin' the kids at school about my sister who is Principal of the +Purple Springs School." + +"Principal, Assistant and Janitor," laughed Pearl, "that gives a +person some scope--to be sure." + +Mrs. Watson hurriedly put up the ironing-board, and set to work. She +would get Pearl ready, though she did it with a heavy heart. + +Pearl finished her sewing and then went upstairs to make her small +wardrobe ready for her departure, and although she stepped quickly and +in a determined fashion, there was a pain, a lonely ache in her heart +which would not cease, a crying out for the love which she had hoped +would be hers. + +"I wonder if I will ever get to be like ma," she thought, as she lined +the bottom of her little trunk with brown paper, and stuffed tissue +paper into the sleeves of her "good dress," "I wonder! Well, I hope I +will be like her in some ways, but not in this mournful stuff--I won't +either. I'll sing when I feel it coming on me--I will not go mourning +all my days--not for any one!" + +She began to sing:-- + + "Forgotten you? Yes, if forgetting + Is thinking all the day + How the long days pass without you. + Days seem years with you away!" + +Pearl's voice had a reedy mellowness, and an appeal which sent the +words straight into Mary's practical heart. Mary, washing +dishes below, stopped, with a saucer in her hand, and listened +open-mouthed:-- + + "If the warm wish to see you and hear you, + And hold you in my arms again, + If that be forgetting--you're right, dear, + And I have forgotten you then!" + +Her voice trailed away on the last line into a sob, and Mary, +listening below, dropped a tear into the dish-water. Then racing up +the stairs, she burst into Pearl's room and said admiringly: + +"Pearl, you're a wonder. It's an actress you ought to be. You got me +blubbering, mind you. It's so sad about you and your beau that's had a +row, and both of you actin' so pale and proud, you made me see it +all. Sing it again! Well, for the love of Pete--if you ain't ready to +blubber too. That's good actin', Pearl--let me tell you--how can you +do it?" + +Pearl brushed away the tears, and laughed: "I just hit on the wrong +song--that one always makes me cry, I can see them, too, going their +own ways and feeling so bad, and moping around instead of cutting out +the whole thing the way they should. People are foolish to mope!" +Pearl spoke sternly. + +"I think you sing just lovely," said Mary, "now go on, and I'll get +back to the dishes. Sing 'Casey Jones'--that's the best one to wash +dishes to. It's sad, too, but it's funny." + +Mrs. Watson held the iron to her cheek to test its heat, and +listened--too--as Pearl sang:-- + + "Casey Jones--mounted to the cabin, + Casey Jones--with the orders in his hand, + Casey Jones--mounted to the cabin + And took his farewell tri-ip--to the promised land!" + +"It's well for them that can be so light-hearted," she said, "and +leave all belonging to them--as easy as Pearl. Children do not know, +and never will know what it means, until one of their own ups and +leaves them! It's the way of the world, one day they're babies, and +the next thing you know they're gone! It's the way of the world, but +it's hard on the mother." + +Pearl came down the stairs, stepping in time with Casey Jones's +spectacular home-leaving:-- + + "The caller called Casey, at--a half-past-four, + He kissed his wife at the station door." + +"How goes the ironing, honest woman," she said, as she lovingly patted +her mother's shoulder. "It's a proud old bird you ought to be getting +one of your young robins pushed out of the nest--instead of standing +here with a sadness on your face." + +The mother tried to smile through her tears. + +"Pearlie, my dear, you're a queer girl--you never seem to think of +what might happen. It may be six weeks before you can get home--with +the roads breaking up--and a lot can happen in that time. Sure--I +might not be here myself," she said, with a fresh burst of tears. + +"Ma, you're funny," laughed Pearl, "I wish you could see how funny +you are. Every Christmas ever since I can remember, that's what you +said--you might never live to see another, and it used to nearly break +my heart when I was little, and until I made up my mind that you were +a poor guesser. You said it last Christmas just the same, and here +you are with your ears back and your neck bowed, heading up well for +another year. You're quite right in saying you may not be here, but if +you are not you'll be in a better place. Sure, things may happen, but +it's better to have things happen than to be scared all the time that +they may happen. The young lads may take the measles and then the +mumps, and the whooping-cough to finish up on--and the rosey-posey is +going around too. But even if they do--it's most likely they will get +over it--they always have. Up to the present, the past has taken care +of the future. Maybe it always will." + +"O yes, I know there's always a chance things will go wrong--I know +it, Ma--" Pearl's eyes dimmed a little, and she held her lips tighter; +"there's always a chance. The cows may all choke to death seeing +which of them can swallow the biggest turnip--the cats may all have +fits--the chickens may break into the hen-house and steal a bag of +salt, eat it and die. But I don't believe they will. You just have to +trust them--and you'll have to trust me the same way. Just look, Ma--" + +She took a five-dollar bill from her purse and spread it on the +ironing-board before her mother. "Fifteen o' them every month! See +the pictures that's on it, of the two grand old men. See the fine +chin-whiskers on His Nibs here! Ain't it a pity he can't write his +name, Ma, and him President of the Bank, and just has to make a bluff +at it like this. Sure, and isn't that enough to drive any girl out to +teach school, to see to it that bank presidents get a chance to learn +to write. Bank presidents always come from the country; I'll be having +a row of them at Purple Springs--I'm sure. They will be able to tell +in after years at Rotary Club luncheons how they ran barefooted in +November, and made wheat gum--and chewed strings together. They just +like to tell about their chilblains and their stone-bruises." + +Her mother looked at her wonderingly: "You think of queer things, +Pearl--I don't know where you get it--I can't make you out--and +there's another thing troubling me, Pearl. You are goin' away--I don't +suppose you will be livin' much at home now. You'll be makin' your own +way." + +She paused, and Pearl knew her mother was laboring under heavy +emotion. She knew she was struggling to say what was difficult for her +to get into words. + +"When you've been away for a while and then come back to us, maybe +you'll find our ways strange to you, for you're quick in the pick-up, +Pearl, and we're only plain workin' people, and never had a chance at +learnin'. There may come a time when you're far above us, Pearl, and +our ways will seem strange to you. I get worried about it, Pearl, for +I know if that time ever comes, it will worry you too, for you're not +the kind that can hurt your own and not feel it." + +Pearl looked at her mother almost with alarm in her face, and the +fears that had been assailing her that her family were beyond the +social pale came back for a moment. But with the fear came a +fierce tenderness for all of them. She saw in a flash of her quick +imagination the tragedy of it from her mother's side, and in her heart +there was just one big, burning, resolute desire, that pain from this +source might never smite her mother's loving heart. The hard hands, +the sunburnt face, the thin hair that she had not taken time to care +for; the hard-working shoulders, slightly stooped; the scrawny neck, +with its tell-tale lines of age; were eloquent in their appeal. Pearl +saw the contrast of her mother's life and what her own promised to +be, and her tender heart responded, and when she spoke, it was in +an altered tone. All the fun had gone from it now, and it was not a +child's voice, nor a girl's voice, but a woman's, with all a woman's +gentleness and understanding that spoke. + +"Mother," she said, "I know what is in your heart, and I will tell you +how I feel about it. You're afraid your ways may seem strange to me. +Some of them are strange to me now. I often wonder how any one can be +as unselfish as you are and keep it up day in and day out, working for +other people. Most of us can make a good stab at it, and keep it up +for a day or so, but to hit the steady pace, never looking back and +never being cross or ugly about it--that's great!" + +"And about the other ... If ever there comes a time when an honest +heart and a brave spirit in a woman seems strange to me, and I get +feeling myself above them--if I ever get thinking light of honesty and +kindness and patience and hard work, and get thinking myself above +them--then your ways will be strange to me, but not until then!" + +Mrs. Watson's face cleared, and a look of pride shone in her eyes. +Her face seemed to lose some of its lines, and to reflect some of the +lavish beauty of her daughter. + +"You've comforted me, Pearl," she said simply, "and it's not the first +time. Whatever comes or goes, Pearl, you'll know we are proud of you, +and will stand back of you. Your outspoken ways may get you into +trouble, but we'll always believe you were right. We haven't much to +give you--only this." + +"Sure and what more would any one want, leavin' home," Pearl was back +to the speech of her childhood now. "That's better than a fur coat to +keep out the cold, and the thought of my own folks makes me strong to +face the world, knowin' I can always come home even if everything else +is closed. That's good enough!" + +Pearl kissed her mother affectionately, and went back to her work +upstairs, and soon Mary and her mother heard her singing. Mary stopped +scrubbing the kitchen floor, and Mrs. Watson left the iron so long on +Teddy's shirt that it left a mark: + + "Say Au Revoir," sang Pearl, "but not goodbye, + The past is dead--love cannot die, + T'were better far--had we not met, + I loved you then--I love you yet." + +There was something in her voice that made her mother say, "Poor +child, I wonder what's ahead of her." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE MACHINE + + +Seated in one of the billowy tapestry chairs of the Maple Leaf Club, +with a mahogany ash-stand at his elbow and the morning paper in his +hand, the Cabinet Minister gave an exclamation which began far down in +the throat, tore upward past his immaculate collar, and came forth as +a full-sized round word of great emphasis and carrying power. + +It brought to him at once Peter Neelands, one of the ambitious young +lawyers of the city, who was just coming into prominence in political +circles. + +"What did you say, sir?" Peter asked politely. + +The Cabinet Minister controlled his indignation admirably, and with +his pudgy knuckles rapped the offending newspaper, with the motion +used by a carpenter when trying to locate the joist in a plastered +wall, as he said:-- + +"Here is absolutely the most damnably mischievous thing I have seen +for years, and this abominable sheet is featuring it on the Women's +Page. They will all read it--and be infected. Women are such utterly +unreasonable creatures. This is criminal." + +"What is it, sir?" Peter asked deferentially. + +The older man handed him the paper, and sat back in his chair, with +his fat hands clasped over his rotund person, and an expression of +deep disgust in his heavy gray eyes. + +"Anything!--anything!--" he cried, "to gain a political advantage. +They will even play up this poor little uneducated, and no doubt, +mentally unfit country girl, and put in her picture and quotations +from her hysterical speeches. They never think--or care--for the +effect this will have on her, filling her head with all sorts of +notions. This paper is absolutely without a soul, and seems determined +to corrupt the country. And on the Women's Page, too, where they will +all read it!" + +"By Jove! that was good"--exclaimed the young man, as he read. + +"What was good--are you reading what I gave you to read?" came from +the older man. + +"Yes, about this girl at Millford, it says: 'In the discussion that +followed, the local member heatedly opposed the speaker's arguments +favoring the sending of women to Parliament, and said when women sat +in Parliament, he would retire--to which the speaker replied that this +was just another proof of the purifying effect women would have on +politics. This retort naturally brought down the house, and the local +member was not heard from again'--terribly cheeky, of course, but +rather neat, sir, don't you think?" + +The Cabinet Minister took a thick cigar from his vest pocket, without +replying. + +"Who is the member from Millford," he demanded. + +"George Steadman, sir, a big, heavy-set chap--very faithful in his +attendance, sir, absolutely reliable--never talks, but votes right." + +"I don't recall him," said the great man, after a pause, "but your +description shows he's the sort we must retain." + +He lit his cigar, and when it was drawing nicely, removed it from his +mouth, and looked carefully at it, as if he expected to find authentic +information in it regarding private members. Failing this, he put it +back in his mouth, and between puffs went on:-- + +"Let me see--they are wanting a bridge near there, aren't they? on the +Souris?" + +"Yes sir, at Purple Springs." + +"All right--we ought to be able to hold the fort there with the +bridge--but the trouble is, this thing will spread, and when the +campaign warms up, this girl will be in demand." + +He lapsed into silence again. + +Peter, still holding the paper, volunteered:-- + +"She seems to be one of those infant prodigies who could sing 'The +Dying Nun,' and recite 'Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight,' before she +could talk plainly." + +The Cabinet Minister gave no sign that he was listening--mental +agitation was written on his face. + +"But we must head her off some way, I'll admit--I don't mind saying +it--though of course it must not be repeated--these damnable women are +making me nervous. I know how to fight men--I've been fighting them +all my life--with some success." + +"With wonderful success, sir!" burst in Peter. + +The older man threw out his hands in a way that registered modesty. +It had in it the whole scriptural injunction of "Let another praise +thee--and not thine own mouth." + +"With some success," he repeated sternly, "but I cannot fight women. +You cannot tell what they will do; they are absolutely unreliable; +they are ungrateful, too. Many of these women who form the cursed +Women's Club, are women I have been on friendly terms with; so has +the Chief. We have granted them interviews; we have listened to their +suggestions; always with courtesy, always with patience. We have +asked them to come back. In certain matters we have acceded to their +requests--in some unimportant matters--" he added quickly. "But what +is the result? Is there any gratitude? Absolutely none. Give them +an inch--they will take a mile. Women are good servants, but bad +masters." + +"Don't you think, sir," said Peter, much flattered by being talked to +in this friendly way by the great man, "don't you think it is these +militant suffragettes in England who are causing the trouble? Before +they began their depredations, women did not think of the vote. It is +the power of suggestion, don't you think, and all that sort of thing?" + +They were interrupted just then by the arrival of Mr. Banks, one of +the Government organizers, who, ignoring Peter's presence, addressed +himself to the Cabinet Minister. His manner was full of importance. +Mr. Banks had a position in the Public Works Department, and +occasionally might be found there. Sometimes he went in for his mail, +and stayed perhaps half an hour. + +He addressed the Cabinet Minister boldly:-- + +"Did you see this? Looks like trouble, don't it? What do you suggest?" + +Mr. Banks did not remove either his hat or his cigar. Cabinet +Ministers had no terror for him--he had made cabinet ministers. If Mr. +Banks had lived in the time of Warwick that gentleman might not have +had the title of "King-Maker." + +"What do you think yourself," asked the Cabinet Minister +deferentially, "you know the temper of the country perhaps better than +any of us; shall we notice this girl or just let her go?" + +Mr. Banks laughed harshly. + +"We can't stop her, as a matter of fact--she isn't the kind that can +be shut up. There's nothing to her--I've made inquiries. The people +have known her since she was born, and ran the country barefooted--so +we can't send her a 'Fly--all is discovered' postcard. It won't work. +People all honest--can't get any of them into trouble--and then let +them off--and win her gratitude. This is a difficult case, and the +other side will play it up, you bet. The girl has both looks and +brains, and a certain style. She went to the Normal with my girl. My +kid's crazy about her." + +"Do her people need money?" asked Peter; he was learning the inner +side of politics. + +His suggestion was ignored until the pause became painful--then the +organizer said severely:-- + +"Nobody needs money, but every one can use it. But money is of no +use in this case. This has to be arranged by tact. Tact is what few +members of the party have; their methods are raw." + +"But there is no harm done yet," said Peter hopefully, "a few country +people in a bally little school-house, and the girl gets up and +harangues. She's been to the city, and knows a few catch phrases. +There's nothing to it. We wouldn't have known of it--only for the +enthusiastic friend who pours his drivel into this paper." + +Mr. Banks looked at Peter in deep contempt. + +"Whoever wrote this does not write drivel, Peter," he said, with a +note of fatigue in his voice. "He has made out a good case for this +girl. Every one who reads this wants to see her. I want to see her, +you want to see her--that's the deuce of it." + +"Well, why don't you go," said Peter, "or send me? I'd like to go. +Perhaps it would be better to send a young man. I often think--" + +Mr. Banks looked at him with so much surprise in his usually heavy +countenance that Peter paused in confusion. + +"I often think," he braved the disgust he had evoked, and spoke +hurriedly to get it said before the other man had withered him with +his eyes; "I often think a young man can get along sometimes--girls +will tell him more, feeling more companionable as it were--" He +paused, feeling for a convincing climax. + +But in spite of Mr. Banks' scorn of Peter Neelands' efforts at solving +their new difficulty, he soon began to think of it more favorably, +coming to this by a process known as elimination. No one else wanted +to go; he could not think of anything else. Peter would not do any +harm--he was as guileless as a blue-eyed Angora kitten, and above all, +he was willing and anxious to get into the game. This would give him +an opportunity. So Mr. Banks suddenly made up his mind that he would +authorize a cheque to be drawn on the "Funds." It could easily be +entered under "Inspection of Public Bridges," or any old thing--that +was a mere detail. + +The Cabinet Minister, who was later acquainted with the plan, and had +by that time recovered his mental composure, almost spoiled everything +by declaring it was a most unwise move, and absolutely unnecessary. + +"Leave her alone," he declared, as he sipped his whiskey and +soda--"people like that hang themselves if they get enough rope. What +is she anyway--but an unlearned, ignorant country girl, who has been +in the city and gathered a few silly notions, and when she goes home +she shows off before her rustic friends. My dear boy," he addressed +Peter now, from an immeasurable distance, "the secret of England's +greatness consists of letting every damn fool say what he likes, +they feel better, and it does no harm. We must expect criticism and +censure--we are well able to bear it, and with our men in every +district, there is little to fear. We'll offset any effect there may +be from this girl's ravings by sending the Chief out for one speech." + +The Minister of Public Works lapsed into meditation and drummed +pleasantly with his plump, shining hand on the table beside him. The +sweet mellowness which had been Mr. Walker's aim for years, lay on his +soul. The world grew more misty and golden every moment, and in this +sunkissed, nebulous haze, his fancy roamed free, released from sordid +cares--by Mr. Walker's potent spell. It was a good world--a good world +of true friends, no enemies, no contradiction of sinners or other +disagreeable people, nothing but ease, praise, power, success, +glorious old world, without any hereafter, or any day of accounting. +Tears of enthusiasm made dewy his eyes--he loved everybody. + +"The old Chief has a hold on the people that cannot be equalled. I +thought it was wonderful last night at the banquet, the tribute be +paid to his mother. It reveals such a tender side of him, even though +he has received the highest honor the people can give him, yet the +remembers so tenderly the old home and its associations. That's his +great secret of success--he's so human--with faults like other men, +but they only make him all the more beloved. He is so tolerant of all. +When that poor simpleton stuffed the ballot-box--out somewhere in the +Blue Mountains, a really clever piece of work too, wonderfully well +done--with the false bottom--I don't see how they ever discovered +it--but it is hard to deceive the enemy--there's no piece of crooked +work they are not familiar with. He was nearly crazy when they caught +him at it--thought he could be put in jail--he forgot, the poor boob +... who he was working for.... I'll never forget how fine the old +Chief allayed his fears--'All for a good cause, my boy,' he said, in +that jovial way of his, 'I have no fear--the Lord will look after His +own.' No wonder he can get people to work for him. It is that hearty +good nature of his, and he never preaches to any one, or scolds. He +was just as kindly to the poor fellow as if he had succeeded. It was +wonderful." + +"Great old boy, all right," Peter agreed heartily. + +That afternoon Mr. Banks arranged with one of the partners of the law +firm to which Peter was attached to release him for an indefinite +period, and his salary could be charged to the Government under +"Professional Services, Mr. P.J. Neelands," and being a fair-minded +man, and persuaded that a laborer was worthy of his hire, he suggested +a substantial increase in salary for Mr. Neelands, considering the +delicate nature of the task he was undertaking, and who was paying for +it. + +The spring, notwithstanding its early March smiles, delayed its coming +that year, and the grim facts of the scarcity of feed faced the +thriftiest farmers. The hungry cattle grew hungrier than ever, and +with threatening bellows and eyes of flame pushed and crowded around +the diminishing stacks. The cattle market went so low that it did not +pay to ship them to the city, though humane instincts prompted many +a farmer to do this to save their stock from a lingering death, and +their own eyes from the agony of seeing them suffer. + +On April the first came the big storm, which settled forever the feed +problem for so many hungry animals. It was a deliberate storm, a +carefully planned storm, beginning the day before with a warm, soft +air, languorous, spring-like, with a pale yellow sun, with a cap of +silver haze around its head, which seemed to smile upon the earth with +fairest promises of an early spring. The cattle wandered far from +home, lured by the gentle air and the mellow sunshine. + +It was on this fair day that Mr. P.J. Neelands took his journey to +the country to do it a service, and it is but fair to say that Mr. +Neelands had undertaken his new work with something related to +enthusiasm. It savored of mystery, diplomacy, intrigue, and there was +a thrill in his heart as he sat in the green plush-covered seat, +and leaning back, with his daintily shod feet on the opposite seat, +surveyed himself in the long mirror which filled the door of the +stateroom at the end. It was a very smartly dressed young man he saw, +smiling back engagingly, and the picture pleased him. Expenses and +salary paid, with a very delightful piece of work before him, which, +if handled tactfully and successfully, would bring him what he +craved--political promotion in the Young Men's Club. The fact in the +glass smiled again. "Diplomacy is the thing," said Peter to himself. +"It carries a man farther than anything--and I'm glad my first case +has a woman in it." + +He buffed his nails on the palm of his other hand, and, looking at +them critically, decided to go over them again. + +"There's nothing like personal neatness to impress a girl; and this +one, from her picture, will see everything at a glance." + +Crossing the river at Poplar Ridge, he looked out of the window at the +pleasant farmyard of one of the old settlers on the Assiniboine; a +fine brick house, with wide verandahs, an automobile before the door, +a barnyard full of cackling hens, with a company of fine fat steers +in an enclosure--a pleasing picture of farm life, which filled his +imagination. + +"What a country of opportunity," thought Peter, "a chance for every +one, and for women especially. Everything in life is done for them. +This house was built for some woman, no doubt. I hope she appreciates +it, and is contented and happy in it. Women were made to charm +us--inspire us--cheer us, but certainly not to rival us!" + +Peter, with his hands on the knees of his well-creased trousers, +hitched them slightly, just enough to reveal a glimpse of his lavender +socks. + +"Perhaps this girl needs only an interest--a love interest--" Peter +blushed as he thought it--"to quiet her. If her affection were +captured, localized, centralized, she would not be clamoring to take a +man's place. She might be quite willing to enter politics, indirectly, +and be the power behind a man of power." + +He looked again at the newspaper picture of Pearl Watson, and again at +his own reflection in the long glass. + +"And a girl like this," Peter meditated, "would be a help, too. She is +evidently magnetic and convincing." His mind drifted pleasantly into +the purple hills and valleys of the future, and in a delightfully +vague way plans began to form for future campaigns, where a brilliant +young lawyer became at once the delight of his friends and the despair +of his enemies, by his scathing sarcasm, his quick repartee, and still +more by his piercing and inescapable logic. Never had the Conservative +banner been more proudly borne to victory. Older men wept tears of joy +as they listened and murmured, "The country is safe--thank God!" + +Ably assisting him, though she deferred charmingly to him, in all +things, was his charming young wife, herself an able speaker and +debater who had once considered herself a suffragette, but who was now +entirely absorbed in her beautiful home and her brilliant husband. + +Peter flicked the dust from his tan shoes with a polka-dotted +handkerchief, while rosy dreams, full of ambition and success filled +his impressionable mind. + +Through the snowy hills the train made its way cautiously, making long +and apparently purposeless stops between stations, as if haunted by +the fear of arriving too early. At such times Peter had leisure to +carefully study the monotonous landscape, and he could not help but +notice that the disparity in the size of the barn and that of the +house in many cases was very great. A huge red barn, with white +trimmings, surmounted by windmills, often stood towering over a tiny +little weather-beaten, miserable house, which across a mile or two of +snow, looked about the size of a child's block. + +But small houses can be made very cosy, thought Peter complacently, +for the glamor of adventure was on him, and no shade of sadness could +assail his high spirits. + +Some of the women who came to the train were disappointing in +appearance. They were both shabby and sad, he thought, and he wondered +why but looking closely at them he thought, with the fallacy of youth, +that they must be very old. + +Peter tried to outline his course of action. He would take a room +at the hotel, making that his headquarters, and go out into the +country--and stop at the Watson home, to ask directions or on some +trivial errand, and meet her that way. But the thought would come back +with tiresome regularity--suppose the first person who came to the +door, gave him the directions he wanted--and shut the door. Well, of +course he could ask for a drink,... but even that might fail. Perhaps +he should have brought an egg-beater--or a self-wringing mop to +demonstrate, or some of the other things his friends had suggested. +However, that did not need to be decided at once. Peter prided himself +on his ability to leave tomorrow alone! So he made his way to the +hotel on the corner, facing the station, untroubled by what the morrow +might bring forth, and registered his name in the large book which the +clerk swung around in front of him, and quietly asked for a room with +a bath. + +The clerk bit through the toothpick he had in his mouth, so great was +his surprise, but he answered steadily: + +"All rooms with bath are taken--only rooms with bed left." + +"Room with bed, then," said Peter, and he was given the key of No. 17, +and pointed to the black and red carpeted stairway. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE STORM + + +It was a morning of ominous calm, with an hour of bright sun, +gradually softening into a white shadow, as a fleecy cloud of fairy +whiteness rolled over the sun's face, giving a light on the earth like +the garish light in a tent at high noon, a light of blinding whiteness +that hurts the eyes, although the sun is hidden. It was as innocent +a looking morning as any one would wish to see, still, warm, bright, +with a heavy brooding air which deadens sound and makes sleighs draw +hard and horses come out in foam. + +James Crocks, of the Horse Repository, sniffed the air apprehensively, +bit a semi-circle out of a plug of tobacco, and gave orders that no +horse was to leave the barn that day, for "he might be mistaken, and +he might not," but he thought "we were in for it." + +Other people seemed to think the same, for no teams could be seen on +any of the roads leading to the village. It was the kind of morning +on which the old timers say, "Stay where you are, wherever it is--if +there's a roof over you!" + +Wakening from a troubled dream of fighting gophers that turned to +wild-cats, Mr. Neelands, in No. 17, made a hurried toilet, on account +of the temperature of the room, for although the morning was warm, +No. 17 still retained some of last week's temperature, and to Mr. +Neelands, accustomed to the steam heat of Mrs. Marlowe's "Select +Boarding House--young men a specialty"--it felt very chilly, indeed. +But Mr. Neelands had his mind made up to be unmoved by trifles. + +After a good breakfast in the dining room, Mr. Neelands walked out to +see the little town--and to see what information he could gather. The +well-dressed young man, with the pale gray spats, who carried a cane +on his arm and wore a belted coat, attracted many eyes as he swung out +gaily across the street toward the livery stable. + +His plans were still indefinite. Bertie, who was in charge of the +stable, gazed spell-bound on the vision of fashion which stood at the +door, asking about a team. Bertie, for once, was speechless--he seemed +to be gazing on his own better self--the vision he would like to see +when he sought his mirror. + +"I would like to get a team for a short run," said Mr. Neelands +politely. + +"Where you goin'," asked Bertie. + +Mr. Neelands hesitated, and became tactful. + +"I am calling on teachers," he said, on a matter of business, +"introducing a new set of books for school libraries." + +It was the first thing Mr. Neelands could think of, and he was quite +pleased with it when he said it. It had a professional, business-like +ring, which pleased him. + +"A very excellent set of books, which the Department of Education +desire to see in every school," Mr. Neelands elaborated. + +Then Bertie, always anxious to be helpful and to do a good deed, leapt +to the door, almost upsetting Mr. Neelands in his haste. Bertie had +an idea! Mr. Neelands did not connect his sudden departure with his +recent scheme of enriching the life of the country districts with the +set of books just mentioned, and therefore waited rather impatiently +for the stableboy's return. + +Bertie burst in, with the same enthusiasm. + +"See, Mister, here's the teacher you want; I got her for you--she was +just going to school." + +Bertie's face bore the same glad rapture that veils the countenance of +a cat when she throws a mouse at your feet with a casual "How's that." + +Mr. Neelands found himself facing a brown-eyed, well-dressed young +lady, with big question marks in both eyes, question marks which in a +very dignified way demanded to know what it was all about. + +In his confusion, Mr. Neelands, new in the art of diplomacy, +blundered: + +"Is this Miss Watson?" he stammered. + +The reply was definite. + +"It is not, and why did you call me." + +Icicles began to hang from the roof. Mr. Neelands would have been +well pleased if they had fallen on him, or a horse had kicked him--or +anything. + +He blushed a ripe tomato red. Bertie, deeply grieved, reviewed the +situation. + +"He said he wanted to see the teachers, and I just went and got +you--that's all--you were the nearest teacher." + +"Awfully sorry," began Mr. Neelands, "I did not know anything about +it. I'm am just a stranger, you see." + +There was something in Miss Morrison's eye which simply froze the +library proposition. He could not frame the words. + +"If you have any business with me you may make an appointment at the +school. People who have business with the teachers generally do come +to the school--not to the livery stable," she added, in exactly the +tone in which she would have said "All who have failed to get fifty +per cent. in arithmetic will remain after four," a tone which would be +described as stern, but just. + +Mr. Neelands leaned against a box-stall as Miss Morrison passed out. +He wiped his face with the polka-dot handkerchief, and the word which +the Cabinet Minister had used came easily to his lips. + +"Why didn't you speak to her when you got a chance?" asked Bertie, +anxious to divert the blame and meet railing with railing. He was +always getting in wrong just trying to help people. Darn it all! Mr. +Neelands could still think of no word but the one. + +"I wish it had been Pearl," said Bertie, "Gee! she wouldn't ha' been +so sore; she'd just laughed and jollied about it." + +"So you know Pearl, do you?" Mr. Neelands could feel a revival of +interest in life; also the stiffness began to leave his lips, and his +tongue felt less like tissue paper. + +"I guess everyone knows Pearl," said Bertie, with a consciousness of +superiority on at least one point. Whereupon he again fulfilled the +promises of youth, the leadings of his birth star and the promptings +of his spirit guides, and told all he knew about the whole Watson +family, not forgetting the roses he had taken to her, and Mrs. Crock's +diagnosis of it all. + +He had an interested listener to it all, and under the inspiration +which a sympathetic hearing gives he grew eloquent, and touched with +his fine fancy the romantic part of it. + +"Mrs. Crocks says she believes Pearl is pretty sweet on the Doctor. +Pearl is one swell girl, and all that, but Mrs. Crocks says the Doctor +will likely marry the Senator's daughter. Gee! I wouldn't if I was +him. She hasn't got the style that Pearl has--she rides a lot and has +nerve--and all that, but she's bow-legged!" His tone was indescribably +scornful. + +Mr. Neelands gasped. + +"Yep," went on Bertie complacently, "we see a lot here at the stable +and get to know a lot--one way'n another--we can't help it. They come +and go, you know." + +"The doctor won't run for Parliament--he turned it down. Mrs. Crocks +thinks the Senator maybe persuaded him not to--the Senator is for the +Government, of course, and it is the other side wanted the doctor; +anyway, that suits old Steadman; he'll likely go in again on account +of the bridge at Purple Springs. Every one wants to get work on it +with the Spring hangin' back the way it is." "How about a horse? I +want to take a drive into the country," said Mr. Neelands. + +"No horse can go out of here today," answered Bertie. "Mr. Crocks says +there'll be storm, and he won't take no chances on his horses. He says +people can judge for themselves and run risks if they want to, he'll +decide for the horses--and they can't go." + +"O, all right," said Mr. Neelands. "How far is it to the Watson farm?" + +"Are you going out?" asked Bertie. "Better phone and see if she's at +home. Here's the phone--I'll get her." + +Mr. Neelands laid a restraining hand on Bertie's arm. "Easy there, +my friend," he said, his tone resembling Miss Morrison's in its +commanding chilliness, "How far is it to the Watson farm?" + +"Five miles in summer, four in winter," Bertie answered a little +sulkily. + +"You would call this winter, I suppose," said the traveller, looking +out at the darkening street. + +"I'd call it--oh, well, never mind what I'd call it--I'm always +talking too much--call it anything you like." Bertie grew dignified +and reserved. "Call it the first of July if you like! I don't care." + +That is how it came that Mr. Neelands took the out-trail when all the +signs were against travelling, but to his unaccustomed eye there +was nothing to fear in the woolly grayness of the sky, nor in the +occasional snowflake that came riding on the wind. The roads were +hard-packed and swept clean by the wind, and the sensation of space +and freedom most enjoyable. + +Mr. Neelands as he walked filed away tidily in his mind the +information received. There were valuable clues contained in the +stable-boy's chatter, Which he would tabulate, regarding the lady +of his quest. She was popular, approachable, gifted with a sense of +humor, and perhaps disappointed in love. No clue was too small to be +overlooked--and so, feeling himself one of the most deadly of sleuths, +Mr. Neelands walked joyously on, while behind him there gathered one +of the worst blizzards that the Souris Valley has known. + +The storm began with great blobbery flakes of snow, which came +elbowing each other down the wind, crossing and re-crossing, circling, +drifting, whirling, fluttering, so dense and thick that the whole air +darkened ominously, and the sun seemed to withdraw from the world, +leaving the wind and the storm to their own evil ways. + +The wind at once began its circling motions, whipping the snow +into the traveller's face, blinding and choking him, lashing him +mercilessly and with a sudden impish delight, as if all the evil +spirits of the air had declared war upon him. + +He turned to look back, but the storm had closed behind him, having +come down from the northwest and overtaken him as he walked. His only +hope was to go with it, for to face it was impossible, and yet it +seemed to have no direction, for it blew up in his face; it fell on +him; it slapped him, jostled him, pushed him, roared in his ears, +smothering him, drowning his cries with malicious joy. No cat ever +worried or harrassed a mouse with greater glee than the storm fiends +that frolicked through the valley that day, took their revenge on the +city man, with his pointed boots, his silk-lined gloves, his belted +coat and gray fedora, as he struggled on, slipping, choking, falling +and rising. It seemed to him like a terrible nightmare, in its sudden, +gripping fury. + +It pounded on his eyeballs until he was not sure but his eyes were +gone; it filled his mouth and ears, and cold water trickled down his +back. His gloves were wet through, and freezing, for the air grew +colder every minute, and the terror of the drowning man came to him. +He struggled on madly, like a steer that feels the muskeg closing +around him. He did not think; he fought, with the same instinct that +drives the cattle blindly, madly on towards shelter and food, when the +storm lashes them and the hunger rage drives them on. + +Sylvester Paine, shaking the snow from his clothes like a water +spaniel, and stamping all over the kitchen, was followed by his wife, +who vainly tried to sweep it up as fast as it fell. She made no +remonstrance, but merely swept, having long since earned that her +liege lord was never turned aside from his purpose by any word of +hers. + +When he was quite done, and the snow was melting in pools on the +floor, he delivered his opinion of the country and the weather: "This +is sure a hell of a country," he said, "that can throw a storm like +this at the end of March." + +She made no reply--she had not made either the country or the weather, +and would not take responsibility for them. She went on wiping up the +water from the floor, with rebellion, slumbering, hidden rebellion +in every movement, and the look in her eyes when she turned to the +window, was a strange blending of rage and fear. + +"Why don't you answer me," he said, turning around quickly, "Darn you, +why can't you speak when your spoken to?" + +"You did not speak to me," she said. "There was nothing for me to +say." + +He looked at her for a moment--her silence exasperated him. She seemed +to be keeping something back--something sinister and unknown. + +"Well, I can tell you one thing," he went on, in a voice that seemed +to be made of iron filings, "you may not answer when I speak to +you--you'll do what you're told. I'm not going to slave my life out +on this farm when there's easier money to be made. Why should you set +yourself above me, and say you won't go into a hotel? I have the right +to decide, anyway. Better people than you have kept hotels, for all +your airs. Are you any better than I am?" + +"I hope so," she said, without raising her eyes from the floor. She +rose quietly and washed out her floorcloth, and stood drying her hands +on the roller towel which hung on the kitchen door. There was an air +of composure about her that enraged him. He could not make it out. The +quality which made the women call her proud kindled his anger now. + +The storm tore past the house, shaking it in its grip like a terrier +shaking a rat. It seemed to mock at their trivial disputes, and seek +to settle them by drowning the sound of them. + +His voice rang above the storm:-- + +"I'll sell the farm," he shouted. "I'll sell every cow and horse on +it. I'll sell the bed from under you--I'll break you and your stuck-up +ways, and you'll not get a cent of money from me--not if your tongue +was hanging out." + +The children shrank into corners and pitifully tried to efface +themselves. The dog, with drooping tail, sought shelter under the +table. + +Sylvester Paine thought he saw a shrinking in her face, and followed +up his advantage with a fresh outpouring of abuse. + +"There's no one to help you--or be sorry for you--you haven't a friend +in this neighborhood, with your stuck-up way. The women are sore on +you--none of them ever come to see you or even phone you. Don't you +think I see it! You've no one to turn to, so you might as well know +it--I've got you!" + +His last words were almost screamed at her, as he strove to make his +voice sound above the storm, and in a sudden lull of the storm, they +rang through the house. + +At the same moment there was a sound of something falling against +the door and the dog, with bristling hair, ran out from his place of +shelter. + +Mrs. Paine turned quickly to the door and opened it, letting in a +gust of blinding snow, which eddied in the room and melted on the hot +stove. + +A man, covered with snow, lay where he had fallen, exhausted on the +doorstep. + +"What's this," cried Paine, in a loud voice, as he ran forward; "where +did this fellow come from?" + +In his excitement he asked it over and over again, as if Mrs. Paine +should know. She ventured no opinion, but busied herself in getting +the snow from the clothes of her visitor and placing him in the +rocking chair beside the fire. He soon recovered the power of speech, +and thanked her gaspingly, but with deep sincerity. + +"This is a deuce of a day for any one to be out," began the man of the +house. "Any fool could have told it was going to storm; what drove you +out? Where did you come from, anyway?" + +Mrs. Paine looked appealingly at him:-- + +"Let him get his breath, can't you, see, he is all in," she said +quietly, "he'll tell you, when he can speak." + +In a couple of hours, Peter Neelands, draped in a gray blanket, sat +beside the fire, while his clothes were being dried, and rejoiced +over the fact that he was alive. The near tragedy of the bright young +lawyer found dead in the snow still thrilled him. It had been a close +squeak, he told himself, and a drowsy sense of physical well-being +made him almost unconscious of his surroundings. It was enough for him +to be alive and warm. + +Mrs. Paine moved about the house quietly, and did all she could with +her crude means to make her guest comfortable, and to assure him of +her hospitality. She pressed his clothes into shape again, and gave +him a well-cooked dinner, as well served as her scanty supplies would +allow, asking no questions, but with a quiet dignity making him feel +that she was glad to serve him. There was something in her manner +which made a strong appeal to the chivalrous heart of the young man. +He wanted to help her--do something for her--make things easier for +her. + +The afternoon wore on, with no loosening of the grip of the storm, +and Peter began to realize that he was a prisoner. He could have been +quite happy with Mrs. Paine and the children, even though the floor +of the kitchen was draughty and cold, the walls smoked, the place +desolate and poor; but the presence of his host, with his insulting +manners, soon grew unbearable. Mr. Paine sat in front of the +stove, smoking and spitting, abusing the country, the weather, the +Government, the church. Nothing escaped him, and everything was wrong. + +A certain form of conceit shone through his words too, which increased +his listener's contempt. He had made many sharp deals in his time, of +which he was inordinately proud. Now he gloated over them. Fifteen +thousand dollars of horse notes were safely discounted in the bank, +so he did not care, he said, whether spring came or not. He had his +money. The bank could collect the notes. + +Peter looked at him to see if he were joking. Surely no man with so +much money would live so poorly and have his wife and children so +shabbily dressed. Something of this must have shown in his face. + +"I've made money," cried Sylvester Paine, spitting at the leg of the +stove; "and I've kept it--or spent it, just as I saw fit, and I did +not waste is on a fancy house. What's a house, anyway, but a place to +eat and sleep. I ain't goin' to put notions into my woman's head, with +any big house--she knows better than to ask it now. If she don't like +the house--the door is open--let her get out--I say. She can't take +the kids--and she won't go far without them." + +He laughed unpleasantly: "That's the way to have them, and by gosh! +there's one place I admired the old Premier--in the way he roasted +those freaks of women who came askin' for the vote. I don't think much +of the Government, but I'm with them on that--in keepin' the women +where they belong." + +"But why," interrupted Peter, with a very uneasy mind, "why shouldn't +women have something to say?" + +"Are you married?" demanded his host. + +"No, not yet," said Peter blushing. + +"Well, when you're married--will you let your wife decide where you +will live? How you earn your living--and all that? No sir, I'll bet +you won't--you'll be boss, won't you? I guess so. Well, every man has +that right, absolutely. Here am I--I'm goin' to sell out here and buy +a hotel--there's good money in it, easy livin'. She--" there was an +unutterable scorn in his voice, "says she won't go--says it ain't +right to sell liquor. I say she'll come with me or get out. She might +be able to earn her own livin', but she can't take the kids. Accordin' +to law, children belong to the father--ain't that right? There's a man +comin' to buy the farm--I guess he would have been out today, only for +the storm. We have the bargain made--all but the signin' up." + +Mrs. Paine stood still in the middle of the floor, and listened in +terror. "A man coming to buy the farm!" Every trace of color left her +face! Maybe it was not true. + +He saw the terror in her face, and followed up his advantage. + +"People have to learn to do as they're told when I'm round. No one can +defy me--I'll tell you that. Every one knows me--I can be led, but I +cant be driven." + +Peter Neelands had the most uncomfortable feeling he had ever known. +He was not sure whether it was his utter aversion to the man who sat +in front of the stove, boasting of his sharp dealing, or a physical +illness which affected him, but a horrible nausea came over him. His +head swam--his eardrums seemed like to burst--every bone began to +ache. + +The three days that followed were like a nightmare, which even time +could never efface or rob of its horror. The fight with the storm +had proven such a shock to him that for three days a burning fever, +alternating with chills, held him in its clutches, and even when the +storm subsided kept him a prisoner sorely against his will. + +In these three days, at close range, he saw something of a phase of +life he had never even guessed at. He did not know that human beings +could live in such crude conditions, without comforts, without +even necessities. It was like a bad dream--confused, humiliating, +horrible--and when on the third day he was able to get into his +clothes his one desire was to get away--and yet, to leave his kind +hostess who had so gently nursed him and cared for him, seemed like an +act of desertion. + +However, when he was on his feet, though feeling much shaken, and +still a bit weak, his courage came back. Something surely could be +done to relieve conditions like this. + +The snow was piled fantastically in huge mounds over the fields, and +the railway cuts would be drifted full, so no train would run for +days. But Peter felt that he could walk the distance back to town. + +His host made no objection, and no offer to drive him. + +In the tiny bedroom off the kitchen, which Mrs. Paine had given him, +as he shiveringly made his preparations for leaving, he heard a +strange voice in the other room, a girl's voice, cheery, pleasant. + +"I just came in to see how you are, Mrs. Paine. No thank you, I won't +put the team in the stable--I ran them into the shed. I am on my way +home from driving the children to school. Some storm, wasn't it? The +snow is ribbed like a washboard, but it is hard enough to carry the +horses." + +Peter came out, with his coat and his hat in his hand, and was +introduced. His first thought was one of extreme mortification--three +days' beard was on his face. His toilet activities had been limited +in number. He knew he felt wretched, seedy, groggy--and looked it. +Something in Pearl's manner re-assured him. + +"Going to town?" said she kindly, "rather too far for you to walk when +you are feeling tough. Come home with me if you are not in a hurry, +and I will drive you in this afternoon." + +Peter accepted gladly. + +He hardly looked at her, holding to some faint hope that if he did +not look at her she would not be able to see him either, and at this +moment Peter's one desire was not to be seen, at least by this girl. + +In a man's coonskin coat she stood at the door, with her face rosy +with the cold. She brought an element of hope and youth, a new +spirit of adventure into the drab room, with its sodden, commonplace +dreariness. Peter's spirits began to rise. + +Outside the dogs began to bark, and a cutter went quickly past the +window. + +Mrs. Paine, looking out, gave a cry of alarm. + +"Wait, Pearl! Oh, don't go!" she cried, "stay with me. It's the man +who is going to buy the farm. He said he was coming, but I didn't +believe him;" her hands were locking and unlocking. + +Without a word, Pearl slipped off her coat and waited. She seemed +to know the whole situation, and instinctively Peter began to feel +easier. There was something about this handsome girl, with the +firmly-set and dimpled chin, which gave him confidence. + +In a few moments Sylvester Paine and his caller came in from the +barn. Pearl stood beside Mrs. Paine, protectingly. Her face had grown +serious; she knew the fight was on. + +Sylvester Paine nodded to her curtly, and introduced his guest to +every one at once. + +"This is Mr. Gilchrist," he said, "and now we'll get to business. Get +the deeds." he said, to his wife shortly. + +Mrs. Paine went upstairs. + +"Who did you say the young lady is," asked Mr. Gilchrist, who thought +he recognized Pearl, but not expecting to see her here, wished to be +sure. Mr. Gilchrist, as President of the Political Association, had +heard about Pearl, and hoped she might be an able ally in the coming +election. + +"This is Pearl Watson," said Mr. Paine, rather grudgingly. "This is +the girl that's working up the women to thinking that they ought to +vote. Her father and mother are good neighbors of mine, and Pearl was +a nice kid, too, until she went to the city and got a lot of fool +notions." + +"I'm a nice kid yet," said Pearl, smiling at him, and compelling him +to meet her eye, "and I am a good neighbor of yours too, Mr. Paine, +for I am going to do something for you today that no one has ever +done. I'm going to tell you something." + +She walked over to the table and motioned to the two men to sit +down, though she remained standing. Sylvester Paine stared at her +uncomprehendingly. The girl's composure was disconcerting. Her voice +had a vibrant passion in it that made Peter's heart begin to beat. It +was like watching a play that approaches its climax. + +"Mr. Gilchrist probably does not understand that there is a small +tragedy going on here today. Maybe he does not know the part he is +playing in it. It is often so in life, that people do not know the +part they played until it is too late to change. You've come here +today to buy the farm." + +Mr. Gilchrist nodded. + +"Ten years ago this farm was idle land. Mr. and Mrs. Paine homesteaded +it, and have made it one of the best in the country. It has been hard +work, but they have succeeded. For the last five years Mr. Paine has +not been much at home--he has bought cattle and horses and shipped +them to the city, and has done very well, and now has nearly fifteen +thousand dollars in the bank. There is no cleverer man in the country +than Mr. Paine in making a bargain, and he is considered one of the +best horsemen in the Province. He pays his debts, keeps his word, and +there is no better neighbor in this district." + +Sylvester Paine watched her open-mouthed--amazed. How did she know +all this? It made strange music in his ears, for, in spite of all his +bluster, he hungered for praise; for applause. Pearl's words fell like +a shower on a thirsty field. + +"Meanwhile," Pearl went on, "Mrs. Paine runs the farm, and makes it +pay, too. Although Mrs. Paine works the hardest of the two, Mr. Paine +handles all the money, and everything is in his name. He has not +noticed just how old and worn her clothes are. Being away so much, the +manner of living does not mean so much to him as to her, for she is +always here. Mrs. Paine is not the sort of woman who talks. She never +complains to the other women, and they call her proud. I think Mrs. +Paine has been to blame in not telling Mr. Paine just how badly she +needs new clothes. He always looks very well himself, and I am sure he +would like to see her well dressed, and the children too. But she will +not ask him for money, and just grubs along on what she can get with +the butter money. She is too proud to go out poorly dressed, and so +does not leave home for months at a time, and of course, that's bad +for her spirits, and Mr. Paine gets many a cross look from her when he +comes home. It makes him very angry when she will not speak--he does +not understand." + +"Mr. Paine's intention now is to sell the farm and buy the hotel in +Millford. He will still go on buying cattle, and his wife will run the +hotel. She does not want to do this. She says she will not do it--it +is not a proper place in which to raise her children. She hates the +liquor business. This is her home, for which she has worked." + +"It is not much of a home; it's cold in winter and hot in summer. You +would never think a man with fifteen thousand dollars in the bank +would let his wife and children live like this, without even the +common decencies of life. That's why Mrs. Paine has never had any of +her own people come to visit her, she is ashamed for them to see how +badly off she is. No, it is not much of a home, but she clings to it. +It is strange how women and animals cling to their homes. You remember +the old home on the road to Hampton your people had, Mr. Gilchrist, +the fine old house with the white veranda and the big red barn? It was +the best house on the road. It burned afterwards--about three years +ago." + +Mr. Gilchrist nodded. + +"Well, we bought, when we came to our farm here, one of your father's +horses, the old Polly mare--do you remember Polly?" + +"I broke her in," he said, "when she was three." + +"Well, Polly had been away a long time from her old home, but last +summer when we drove to Hampton Polly turned in to the old place and +went straight to the place where the stable had stood. There was +nothing there--even the ruins are overgrown with lamb's quarters--but +Polly went straight to the spot. It had been home to her." + +A silence fell on the room. + +"There is no law to protect Mrs. Paine," Pearl went on, after a long +pause. "The law is on your side, Mr. Gilchrist. If you want the place +there is no law to save Mrs. Paine. Mr. Paine is quite right in saying +he can take the children, so she will have to follow. Mrs. Paine is +not the sort of woman to desert her children. She would live even in +a hotel rather than desert her children. The law is on your side, +gentlemen--you have the legal right to go on with the transaction." + +"What law is this?" said Mr. Gilchrist. + +"The law of this Province," said Pearl. + +"Do you mean to say," said Mr. Gilchrist hotly, "that Mrs. Paine +cannot claim any part of the price of this farm as her own--or does +not need to sign the agreement of sale. Has she no claim at all?" + +"She has none," said Pearl, "she has no more claim on this farm than +the dog has!" + +"By Gosh! I never knew that," he cried. "We'll see a lawyer in town +before we do anything. That's news to me." + +"Are you sure of it, Pearl?" Mrs. Paine whispered. "Maybe there's +something I can do. This young man is a lawyer--maybe he could tell +us." + +Sylvester Paine was trying to recover his point of view. + +"Can you tell us," Pearl asked Peter, who sat in a corner, intensely +listening, "what the law says." + +"The law," said Peter miserably--as one who hates the word he is about +to utter--"gives a married woman no rights. She has no claim on her +home, nor on her children. A man can sell or will away his property +from his wife. A man can will away his unborn child--and it's a hell +of a law," he added fiercely. + +Pearl turned to Robert Gilchrist, saying, "Mr. Gilchrist, the law is +with you. The woman and the three children have no protection. Mr. +Paine is willing that they should be turned out. It is up to you." + +Mrs. Paine, who had come down the stairs with the deed in her hand, +laid it on the table and waited. For some time no one spoke. + +Sylvester Paine looked at the floor. He was a heavy-set man, with a +huge head, bare-faced and rather a high forehead. He did not seem to +be able to lift his eyes. + +"I suppose," continued Pearl, "the people who made the laws did not +think it would ever come to a show-down like this. They thought that +when a man promised to love and cherish a woman--he would look after +her and make her happy, and see to it that she had clothes to wear and +a decent way of living--if he could. Of course, there are plenty of +men who would gladly give their wives everything in life, but they +can't, poor fellows--for they are poor; but Mr. Paine is one of the +best off men in the district. He could have a beautiful home if he +liked, and his wife could be the handsomest woman in the neighborhood. +She is the sort of woman who would show off good clothes too. I +suppose her love of pretty things has made her all the sorer, because +she has not had them. I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Gilchrist, before +you closed the deal. Mrs. Paine would never tell you, and naturally +enough Mr. Paine wouldn't. In fact he does not know just how things +stand. But I feel that you should know just what you are doing if you +take this farm. Of course, it is hardly fair to expect you to protect +this woman's home and her children, and save her from being turned +out, if her husband won't--you are under no obligation to protect her. +She made her choice years ago--with her eyes open--when she married +Sylvester Paine. It seems ... she guessed wrong ... and now ... she +must pay!" + +Mrs. Paine sank into a chair with a sob that seemed to tear her heart +out. The auburn hair fell across her face, her lovely curly hair, from +which in her excitement she had pulled the pins. It lay on the table +in ringlets of gold, which seemed to writhe, as if they too were +suffering. Her breath came sobbing, like a dog's dream. + +Sylvester Paine was the first to speak. + +"Pearl, you're wrong in one place," he said, "just one--you had +everything else straight. But you were wrong in one place." + +He went around the table and laid his hand on his wife's head. + +"Millie," he said, gently. + +She looked up at him tearfully. + +"Millie!" + +He stood awkwardly beside her, struggling to control himself. All the +swagger had gone from him, all the bluster. When he spoke his voice +was husky. + +"Pearl has got it all straight, except in one place." he said. "She's +wrong in one place. She says you guessed wrong when you married me, +Millie." + +His voice was thick, and the words came with difficulty. + +"Pearl has done fine, and sized the case up well ... but she's wrong +there. It looks bad just now, Millie--but you didn't make such a +rotten guess, after all. I'm not just sayin' what I'll do, but--" + +"The deal is off, Bob," he said to Mr. Gilchrist, "until Mrs. Paine +and I talk things over." + +And then Pearl quietly slipped into her coat and, motioning to Peter, +who gladly followed her, went out. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SEVENTH WAVE + + +The big storm had demoralized the long-distance telephone service, so, +that it was by night lettergram that George Steadman was commissioned +by the official organizer of the Government to find P.J. Neelands, who +had not been heard of since the morning of the storm. Mr. Steadman was +somewhat at a loss to know how to proceed. + +He was very sorry about Mr. Neelands and his reported disappearance. +Mr. Neelands was one of the friendliest and most approachable of +the young political set, and Mr. Steadman had often listened to his +speeches, and always with appreciation. He wondered why Mr. Neelands +had come to Millford now without telling him. + +At the hotel, nothing was known of the young man, only that he had +taken a room, registered, slept one night, and gone, leaving all his +things. Mr. Steadman was conducted to Number 17, and shown the meagre +details of the young man's brief stay. His toilet articles, of +sterling silver with his monogram, lay on the turkish towel, which at +once concealed and protected the elm top of the bureau; his two bags, +open and partly unpacked, took up most of the floor space in the room. +His dressing-gown was hung on one of the two hooks on the back of the +door, suspended by one shoulder, which gave it a weary, drunken look. +There was something melancholy and tragic about it all. + +"In the midst of life we are in death," said George Steadman to +himself piously, and shuddered. "It looks bad. Poor young fellow--cut +off in his prime--he did not even have a fur coat! and went out never +thinking." + +He examined the telegram again--"On business for the Government," it +said, "of a private nature. See 'Evening Echo' March 21st, Page 23." +What could that mean? + +George Steadman did not take the "Evening Echo." He hated the very +sight of it. The "Morning Sun" was good enough for him. He remembered +the thrill of pride he had felt when his Chief had said one day in +debate, that he wanted nothing better than the "Sun" and the Bible. +It was an able utterance, he thought, reminding one of the good old +Queen's reply to the Ethiopian Prince, and should have made its appeal +even to the Opposition; but the leader had said, in commenting on it, +that he was glad to know his honorable friend was broad-minded enough +to read both sides! + +And now he was told to look up the Opposition paper, and the very page +was given. His first thought was that it was a personal attack upon +himself. But how could that be? He never opened his mouth in the +house--he never even expressed an opinion, and as the campaign had not +yet begun--he had not done anything. + +He read the telegram again. In desperation he went back to the long +distance booth, but found the line still out of order, and a wire had +come giving the details of the damage done by the storm. It would be +several days before communication could be established. There was no +help coming from headquarters, and from the wording of the telegram +there seemed to be a reason for their not giving clear details. He +must get a copy of the paper. + +Reluctantly he went to the printing office and made known his errand. +Mr. Driggs was delighted to give him the paper--he had it some place, +though he very seldom opened any of his exchanges. He evidently bore +Mr. Steadman no ill-will for his plain talk two weeks ago. With some +difficulty he found it, with its wrapper still intact. It was a loose +wrapper, which slipped off and on easily. Mr. Steadman remarked +carelessly that there was an editorial in it to which his attention +had been drawn, on hearing which Mr. Driggs turned his head and winked +at an imaginary accomplice. + +Mr. Steadman went over to the livery stable to find a quiet, +clover-scented corner in which he might peruse his paper. An intuitive +feeling cautioned him to be alone when he read it. + +In the office, Mr. Steadman found a chair, and opened his paper. +Bertie, ever on the alert for human interest stories, watched from a +point of vantage. He told Mrs. Crocks afterwards about it. + +"The paper seemed to tangle up at first and stick to his fingers. He +wrastled it round and round and blew on it, and turned over pages and +folded it back--Gee, there was a lot of it. It filled the whole table, +and pieces dropped on the floor. He put his foot on them, like as if +he was afraid they'd get away. At last he found something, and he just +snorted--I got as close as I could, but I couldn't see what it was. +There was a picture of a girl--and he read on and on, and snorted out +three times, and the sweat stood out on his face. Twice he cleared up +his throat like your clock does when it gets ready to strike, and +then he tore out a page of the paper and put it in his pocket, and he +gathered up the rest of it and burned it, all but one sheet that was +under the table, and I got it here." + +Bertie brought home the news at six o'clock. Mrs. Crocks had a copy of +the paper in her hands at six-fifteen. + +Meanwhile, George Steadman, was feeling the need of counsel. His head +swam, and a cruel sense of injustice ate into his heart. He was a +quiet man--he did not deserve this. All his life he had sidestepped +trouble--and here it was staring him in the face. In desperation he +went to Driggs, the editor. He was a shrewd fellow--he would know what +was best to be done. + +He found Mr. Driggs still in a sympathetic mood. He threw back his +long black hair and read the article, with many exclamations of +surprise. In places he smiled--once he laughed. + +"How can any one answer this, Driggs?" asked Mr. Steadman in alarm. +"What can be done about it? I wish you would write something about it. +I can't think who would do this. There were no strangers that day at +the school--not that I noticed. None of our people would do it. What +do you think about it, Driggs? Would the girl write it herself?" + +"No," replied the editor honestly, "I am quite sure Pearl did not do +this." + +Suddenly Mr. Steadman thought of the telegram and the missing man. He +resolved to take Driggs into his confidence. + +Driggs was as quick to see the import of it as King James was to smell +gunpowder on that fateful November day when the warning letter was +read in Parliament. + +"The Government have sent him out to investigate this in your behalf," +he said. + +"But where is he?" asked Mr. Steadman. + +Mr. Driggs' bushy brows drew down over his eyes. + +"There's one person can help us," he said. He threw on his +jute-colored waterproof and his faded felt hat. Mr. Steadman followed +him as he went quickly to the Horse Repository. + +Bertie was hastily consulted, and Bertie as usual ran true. + +"Sure I saw him," said Bertie. "Ain't he back yet? Gee! I'll bet he's +froze! He'll be dead by now for sure. He had on awful nice clothes, +but thin toes on his boots, sharp as needles, and gray socks with dots +on them, and a waist on his coat like as if he wore corsets, and gray +gloves--and a cane, Swell! He was some fine looker, you bet, but he +wouldn't last long in that storm." + +"Where did he go, Bertie," asked Mr. Steadman, trying to hold his +voice to a tone of unconcern. + +"He asked about teachers, and about how far it was to Watsons." + +Mr. Driggs and Mr. Steadman's eyes met. + +"If he's any place," said Bertie cheerfully, "he'll be there." + +To the Watson's Mr. Steadman and Mr. Driggs determined to go, +although, by this time the evening was well advanced. + +The storm had piled the snow into huge drifts which completely filled +the railway cuts, but fortunately for those who travelled the sleigh +roads, the snow was packed so hard that horses could walk safely over +it. Bridges over ravines were completely covered, people made tunnels +to the doors of their stables, and in some cases had to dig the snow +away from their windows to let the light in. But the sun had come +out warm, and the weather prophets said it was the last storm of the +season. + +When Mr. Steadman and Mr. Driggs approached the Watson home, they +found every window lighted and several sleighs in the yard. From the +house came sounds of laughter and many voices. + +"There is no funeral here," said Mr. Driggs lightly. + +George Steadman shuddered, "he may never have reached here," he said +in a voice of awe. + +They knocked at the woodshed door, but no one heard them. Then they +went quietly in, and finding the kitchen door open, went in. + +Mr. Watson, who stood at the door of the "room," shook hands with them +quietly, and said in a whisper:-- + +"They're acting tableaux now, just step up to the door and see them. +The children are having a party. Pearl will explain it in a minute. +Just step in and watch; you're just in time--they're just goin' to do +King Canute." + +The two men looked in. About a dozen young people were in the room, +which was well lighted by a gasoline hanging-lamp. The furniture +was pushed into a corner to leave a good floor space. A curtain was +suspended from one of the beams, and behind it there seemed to be +great activity and whispered directions. Every one was so intently +waiting, they did not notice that the audience had been augmented by +the two men at the door. + +In front of the curtain came Pearl to announce the next tableaux:-- + +"Ladies and gentlemen," she said solemnly, although her audience +began to laugh expectantly, "we will now present to you a historical +tableaux, a living picture of a foolish old king, who thought he could +command the waves to stand still. Seated in his arm-chair on the shore +you will see King Canute. Behind him are the rugged hills of the Saxon +coast. Before him the sea tosses angrily. The tide is rolling in. Each +wave is a little bigger than the last, the seventh wave being the +largest of all. This tableaux, ladies and gentlemen, in the production +of which we have spared no trouble and expense, teaches the vanity of +human greatness. Careful attention has been given to detail, as you +will observe." + +She disappeared behind the curtain for a moment, and when it was +pulled back by invisible hands--(broom wire handled by Mary) she was +discovered sitting robed in purple (one of the girls had brought her +mother's Japanese dressing-gown) with a homemade but very effective +crown on her head. Her throne was an arm-chair, raised on blocks of +wood. As King Canute, Pearl's eyes were eagle-like and keen, her whole +bearing full of arrogance and pride. Dramatically she waved her right +arm towards the sea, and in bitter words chided it for its restless +tossing, and commanded it to hear the words of the ALL HIGH, Great and +Powerful King, and stay--just--where--it--was! + +But even as she spoke, a small wave came rolling in, gently lapping +the shore. It was Danny Watson, with a small white apron tied around +his person, which at each revolution, made a white crest of breaking +foam. + +The King re-doubled his imprecations, and commands, tearing his +hair and threatening to rend his garments, but wave after wave came +rhythmically to shore, growing in size and speed, until the seventh +wave, crested with foam--a pillow-case torn across and fastened with +safety-pins--came crashing to her feet, amid thunderous applause. + +When the company, with the king at one end and the first and smallest +wave at the other, stood up to take their applause, and respond to +curtain calls, next to Pearl stood the seventh wave--crested with +foam, dishevelled of hair--a four days' growth of whiskers on his +face--but a happy-looking wave--nevertheless. + +Mr. Steadman grabbed hold of his friend hysterically. He could not +speak. + +"Well, thank God, he's not dead anyway," he gasped at last. + +"But I fancy," murmured Mr. Driggs, "that he is dead--to the cause!" + +"Make a speech, Pearl," cried one of the company. "Mr. Neelands would +like to hear you do that one of the Premier's, when he laid the +cornerstone, about 'the generations yet unborn.' Go on, Pearl, that's +a good one!" + +"Don't forget 'the waves of emigration breaking at our feet'!" said +Mary, handing Pearl one of Teddy's coats. + +Pearl slipped on the coat, carefully adjusting the collar. Then +fingering an imaginary watch-chain, she began. Her face grew +grave--her neck seemed to thicken. Her voice was a throaty contralto. + +"We are gathered here today." she declaimed, "to take part in a +ceremonial, whose import we cannot even remotely guess! Whose full +significance will be revealed, not in your time or mine, but to the +generations yet unborn!" + +Peter Neelands gave a shout of recognition! Mr. Driggs felt a strong +hand on his arm. George Steadman whispered hoarsely. "Come away, +Driggs. That girl frightens me. This is no place for us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COMING OF SPRING + + +The Spring was late, cruelly late, so late indeed that if it had been +anything else but a season, it would have found itself in serious +trouble--with the door locked and a note pinned on the outside telling +it if it could not come in time it need not come at all. But the +Spring has to be taken in, whenever it comes--and be forgiven too, and +even if there were no note on the door, there were other intimations +of like effect, which no intelligent young Spring could fail to +understand. Dead cattle lay on the river bank, looking sightlessly up +to the sky. They had waited, and waited, and hung on to life just as +long as they could, but they had to give in at last. + +Spring came at last, brimful of excitement and apologies. It was a +full-hearted, impulsive and repentant young Spring, and lavished all +its gifts with a prodigal hand; its breezes were as coaxing as June; +its head burned like the first of July; its sunshine was as rich and +mellow as the sunshine of August. Spring had acknowledged its debt +and the overdue interest, and hoped to prevent any unpleasantness by +paying all arrears and a lump sum in advance; and doing it all with +such a flourish of good fellowship that the memory of its past +delinquency would be entirely swept away! + +The old Earth, frozen-hearted and bleached by wind and cold, and +saddened by many a blighted hope, lay still and unresponsive under the +coaxing breezes and the sunshine's many promises. The Earth knew what +it knew, and if it were likely to forget, the red and white cattle +on the hillside would remind it. The Earth knew that these same warm +breezes had coaxed it into life many times before, and it had burst +into bud and flowers and fruit, forgetting and forgiving the past with +its cold and darkness, and the earth remembered that the flowers had +withered and the fruit had fallen, and dark days had come when it had +no pleasure in them, and so although the sun was shining and the warm +winds blowing--the earth lay as unresponsive as the pulseless cattle +on its cold flat breast. + +But the sun poured down its heat, and the warm breezes frolicked into +the out-of-the-way places, where old snowdrifts were hiding their +black faces, and gradually their hard hearts broke and ran away in +creeping streams, and the earth returned to the earth that gave it; a +mist too, arose from the earth, and softened its bare outlines, and +soon the first anemone pushed its furry nose through the mat of gray +grass, and scored another victory on the robin; the white poplar +blushed green at its roots; the willows at the edge of the river +reddened higher and higher, as the sap mounted; headings of mouse-ears +soon began to show on their branches--a green, glow came over the +prairie, and in the ponds, It millions of frogs, at the signal from an +unknown conductor, burst into song. + +Then it was that the tired old Earth stopped thinking and began to +feel--a thrill--a throb--a pulsing of new life--the stirring of new +hopes which mocked its fears of cold or frost or sorrow or death. + +The Souris Valley opened forgiving arms to the repentant young Spring, +and put forth leaves in gayest fashion. The white bones, fantastically +sticking through faded red hides, were charitably hidden by the grass, +so that the awakened conscience of the tender young Spring might not +be unduly reminded of its cruelty and neglect. + +The woman who lived alone at Purple Springs always expected great +things of the Spring. She could not grow accustomed to the coldness of +her neighbors, or believe that they had really cut her off from any +communication, and all through the winter which had just gone she had +kept on telling herself that everything would be different in the +Spring. Looking day after day into the white valley, piled high with +snow, she had said to herself over and over again: "There shall be no +more snow--there shall be no more snow"--until the words began to mock +her and taunt her, and at last lost their meaning altogether like an +elastic band that has stretched too far. If she had been as close a +student of the Bible as her mother, back in Argylshire, she would have +known that her impatience with the snow, which all winter long had +threatened and menaced her, and peered at her with its thousand eyes, +was just the same feeling that prompted John on the Isle of Patmos, +wearied by the eternal breaking of the waves on his island prison, to +set down as the first condition in the heavenly city: "There shall be +no sea." + +Three years before, Mrs. Gray had come to the Souris Valley, and +settled on the hill farm. It had been owned by a prospector, who once +in a while lived on it, but went away for long periods, when it was +believed he had gone north into that great unknown land of fabled +riches. He had not been heard from for several years, and the people +of the neighborhood had often wondered what would be done with the +quarter-section, which was one of the best in the district, in case he +never came back. The Cowan's, who lives nearest, had planted one of +the fields, and used the land for the last two seasons. The Zinc's had +run their cattle in the pasture, and two of the other neighbors were +preparing to use the remaining portions of the farm, when there +arrived Mrs. Gray and her seven-year-old son to take possession. + +It was Mr. Cowan who demanded to know by what right she came, and when +she had convinced him by showing him the deed of the farm, she came +back at him by demanding that he pay her the rent for the acres he had +used, which he did with a bad grace. + +She had not been long in the neighborhood when there came to +demonstrate a new sewing machine a drooping-eyed, be-whiskered man, +in a slim buggy, drawn by a team of sorrel ponies. He claimed to have +known Mrs. Gray in that delightfully vague spot known as "down East," +and when he found how eagerly any information regarding her was +received, he grew eloquent. + +Mrs. Cowan departed from her hard and fast rule, and the rule of her +mother before her, and asked him to stay for dinner, and being an +honest man, in small matters at least, the agent did his best to pay +for his victuals. He told her all he knew--and then some, prefacing +and footnoting his story with the saving clause "Now this may be only +talk--but, anyway, it is what they said about her." He was not a +malicious man--he bore the woman, who was a stranger to him, no +grudge; but that day as he sat at dinner in the Cowan's big, bare +kitchen, he sent out the words which made life hard for the woman at +Purple Springs. + +So much for the chivalry of the world and the kindly protection it +extends to women. + +Vague rumors were circulated about her, veiled, indefinite +insinuations. The Ladies' Aid decided they would not ask her to join, +at least not until they saw how things were going. She might be all +right, but they said a church society must be careful. + +The women watched each other to see who would go to see her first. She +came to church with her boy, to the little church on the river flat, +and the minister shook hands with her and told her he was glad to +see her. But the next week his wife, spending the afternoon at Mrs. +Cowan's, "heard something," and the next Sunday, although he shook +hands with her and began to say he was glad to see her, catching Mrs. +Cowan's eye on him, he changed his sentence and said he was glad to +see so many out. + +All summer long the women at Purple Springs held to the hope that +someone would come to see her. At first she could not believe they +were wilfully slighting her. It was just their way, she thought. They +were busy women; she often saw them out in their gardens, and at such +times it was hard for her to keep from waving to them. + +The woman who lived the nearest to her, geographically, was Mrs. +Cowan, and one day--the first summer--she saw Mrs. Cowan beating rugs +on the line, and as the day was breezy, it seemed as if she waved her +apron. Mrs. Gray waved back, in an ecstacy of joy and expectation--but +there came no response from her neighbor--no answering signal, and as +the lonely woman watched, hoping, looking, praying--there rolled +over her with crushing sadness the conviction that all her hopes of +friendliness were in vain. The neighborhood would not receive her--she +was an outcast. They were condemning her without a hearing--they were +hurling against her the thunders of silence! The injustice of it ate +deeply into her soul. + +Then it was that she began to make the name "Purple Springs" out of +the willow withes which grew below the house. She made the letters +large, and with a flourish, and dyed them the most brilliant purple +they would take, and set them on a wire foundation above her gate. The +work of doing it gave solace to her heart, and when the words were set +in place--it seemed to her that she had declared her independence, +and besides, they reminded her of something very sweet and +reassuring--something which helped her to hold her head up against the +current of ill thoughts her neighbors were directing toward her. + +That was the year the school was built, and no other name for it but +"Purple Springs" was even mentioned, and when the track was extended +from Millford west, and a mahogany-red station built, with a tiny +freight shed of the same color, the name of Purple Springs in white +letters was put on each end of the station. So, although the neighbors +would not receive the woman, they took the name she brought. + +Her son Jim, a handsome lad of seven, went to school the first day it +was opened. Her mother heart was fearful for the reception he might +get, and yet she tried to tell herself that children were more just +than their elders. They would surely be fair to Jim, and when she +had him ready, with his leather book-bag, his neat blue serge +knickerbocker suit, his white collar and well-polished boots, she +thought, with a swelling of pride, that there would not be a handsomer +child in the school, nor one that was better cared for. + +Down the hill went Jim Gray, without a shadow on his young heart. So +long as he had his mother, and his mother smiled at him, life was all +sunshine. + +He gave his name to the teacher, and answered all her questions +readily, and was duly enrolled as a pupil in Grade I, along with +Bennie Cowan, Edgar Zinc and Bessie Brownlees, and set at work to make +figures. He wondered what the teacher wanted with so many figures, but +decided he would humor her, and made page after page of them for her. +By noon the teacher decided, on further investigation, to put Master +James Gray in Grade II, and by four o'clock he was a member in good +standing of Grade III. + +That night there was much talk of James Gray, his good clothes, and +his general proficiency, around the firesides of the Purple Springs +district. + +The next day Bennie Cowan, who was left behind in Grade I, although a +year older than Jim Gray, made the startling announcement: + +"Jim Gray has no father." + +He sang the words, gently intoning, as if he took no responsibility of +them any more than if they were the words of a song, for Bennie was a +cautious child, and while he did not see that the absence of a father +was anything to worry over, still, from the general context of the +conversation he had heard, he believed it was something of a handicap. + +The person concerned in his announcement, being busy with a game of +marbles, did not notice. So quite emboldened, Bennie sang again, "Jim +Gray has no father--and never had one." + +The marble game came to an end. + +"Do you mean me?" asked Jim, with a puzzled look. + +The others stopped playing, too. It was a fearsome moment. Jim Gray +was the most unconcerned of the group. + +"That's all you know about it," he said carelessly, as he shut one eye +and took steady aim at the "dib" in the ring, "I've had two." + +"Nobody can have two fathers--on earth," said Bessie Brownlees +piously--"we have one father on earth and one in heaven." + +"Mine ain't on earth," said Jimmy, "mine are both in heaven." + +That was a poser. + +"I'll bet they're not," said Bennie, feeling emboldened by Jim's +admission of a slight irregularity in his paternal arrangements. + +"How do you know?" asked Jim, still puzzled. It did not occur to him +that there was anything unfriendly in the conversation--"You never saw +them!" + +"Well," said Bennie, crowded now to play his highest card, "anyway, +your mother is a bad woman." + +Jim looked at him in blank astonishment. His mother a bad woman, his +dear mother! The whole world turned suddenly red to Jim Gray--he did +not need any one to tell him that the time had come to fight. + +The cries of Bennie Cowan brought the teacher flying. Bennie, with +bleeding lip and blackened eyes, was rescued, and a tribunal sat +forthwith on the case. + +James Gray refused to tell what Bennie Cowan had said. His tongue +could not form the words of blasphemy. The other children, all of whom +had heard his history unfavorably discussed at home, did not help him, +and the case went against the boy who had no friends. Exaggerated +tales were told of his violence. By the end of the week he had struck +Bennie Cowan with a knife. A few days later it was told that he had +kicked the teacher. Nervous mothers were afraid to have their children +exposed to the danger of playing with such a vicious child. + +One day a note was given to him to take home. It was from the +trustees, asking Mrs. Gray if she would kindly keep her son James at +home, for his ungovernable temper made it unsafe for other children to +play with him. + +That was three years ago. Annie Gray and her son were as much a +mystery as ever. She looked well, dressed well, rode astride, wore +bloomers, and used a rifle, and seemed able to live without either the +consent or good-will of the neighborhood. + +In harvest time she still further outraged public opinion by keeping +a hired man, who, being a virtuous man, who had respect for public +opinion, even if she hadn't, claimed fifteen dollars a month extra for +a sort of moral insurance against loss of reputation. She paid the +money so cheerfully that the virtuous man was sorry he had not made it +twenty! + +It was to this district, with its under-current of human passions, +mystery and misunderstanding, that Pearl Watson came. The miracle of +Spring was going on--bare trees budding, dead flowers springing; the +river which had been a prisoner all winter, running brimming full, +its ice all gone, and only little white cakes of foam riding on its +current. Over all was the pervading Spring smell of fresh earth, and +the distant smoulder of prairie fires. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PRINCE OF THE HOUSE OF CLAY + + +When the train came in from the west, Dr. Clay stepped off and walked +quickly to his office. He called at the drug store before going to his +private office, and inquired of the clerk: + +"Any one wanting me, Tommy?" + +"Sure--two or three--but nothing serious. Bill Snedden wanted you to +come out and see his horse." + +"See his horse!" exclaimed the doctor in surprise. + +"Yes, Democracy hasn't been feeling well. Just sort of mopin' around +the stall. Not sick--just out of sorts, you know, down-hearted like." + +"Well, why doesn't he get Dr. Moody? Horses are not my line." + +"O but he says this is different. Democracy is more like a human being +than a horse, and Dr. Moody don't know much about a horse's higher +nature. He says he's scared to have Dr. Moody come out anyway--every +time he comes, a horse dies, and he's gettin' superstitious about it. +T'aint that he has anything against Dr. Moody. He spoke well of him +and said he was nice to have around in time of trouble, he's so +sympathetic and all that, but he don't want to take any chances with +Democracy. He would have liked awful well to see you, doctor. I told +him you'd be home tonight, and he'll give you a ring. No, there was +nothing serious. There was a young fellow here from the city came out +to see Pearl Watson, they said, about some set of books or something. +He got lost in the storm, and frozen pretty badly. He's out at Watsons +yet, I think. But they didn't phone, or anything--at least, I didn't +get it. I just heard about it." + +"All right, Tommy," said the doctor, and went on. + +In his own apartment he found everything in order. Telephone messages +were laid beside his mail. His slippers and house-coat were laid out. +The coal fire gleamed its welcome. + +The doctor's heart was lighter than it had been. His interview with +the old doctor had been very encouraging. + +"You are looking better, Clay," the old man had said. "Have you gained +in weight? I thought so. You are going a little easier, and sleeping +out--that's right. And you see you can save yourself in lots of +ways--don't you? Good! I'm pleased with you. I hear they are after you +to run against the Government. You won't touch it, of course. No good +for a man in your condition. Anyway, a doctor has his own work--and if +you keep your head down, and get away every winter, you'll live to be +an old man yet." + +The doctor sat down to read his mail. There were the usual letters +from old patients, prospective patients, people who had wonderful +remedies and had been cruelly snubbed by the medical profession. He +glanced through them casually, but with an absentmindedness which did +not escape his housekeeper when she came in. + +Mrs. Burns was determined to tell him something, so determined, that +as soon as she entered, he felt it coming. He knew that was why she +came. The bluff of asking him if he got his telephone messages was too +simple. + +Mrs. Burns was a sad looking woman, with a tired voice. It was not +that Mrs. Burns was tired or sad, but in that part of the East from +which she had come, all the better people spoke in weary voices of +ladylike weakness. + +"Well, Mrs. Burns," the doctor said, "what has happened today?" He +knew he was going to get it anyway--so he might as well ask for it. + +"George Steadman was in an awful state about the young fellow who came +out from the city to see Pearl Watson. He got lost in the storm, and +stayed three days at Paines, and then Pearl came over and took him +home with her. Some say the Government sent him about the piece in the +paper, and some say he's her beau. I don't know. Mrs. Crocks saw Pearl +when she brought him in, and she could get nothing out of her. He's at +the hotel still, though nobody seems to know what his business is." + +"O well," laughed the doctor, "we'll just have to watch him. Don't +leave washings on the line, and lock our doors--he can't scare us." + +Mrs. Burns afterwards told Mrs. Crocks that "Doctor Clay can be +very light at times, and it seems hardly the thing, considering his +profession." + +Mrs. Burns could never quite forgive herself for leaving so early that +night, and almost lost her religion, because no still small voice +prompted her to stay. Just as she left the office, the young man, the +mysterious stranger, came to the door, and Mrs. Burns knew there was +no use going back through the drug store and listening at the door. +The doctor had heavy curtains at each door in his office, and had a +way of leaving the key in the door, that cut off the last hope. So she +went home in great heaviness of spirit. + +P.J. Neelands presented his card, and was given a leather chair +beside the fire. He asked the doctor if he might smoke, and was given +permission. + +"I am going to talk to you in confidence, Doctor Clay," he said, +nervously. "I guess you're used to that." + +The doctor nodded encouragingly: "That's what doctors are for. Go +right on, Mr. Neelands." + +"The fact of the matter is--I'm in love," said Peter, taking the head +plunge first. + +"O that's nothing," said the doctor. "I mean--that's nothing to worry +about." + +"But she does not care a hang for me. In fact, she laughs at me." + +Peter's face was clouded in perplexity. + +"But I'll begin at the beginning: I belong to the Young Men's +Political Club in the city, and I was sent out here--at least, I +mean I asked to come on a delicate mission. I'm speaking to you +confidentially, of course." + +"Of course," said the doctor, "have no fears." + +"Well, perhaps you saw this." He produced the article that had caused +the fluttering in the Governmental nest. + +The doctor suddenly came to attention. + +"Do you know who wrote it? No! Well anyway, I came out to see about +it--to investigate--look over the ground. But, doctor, I got the +surprise of my life. This girl is a wonder." + +"Well," the doctor's sympathetic manner had gone. He was sitting +up very straight in his chair now, and his eyes were snapping with +suppressed excitement. "What did you think you could do about it? Did +you think you could stop her--hush her up--or scare her--or bribe +her--or what?" + +"I did not know," said Peter honestly. "But I want to tell you what +happened. I was three days at Paine's--caught by the storm--do you +know them? Well, it's a good place to go to see what women are up +against. I was mad enough to throw old Paine out of his own house, and +I found out he was going to sell the farm over her head, and By Jove! +I see why the women want to vote, don't you?" + +"I've always seen why," replied the doctor. "I thought every one with +any intelligence could see the justice of it." The doctor's manner was +losing its friendliness, but Peter, intent on his own problems, did +not resent it. + +"Well, just when this man Gilchrist came to sign the papers, the +morning I left, she came in--Pearl Watson, I mean--and Doctor, I +never heard anything like it. Talk about pleading a case! She did not +plead--she just reviewed the case--she put it up to Gilchrist--it was +marvellous! If she had asked me to shoot the two of them, I would +have done it. She had me--she has me yet--she's the most charming, +sweet-souled and wonderful girl I ever saw." + +The doctor endeavored to speak calmly: + +"Well, what about it?" he said. "I agree with you--she is all of +that." + +"I am going back to resign from the party. I am going to throw my +weight on the other side," Peter spoke with all the seriousness +of youth. "The girl has shown me what a beastly, selfish lot the +politicians are, and I am going back to denounce them, if they won't +change. But I want to ask you something, Doctor--you won't think I am +cheeky, will you? She gave me absolutely no hope--but girl's sometimes +change their minds. I would wait for years for her. I simply can't +live without her. I thought from the way she spoke there was some +one else--if there is--I will just crawl away and die--I can't live +without her!" + +"O shut up," said the doctor impatiently. "Better men than you have to +live without--the women they love--that's foolish talk." + +"Well, tell me, doctor," cried Peter desperately, "I just have to +know. Is there any reason why I can't hope to win her? Do you know of +any reason--you know Pearl well. Is there any reason that you know of? +Has any one any right--to stop me from trying?" + +The doctor considered. Here was just the situation he had told Pearl +he hoped would arise. This young fellow was clean, honest, and there +was no doubt of his deep sincerity. He had told Pearl she must forget +him. He had tried to mean it, and here it was--here was the very +situation he said he hoped for. He would play up--he could make +himself do what was right, no matter how he felt. + +He heard himself say mechanically: + +"There is no reason, Mr. Neelands; Pearl is free to decide. No one has +the smallest claim on her." + +Peter sprang up and caught his hand, wondering why it should be so +cold. He also wondered at the flush which burned on the doctor's +cheeks. + +"Thanks, old man," he cried impulsively, "I cannot tell you how I +thank you. You have rolled a house off me--and now, tell me you wish +me well--I want your good word." + +The doctor took his outstretched hand, with an effort. + +"I wish you well," he said slowly, in a voice that was like a shadow +of his own. + +When Peter had gone, the doctor rose and paced the floor. + +"I'm a liar and a hypocrite," he said bitterly. "I don't wish him +well. I said what was not so when I said I hoped to see her married +to some one else--I don't--I want her myself. I can't give her up! I +won't give her up!" + +The next morning, before the doctor started to make his calls, Robert +Gilchrist, President of the Political Club, came to see him, again. + +"I am not satisfied with that interview we had with you, doctor," he +said, "the day the organizer was here. That fellow made a mess of +everything, and I don't blame you for turning it down. But I tell you, +there's more in it than this fellow thinks. There is a real moral +issue to be decided, and I am here to admit I've had a new look at +things in the last few days. I am going into the city to see our +leader, and I want to see how he feels. But, doctor, some of our laws +are simply disgraceful; they've got to be changed." + +He went on to tell the doctor of the day he went to buy Sylvester +Paine's farm. + +"I never felt any meaner than when Pearl told me what it meant, and +what I was doing. Doctor, if you had seen the look in Mrs. Paine's +face when Pearl was putting it up to me; Lord, it was tragic. It was +as if her hope of Heaven was in dispute, and didn't Pearl put it to +me? Say, doctor, that girl can swing an election. No one can resist +her arguments--she's so fair about everything--no one can get away +from her arguments. The reason these laws have been left the way they +are, is that no one knows about them. Did you know that a man can sell +everything, and do what he likes with the money, no matter what his +wife says--and did you know a man can take his children away from the +mother--Did you know about these?" + +"I did," said the doctor, "in a vague way. Fortunately they do not +often come up--men are better than the laws--and they would need to +be." + +"Well, doctor, I'll tell you what I want to say. I believe it is your +duty to run. The women need a few members there to stick up for them. +Pearl thinks our party is all right too--she says they'll grant the +vote--if they get in--and she was at the big meeting where the women +asked them to make it a plank in their platform. She says some of +the old hide-bound politicians gagged a little, but they swallowed +it--they had to." "I wish you could hear Pearl talk, doctor. She +seemed disappointed when I told her you weren't going to run." + +"You haven't thought of any one else, Bob?" the doctor asked, after a +pause. "You wouldn't consider it yourself?" + +"Any one else but you will surely lose his deposit. The bridge at +Purple Springs will hold them over there, and they have taken off a +slice on the east of the riding and put it in Victoria--where it is +sure to go against the Government anyway. No, this will go to Steadman +by acclamation, unless you let us nominate you." + +"Well, I'll reconsider," said the doctor, "and phone you inside of +twenty-four hours." + +When Mr. Gilchrist had gone, the doctor sat with his hands behind his +head. His eyes were very bright, and a flush mantled his cheek. His +heart thumped so hard, he could hear it. + +"Keep away from excitement, Clay," he could hear the old doctor +saying, "excitement eats up your energy and does not give the builders +a chance. With care, and patience, you may win--but if you will not +save yourself, and nurse yourself, and go slow--you are a dead man!" + +He pressed his hands tightly to his head. + +"Pearl had been disappointed," Bob had said. It would be a disgrace to +let this riding go by default. There was the liquor question which had +hung fire for fourteen years, while the Government had simply played +with it, and laughed at the temperance people. If women had the vote, +what a power Pearl would be! + +Still, one vote in Parliament was nothing--one man could do but +little--and besides, the old doctor had found him improved--he might +be able to beat out the disease yet--by being careful. A campaign +would mean late hours, long drives, meeting people--making +speeches--which he hated--the worst kind of excitement--to move a vote +of thanks tired him more than a week's work. + +Still, Pearl would be pleased--he hadn't done much for Pearl. He had +won her love--and then had to turn it away--and had seen those eyes of +her's cloud in disappointment. It had been a raw deal. + +Looking through the window, he saw Bertie, with his team, waiting +outside the door. He was letting Bertie take full care of his horses +now, and saving himself in that way. + +The sorrel horse on the side next him tossed his head, and chewed the +bit, with a defiant air that set waves of memory in motion. He had +bought this fine four-year-old, because he had reminded him of old +Prince--the same color--the same markings, and the same hard mouth and +defiant red eye. + +Usually, he did not keep Bertie waiting--but this morning it did not +matter--there were other things to be decided. The sorrel horse seemed +to be looking at him through the office window. + +"There was another sorrel horse to take your place, Prince," said the +doctor, looking at the big sorrel, but thinking of his predecessor; +"although that did not influence you in any way--you left that to me +to find out--you considered that my business. I believe I will be safe +in leaving it to some one higher up to get another doctor to take my +place--doctors--and sorrel horses--there are plenty of them. You had +the right philosophy, Prince. No one else could have saved the woman's +life--so you did that--and let me rustle for another horse. I'll do +the same--after all--it is not individuals who count--it is the race. +We do our bit--and pass on. Straight ahead of me seems to be a piece +of work I can do--and if I have to pay for the privilege of doing +it--I'll pay--without regrets." + +He reached for the telephone, and called Mr. Gilchrist. + +"Hello Bob," he said steadily, "I've reached a decision. No, it didn't +take me long. Yes, I will. I'll accept the nomination. All right +Bob--I hope so. Thank you for your good opinion--All right." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PETER'S REPORT + + +When Peter J. Neelands returned to the city, he sought an interview +with his Chief. It was a bold stroke, Mr. Neelands knew, but the +circumstances warranted it. He must lay the matter before his superior +officer; as a loyal member of the party, he must bring in a warning. +He must make the Government understand. + +The old leader was one of the most approachable of men, genial, +kindly, friendly. The interview was arranged without difficulty, and +Peter, with his heart beating uncomfortably, was shown by the old +retainer who kept guard in the outside office through the blue velvet +hangings into the Chief's private office. + +At a long oaken table, on which were scattered a few trade journals +and newspapers, he found the great man. An unlighted cigar was in his +mouth, and he sat leaning back in a revolving chair. + +"Well, Peter, my son--how are you?" he said gaily, extending his hand. +"And so you feel you must see the old man on business of importance, +vital importance to our country's welfare. That's good; glad to see +you, take a chair beside me and tell uncle who hit you." + +The Chief was a man of perhaps sixty years of age, of florid +countenance, red mustache, turning gray, splendidly developed +forehead, dark gray eyes with wire-like wrinkles radiating from them, +which seemed to have been caused more by laughter than worry; a big, +friendly voice of great carrying power, and a certain bluff, good +fellowship about him which marked him as a man who was born to rule +his fellowmen, but to do it very pleasantly. + +Peter was complimented to be received so cordially. He was sure he +could make this genial, courteous, kindly old gentleman see certain +questions from a new view-point. He must see it. + +"Perhaps you have heard of a girl at Millford who is making somewhat +of a stir along the lines of the Woman Suffrage question," Peter +began. + +The great man nodded, and having begun to nod, absent-mindedly +continued, much to Peter's discomfiture. Peter hastily reviewed the +case, though he could see his listener was bored exceedingly. + +"Now, what I want you to do, sir," he said earnestly, "is this. Let +this girl come and address the members of the Government and the +Legislature--I mean our members--privately, of course. Let her show +you the woman's side of the question. I know, sir, you turned them +down when the delegation came, but a man can always change his mind. +The thing is inevitable; the vote is coming. If this Government does +not give it--the Government will go down to defeat." + +The Chief stopped nodding, and the amiability of his face began to +cloud over. He sat up very suddenly and spread his plump hands on the +table. + +"The Opposition have endorsed Woman Suffrage, sir," said Peter +earnestly. "They are making it a plank in their platform." + +"Sure they have," cried the Premier, with a laugh, "sure they have. +They are big enough fools to endorse anything! What do we care what +they endorse?" + +"But I want to get this over to you, Mr. Graham, that we are losing +our opportunity to do a big thing, something that will live in +history, if we fail to give women the vote. Women are human, they have +a right to a voice in their own government, and if you would just let +this girl come out and talk to you--and the members." + +"Look here, Peter," said the great man tolerantly, "I like +enthusiasm--the world is built on it. But I'm an old man now, and have +been a long time dealing with the public and with politics. Politics +is a dirty mess--it's no place for women, and I certainly do not +need to be instructed by any eighteen-year-old girl, pleasant as the +process might be. I believe all you say about her--and her charm. You +had better go and marry her--if you want to." + +Peter's face colored. "I would be very happy to do so, but she turned +me down, sir." + +"Don't be discouraged, lad; a woman's 'no' generally means 'yes'," +said his Chief. "Now, even if she could talk like the Angel Gabriel, I +won't let her at the members of this Government--I'll tell you why. +I have these fellows trotting easy. They're good boys--they do as +they're told. Now what's the use of getting them excited and confused. +Peter, you know how it is with the Indians--in their wild state, +eating rabbits and digging roots--they're happy, aren't they? Sure +they are. If you bring them into town, show them street-cars and shop +windows and take them to theatres, you excite them and upset them, +that's all. O no, Peter, I'll take no chances on spoiling my +simple-hearted country members by turning loose this orb-eyed young +charmer who has thrown you clean off your trolley." + +"But, sir, consider the case yourself; won't you admit, sir, that the +laws are fearfully unjust to women?" Peter began to explain, but the +Premier interrupted: + +"Peter, the world is very old; certain things are established by +usage, and the very fact that this is so argues that it should be so. +Women are weaker than men--I did not make them so--God made them so. +He intended them to be subject to men. Don't get excited over it. It +sounds well to talk about equality--but there's no such thing. It did +not exist in God's mind, so why should we try to bring it about? No, +no, Peter, women are subject to men, and always will be. It would +not do to make them independent in the eyes of the law, independent +economically. If they were they would not marry. Look at the women +in the States--where in some places they vote--look at the type that +develops. What does it bring?--race-suicide, divorce--free love. I'm +an old-fashioned man, Peter, I believe in the home." + +"So do I," said Peter, "with all my heart." + +The great man began to show signs of impatience. + +"Before I go," said Peter earnestly, "let me make one more appeal to +you. This is a live issue. It cannot be dismissed by a wave of the +hand. Will you listen to a debate on it--will you let it be discussed +in your hearing?" + +The old man considered a moment--then he said: + +"This will wear off you, Peter. I, too, have been young. I understand. +Forget it, boy, and get back to normal. No, I will not hear it +discussed. I know all about it--all I want to know. I don't know why +I am wasting so much time on you and your particular type of +foolishness, Peter. I have people like you seeing me every day. +Usually they are dealt with by Mr. Price, in the outer office. He has +orders to put the can on them and open the door. O no, Peter, there +will be no radical measures while I sit at the helm--I am too old to +change my mind." + +Peter began to put on his gloves. The older man held out his hand. + +"Well, good-bye, Peter," he said kindly, "come again--come any +time--always glad to see you." + +"I will not be back," said Peter quietly, "this is good-bye. If I +cannot show you that you are wrong, I will go out and help the women +to show the people that you are wrong. Pearl says if the Premier is +too old to change his mind we will do the next best thing." + +"And what is that?" + +"Change the Premier," Peter replied, steadily. + +The old man laughed, with uproarious mirth. + +"Peter, you're funny, all right; you're rich; I always did enjoy the +prattle of children, but I can't fool away any more time on you--so +run along and sell your papers." + +Peter went through the blue velvet hangings, past the worthy henchman, +who sat dozing in his chair, and made his way to the front door. The +mural decorations in the corridor caught his eye--the covered wagon, +drawn by oxen plodding patiently into the sunset--the incoming +settlers of the pioneer days. + +"I wonder if the women did not do their full share of that," he +thought. "They worked, suffered, hoped, endured--and made the country +what it is. I wonder how any man has the nerve to deny them a voice in +their own affairs." + +While Peter was taking his departure, and before he had reached the +front gate, one of the many bells which flanked the Premier's table +was wildly rung. + +"Send Banks to me," he said crisply, to the lackey who appeared. + +The genial mood had gone; his brows were clamped low over his eyes. He +had chewed the end off his cigar. + +"Every time the women raise ructions it sets me thinking of her. I +wonder what became of her," he murmured. "The ground seems to have +swallowed her. She might have known I did not mean it; but women don't +reason--they just feel." + +The news of P.J. Neelands' resignation from the Young Men's Political +Club made a ripple of excitement in Government circles, and brought +forth diverse comments. + +"There's a girl in it, I hear," said one of the loungers at the Maple +Leaf Club; "some pretty little suffragette has won over our Peter." + +"He does not deny it," said another, "he'll tell you the whole +story--and believe me, Peter is an enthusiastic supporter of the +women's cause now. I see in this morning's paper he made a speech for +them last night called 'The Chivalry of the Law.' Peter has the blood +of the martyrs in him for sure--for he was in a straight line for the +nomination here in 'Centre.'" + +"Peter Neelands makes me tired," said a third gloomily. "Why does he +need to get all fussed up over the laws relating to women--they have +too much liberty now--they can swear away a man's character--that's +one thing I'd like to see changed. It's dangerous, I tell you." + +The first man finished the discussion: + +"I always liked Peter, and am sorry he's quit us. He'll have a +following, too, just because he does believe in himself." + +Though the loungers at the Maple Leaf Club took the news of Peter +Neeland's secession with composure, mingled with amusement, the chief +organizer, Mr. Banks, viewed it with alarm, and voiced his fears to +the head of his department, who sat in his accustomed chair, with a +bottle of the best beside him. The Honorable member listened, but +refused to be alarmed. It was past the third hour of the afternoon, +and the rainbow haze was over everything. + +"I tell you," said Mr. Banks, "something is going to break if we +can't get this thing stopped. The women are gaining every day. Their +meetings are getting bigger, and now look at Peter Neelands. This +Watson girl has got to be canned--got rid of--if we have to send her +to do immigration work in London, England." + +The honorable member did his best to hold his head steady. + +"Do what you like, Banks," he said thickly, "only save the country. +My country if she's right; my country if she's wrong; but always my +country! 'Lives there a man with soul so dead,' eh, Banks? That's the +dope--what? Damn the women--but save the home--we gotta' save the +home." + +Oliver Banks looked at him in deep contempt, and shook his head. +"These birds make things hard for us," he murmured. "He looks like a +Minister of the Crown now, doesn't he? Lord! wouldn't he make a sight +for the women! I'd like to hear their description of him just as he +sits now." + +The minister sat with his pudgy hands spread out on the arms of his +chair. His head rolled uncertainly, like a wilting sunflower on a +broken stalk. His under lip was too full to fit his face. If he had +been a teething infant one would have been justified in saying he was +drooling. + +The organizer called a waiter and instructed him to phone to the +gentleman's house and speak to his chauffeur. + +"Tell him to take the old man home," he said briefly, "he seems to +be--overtaken." + +"Very good, sir," said the waiter, without a flicker of an eyelash. + +Then the organizer went to a telephone booth and called George +Steadman, of Millford, requesting him to come at once to the city on +important business. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE WOMAN OF PURPLE SPRINGS + + +None of us has lived long without discovering that everything he +has he pays for; that every gain has a corresponding loss; that a +development even of one of our own faculties, is at the expense of +the others. The wild wheat is small and dwarfed in size in its native +state, but very hardy. Under persistent cultivation it grows bigger +and more productive, but, unfortunately, susceptible to the frost. The +wild rabbit when domesticated grows bigger and more beautiful, but +loses his speed and cleverness. So it is all through life--it all +comes in the bill--we cannot escape the day of reckoning. + +If Pearl Watson had not had a taste for political speeches and +debates; if she had read the crochet patterns in the paper instead of +the editorials, and had spent her leisure moments making butterfly +medallions for her camisoles, or in some other ladylike pursuit, +instead of leaning over the well-worn railing around the gallery of +the Legislative Assembly, in between classes at the Normal, she would +have missed much; but she would have gained something too. + +For one thing, she would have had an easier time getting a +boarding-house in the Purple Springs District, and would not be +standing looking disconsolately out at the Spring sunshine, one day at +the end of April, wondering, with a very sore heart, why nobody wanted +to give her board and shelter. It was a new and painful sensation for +Pearl, and it cut deeply. + +Mrs. Zinc could not keep her beyond May the first, for relatives were +coming from the East. Mrs. Cowan could not take her, for she had too +much to do as it was--and could not get help that wasn't more trouble +than it was worth. They would waste more than their wages, and what +they did not waste they would steal. Mrs. Cowan's tongue was unloosed +by the memory of her wrongs, and it was half an hour before Pearl +could get away. Mrs. Cowan had surely suffered many things at the +hands of help of all nationalities. She had got them from employment +bureaus, government and private; from the Salvation Army and from +private friends in the old country. Her help had come from everywhere +except from the Lord! No indeed, she couldn't take any one to board. + +A careful canvass of the neighborhood had resulted in disappointment; +not one home was available. Embarrassment had sat on the faces of many +of the women when they talked with her about it, and Pearl was quick +to see that there was something back of it all, and the antagonism of +the unknown lay heavily on her heart. + +The yellow Spring sun, like liquid honey, fell in benediction on the +leafless trees, big with buds, and on the tawny mat of grass through +which the blue noses of anemones were sticking. Cattle eagerly cropped +the dead grass and found it good, and men were at work in the fields. +They all had homes and beds, Pearl thought, with a fresh burst of +homelessness. + +She had prepared her blackboards for the next day, and made her desk +tidy, and was just about to leave for the day and walk the mile to +Mrs. Howser's to see if she could make it her abiding place, when +Bessie Cowan came running with a letter. + +"Please, teacher," said Bessie, out of breath from running, "Ma +thought this might be an important letter, and you should have it +right away. It came in our mail." + +Pearl took it, wonderingly. It bore the official seal of the +Department of Education. Only once had she received such a letter, and +that was when she received permission to attend the Normal. When she +opened it, she read: + +"Dear Madam:--You have been recommended to us by the Principal of the +Normal School for special work required by this Department, and we +will be pleased to have you come to our office inside of the next week +for instructions. We will pay you a salary of one hundred dollars a +month, and travelling expenses, and we believe you will find the work +congenial. Kindly reply as soon as possible." + +Pearl's heart was throbbing with excitement. Here was a way of escape +from surroundings which, for some unknown reason, were uncomfortable +and unfriendly. + +Bessie Cowan watched her closely, but said not a word. Bessie was a +fair-skinned little girl, with eyes far apart, and a development of +forehead which made her profile resemble a rabbit's. + +"Thank you, Bessie" said Pearl, "I am glad to have this." She sat +at her desk and began to write. Bessie ran home eagerly to tell her +mother how the letter had been received. + +Pearl decided to write an acceptance, and to 'phone home to her mother +before sending it. + +When the letter was written she sat in a pleasant dream, thinking of +the new world that had opened before her. "Travelling expenses," had a +sweet sound in her young ears--she would go from place to place, +meet new people, and all the time be learning something--learning +something--and forgetting. + +Pearl winced a little when she recalled Mrs. Crock's words when she +came through Millford on her way to Purple Springs: + +"The doctor should be the candidate, but I guess Miss Keith won't let +him. They say he's holdin' off to run for the Dominion House next +Fall. You maybe could coax him to run, Pearl. Have you seen him +lately? Miss Keith was down twice last week, and he went up for +Sunday. It looks as if they were keepin' close company--oh well, he's +old enough to know his own mind, and it will be nice to have the +Senator's daughter livin' here. It would give a little style to the +place, and that's what we're short of. But it's nothing to me--I don't +care who he marries!" + +Pearl had hurried away without answering. Mrs. Crocks' words seemed +to darken the sun, and put the bite of sharp ice in the gentle spring +breeze. Instead of forgetting him, every day of silence seemed to lie +heavier on her heart; but one thing Pearl had promised herself--she +would not mope--she would never cry over it! + +She read the letter over and tried to picture what it would mean. A +glow of gratitude warmed her heart when she thought of the Normal +School Principal and his kindness in recommending her. She would +fulfil his hopes of her, too. She would do her work well. She would +lose herself in her work, and forget all that had made her lonely and +miserable. It was a way of escape--the Lord was going to let her down +over the wall in a basket. + +There was a very small noise behind her, a faint movement as if a +mouse had crossed the threshold. + +She turned quickly, and gave a cry of surprise and delight. + +At the door, shyly looking in at her, was a little boy of perhaps ten +years of age, with starry eyes of such brilliance and beauty she could +see no other feature. He looked like a little furry squirrel, who +would be frightened by the slightest sound. + +For a moment they looked at each other; then from the boy, in a +trembling voice, clear and high pitched, came the words: + +"Please, teacher!" + +The tremble in his voice went straight to Pearl's heart. + +"Yes, dear," she said, "come right in--I want you--I'm lonesome--and I +like little boys like you." + +His eyes seemed to grow more luminous and wistful. + +"I can't come in," he said. "I can't come into the school at all--not +the least little bit--I have an ungovernable temper." + +"I'm not afraid," said Pearl gravely, "I am very brave that way, and +don't mind at all. Who says you have?" + +"The trustees," he said and his voice began to quiver. "They sent +mother a letter about me." + +"O, I know you now, James," said Pearl, "come in--I want to talk to +you. I was going to see you just as soon as I got settled." + +Cautiously he entered; the out-door wildness was in his graceful +movements. He stooped a few feet away from her and said again: + +"Please, teacher." + +Pearl smiled back, reassuringly, and his eyes responded. + +"Did you get a place yet?" he asked eagerly. + +"No, I didn't," she answered. She was going to tell him that she would +not need a place, for she was going away, but something stopped her. +Somehow she could not dim the radiance of those eager eyes. + +"Teacher!" he cried coming nearer, "would you come and live with us? +My mother is just sweet, and she would like to have you. She is away +today, to Millford, and won't be home till eight o'clock. I stayed at +home because I wanted to see you. My mother watched you going to the +houses--we can see all of them from our house--and every time you +came away from them--she was glad. We have a spy-glass, and we could +see--that's how we knew how nice you were, teacher"--he was almost +near enough to touch her now. "You can have my bed if you will come." + +Pearl wanted to draw him to her and kiss the fear forever from his +face, but she was still afraid he might vanish if she touched him. + +"My mother thinks you are nice," he said softly. "We saw you patting +Cowan's dog and walking home with the children. One day we saw you +walking home with Edgar Zinc. He held your hand--and my mother got to +thinking that it might have been me that you had by the hand, and +she cried that day, and couldn't tell why. It wasn't because she was +lonely--because she never is lonely. How could she be when she has me? +She tells me every day she is not lonely. But we'd like fine to have +you live with us, teacher, because you're nice." + +Pearl's arm was around him now, and he let her draw him over to her. + +"Tell me all about yourself," she said, with a curious tugging at her +heart. + +"We're orphans," he said simply, "mother and I--that means our people +are dead. We had no people, only just our daddy. We didn't need any +people only him, and he's dead. And then we had Mr. Bowen--and he's +dead. Don't it beat all how people die? Are you an orphan?" + +Pearl shook her head. + +James continued: "We're waiting here until I get bigger and mother +gets enough money--and then we're going back. It's lovely to be going +back. This isn't the real Purple Springs--we just called it that for +fun, and because we love the name. It makes us happier when we say it. +It reminds us. Mother will tell you if you live with us." + +"At night we light the fire and watch it crackling, and I sit on +mother's knee. Ain't I a big boy to sit on a lady's knee?--and she +tells me. At Purple Springs there's pansies as big as plates--mother +will draw them for you--and the rocks are always warm, and the streams +are boiling hot, and nobody is ever sick there or tired. Daddy +wouldn't have died if we'd stayed there. But there's things in life no +one understands. We'll never leave when we go back." + +The boy rambled on, his eyes shining with a great excitement. Pearl +thought she was listening to the fanciful tales with which a lonely +woman beguiled the weary hours for her little son It was a weirdly +extravagant fairy story, and yet it fascinated Pearl in spite of it's +unlikeness to truth. It had all the phantasy of a midsummer night's +dream. + +The boy seemed to answer her thoughts. + +"Ain't it great to have something lovely to dream over, teacher? I bet +you've got sweet dreams, too. Mother says that what kills people's +souls is when they have no purple springs in their lives. She says +she's sorry for lots of people They live and walk around, but their +souls are dead, because their springs have dried up." + +Pearl drew him closer to her. He was so young--and yet so old--so +happy, and yet so lonely. She wanted to give him back a careless, +happy, irresponsible childhood, full of frolicking fun and mischief, +without care or serious thought. She longed to see him grubby-fisted +bare-footed, tousle-haired, shouting and wrestling with her young +tykes of brothers. It was not natural or happy to see a child so +elfin, so remote, so conscious of the world's sorrows. + +"Will you come with me now, teacher?" he asked eagerly. + +Pearl could not resist the appeal. The sun hung low in an amber haze +as they left the school and took the unfrequented road to the brown +house on the hill--the house of mystery. + +The air was full of the drowsy sounds of evening; cattle returning +after their day's freedom in the fields, cow-bells tinkling +contentedly. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked; and on the gentle +breeze came the song of a hermit thrush, with an undertone of cooing +pigeons. The acrid smell of burning leaves was in the air. + +The river valley ran into the sunset with its bold scrub-covered +banks, on the high shoulder of which the railway cut made a deep welt, +purple now with evening. Every day the westbound train, with its gray +smoke spume laid back on its neck like a mane, slid swiftly around the +base of the hill until the turn in the river made it appear to go into +a tunnel, for the opposite bank obscured it from view. It re-appeared +again, a mile farther west, and its smoke could be followed by the eye +for many miles as it made its way to the city. This year it was the +Government's promise that the river would be bridged at Purple Springs +and the road made more direct. + +"Mother says no one could be lonely when they can see the trains," +said James Gray. "Mother just loves the trains--they whistle to us +every day. They would stop and talk to us only they're in such a +hurry." + +When her young escort led Pearl Watson into the living-room she gave +an exclamation of delight. A low ceiling, with weathered beams; a +floor covered with bright-colored, hand-made rugs, bookcases +filled with books, a few pictures on the wall, and many pieces of +artistically constructed furniture. + +"Mother makes these in the winter, she and I. We work all evening, +and then we make toast at the fireplace and play the phonograph and +pretend we have visitors. Ever since we knew you were coming you've +been our visitor, and now tonight I'll hide you, and mother will think +I'm just pretending, and then you'll come out, and mother will think +she's dreaming again." + +Pearl helped her young friend to milk the two fine cows that came up +to the bars expectantly, after which the evening meal was prepared, +and Pearl was amazed at the deft manner in which the boy set about his +work. He told her more about calories and food values and balanced +meals than the Domestic Science Department at the Normal School had +taught her. + +"How do you know all this?" she asked him in surprise. + +"Mother reads it in books and tells me. Mother learns everything +first, and tells me--she is determined," said the boy gravely, "that +I will have just as good a chance as other children. She says if +she ever did anything that wasn't right, and which made it hard for +me--she'll make it up. Mother says God is often up against it with +people, too. He has to let things happen to them--bad things--but He +can always make it up to them--and He will! Do you think that too, +teacher?" + +"I am sure of it," said Pearl, with a catch in her throat and a sudden +chill of doubt. Were there some things which even God could not make +up to us? + +The fireplace was laid with red willow wood, and when everything was +ready, and the hour had come when Mrs. Gray was expected home, Pearl +and James waited in the big chair before the fire, which darted +tongues of purple flame and gave a grateful heat, for the evening was +chilly. They did not light the lamp at all, for the light from the +fire threw a warm glow over the room. + +A great peace seemed to have come to Pearl's heart. The neighbors of +Purple Springs, with their inhospitable hearts, seemed far away and +unreal. That thought in some occult way came to her with comforting +power from the spirit which dwelt in this home. + +For three years no friendly foot had come to this threshold, no one +had directed a friendly thought to the woman who lived here, nor to +the child; yet woman and child had lived on happily in spite of this, +and now to Pearl, on whom the taboo of the neighborhood had also +fallen, there came the peace of mind which could set quietly at +defiance the opinion of the little world which surrounded her. + +So intent were Pearl and James on the story that Pearl was telling +they did not hear the buggy, which drove up to the house. Mrs. Gray +got out and took out her parcels at the front door. The leaping flames +from the fire-place in the pretty room, made a picture she loved well. +It was so significant of home--and it is those who have not always had +a home who love it best. She stopped to watch the light as it danced +on the shelves of books and the brightly colored hangings and rugs. + +Seeing Pearl in the big chair, with her arm around the boy, Annie +Gray's heart gave a leap of rapture. Her boy had a companion--a human +comrade other than herself. It had come at last! The dream had come +true! She watched Pearl, fascinated, fearful. Was it a dream, or was +there really a human being, and such a lovely one, a guest at her +fireside? + +With a quick movement she flung open the door James ran to his mother +with a welcoming shout. Then Pearl stood up, and the two women shook +hands without a word. They looked long into each other's eyes; then +with a quick impulse, and a sudden illumination, Pearl put her arms +around the older woman and kissed her. + +Annie Gray held her away from her, so she could look at her again. +Then with a laugh that was half a sob, she said: + +"Prayers--are--sometimes--answered," and without any warning, +surprising herself even more than she did the others--she began to +cry. Three years is a long time. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE END OF A LONELY ROAD + + +When Pearl opened her eyes the next morning it was with a delicious +sense of well-being, which increased as she looked about her. It may +have been the satiny smoothness of the sheets, the silk eiderdown +quilt, with its plumy yellow chrysanthemums, the pale yellow scrim +curtains, across whose lower borders young brown ducks followed each +other in stately procession; the home-made table with its gray linen +runner, across which a few larger ducks paraded, and which held a +large lamp, with a well-flounced shade; the soft buff walls, with +their border of yellow autumn woods, sun-sweet and cool, with +leaf-strewn paths that would be springy to walk on. It may have been +these, for Pearl's heart could easily be set tingling by a flash of +color that pleased her. But there is no doubt the room had a presence, +a strong, buoyant, cheerful presence. It had been furnished to defy +loneliness. Who could be lonely looking down at a thick plushy rug of +woolly white sheep, shading into yellow, lying on the very greenest of +grass, beside a whimsical little twisting stream that you were just +sure had speckled trout in it, darting over its gravelly bottom, if +your eyes were only quick enough to catch the flash of them; and who +wouldn't be glad to wash in a basin that was just lined with yellow +roses, with a few of them falling out over the sides; and who wouldn't +accept the gift of a towel from a hospitable oak hand, which held out +a whole bouquet of them--one on each finger; towels with all sorts of +edgings and insertions and baskets of flowers and monograms on them +just begging you to take your choice. And if anything else were needed +to keep the heart from dull gray loneliness, or ugly black fear, on +the wall over the bed was a big gilt-framed picture of an amber-eyed, +white-collared, blessed collie dog, with the faintest showing of his +red tongue, big and strong and faithful, just to remind you that +though changes befall and friends betray and hopes grow cold, +faithfulness and affection have not entirely vanished from the earth. + +Pearl's sense of freedom, of power, of comfort, seemed to increase as +she lay watching the spot of sunshine which fell on the rug with its +flock of sheep and seemed to bring them alive. The whole room seemed +to fit around her, the ceiling bent over her like a kind face, +the walls, pictures, and furniture were like a group of friends +encouraging her, inspiring her, soothing her. + +Pearl searched her mind for a word to describe it. "It feels +like--Saturday--" she said at last, "--freedom, rest, plans, +ambitions--it has them all, and it has something deeper still in +it--it is like a section of a tree, in which history can be read, +storms and winds and sunshine," for Pearl knew instinctively that it +was a tower-room that Annie Gray had made for an armor for her soul, +so it would not be pierced by the injustice and unkindness of the +world. + +"They do not understand," Pearl said again, "that's all--they do not +mean to be so horrid to her--it's queer how badly people can treat +each other and their conscience let them get away with it. Even if +Mrs. Gray had been all they said, she had not done any wrong to +them--why should they feel called upon to punish her? Well, I can tell +them a few things now." + +A fire burned in the fireplace, and the breakfast-table was set in +front of it. Mrs. Gray, in an attractive mauve house-gown, came in +from the kitchen. She was a tall woman, with steel gray eyes, with +pebblings of green--the eyes of courage and high resolve. Her features +were classical in their regularity, and reminded Pearl of the faces in +her history reproduced from the Greek coins, lacking only the laurel +wreath. Her hair was beginning to turn gray, and showed a streak at +each side, over her temples. A big black braid was rolled around her +perfectly round head; a large green jade brooch, with a braided silver +edge, fastened her dress. Her hands were brown and hard, but long, +shapely and capable looking. + +The boy was sleeping late, so Pearl and her hostess ate their +breakfast alone. + +"Will you let me stay with you, Mrs. Gray," Pearl asked, when +breakfast was over. "I will make my own bed, keep my things tidy, try +not to spill my tea. I will wipe my feet, close the screen door, and +get up for breakfast." + +Mrs. Gray looked across the table, with her dear eyes fastened on her +guest. Suddenly they began to grow dim with tears. + +"Pearl," she said, laughing, "I don't know what there is about you +that makes me want to cry. I've gone through some rough places in life +without a tear, but you seem to have a way all your own to start me +off." + +"But I don't hurt you, do I?" Pearl asked, in distress. "Surely I +don't--I wouldn't do that for the world." + +"Not a bit of it," laughed her hostess, as she wiped her eyes, and +then, blinking hard to clear away the last traces of grief, she said: + +"Pearl, before you come to board with me you should know something +about me; you have no doubt heard some strange things." + +Pearl did not deny it. + +"And you should know the whole story, and then judge for yourself +whether you consider I am a fit person to live with." + +"But I do already," said Pearl. "I consider you a very proper and +delightful person to live with. I don't want to know a thing about +you unless you care to tell me. You don't know anything about me +either--we both have to take a chance--and I am willing if you are." + +"But there will be an insurrection in the neighborhood. They won't let +you, Pearl. They can't forgive me for coming here without reference or +character, and with a child, too." + +"Well, he's a pretty fine child," said Pearl, "and, I should say, a +sort of certificate for his mother." + +"Well, no matter how fine a child he is--no matter what care a mother +has taken in his training--nothing can atone, in the eyes of society +for the failure of conforming to some of their laws. Society's laws, +not God's laws. Society is no friend to women, Pearl." + +"But it is just because people do not think," said Pearl, "They have +made certain laws--and women have not made any protest, so the men +think they are all right." + +"And do you know why, Pearl?" she asked. "Women who are caught in the +tangle of these laws, as I was, cannot say a word--their lips +are dumb. The others won't say a word for fear of spoiling their +matrimonial market. The worst thing that can be said of a woman is +that she's queer and strong-minded--and defies custom. If you want to +be happy, Pearl, be self-centered, virtuous, obey the law, and care +nothing for others." + +"You don't mean that," said Pearl. "You've been hard hit some way I +do not want to know until you want to tell me. But I am going to stay +with you if you will keep me. I am determined to stay." + +Annie Gray's steely eyes clouded over again, like a sun-kissed lake +when a cloud passes over it. They grew deeper, grayer, and of misty +tenderness. + +"You are doing something for me, Pearl, that I thought could never be +done; you are restoring my faith. Remember, I have not been as unhappy +as you may think. I had my happiness--that's more than some women can +say. I have had the rapture, the blessedness of love--I've had +it all--the rapture of holding and the agony of loss--I'm only +thirty-one, but I've lived a thousand years. But, Pearl, you've done +something for me already; you have set my feet again on something +solid, and I am a different woman from yesterday. Some day I'll tell +you a strange story until then, you'll trust me?" + +"Until then--and far beyond it--forever," said Pearl. "I'll trust +you--I have an idea you and I are going to stick together for a long +time." + +Pearl went back to the school and found her letter of acceptance in +the desk. She tore it up and wrote another, thanking the department +for their kindness in offering her such a splendid position, but +explaining that she had decided to stay at the school at Purple +Springs. She made her decision without any difficulty. There was a +deep conviction that the threads of destiny were weaving together her +life and Annie Gray's, and she knew, from some hidden source in +her soul, that she must stand by. What she could do, was vague and +unformed in her mind, but she knew it would be revealed to her. + +Pearl, child of the prairie, never could think as clearly when her +vision was bounded by walls. She had to have blue distance--the great, +long look that swept away the little petty, trifling, hampering +things, which so slavishly dominate our lives, if we will let them. So +she took her way to a little lake behind the school, where with the +school axe she had already made a seat for herself under two big +poplar trees, and cut the lower branches of some of the smaller ones, +giving them a neat and tidy appearance, like well-gartered children +dressed for a picnic. + +There were a few white birches mixed with the poplars, so delicately +formed and dainty in their slender branches and lacy leaves, they +looked like nice little girls with flowing hair, coming down to bathe +in the blue lake, timidly trying out the water with their white feet. +The trees formed a semi-circle around the east side of the lake, +leaving one side open to view, and she could see the prairie falling +away to the river, which made a wide detour at this point. + +Pearl settled herself in her rustic seat, putting the newspaper, which +she had left for the purpose, behind her back as she leaned against +the tree, to keep the powdery bark from marking her blue coat, and +leaning back contentedly, she drank in the spring sounds. + +The sun, which stood almost at noon, seemed to draw the leaves out +like a magnet; she could almost believe she saw them unfolding; above +her head there was a perfect riot of bird's song, and a blue-bird, +like a burst of music, went flashing across the water. A gray squirrel +chattered as he ran up a tree behind her, and a rabbit, padding over +the dead leaves on his way to the lake, made a sound like a bear. + +Up through the tree tops there had climbed a few blue rags of smoke, +for behind her a sleepy prairie fire was eating backward toward a +ploughed fire-guard, and the delightful acrid smell brought back the +memory of past prairie fires, pleasant enough to think of, as life's +battles are, if they end victoriously. Not a breath stirred in the +trees, and the prairie fire that smouldered so indolently was surely +the gentlest of its race. + +Suddenly there came a gust of wind through the trees, which set them +creaking and crackling with vague apprehension, for the wind is +always the mischief maker--the tattler--the brawler who starts the +trouble--and the peaceful, slumbering absent-minded prairie fire, +nibbling away at a few dead roots and grass, had been too much for it. +Here was a perfectly good chance to make trouble which no wind could +resist. + +A big black cloud went over the sun, and all in a minute the placid +waters of the lake were rasped into a pattern like the soles of new +rubbers--the trees were bending--crows cawing excitedly, and the fire, +spurred by the wind, went racing through the lake bottom and on its +way up the bank toward the open country. The cattle, which had +been feeding at the east side of the lake, sniffing danger, turned +galloping home to furnish an alibi in case of trouble. + +But the excitement was short-lived owing to a circumstance which the +wind had overlooked. The wind had made a mistake in its direction, and +so the fire had one wild, glorious race up the bank only to find its +nose run right into a freshly ploughed fire-guard, steaming damp and +richly brown. The fire sputtered, choked and died down, black and +disappointed, leaving only a few smoking clumps of willows. + +Then the wind, seeing no further chance of trouble, went crackling +away over the tree tops, and the sun came back, brilliant and warm +as ever, and there was nothing to show that there had been any +excitement, save only the waves on the lake. The wind was gone, +laughing and unrepentant, over the tree-tops; the sun had come back as +genially as if it had never been away--but the lake could not forget, +and it fretted and complained, in a perfectly human way, pounding the +bank in a futile attempt to get back at some one. The bank had not +been to blame, but it had to take the lake's repinings, while the real +culprit went free and unreproached. + +Pearl could tell what the lake was saying, as it lashed itself foaming +and pounding just below her feet. It called to the world to listen. + +"Look how I'm used," it sobbed, "and abused--and confused." + +Pearl put her hands in the silk-lined pockets of her coat, and thought +about what she had just seen. + +"Life is like this," she said at last, "human nature is full of +mischief. It loves to start trouble and fan a fire into a destructive +mood; and there's only one way to stop it--plough a fire-guard. I wish +there had been some one here to plough a fire-guard when the fires of +gossip began to run here three years ago." + +"I'll go now and dress up, and break the news to the neighborhood that +I am going to the house at Purple Springs to board. There will be +a row--there will be a large row--unless I can make the people +understand, and in a row there is nothing so sustaining as good +clothes--next to the consciousness of being right, of course," she +added after a pause. An hour later, Pearl Watson, in her best dress +of brown silk, with her high brown boots well polished, and her small +brown hat, made by herself, with a band of crushed burnt orange +poppies around the crown, safely anchored and softened by a messaline +drape; with her hair drawn over the tops of her ears, and a smart +fawn summer coat, with buttons which showed a spot of red like a +pigeon-blood ruby. Pearl looked at herself critically in the glass: + +"These things should not count," she said, as she fastened a thin veil +over her face and made it very neat at the back with a hairpin, "but +they do." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ANNIE GRAY'S STORY + + +The Purple Springs district was going through a period of intense +excitement. Housework languished, dough ran over, dish-water cooled. +The news which paralyzed household operations came shortly after one +o'clock, when Mrs. Cowan phoned to Mrs. Brownless that the teacher had +just been in, and said she was going to board with the woman who lived +alone. The teacher had said it, according to Mrs. Cowan, in the "most +off-hand manner, just as if she said she had found her jackknife or +her other rubber--just as easy as that, she said she had found a +boarding house. Mrs. Howser could not take her, but Mrs. Gray could, +and she was moving over right away." + +Mrs. Cowan, according to her own testimony, nearly dropped. She did +not really drop, but any one could easily have knocked her down; +she could have been knocked down with a pin feather. She could not +speak--she just stared. She went all "through other," and felt queer. + +"Do you know that woman has a child?" she managed to say at last, and +the teacher said, "Sure--one of the nicest I've ever seen--a perfect +beauty." + +Mrs. Cowan admitted to Mrs. Brownlees, who sympathized with her, that +she did not know what to say then. + +At last she said, "But she has no right to have a child," and the +teacher said: + +"Why not if she wants to. She's good to him, dresses him well and +trains him well. My mother had nine--and got away with it--and likes +them all. Having a child is nothing against her." Now, wasn't that an +awful way for her to talk? + +Mrs. Brownlees said it certainly was fierce! and the other listeners +on the phone, for the audience had been augmented as the conversation +proceeded, politely said nothing, but hung up their receivers with +haste, and acquainted the members of their household with the +disquieting news. + +Mrs. Switzer threw her apron over her head and ran out to the pump, +where Bill was watering his three-horse team. Bill received the news +in that exasperating silence which is so hard to bear. When urged for +an opinion, he said crustily: "Well, what's the girl goin' to do? None +of you women would take her--she can't starve--and she can't sleep in +the school woodpile. Mrs. Gray won't bite--she's a fine lookin' woman, +drives a binder like a man, pays her debts, minds her own business. I +don't see why it wouldn't be a good boardin' place." + +In telling about it afterwards to Mrs. Howser, Mrs. Switzer said, "You +know what men are like; in some ways they are hardly human--they take +things so easy." + +Pearl was surprised at the storm that burst, but soon realized the +futility of further speech. They would not listen--they were so intent +on proving the woman's guilt, they would hear no defence. From what +they said, Pearl gathered that they knew nothing about Mrs. Gray +except what the sewing-machine agent had told them, and even he had +not claimed that he had any definite knowledge. The worst count +against her was that she would not tell anything about herself. +That she would not tell anything about herself, could only have one +explanation! There must be nothing good to tell! + +On Sunday, at the little stone church in the valley of the river Pearl +took her place among the worshippers. The attendance was unusually +large. A new bond of interest was binding the neighborhood together, +and they spoke of it as they congregated in the church-yard before the +service. Pearl sat inside and watched them as they talked together +excitedly. Snatches of their conversation came to her. "Well-behaved +people should stay with well-behaved people, I say"--this was from +Mrs. Switzer. + +The men did not join in the conversation, but stood around, ill at +ease in their stiff collars, and made an attempt to talk about summer +fallowing and other harmless topics. Their attitude to the whole +affair was one of aloofness. Let the women settle it among themselves. + +From the window where she sat Pearl could see far down the valley. The +river pursued its way, happily, unperturbed by the wrongs or sorrows +of the people who lived beside it. Sometimes it had reached out and +drowned a couple of them as it had done last year--but no one held it +against the river at all. + +The rejuvenation of nature was to be seen everywhere, in springing +grass and leafing tree. Everything could begin life over again. Why +were the people so hard on Annie Gray, even if all they believed about +her were true? Pearl wondered about the religion of people like the +group who were so busily talking just outside the window. Did it not +teach them to be charitable? The Good Shepherd, in the picture above +the altar, had gone out to find the wandering sheep, even leaving +all the others, to bring back the lost one, sorry that it had been +wayward, not angry--but only sorry--Pearl hoped that they would look +at it when they came in. She hoped too, that they would look at the +few scattered tombstones in the churchyard, over which the birds were +darting and skimming, and be reminded of the shortness of life, and +their own need of mercy--and she hoped that some of the dead, who lay +there so peacefully now, might have been sinners who redeemed the past +and died respected, and that they might plead now with these just +persons who needed no repentance. + +But when the service was over, and a brief sermon on Amos and his good +deeds, the congregation separated, and Pearl went back to the brown +house with a heavy heart, and the cry of her soul was that God would +show her a way of making the people understand. "Plough a fire-guard, +O Lord," she prayed, as she walked, "and let these deadly fires of +gossip run their noses square into it and be smothered. Use me if you +can--I am here--ready to help--but the big thing is to get it done." + +Around the open grate-fire that night, after James had gone to bed, +Pearl and Mrs. Gray sat long before the pleasant wood fire For the +first time Annie Gray felt she had found some one to whom she could +talk and tell what was in her heart, and the story of the last eleven +years was revealed, from the time that pretty Annie Simmons, fresh +from Scotland, arrived at the Hudson's Bay post at Fort Resolution, +coming by dog-train the last two hundred miles to her cousin, the +factor's wife--the thin-lipped daughter of the Covenanters--who kept +the pretty young cousin closely at work in the kitchen with her pots +and pans when the traders came in, for Mrs. McPherson had no intention +of losing Annie and her capable help after bringing her all the way +from the Isle of Skye. + +After a year of hard work, and some lonesome times, too, in the long, +dark winter, there came to the Post a young trapper and prospector, +Jim Gray. + +"When I saw him," said the woman, with the silver bands of gray +encircling her shapely head, "I knew him for my own man. He was tall +and dark, with a boyish laugh that I loved, and a way of suddenly +becoming very serious in the middle of his fun--a sort of clouding +over of his face as if the sun had gone under for a minute." + +She spoke haltingly, but Pearl knew what was in her heart, and her +quick imagination painted in the details of each picture. She could +see the homesick Scotch girl, in the far Northern post, hungry for +admiration and love, and trying to make herself as comely as she +could. She could sense all the dreams and longings, the hopes and +thrills. + +"Tell me more about him," Pearl urged. + +"He had the out-of-doors look," said Mrs. Gray, "big, gentle, +fearless. I knew as soon as I looked in his eyes that I would go with +him if he asked me--anywhere. I would dare anything, suffer anything +for him. Nothing mattered; you will know it some time, Pearl, I hope. +It brings sorrow, maybe, but it is the greatest thing in life. Even +now, looking back down these black years, I would do the same--I would +go with my man. + +"My cousin and her husband, the factor, forbade him the house when they +saw what was happening. They had nothing against him. Every trapper +said Jim Gray was straight as a gun-barrel. It was just that they +would not let me go--they wanted my work, but I had already worked out +my passage money, and considered myself free. They locked me in my +room at night, and treated me like a prisoner. They said abominable +things. + +"One night a tapping came at the little square window It was a heavy, +dark night in July, with thunder rolling in great shaking billows. It +was Jim, and he asked me if I would come with him. He had spoken to +the missionary at the post, who would marry us. Would I come? I did +not know whether he had a house, or even a blanket. I only knew I +loved him. + +"Under cover of the storm Jim took out the window-frame, lifted me +out, and we were off through the rain and the storm. But when we got +to the missionary's he would not marry us--the factor had forbidden +him. Jim would have taken me back but I was afraid. The factor had +said he would shoot him if he ever came for me. He was a high-tempered +man and ruled the post and every one in it with his terrible rages. +What would you have done, Pearl?" + +"Was there no one else?" said Pearl, "no magistrate--no other +missionary or priest?" + +"There was a missionary at the next post, sixty miles away. We could +reach him in two days. What would you have done, Pearl?" + +Pearl was living with her every detail, every sensation, every thrill. + +"What would I have done?" she said, trembling with the excitement of a +great decision. "I would have gone!" + +Annie Gray's hand tightened on hers. + +"I went," she said, "and I was never sorry. Jim was a man of the big +woods; he loved me. The rain, which fell in torrents, did not seem to +wet us--we were so happy." + +"At the missionary's house at Hay River we were married, and the wife +of the missionary gave me her clothes until mine dried. We stayed +there three days and then we went on. Jim had a cabin in a wonderful +hot springs valley, and it was there we were going. It would take us +a month, but the weather was at its best, hazy blue days, continuous +daylight, only a little dimming of the sun's light when it disappeared +behind the mountains. We had pack-dogs from the post--Jim had left +them there--and lots of provisions. I dream of those campfires and the +frying bacon, and the blue smoke lifting itself up to the tree-tops." + +She sat a long time silent, in a happy maze of memory. + +"I had as much happiness as most women, but mine came all at once--and +left me all at once. We reached the valley in September. I was wild +with the beauty of it! Set in the mountains, which arched around it, +was this wonderful square of fertile land, about six miles one way and +seven the other. The foliage is like the tropics, for the hot springs +keep off frost. The creeks which run through it come out of the rocks +boiling hot--but cool enough to bathe in as they run on through the +meadows. Their waters have a peculiar purplish tinge, which passes +away after it stands a while, and a delicate aroma like a fragrant +toilet water. I called it the Valley of purple springs'." + +"Our house was of logs, and built on a rock floor, which was always +warm. There were skins on the floor worth fortunes, for the animals +came to the valley in winter by the hundreds, black foxes and silver, +martins and bear. They came in, stayed a few days and passed out +again. The ferns in the valley stood seven feet high, and the stalks +were delicious when boiled and salted. + +"Jim had planted a garden before he left, and we had everything, +cabbages, cauliflower, beets, mushrooms. Jim got the skins he +wanted--he didn't kill many--and we tanned them in the Indian way. + +"At first the Indians had been afraid to come. They called it 'The +Devil's Valley,' and though the young bucks might come in and spend a +night, just as a bit of bravado, they were frightened of it; but after +I came they took courage and came in. + +"We found out that the water in the streams had healing power, and +made one's skin feel soft as velvet, especially one stream which had +the deepest color. One old squaw, whose eyes had been sore for years, +was healed in three weeks and went back to her people with her +wonderful tales of the valley. After that we had Indians with us all +the time. They brought their sick children and their old people, and +the results were marvelous. I never knew the stream to fail. Even the +tubercular people soon began to grow rosy and well. The food seemed to +have healing power, too, and some who came hollow-cheeked, feverish, +choking with their cruel paroxysms of coughing, soon began to grow fat +and healthy. At first the sick people just slept and slept on the warm +rocks, and then came the desire to bathe in the stream, and after that +they went searching for the herbs they needed. + +"We lived there three years. At the end of the first year little Jim +was born--my precious Jim, with his wonderful eyes, reflecting the +beauty of the valley. The Indian women tanned the softest buckskin for +his little things, and he had the most elaborately beaded garments. +No little prince was ever more richly dressed. He grew lovlier every +day." + +Pearl could refrain no longer: "Why did you ever leave?" she asked +breathlessly. + +"Conscience," said Annie Gray, after a pause. "We couldn't keep it all +to ourselves and be happy over it. We couldn't forget all the sick +people to whom our purple springs would bring healing. Mind you, we +tried to deaden our consciences; tried to make ourselves believe it +was not our duty to give it to the world. We fought off these spells +of conscience--we tried to forget that there was a world outside. But +we couldn't--we owed a duty, which we had to pay. + +"One day, with our winter catch of furs packed on the dogs, we came +out. The Indians could not understand why we were leaving, and stood +sorrowfully watching us as far as we could see them--there was a +heaviness on our spirits that day, as if we knew what was coming. + +"On the Judah Hill, at Peace River, came the accident. The train went +over the bank. When I came to I was in the Irene Hospital there, with +little Jim beside me quite unhurt. But I knew--I knew. I saw in the +nurses' face--my Jim had been killed." + +All the color had gone from her voice, and she spoke as mechanically +as a deaf person. + +"He was instantly killed--they did not let me see him. + +"I went on. I knew what I should do. I would carry out as far as +possible what Jim and I had started out to do. We had filed on the +land, and I had the papers--I have them still. In Peace River we had +sold the furs, and I had quite a lot of money, for furs were high that +year. + +"Jim had told me a lot about his father, a domineering but kindly old +fellow, the local member of Parliament in a little Eastern town--a man +who had had his own way all his life. Jim had not got along well with +him, and had left home at eighteen. + +"I remembered Jim had said that he wouldn't tell his father about the +valley until he had talked it over with a lawyer and got everything +settled, for the old man would run the whole thing. So when I went to +his home I said little about our valley, except to tell them of the +beauty of it. + +"I was very unhappy. He raged about Jim and his wild ways. I could +not bear it. He knew nothing of the real Jim that I knew, the tender, +loving, sweet-souled Jim. I could see how he had raised the devil in +the boy with his high-handed ways. + +"He was passionately fond of the little Jim, and foolishly indulgent. +He would give the child a dollar for a kiss, but if he did not come +running to him the very moment he called he would be angry. Yet I +could see that he adored the little fellow, and was very proud of his +clever ways. + +"One day he told me he was going to send Jim to a boy's school in +England as soon as he was nine. I told him it could not be. Jim had +said to me that we would bring up our boy in the wild, new country, +where men are honorable and life is simple. I would follow Jim's +wishes--our boy would not go to England. I defied him. I saw his +temper then. He told me I had nothing to say about it, he was his +grandson's guardian. Jim had made a will before he left home, making +his father executor of his estate. He told me the father was the only +parent the child had in the eyes of the law, and I had no claim on my +boy. + +"I had no one to turn to. Jim's mother was one of those sweet, +yielding women, who said 'Yes, dear,' to everything he said. She +followed him around, picking up the things he scattered and the chairs +he kicked over in his fits of temper. Sometimes when he swore she +dabbed her eyes with a daintily trimmed handkerchief. That was her +only protest. She advised me to say nothing, but just do whatever +'father' told me, and I said I would see him in hell first, and at +that she ran out with her fingers in her ears. + +"Then a strange thing happened. McPherson, my cousin's husband, the +factor from Fort Resolution, met Jim's father at a lodge meeting, and +told him Jim and I had gone away without being married--the missionary +had refused to marry us--and we had gone away. I think he knew better, +for in the north country every one knows everyone else, and it was +well known that Jim and I were married at Hay River. He came home +raging and called me names. I'll never forget how they went crashing +through my brain. He was a proud man, and this 'disgrace' of Jim's, +as he said, was the finishing touch. But when he began to abuse Jim +I raged too. I said things to him which perhaps had better been left +unsaid. I was sorry afterwards, for Jim was fond of his father for all +his blustering ways. I did not tell him that Jim and I were legally +married, for the fear was on me that he could take little Jim from +me, and it did not matter to me what they thought of me. I had one +thought--and that was to keep my boy and bring him up myself--bring +him up to be a man like his father. + +"That night I left. I was proud, too, and I left money to pay for +the time I had been with them. I had a few hundred dollars left, not +enough to take me back to Purple Springs. My first plan was to get a +housekeeper's position, but I soon found I could not do that--the +work was hard, and Jim was not wanted. I worked as waitress in a +restaurant, and as saleslady in a country store, but Jim was not +getting the care he should have. + +"One day I saw an advertisement in a paper. A prospector, crippled +with rheumatism, wanted a housekeeper. It said 'a woman with sense and +understanding,' and I liked the tone of it. It was blunt and honest. + +"When I went to see him I found a grizzled old fellow of about sixty, +who had been most of his life in the north, and when I found he had +known Jim, and had trapped with him on the Liard River, and knew what +a splendid fellow he was, I just begged him to let us stay. He was as +glad to get me, as I was to find a home. + +"I cared for him until he died. He was a good man, a man of the big +woods, whose life was simple, honest and kindly. + +"In the little town where we lived the people gossiped when I came to +him. They wanted to know where I had come from, and all about me. I +told them nothing. I was afraid. I had changed my name, but still I +was afraid Jim's father might find me. Mr. Bowen thought it would be +better if we were married, just to stop their tongues, but I couldn't +marry him. Jim has always been just as real to me as when he was with +me. Mr. Bowen was kind and gentlemanly always, and many a happy hour +we spent talking of the big country with its untold riches. If I could +have taken him to Purple Springs he could have been cured, but we knew +he could not stand the journey, for his heart was weak. + +"I went to night school while I was with him, and learned all I could +for Jim's sake. But he died at last, and left me very lonely, for I +had grown fond of him. + +"By his will he left me all he had, and the deed of this farm was part +of his estate. So, after his death, Jim and I came here. Mr. Bowen had +advised me to stay on this farm--he had taken it because there were +indications of oil, and he believed there would be a big strike here +some day. He also left me four thousand dollars, and I have added to +it every year. Sometimes I've been tempted to sell out and get back +north, but Jim is too young yet, I think, I should go somewhere and +let him go to school. I thought when I came he could go here. I have +only one thought, one care, one ambition--I've lived my life--I've had +my one good, glorious day, and now I want to see that Jim gets his. + +"It's a queer story, isn't it, Pearl? I ran away and got married, +and then I ran away from marriage to keep my boy. I could prove in a +moment that my marriage was legal, of course, the certificate is here, +and the marriage was registered by the missionary, who has come back +now and lives in the city. But I dare not tell who I am--Jim does not +know who his grandfather is." + +"He surely couldn't take your boy," cried Pearl. "There is no justice +in that." + +"Only the unmarried mother has the absolute right to her child," said +Annie Gray, as one who quotes from a legal document. "I talked to a +lawyer whom Mr. Bowen sent for. He showed it to me in the law." + +"Peter Neelands was right," said Pearl after a while, "it is exactly +the sort of a law he said the other one was." + +The two women sat by the fire, which by this time was reduced to one +tiny red coal. There was not a sound in the house except the regular +breathing of little Jim from the adjoining room. A night wind stirred +the big tree in front of the house, and its branches touched the +shingles softly, like a kind hand. + +"I'll tell you the rest of it, Pearl, and why I am so frightened. +Perhaps I grow fearful, living here alone, and my mind conjures up +dreadful things. Jim's grandfather has moved to this Province from the +East. I read about him in the papers. He is a powerful man--who +gets his own way. He might be able to get doctors to pronounce me +insane--we read such things. He has such influence." + +"Who is he?" asked Pearl wonderingly. + +"He is the Premier of this Province," said Annie Gray. "Now do you +wonder at my fear?" + +Pearl sat a long time silent. "A way will be found," she said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE OPENING OF THE WAY + + +"I wonder where they are," Pearl said to herself, as she looked +anxiously out of the window of the school on Monday morning. The roads +leading from the Purple Springs school lay like twisted brown ribbons +on the tender green fields, but not a child, not a straw hat, red +sweater, sun-bonnet; not a glint of a dinner-pail broke the monotony +of the bright spring morning. + +The farm-houses seemed to be enjoying their usual activity. The +spielers among the hens were announcing that the day's business was +off to a good start, with prospects never brighter, dogs barked, +calves bawled, cow-bells jangled--there was even a murmur of talking. + +"They are not dead," said Pearl, as she listened, bareheaded, at the +gate, "not dead, except to me--but they are not going to let the +children come! + +"They have turned me down!" + +At nine o'clock, a flash of hope lighted up the gloom that had settled +on her heart. The Snider twins, two tiny black dots, side by side like +quotation marks, appeared distinctly against the vivid green of their +father's wheat field and continued to advance upon the school-house, +until they were but half a mile away. Then, noticing that no one else +was abroad, they turned about and retraced their steps in haste, +believing it must be Sunday, or a holiday--or something. + +They were quite right on the last guess. It was something. But not +even the teacher knew just what. The school room was clammily, +reproachfully silent, every tick of the elm clock which told off +the time without prejudice, seemed to pile up evidence of a hostile +nature. + +Pearl's brows were knitted in deep thought, as she looked in vain down +the sparkling roads. What was back of it all? What had she done, or +failed to do? Why did no one want to give her board and shelter? This +latest development--the boycott of the school--was of course a protest +against her association with the woman of Purple Springs. + +Pearl squared her shoulders and threw back her head. She remembered +the advice she had given her young brothers, "Don't pick a fight. +Don't hit harder than you need to--but when trouble comes, be facing +the right way." She would try to keep her face in the right direction. +Here was prejudice, narrowness, suspicion, downright injustice and +cruelty--of this she was sure--there were other elements, other +complications of which she had no knowledge. Peter Neelands had +told her the Government was watching her, but she had not taken it +seriously. + +She began to wonder if the invitation to work in the Educational +Department might not be a plan to get her safely out of the way until +after the election. It seemed too absurd. + +Life was not so simple and easy as she had thought, or was it true +that the element of trouble was in her own mind. Did she attract +trouble by some quality of heart or brain. But what else could she +have done? Hadn't she told the truth and done what seemed right all +the way? But to be turned down in her school--left alone--boycotted. + +Pearl's depression, poignant and deep though it was, did not last +long. There would be a way out--there was always a way out! She would +be shown the way! + +"They that are with us," said Pearl solemnly, struggling with a wave +of self pity, "are greater than they that are against us. I wish I +could get them all lined up and talk to them. There is no use in +talking to them one by one--they won't listen--they're too busy trying +to think of something to say back. But if I had them all together, +I could make them see things--they would have to see it. They are +positively cruel to Mrs. Gray, and the dear little Jim--and without +cause--and they should be told. Nobody would be so mean--if they +knew--even the old grandfather would feel sorry." + +When ten o'clock came, and not one pupil had arrived, Pearl decided +she would go over to the post-office for her mail. There would be a +letter from home, and never before had she so much needed the loving +assurance that she had a home where a welcome awaited her, even if the +world had gone wrong. The Watson family would stand by her, no matter +what the verdict of Purple Springs. + +In addition to the home letter, with its reassuring news that four +hens were set and the red cow had come in, and the boys had earned +three dollars and fifteen cents on their gopher tails, and the +twenty-fourth being a holiday. Jimmy would come over for her--in +addition to this, there was a large square envelope from the city. The +letter was from the Woman's Club, telling her that they were preparing +a political play and wanted her to come at once to the city to take an +important part. They had heard of her ability from Mr. Neelands. Would +she please let them know at once? + +A smile scattered the gloom on Pearl's face. Here was a way out. Would +she go? To play an important part in a play? Would she go? + +Pearl went down the road on light feet, to where Mr. Cowan, the +Secretary, was ploughing stubble. Mr. Cowan was expecting a call, and +dreading it, for in spite of careful rehearsing, he had been unable +to make out a good case. He was an awkward conspirator, without +enthusiasm, and his plain country conscience reminded him that it was +a mean way to treat a teacher whom he--himself--had selected. But why +hadn't she accepted the offer to go to the city, and get away from a +neighborhood where she could not be comfortable. Naturally, he could +not urge it--that would give away the whole game. But he could hardly +keep from asking her. + +He resolved to say as little as possible, when he saw her coming. +There was no trace of either gloom or resentment in her face when she +greeted him. Mr. Cowan was equally friendly. + +"I want to ask you something, Mr. Cowan," said Pearl. "What is wrong +with me? Why don't the people like me? What have I done?" + +Mr. Cowan had stopped his team, and lifting the lines from behind his +back, he wound them deliberately around the handles of the plow before +speaking. His manner indicated that it was a long story. + +"Well, you know what women are like. No one can reason with women, +and they won't stand for you boarding with Mrs. Gray. They're sore on +her--and don't think she's just what she should be--and--" + +Pearl interrupted him: + +"But, Mr. Cowan, even before I went there, there was something wrong. +Why wouldn't they give me a boarding place? You thought that I could +get a boarding place when you hired me. Come on, Mr. Cowan, you may +just as well tell me--it's the easiest way in the end--just to speak +out--it saves time. If you ask me not to tell--I won't." + +George Cowan did not expect to be cornered up so closely, and in +desperation he said what was uppermost in his mind: + +"Why don't you take the offer to go to the city, that's a great +chance." + +He had forgotten to be discreet. + +"I am going to," said Pearl quickly, "that's what I came over to tell +you--I want to go. I wanted to ask you if it would be all right." + +"Now you're talking," cried her trustee gladly--a great burden had +been lifted from his heart. "Sure you can go--it would be a, shame for +you to miss a chance like this." + +In his excitement he hardly knew what he was saying. This was just +what he had been hoping would happen. Wouldn't George Steadman be +pleased! He had given out a delicate piece of work to be done, and it +had been successfully managed. + +"You were just fooling us by pretending you were going to board at +Mrs. Gray's--weren't you? You knew all the time you were going to the +city; You were just playing a joke on us--I know. Well the joke's on +us all right, as the cowboys said when they hanged the wrong man." + +George Cowan rubbed his hands; the whole world had grown brighter. The +political machine was the thing--real team-play--that's what it was. +It's hard to beat the machine--and the best of it all was, there was +no harm done, and nobody hurt. She would be as safe as a church when +she was in the employ of the Government--and in a good job too--away +ahead of teaching. No government employee could mention politics. +Some people thought women were hard to manage! but it just required a +little brains--that was all. Diplomacy was the thing. + +"You are sure you don't mind my going," said Pearl, "without notice?" + +"Not a bit--and we'll be glad to have you back, say for the Fall term. +I'll fix the salary too and make out your cheque for the full month. +It wouldn't be right for us to stand in your way--of course you may +not want to come back--but if you do just drop me a line. I suppose +you will want to go home before you go into the city. I can take you +over this afternoon in the car." + +"Thank you, Mr. Cowan," Pearl said, "you are very kind. I'll be ready +at one o'clock. But tell me--how did you know I had an invitation to +the city? That was pretty clever of you." + +Mr. Cowan was untwisting the lines from the plow handles preparatory +to making another round. He suddenly remembered to be discreet, and +winked one eye with indescribable slyness. + +"A little bird whispered to me," he laughed. + +At noon, when he told Mrs. Cowan about it, he said it was queer how +that answer of his seemed to hit the teacher. She went away laughing, +and he could hear her for fully a quarter of a mile kind of chuckling +to herself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE PLAY + + +"Sorry, sir," said the man in the box-office of the Grand, "but the +house has been sold out for two days now. The standing room has gone +too." + +"Can you tell me what this is all about, that every one is so crazy to +see it?" the man at the wicket asked, with studied carelessness. He +was a thick-set man, with dark glasses, and wore a battered hat, and a +much bedraggled waterproof. + +"The women here have got up a Parliament, and are showing tonight," +said the ticket-seller. "They pretend that only women vote, and women +only sit in Parliament. The men will come, asking for the vote, and +they'll get turned down good and plenty, just like the old man turned +them down." + +"Did the Premier turn them down?" asked the stranger. "I didn't hear +about it." + +"Did he? I guess, yes--he ripped into them in his own sweet way. Did +you ever hear the old man rage? Boy! Well, the women have a girl +here who is going to do his speech. She's the woman Premier, you +understand, and she can talk just like him. She does everything except +chew the dead cigar. The fellows in behind say it's the richest thing +they ever heard. The old boy will have her shot at sunrise, for sure. + +"He won't hear her," said the man in the waterproof, with sudden +energy. "He won't know anything about it." + +"Sure he will. The old man is an old blunderbuss, but he's too good +a sport to stay away. They're decorating a box for him, and have his +name on it. He can't stay away." + +"He can if he wants to," snapped the other man. "What does he care +about this tommyrot--he'll take no notice of it." + +"Well," said the man behind the wicket, "I believe he'll come. But +say, he sure started something when he got these women after him. +They're the sharpest-tongued things you ever listened to, and they +have their speeches all ready. The big show opens tonight, and every +seat is sold. You may get a ticket though at the last minute, from +some one who cannot come. There are always some who fail to show up at +the last. I can save you a ticket if this happens. What name?" + +"Jones," said the gentleman in the waterproof. No doubt the irritation +in his voice was caused by having to confess to such a common name. +"Robertson Jones. Be sure you have it right," and he passed along the +rail to make room for two women who also asked for tickets. + +The directors of the Woman's Parliament knew the advertising value of +a mystery, being students of humanity, and its odd little ways. They +knew that people are attracted by the unknown; so in their advance +notices they gave the names of all the women taking part in the play, +but one. The part of the Premier--the star part--would be taken by a +woman whose identity they were "not at liberty to reveal." Well-known +press women were taking the other parts, and their pictures appeared +on the posters, but no clue was given out as to the identity of the +woman Premier. + +Long before sundown, the people gathered at the theatre door, for +the top gallery would open for rush seats at seven. Even the ticket +holders had been warned that no seat would be held after eight +o'clock. + +Through the crowd came the burly and aggressive form of Robertson +Jones, still wearing his dark glasses, and with a disfiguring strip of +court plaster across his cheek. At the wicket he made inquiry for his +ticket, and was told to stand back and wait. Tickets were held until +eight o'clock. + +In the lobby, flattening himself against the marble wall, he waited, +with his hat well down over his face. Crowds of people, mostly women, +surged past him, laughing, chattering, feeling in their ridiculous +bags for their tickets, or the price of a box of chocolates at the +counter, where two red-gold blondes presided. + +Inside, as the doors swung open, he saw a young fellow in evening +dress, giving out handbills, and an exclamation almost escaped him. He +had forgotten all about Peter Neelands! + +Robertson Jones, caught in the eddies of women, buffeted by them, his +toes stepped upon, elbowed, crowded, grew more and more scornful of +their intelligence, and would probably have worked his way out--if he +could, but the impact of the crowd worked him forward. + +"A silly, cackling hen-party," he muttered to himself. "I'll get out +of this--it's no place for a man--Lord deliver me from a mob like +this, with their crazy tittering. There ought to be a way to stop +these things. It's demoralizing--it's unseemly." + +It was impossible to turn back, however, and he found himself swept +inside. He thought of the side door as a way of escape, but to his +surprise, he saw the whole Cabinet arriving there and filing into the +boxes over which the colors of the Province were draped; every last +one of them, in evening dress. + +That was the first blow of the evening! Every one of them had said +they would not go--quite scornfully--and spoke of it as "The Old +Maid's Convention"--Yet they came! + +He wedged his way back to the box office, only to find that there was +no ticket for him. Every one had been lifted. But he determined to +stay. + +Getting in again, he approached a man in a shabby suit, sitting in the +last row. + +"I'll give you five dollars for your seat," he whispered. + +"Holy smoke!" broke from the astonished seat-holder, and then, +recovering from his surprise, he said, "Make it ten." + +"Shut up then, and get out--here's your money," said Mr. Jones +harshly, and in the hurriedly vacated seat, he sat down heavily. + +Behind the scenes, the leader of the Woman's Party gave Pearl her +parting words: + +"Don't spare him, Pearl," she said, with her hand around the girl's +shoulder, "it is the only way. We have coaxed, argued, reasoned, we +have shown him actual cases where the laws have worked great injustice +to women. He is blind in his own conceit, and cannot be moved. This +is the only way--we can break his power by ridicule--you can do it, +Pearl. You can break down a wall of prejudice tonight that would take +long years to wear away. Think of cases you know, Pearl, and strike +hard. Better to hurt one, and save many! This is a play--but a deadly +serious one! I must go now and make the curtain speech." + +"This is not the sort of Parliament we think should exist," she said, +before the curtain, "this is the sort of Parliament we have at the +present time--one sex making all the laws. We have a Parliament of +women tonight, instead of men, just to show you how it looks from the +other side. People seem to see a joke better sometimes when it is +turned around." + +Robertson Jones shrugged his shoulders in disgust. What did they hope +to gain, these freaks of women, with their little plays and set little +speeches. Who listened or noticed? No one, positively no one. + +Then the lights went out in the house, and the asbestos curtain came +slowly down and slowly crept into the ceiling again, to reassure the +timorous, and the beautiful French garden, with its white statuary, +and fountain, against the green trees, followed its plain asbestos +sister, and the Woman's Parliament was revealed in session. + +The Speaker, in purple velvet, with a sweeping plume in her +three-cornered hat, sat on the throne; pages in uniform answered the +many calls of the members, who, on the Government side were showing +every sign of being bored, for the Opposition had the floor, and the +honorable member from Mountain was again introducing her bill to give +the father equal guardianship rights with the mother. She pleaded +eloquently that two parents were not any too many for children to +have. She readily granted that if there were to be but one patent, it +would of course be the mother, but why skimp the child on parents? +Let him have both. It was nature's way. She cited instances of grave +injustice done to fathers from having no claim on their offspring. + +The Government members gave her little attention. They read their +papers, one of the Cabinet Ministers tatted, some of the younger +members powdered their noses, many ate chocolates. Those who listened, +did so to sneer at the honorable member from Mountain, insinuating she +took this stand so she might stand well with the men. This brought a +hearty laugh, and a great pounding of the desks. + +When the vote was taken, the House divided along party lines. +Yawningly the Government members cried "No!" + +Robertson Jones sniffed contemptuously; evidently this was a sort +of Friday afternoon dialogue, popular at Snookum's Corners, but not +likely to cause much of a flutter in the city. + +There was a bill read to give dower rights to men, and the leader of +the Opposition made a heated defence of the working man who devotes +his life to his wife and family, and yet has no voice in the +disposition of his property. His wife can sell it over his head, or +will it away, as had sometimes been done. + +The Attorney General, in a deeply sarcastic vein, asked the honorable +lady if she thought the wife and mother would not deal fairly--even +generously with her husband. Would she have the iron hand of the law +intrude itself into the sacred precincts of the home, where little +cherub faces gather round the hearth, under the glow of the +glass-fringed hanging lamp. Would she dare to insinuate that love had +to be buttressed by the law? Did not a man at the altar, in the +sight of God and witnesses, endow his wife with all his goods? Well +then--were those sacred words to be blasphemed by an unholy law which +compelled her to give back what he had so lovingly given? When a man +marries, cried the honorable Attorney General, he gives his wife his +name--and his heart--and he gives them unconditionally. Are not these +infinitely more than his property? The greater includes the less--the +tail goes with the hide! The honorable leader of the Opposition was +guilty of a gross offense against good taste, in opening this question +again. Last session, the session before, and now this session, she has +harped on this disagreeable theme. It has become positively indecent. + +The honorable leader of the Opposition begged leave to withdraw her +motion, which was reluctantly granted, and the business of the House +went on. + +A page brought in the word that a delegation of men were waiting to be +heard. + +Even the Opposition laughed. A delegation of men, seemed to be an old +and never-failing joke. + +Some one moved that the delegation be heard, and the House was +resolved into a committee of the whole, with the First Minister in the +chair. + +The first minister rose to take the chair, and was greeted with a +round of applause. Opera glasses came suddenly to many eyes, but the +face they saw was not familiar. It was a young face, under iron gray +hair, large dark eyes, and a genial and pleasant countenance. + +For the first time in the evening, Mr. Robertson Jones experienced a +thrill of pleasure. At least the woman Premier was reasonably good +looking. He looked harder at her. He decided she was certainly +handsome, and evidently the youngest of the company. + +The delegation of men was introduced and received--the House settled +down to be courteous, and listen. Listening to delegations was part of +the day's work, and had to be patiently borne. + +The delegation presented its case through the leader, who urged that +men be given the right to vote and sit in Parliament. The members of +the Government smiled tolerantly. The First Minister shook her head +slowly and absent-mindedly forgot to stop. But the leader of the +delegation went on. + +The man who sat in the third seat from the back found the phrasing +strangely familiar. He seemed to know what was coming. Sure enough, it +was almost word for word the arguments the women had used when they +came before the House. The audience was in a pleasant mood, and +laughed at every point. It really did not seem to take much to amuse +them. + +When the delegation leader had finished, and the applause was over, +there was a moment of intense silence. Every one leaned forward, +edging over in their seats to get the best possible look. + +The Woman Premier had risen. So intent was the audience in their study +of her face, they forgot to applaud. What they saw was a tall, slight +girl whose naturally brilliant coloring needed no make-up; brilliant +dark eyes, set in a face whose coloring was vivid as a rose, a +straight mouth with a whimsical smile. She gave the audience one +friendly smile, and then turned to address the delegation. + +She put her hands in front of her, locking her fingers with the thumbs +straight up, gently moving them up and down, before she spoke. + +The gesture was familiar. It was the Premier's own, and a howl +of recognition came from the audience, beginning in the Cabinet +Minister's box. + +She tenderly teetered on her heels, waiting for them to quiet down, +but that was the occasion for another outburst. + +"Gentlemen of the Delegation," she said, when she could be heard, "I +am glad to see you!" + +The voice, a throaty contralto, had in it a cordial paternalism that +was as familiar as the Premier's face. + +"Glad to see you--come any time, and ask for anything you like. You +are just as welcome this time as you were the last time! We like +delegations--and I congratulate this delegation on their splendid, +gentlemanly manners. If the men in England had come before their +Parliament with the frank courtesy you have shown, they might still +have been enjoying the privilege of meeting their representatives in +this friendly way." + +"But, gentlemen, you are your own answer to the question; you are the +product of an age which has not seen fit to bestow the gift you ask, +and who can say that you are not splendid specimens of mankind? No! +No! any system which can produce the virile, splendid type of men we +have before us today, is good enough for me, and," she added, drawing +up her shoulders in perfect imitation of the Premier when he was about +to be facetious, "if it is good enough for me--it is good enough for +anybody." + +The people gasped with the audacity of it! The impersonation was +so good--it was weird--it was uncanny. Yet there was no word of +disrespect. The Premier's nearest friends could not resent it. + +Word for word, she proceeded with his speech, while the theatre rocked +with laughter. She was in the Premier's most playful, God-bless-you +mood, and simply radiated favors and goodwill. The delegation was +flattered, complimented, patted on the head, as she dilated on their +manly beauty and charm. + +In the third seat from the back, Mr. Robertson Jones had removed his +dark glasses, and was breathing like a man with double pneumonia. A +dull, red rage burned in his heart, not so much at anything the girl +was saying, as the perfectly idiotic way the people laughed. + +"I shouldn't laugh," a woman ahead of him said, as she wiped her +eyes, "for my husband has a Government job and he may lose it if the +Government members see me but if I don't laugh, I'll choke. Better +lose a job than choke." + +"But my dear young friends," the Premier was saying, "I am convinced +you do not know what you are asking me to do;" her tone was didactic +now; she was a patient Sunday School teacher, laboring with a class of +erring boys, charitable to their many failings and frailties, hopeful +of their ultimate destiny, "you do not know what you ask. You have not +thought of it, of course, with the natural thoughtlessness of your +sex. You ask for something which may disrupt the whole course of +civilization. Man's place is to provide for his family, a hard enough +task in these strenuous days. We hear of women leaving home, and we +hear it with deepest sorrow. Do you know why women leave home? There +is a reason. Home is not made sufficiently attractive. Would letting +politics enter the home help matters. Ah no! Politics would unsettle +our men. Unsettled men mean unsettled bills--unsettled bills mean +broken homes--broken vows--and then divorce." + +Her voice was heavy with sorrow, and full of apology for having +mentioned anything so unpleasant. + +Many of the audience had heard the Premier's speech, and almost all +had read it, so not a point was lost. + +An exalted mood was on her now--a mood that they all knew well. It +had carried elections. It was the Premier's highest card. His friends +called it his magnetic appeal. + +"Man has a higher destiny than politics," she cried, with the ring in +her voice that they had heard so often, "what is home without a bank +account? The man who pays the grocer rules the world. Shall I call men +away from the useful plow and harrow, to talk loud on street corners +about things which do not concern them. Ah, no, I love the farm and +the hallowed associations--the dear old farm, with the drowsy tinkle +of cow-bells at even tide. There I see my father's kindly smile so +full of blessing, hardworking, rough-handed man he was, maybe, but +able to look the whole world in the face.... You ask me to change all +this." + +Her voice shook with emotion, and drawing a huge white linen +handkerchiefs from the folds of her gown, she cracked it by the corner +like a whip, and blew her nose like a trumpet. + +The last and most dignified member of the Cabinet, caved in at this, +and the house shook with screams of laughter. They were in the mood +now to laugh at anything she said. + +"I wonder will she give us one of his rages," whispered the Provincial +Secretary to the Treasurer. + +"I'm glad he's not here," said the Minister of Municipalities, "I'm +afraid he would burst a blood vessel; I'm not sure but I will myself." + +"I am the chosen representative of the people, elected to the highest +office this fair land has to offer. I must guard well its interests. +No upsetting influence must mar our peaceful firesides. Do you never +read, gentlemen?" she asked the delegation, with biting sarcasm, "do +you not know of the disgraceful happenings in countries cursed by +manhood suffrage? Do you not know the fearful odium into which the +polls have fallen--is it possible you do not know the origin of that +offensive word 'Poll-cat'; do you not know that men are creatures of +habit--give them an inch--and they will steal the whole sub-division, +and although it is quite true, as you say, the polls are only open +once in four years--when men once get the habit--who knows where it +will end--it is hard enough to keep them at home now! No, history is +full of unhappy examples of men in public life; Nero, Herod, King +John--you ask me to set these names before your young people. Politics +has a blighting, demoralizing influence on men. It dominates them, +hypnotizes them, pursues them even after their earthly career is over. +Time and again it has been proven that men came back and voted--even +after they were dead." + +The audience gasped at that--for in the Premier's own riding, there +were names on the voters' lists, taken, it was alleged, from the +tombstones. + +"Do you ask me to disturb the sacred calm of our cemetries?" she +asked, in an awe-striken tone--her big eyes filled with the horror of +it. "We are doing wery well just as we are, very well indeed. Women +are the best students of economy. Every woman is a student of +political economy. We look very closely at every dollar of public +money, to see if we couldn't make a better use of it ourselves, before +we spend it. We run our elections as cheaply as they are run anywhere. +We always endeavor to get the greatest number of votes for the least +possible amount of money. That is political economy." + +There was an interruption then from the Opposition benches, a feeble +protest from one of the private members. + +The Premier's face darkened; her eyebrows came down suddenly; the +veins in her neck swelled, and a perfect fury of words broke from her +lips. She advanced threateningly on the unhappy member. + +"You think you can instruct a person older than yourself, do +you--you-with the brains of a butterfly, the acumen of a bat; the +backbone of a jelly-fish. You can tell me something, can you? I +was managing governments when you were sitting in your high chair, +drumming on a tin plate with a spoon." Her voice boomed like a gun. +"You dare to tell me how a government should be conducted." + +The man in the third seat from the back held to the arm of the seat, +with hands that were clammy with sweat. He wanted to get up and +scream. The words, the voice, the gestures were as familiar as his own +face in the glass. + +Walking up and down, with her hands at right angles to her body, she +stormed and blustered, turning eyes of rage on the audience, who +rolled in their seats with delight. + +"Who is she, Oh Lord. Who is she?" the Cabinet ministers asked each +other for the hundredth time. + +"But I must not lose my temper," she said, calming herself and letting +her voice drop, "and I never do--never--except when I feel like +it--and am pretty sure I can get away with it. I have studied +self-control, as you all know--I have had to, in order that I may be a +leader. If it were not for this fatal modesty, which on more than +one occasion has almost blighted my political career, I would say +I believe I have been a leader, a factor in building up this fair +province; I would say that I believe I have written my name large +across the face of this Province." + +The government supporters applauded loudly. + +"But gentlemen," turning again to the delegation, "I am still of the +opinion even after listening to your cleverly worded speeches, that +I will go on just as I have been doing, without the help you so +generously offer. My wish for this fair, flower-decked land is that I +may long be spared to guide its destiny in world affairs. I know there +is no one but me--I tremble when I think of what might happen these +leaderless lambs--but I will go forward confidently, hoping that the +good ship may come safely into port, with the same old skipper on the +bridge. We are not worrying about the coming election, as you may +think. We rest in confidence of the result, and will proudly unfurl, +as we have these many years, the same old banner of the grand old +party that had gone down many times to disgrace, but thank God, never +to defeat." + +The curtain fell, as the last word was spoken, but rose again to show +the "House" standing, in their evening gowns. A bouquet of American +beauty roses was handed up over the foot-lights to the Premier, who +buried her face in them, with a sudden flood of loneliness. But the +crowd was applauding, and gain and again she was called forward. + +The people came flocking in through the wings, pleading to be +introduced to the "Premier," but she was gone. + +In the crowd that ebbed slowly from the exits, no one noticed the +stout gentleman with the dark glasses, who put his hat on before he +reached the street, and seemed to be in great haste. + +The comments of the people around him, jabbed him like poisoned +arrows, and seared his heart like flame. + +"I wonder was the Premier there," one man asked, wiping the traces +of merriment from his glasses, "I've laughed till I'm sore--but I'm +afraid he wouldn't see the same fun in it as I do": + +"Well, if he's sport enough to laugh at this, I'll say he's some man," +said another. + +"That girl sure has her nerve--there isn't a man in this city would +dare do it." + +"She'll get his goat--if he ever hears her--I'd advise the old man to +stay away." + +"That's holding a mirror up to public life all right." + +"But who is she?" + +"The government will be well advised to pension that girl and get her +out of the country--a few more sessions of the Women's Parliament, and +the government can quit." + +He hurried out into the brilliantly lighted street, stung by the +laughter and idle words. His heart was bursting with rage, blind, +bitter choking. He had been laughed at, ridiculed, insulted--and the +men, whom he had made--had sat by applauding. + +John Graham had, all his life, dominated his family circle, his +friends, his party, and for the last five years had ruled the +Province. Success, applause, wealth, had come easily to him, and he +had taken them as naturally as he accepted the breath of his nostrils. +They were his. But on this bright night in May, as he went angrily +down the back street, unconsciously striking the pavement with his +cane, with angry blows, the echo of the people's laughter in his ears +was bitter as the pains of death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +COMPENSATION + + +The next day the Premier kept to his room, and refused to look at the +papers. The cabinet ministers telephoned in vain; he was out, the +maid said. He hated them, every one--for their insane laughter their +idiotic applause--this disloyal attendance at such a place! He could +not speak to them or see them. + +When his wife spoke to him, he snapped back at her like an angry +rattlesnake, and asked her why she had never tried to develop a mind +of her own. Her patience, submissiveness, the abject way she deferred +to him and tried to please him--the very qualities he had demanded of +her, now infuriated him beyond words. He began to despise her for her +spiritless submission. + +Fortunately for her, the days that followed took him away from home, +and the household breathed easier each time he departed. + +"This settles it," said Rosie, the housemaid, when he went out angrily +slamming the front door. "I will never marry a member of Parliament, +no, not though he goes on his bended knee to ask me. I may not have +wealth or fame--but I'll have peace." + +"Don't be too sure," said the cook, who was Scotch, and a +Presbyterian. "You can't be sure of any of them--they are all queer. +You never know what a man will do till he's dead." + +The Woman's Parliament held sessions for three nights in the city +before it began its tour of the country with every night an audience +that packed the theatre to the roof. Each night the woman "Premier" +took her curtain calls and received the bouquets which came showering +in, but not a word could the public find out about her. The papers +said her identity would remain a mystery until all the engagements +were filled. + +On the last night, when Pearl went to her room--she was staying with +the President of the Woman's Club--a box of flowers was on her table. +When she opened it, she found an armful of American Beauty roses, and +a letter. Pearl's face went suddenly aflame like the roses, and a +jagged flash of lightning tore her heart. He had not forgotten her! + +Hastily locking her door, for no one must interrupt her, Pearl read +her letter. She had faced three thousand people two hours before, but +her hand trembled now as she read: + +"I have been in your audience, Pearl, drinking in every word you say, +rejoicing over you, loving you--but glad every minute that I played +the game fair. You have won the election--of that I am sure--for you +have set the whole Province laughing at the old-style politician. It +is easy going for the rest of us now. Our old friend George Steadman +has had the ground torn from under his feet. They all think you left +Purple Springs to take some gentle and safe job in the Department of +Education, and are breathing curses on this mysterious stranger who +has upset the foundations of the Government. Driggs suspected as soon +as he heard about the play, and he and I came into the city to see for +ourselves--we held hands to keep from disgracing ourselves last night +when you got up to speak. + +"The leader of the Opposition, who seems to be a solid sort of chap, +would like to meet you when it is all over--he is well pleased with +the women's activities, and especially your part, and wants to meet +you personally. + +"I do not need to tell you, dear, what I think. I believe you know. +I am in a mellow and pleasant state of being able to say 'I told you +so.' + +"I am not sending you roses because I think you are short of bouquets, +but just because there are certain things a red rose can say, that I +can not. H.C." + +"And why can't you say it?" Pearl whispered, "and why don't you say +it, and me hungry for it. Who is stopping you from saying it--I'm sure +it's not me." + +She threw aside her pride, and going to the phone, called the hotel +where she knew he stayed. + +"Is Dr. Clay of Millford there?" she asked, trembling with eagerness. + +"Just a minute," said the clerk. + +Pearl's heart was pounding in her throat, her ears sang, her mouth was +dry with excitement. She wanted to hear his voice--she wanted to see +him. + +It seemed a long, long time--then the clerk's voice, mechanical and +dull as the click of an adding machine: + +"No, Dr. Clay checked out tonight." + +Pearl hung up the receiver listlessly. The ripple of laughter and +waves of voices came from the drawing-room below. A company of people +had come over from the theatre, some one was calling to her outside +her door, asking her if she would come down. + +Suddenly it had all become distasteful to her, +hollow--useless--vain--what was there in it?--a heavy sense of +disappointment was on her. After all, was life going to disappoint +her, cheat her--giving her so much, and yet withholding the greatest +joy of all? + +She caught the roses in her arms, and kissed them fiercely. "I love +you--red roses," she said, "but you are not enough. You do not say +much either, but I wish you would tell me why he is so stingy with +me!" + + * * * * * + +In a week, the election was over, and the Government defeated. The +newspapers, in red headlines, gave the women the credit, and declared +it to be the most sensational campaign the country had ever seen. "The +barbed arrows of ridicule had pierced the strong man's armor," one +editorial said, "and accomplished something that the heaviest blows of +the Opposition had been powerless to achieve." Dr. Clay had defeated +George Steadman by a large majority, and the Millford "Mercury" was +free to express itself editorially, and did so with great vigor. + +The Premier had fought valiantly to the last, but his power was +gone--the spell broken--he could no longer rouse an audience with his +old-time eloquence. His impassioned passages had lost their punch, for +the bitterness, the rage which filled his heart, showed in his words +and weakened them; and the audiences who before had been kindled with +his phrases, showed a disposition now to laugh in the wrong place. + +The week of the campaign had been to him a week of agony, for he knew +he was failing as a leader, and only his stern pride kept him going. +He would let no one say he was a "welsher." The machine worked night +and day, and money was freely spent, and until the last, he hoped, +his party would be returned, and then he could resign and retire +honorably. He did not believe the machine could be defeated. They had +too many ways of controlling the vote. + +When the news of the Government's defeat began to come in from the +country places--the city seats having all gone to the Opposition--the +old man went quietly home, with a set face of ashy pallor. He walked +slowly, with sagging shoulders, and the cane which he used, did not +beat the pavement in rage, but gropingly felt its way, uncertainly, as +if the hand which guided it was hesitant and weak. + +In his house on Water Street, a big, square brick house, with +plain verandahs, the ex-Premier sat alone that night. A few of his +followers--the close-in favorites--had called to see him, but had been +denied. His wife, flutteringly made excuses. He sat in his big black +leather chair, looking into the fireplace, where no fire was kindled, +and when one of the maids had come in to build the fire, he had gently +told her he liked it better as it was, dull, bleak and dead, it suited +the occasion--and she had gone out hurriedly, and in the kitchen burst +into tears. + +"It ain't natural for him to be mild like that," she sobbed to the +cook. "I'd rather have him damn me up and down. The old man's heart is +broken, that's what it is. He's sittin' there so calm and quiet--it +would make any one cry that has known him in his good days. I don't +believe we'll ever hear him rip and tear again--the blessed old dear." + +"Well indeed, I'll be glad if we don't," said the cook grimly. "He's +raised enough hell in his time for one man, if he never does another +turn at it. I've put up with him for over fifteen years. I saw him +drive out Master Jim, and Jim's poor wife, with the dearest little pet +of a grandson any man ever had. He was sorry enough after, but that +didn't bring them back. I hope he will sit still for a while and think +it all over, and give the poor missis a rest. She's been bawled at, +and sworn at enough too, and her that gentle and pleasant." + +"She's cryin' in her room now," said the housemaid, dabbin' her +eyes with her handkerchief and wishin' he'd come up and rage over +anything." + +"O, is she?" said the cook. "I'll bet she's not. The house is so quiet +it makes her nervous--that's all! But she'll get used to it. O no, +Rosie dear, he's got his, and it's about time. I ain't worryin' over +him, for all I like the old man--but I believe the day of judgment +begins here. He's reaping what he sowed--and all I wonder at is that +the harvest has been so late." + +"That's all right for you--you're a Presbyterian," said Rosie +tearfully, "but I belong to the Army. You know God's side of it +bettern' I do, but we're all for the sinner, and I can't bear to see +him so quiet and mild. It's just like havin' a corpse in the house +to see him there in front of the dead fire; I wouldn't wonder if the +morning light will find him cold and stiff in death." Rosie's tears +gushed forth anew at this sad picture. + +"No chance," said the cook, "I haven't cooked breakfast for him for +fifteen years without knowin' him better than that. He'll come back." + +But the Presbyterian cook, so sure of her theology and her knowledge +of human nature, had no breakfast to cook for him the next day, for +the ex-Premier kept his bed, and declined to see any one except +his wife, whom he did not let out of his sight. His gentleness was +terrible--he was even pleasant. When Rosie brought the mail to the +door, he actually thanked her, which brought on another paroxysm of +tears, and made even the cook shake her head doubtfully. + +He spoke little, and made no complaint. He was only tired, he +said--just a little weary. No, he would not see a doctor--it was not a +doctor he needed. + +Beside him sat his wife, the quiet, self-effacing little woman who had +had no thought or ambition apart from him. Under half closed eyes, he +watched her, wonderingly. What were the thoughts of her heart--this +gentle-faced woman who had so tenderly cared for him, and put up with +him all these years. Many a time he had made her cry--he had driven +away her son--and her grandson--and yet she had offered no word of +remonstrance. How old and sad she looked when her face was in repose. +It was a face of deep lines and great sadness--a wistful, troubled, +hungry face, but dominated by a self-control of iron power. She sat +beside the bed, without moving; waiting, watchful. + +"You've been good to me, Jessie," he said at last, as he stroked her +hand. + +She started nervously. + +"Better than I have been to you--but I am going to be better--it is +not too late yet." + +With eyes of alarm, growing wider every moment--she watched him as he +spoke. + +"I guess I needed a set-back," he said, "and I got it--and I've +learned a lot in a short time. One thing was that you are more to me +than I thought. My friends--in politics--were everything to me--but +they valued me only for what I could do for them. I could harangue the +crowd--gather in the votes--keep things going. I remembered every one, +slapped every one on the back, called them by their first name--and it +went. But they laughed at me behind my back. Their only interest in me +was that I could carry elections. With you, it has been different. I +don't know why you stuck to me. Why did you, Jessie?" + +Without replying, she hastily left the room--and phoned for the +doctor. + +The papers that night reported the ex-Premier's condition as "causing +grave apprehension to his friends." + +When Pearl read it in the evening papers, she made a quick resolve. A +letter must be sent to Purple Springs. + +When Annie Gray and Jim went to the post-office for the mail, two days +after the election, they were not disappointed, for Pearl had written. + +"It is all over," wrote Pearl, "and the Government has gone down to +defeat. The new Government will make good its promises too. But I am +sure from what I have heard and seen of your father-in-law, you have +nothing to fear from him. He would not take little Jim away from you +even if he could. You can tell the people of Purple Springs all about +yourself now, and wouldn't I like to see Mrs. Cowan's face when she +hears who your father-in-law is?" + +"Tonight's paper says he is not well, and I am wondering if you hadn't +better come in to the city, you and Jim. You will know best about +this. I feel sorry for Mr. Graham. He is a domineering old man, full +of prejudice and narrow ways. There could be no progress so long as he +was at the head of affairs--so he had to be removed. He held the +door shut just as long as he could, and when the crash came, quite +naturally he was trampled on, and that is never a pleasant experience. +But the whole thing has a pathetic side. I wish it could have been +settled without this. + +"The night of the election, women paraded the streets, singing and +cheering, mad with joy, it made my eyes blur to see them. I am sorry +it had to come to a show-down, for it seems to set men and women +against each other--at least, I know some men feel that way. Of course +we had lots of men helping us--we could not have got far without them. +Peter Neelands has been one of the best. He was elected in one of the +city seats, and we are all so glad. + +"Here are some stamps and two balloons for Jim. I do hope you will +come--. Lovingly, Pearl." + + * * * * * + +The winds of June, which whipped the dust of Water Street into +miniature whirlwinds under the noses of the horses, were heavy with +the unmistakable perfume of wild roses. The delivery man, sniffing +the air, decided he would go that night to the Beach, just to see the +fields of roses; the streetcar-conductor went suddenly homesick for a +sight of the poplar trees, with the roses on the headlands, and the +plushy touch of green grass under his feet, and the wizened little +Scotch milliner across the road took what she called a "scunner" at +the silk and muslin flowers, with their odious starchy, stuffy smell, +and wondered where the farmer was, who two years ago had asked her +to marry him. The wind--heavy with the perfume that stirred so many +hearts with longing, eddied carelessly into the garden of the big +brick house with the plain verandas, doubling round to the garden +at the back, where, in an old-fashioned rocking chair with chintz +cushions, sat the ex-Premier. + +The wind, still charged with wild roses, stirred the lilac trees and +mountain ash, and circled noiselessly around the chair where he sat, +and played queer tricks with his memory, for all of us are young in +June, when the pageant of summer is passing by. + +"I like to see you knitting, Jessie," he said gently "it is a peaceful +art, untouched by worldly cares. I wish I could hear hens cackling, +and the drowsy sounds of a farmyard, all set in nature's honest key. +I'm tired of people and machinery and telephones and committees, and +all these other inventions of the devil." + +Rosie, scrubbing the veranda, hearing the last part of the sentence, +piously thanked God for the master's returning health of body and +mind, and flattened her head against the veranda post, to catch more. + +"The things I have given my life to," he said sadly, "have fallen away +from me--I built on a foundation of sand, and when the rains descended +and the floods came, my house fell and left me by the ruins, groping +in the ashes." + +"It isn't so bad as that, James," his wife said timidly. "You are a +respected man still, you know you are--you have plenty of friends, if +you would only let them come. It's no disgrace for a public man to be +defeated." + +"It's not that, Jessie," he said. "It doesn't matter to me now what +the world thinks, it can't think any worse of me than I think of it. +No, the bitterest part of all this to me is that I have none of my +own. I want some one of my own. I was too harsh--too hasty." + +"If Jim had lived," she began, wistfully-- + +The front veranda bell pealed loudly, and Rosie hastily wiped her +hands on her petticoat, and went to answer it, sorry to miss any part +of the conversation. + +"I won't see any one," said the ex-Premier, again. "She knows--I +won't. Go and tell her I won't." + +When Rosie opened the door, a card was put in her hand, and the +visitor, a young lady, asked her if she would be good enough to give +it to the ex-Premier. + +"He won't see you," said Rosie quickly. "He won't see any one. I am +turning them away by the dozens." + +The visitor took the card from Rosie's hand, and hastily wrote a few +words on it. Rosie told the cook about it afterwards. + +"She had eyes like a fairy princess, lips like cherries, and the +nicest clothes, but you could tell she wasn't thinkin' about them. I +just wanted her to stay and talk to me. 'Will you give this to him,' +she said to me, 'I'll wait here, and if he doesn't want to see me--it +is all right--I will go away--but I think he will want to see me,' +says she, with a smile at me that made me want him to see her too, and +she sat down on one of the veranda chairs. + +"When I gave him the card, he read it out loud--ain't he the nicest +ever? Lots of people wouldn't have read it out. 'Miss Pearl Watson,' +says he, and what's this, 'teacher at Purple Springs,' and he nearly +jumped out of his chair. + +"'My God!' he says, and he reached for his cane, like as if he was +going somewhere. 'Bring her here,' he said, and his voice was more +natural than it has been since--it made me all prickle," said Rosie. + +When Pearl was taken around to the back garden, Rosie retired to a +point of vantage on the sleeping-porch above, and got most of the +conversation, by abandoning all scrubbing operations, and sitting very +still. + +The ex-Premier's wife arose as if to leave, but he motioned her to +stay. + +"This concerns you too, Jessie," he said. + +For a moment a silence fell on them, as the wind gently stirred the +lilacs in front of them and a humming bird on silken wings went +flashing past, like a flower that had come alive. + +"You are a teacher, your card says, at Purple Springs. Is that in the +far North?" The ex-Premier endeavored to speak calmly. + +"No," said Pearl, "it is only a hundred miles from here." + +His face clouded with disappointment. + +"But it was named for the valley in the far North, by a woman who came +from there." + +"Where is the woman now," he asked, with a fine attempt to make his +question casual. + +"I came to tell you about her," said Pearl, with evasion. "That is, of +course, if you would like to hear. It is an interesting story." + +He motioned to her to begin, trembling with excitement. + +Pearl told the story that had been told to her the night she and Annie +Gray had sat by the dying fire, told it, with many a touch of pathos +and realism, which made it live before him. His eyes never left her +face, though he could not discover how much she knew, and yet the very +fact of her coming to him seemed to prove that she knew everything. + +The old man's face twitched painfully when she spoke of the young +widow's quarrel with her husband's father. + +"He was not accustomed to having his wishes thwarted," said Pearl +simply. "He was a man whose word was law in his own household and +among his friends. But she had the freedom of the wilderness in her +blood, and they quarrelled violently. He was determined to send the +boy to England for his education." + +"He only said that--he wouldn't have done it--he loved the boy too +well," he burst in, impatiently. + +"Well, of course, the young mother did not know that--not being a +mind-reader, she had no way of telling--and besides, he threatened to +take the child from her altogether. He was his son's heir, and he was +therefore the guardian of the child. The law was with him, I believe, +in that. That is one of the laws that have roused the women to take a +hand in public matters. + +"So, to save her boy, to keep him for her very own--she allowed her +father-in-law to think she had not been legally married. She gave up +her good name, to keep her boy. She went away--with only her two hands +to make a living for them both." + +"Where is she?" cried the old man, with something of his old +imperiousness. + +Pearl did not at once reply. He should hear all of the story. She did +not minimize the hard struggle that Annie Gray had had in her attempts +at self support, even when she saw the old man wince. He got it all. + +"When she came to the farm on the Souris, she could not tell her +story--the fear was on her night and day that she might be discovered, +and the child taken from her." + +"No judge in the country would do that," he cried stormily. "She had +nothing to fear even if--if--" + +"Unfortunately," said Pearl quietly, "she did not know that. She +believed her father-in-law. She thought it was true, because he had +said so, and she knew that the illegitimate child belongs to the +mother, and to her alone, so she chose to let it stand at that. + +"The people at Purple Springs adopted the name she had put upon her +gate--but ostracized her. The fact that she did not tell them anything +of her part, was proof to them she was not a good woman, and a man +from Ontario, who knew something about the case, fed the curiosity of +her neighbors with gossip which confirmed their suspicions." + +"For three years she has lived alone, not a neighbor has come to her +door--and she has kept herself and little Jim; has worked the +farm, educated her boy, for the trustees would not let him come to +school--kept sweet and sane in spite of it all. + +"When I went to see her, she cried with joy to see a human being of +kindly intention in her house. But the neighbors cut me dead, and kept +the children home from school because I went to live with her." + +A groan broke from him. "Poor girl!" he said brokenly, "Poor girl, she +didn't deserve that." + +Pearl's heart was softening, so she hurried on. + +"The little fellow got into a fight at school, because a boy said +things about his mother. He is the sweetest tempered child I ever +knew, but he knew when to fight, and thrashed a boy a head taller than +himself; and the trustees turned him out." + +"What kind of people are they?" he stormed. "It was a brave thing for +the boy to defend his mother--a brave thing I tell you. The other boy +should have been expelled--you are the teacher--why did you let them?" + +Pearl let him rage, then very quietly she said, "It happened three +years before I knew them--but you should not blame the boy, Mr. +Graham, or even the trustees. They were under no obligation to protect +the woman or her boy. The boy's own grandfather had said much worse +things about her than the boy at the school. He not only insulted +her, but his own son as well--when the rage was on him. So why should +strangers spare her?" + +"Go on," he said hoarsely, "let me hear it all." + +She was standing in front of him now, and her eyes were driving the +truth deep into his soul. Something about her eyes, or her voice with +its rich mellowness, caused him to start and exclaim. + +"Who are you, girl--tell me, who you are--I have heard your voice +somewhere! My God! was it you? was it you?" + +"Yes," said Pearl, "it was me; and when the women of the city here, +who had come to you and tried to break down your stubborn prejudices, +tried to reason with you, but found it all in vain; when they told me +that first night to think of some sad case that I had known of women +who had suffered from the injustice of the law and men's prejudice, +and strike without mercy, I thought of your daughter-in-law and all +that she had suffered. I saw again the hungry look in her sweet face, +when I went to see her. I saw the gray hairs and the lines of sorrow; +I saw again the heroic efforts she makes to give her boy everything +that the world is bent on denying him--I thought of these things--and +the rest was easy. There was no other way, sir; you would not listen; +you would not move an inch--you had to be broken!" + +Speechless, almost breathless, he looked at her--all the fight had +gone out of him. + +"I am going now, sir," she said. "I have delivered her message. She +only wanted to clear your son's memory. She will tell the people now +who she is, and prove her marriage, for little Jim's sake. + +"Don't go, girl," he cried, "sit down--tell me more. Tell me what the +boy is like--how big is he?" "The boy is like you," said Pearl, "a +tall lad for ten; clever far beyond his years." + +"Does he know about me--does he hate me--has she told him?" His voice +was pitiful in its eagerness. + +"Not a word--the boy has a heart of love, and as sunny a disposition +as any child could have. She has made his life a dream of happiness, +in spite of all." + +The old man's face began to quiver, and a sob tore its way upward from +his heart. His face was hidden in his hands. + +"Would she ever forgive me?" he said, at last, lifting his head. +"Would she believe me if I said I was sorry--would she have pity on a +broken old man, who sees the evil he has done--would the boy let +me love him--and try to make it up to him and his mother? You know +her--why don't you answer me girl? Is there no hope that she might +forgive me?" + +Pearl stepped back without a word, as Annie Gray came quickly across +the lawn. She had been standing in the shade of a maple tree, waiting +for Pearl's signal. + +A cry broke from Mrs. Graham, Jim's mother, a welcoming cry of joy. + +The old man rose to his feet, uncertainly holding out both his hands. + +"My girl," he cried "I don't deserve it--but can you forgive me?" + +And Annie Gray, who had suffered so bravely, so tearlessly, found her +heart swept clean of resentment or bitter memory as she looked at him, +for it was Jim's father, old, sad and broken, who called to her, and +to Jim's father's arms she went with a glad cry. + +"Dad!" she said, "Oh Dad! Little Jim and I are very tired of being +orphans!" + +And on the back veranda behind them, where she had been crouching with +her ear to the paling, Rosie came out of hiding and burst out like a +whole hallelujah chorus, and with the empty scrub pail in one hand, +and the brush in the other, beat the cymbals as she sang: + + "O that will be glory for me, + Glory for you and glory for me, + When by His grace I shall look on His face, + That will be glory for me!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HOME AGAIN + + +Quit your whistlin' Jimmy, and hold your whist--all of you--don't you +know your poor sister is dead for sleep. Hasn't she been up hill and +down dale this last six weeks. I never saw the like of it, and it's a +God's mercy she ever lived through it--and then last night when she +drove over from her school nothing would do your pa but she must talk +half the night, when she should have been in bed. So now clear out you +lads, and let's keep the house quiet, for Pearl is a light sleeper and +always was." + +"And a light stepper too, ma, for here I am--up and dressed, and +hungry as a bear." It was Pearl herself who opened the stairs' door. + +A shout of joy arose from the assembly in the kitchen, dearer to Pearl +than any burst of hand-clapping she had ever heard in a theatre, and +there was a rush for the first kiss, which Danny landed neatly, though +we must admit it was done by racing over his brother Patsey, who sat +on the floor tying his boot, and Patsey's ruffled feelings did not +subside until Pearl opened her valise, which stood inside the "room" +door, and brought out jack-knives for the youngest four boys. Patsey +declared, still smarting over the indignity of being run over, and +stood upon, that Danny should not get a knife at all, but Mrs. Watson +interposed for her latest born by saying: + +"O Patsey, dear, don't be hard on him. He was just that overjoyed at +seein' Pearl, he never noticed what he was standin' on; anything would +ha' done him just as well as you." + +"I'll overjoy him, you bet," grumbled Patsey--tenderly feeling the +back of his neck, "when I get him outside. I'll show him what it feels +like to have some one stand on your neck, with heavy boots." + +Danny made no defence, but gazed rapturously on his sister, and +expectantly at the valise, whose bulging sides gave forth promise of +greater treasures yet to come. + +"I have some things here for broken hearts and rainy days," said +Pearl, "that Ma and Mary will be placed in charge of. I believe a +skinned neck should qualify, so if Patsey Watson will dry his tears +and iron out his face and step back against the wall, close his +eyes--and smile--he will get a pleasant surprise." + +Patsey complied with all the conditions. Indeed, he not only smiled, +he grinned, showing a gaping expanse in the front of his mouth from +which the middle tooth had gone, like a missing gate in a neat white +fence. + +When Pearl placed a box in his hands, which contained the makings and +full directions for setting up a red and black box-kite, a picture of +which in full flight adorned the cover, a war-whoop of joy rent the +air. + +"Ain't you the luckiest kid!" cried Tommy enviously, as he crowded to +get another look. "If there's anything goin', you get it." + +"Now clear out, all you boys, and let Pearl get her breakfast," said +Mary. "I haven't had a chance to speak to her yet, and I want to know +how the girls are wearing their hair and how long a girl of sixteen +should wear her skirts, and lots of things." + +The boys departed to make whistles with the new knives, Pearl offering +a prize for the shrillest and fartherest reaching; to be tried at +twelve o'clock noon, and silence settled once more on the kitchen. + +"It's sort of too bad you came home on Saturday, Pearl," said her +mother anxiously, as she toasted a slice of bread over the +glowing wood coals. "The boys will pester you to death today and +tomorrow--though of course I know you have no other time." + +"I like to be pestered, ma," said Pearl, as she began on a generous +helping of bacon and eggs. "Home is the best place, ma, and I never +knew just how good it was to have home and folks of my own, as the day +I went to school and found no children there. Isn't it queer, ma, +how hard people can be on each other. It makes me afraid God must be +disappointed lots of times, and feel like pulling down another flood +and getting away to a fresh start again. + +"But I am not going to talk about anything--until I get back to +feeling the way I did when I went away. I want to see the hens and +the cows and the new pigs. I want to get out in the honest, freckly +sunshine. Do the potatoes need hoeing, ma? All right, pa and I will +go at them. I like people, and all that, but I have to mix in lots of +blue sky and plants, and a few good, honest horses, cows, dogs and +cats--who have no underlying motives and are never suspicious or +jealous, and have no regrets over anything they've done." + +"But don't you like the city, Pearl?" Mary asked. "Don't you wish we +all lived there? I do, you bet." + +"I am glad my people live right here, Mary, out in the open, where +there's room to breathe and time to think. O, I like the city, with +its street cars weaving the streets together like shuttles; I love +their flashing blue and red and green lights, as they slide past the +streets, clanging their bells, and with faces looking out of the +windows, and every one of the people knowing where they are going. I +like the crowds that surge along the streets at night, and the good +times they are having. I like it--for a visit. It's a great place to +go to--if you have your own folks with you--I think I'd like it--on a +wedding trip--or the like of that. + +"But I want to see everything 'round home," said Pearl quickly. "Is +the garden all up, and what did you sow, and where are the hens set, +and did the cabbage plants catch?" + +"You bet they did," said Mary proudly. "I transplanted them, and I put +them in close. Pa said I would need to take out every second one, but +I said we'd try them this way for once. You know the way cabbages +sprawl and straggle all over the place--all gone to leaves. Well, mine +won't, you bet, they'll heart up, because there's nothing else for +them to do. Pa admits now its the best way. They've got no room to +grow spraddly and they're just a fine sight already. Cabbages are just +like any one else; it doesn't do to give them too much of their own +way, and let them think they own the earth." + +When breakfast was over, Pearl, Mary and Mrs. Watson went out into +the hazy blue sunshine. The ravine below the house was musical with +thrushes and meadow-larks. The blossoms had gone, and already the wild +cherries and plums were forming their fruit. Cattle fed peacefully on +the river banks, and some were cropping the volunteer growth of oats +that had come on the summer fallow. The grain was just high enough to +run ripples of light, as the gentlest of breezes lazily passed. + +Pearl remembered the hopes and visions that had come to her the first +day she and her father had come to the farm, and through all its +dilapidation and neglect, she had seen that it could be made into a +home of comfort and prosperity, and now the dream had come true. The +Watson family were thriving; their farm had not failed them; comforts, +and even a few luxuries were theirs, and Pearl's heart grew very soft +and tender with a sense of gratitude. + +It was not too good to be true, she thought, as she looked at the +comfortable home, the new barn and the populous farmyard spread out +under the quivering sunshine. + +"It was not too good to be true," thought Pearl. "I can't complain, +even if some of my dreams have failed me--and maybe--who knows?" + +"It's got to come right," she thought it so hard, she looked up to see +if Mary or her mother noticed. But they were busy with a hidden-away +nest, just found in the willow windbreak. + +The news of the neighborhood was given to her by Mary. + +"The Paines are putting up a new house, Pearl, and Mrs. Paine has some +real nice clothes, and they seem to be getting on far better." + +"That's good," said Pearl, and then added, with such deep conviction, +as if she were trying to convince some one, she said: + +"There's nothing too good to be true." + +At noon, when all the family had been fed, and the horses were resting +in the well-bedded stalls--John Watson gave himself and his horses a +two hours' rest in the heat of the day--when every one was present, +Pearl told them something of her adventures on the six weeks of her +absence. Especially did she tell the young brothers of the lonesome +little boy who had no playmates, but who loved his mother so much he +would not let her know that he was lonely. + +Patsey had a solution of the difficulty: + +"Take me back, when you go, Pearl, and I'll play with him, and let him +fly my kite n' everything." + +"O, he isn't lonely now," Pearl said, "thank you all the same--but I'm +going to bring him over in the holidays, for he needs to play with +boys of his own age." + +"Danny better not run over him, and stand on his neck, though--he +ain't used to it--the way we are," Patsy said, but was promptly +advised to forget it, and let Pearl go on with the story, by Danny +himself, to whom the subject was growing painful. + +"His grandfather and grandmother came out when we did," Pearl said, +"and they're staying at Purple Springs, and Jim and his grandfather +are together all the time. Mrs. Gray--her real name is Mrs. Graham +now--doesn't want her boy brought up in the city, and his grandfather +is tired of the city too, so they're all living in the brown house, +and every day's a picnic day." + +"But oh! say we did have one of the grandest picnics a week after we +got home from the city. On Mrs. Graham's farm there's a little stream +which runs down to the river, and we got it cleaned out, and a big, +long table made, and seats and all. Jim and his grandfather did the +work--he was brought up on a farm, and can do anything. And the two +women cooked for days, and I went round and asked every one to come to +the picnic--and I told them who Mrs. Gray was, and all about it." + +"Told each one in a secret, I suppose, and told them not to tell," +said her father, smiling. + +"I hope you rubbed it in, good and plenty," said Mary, "about them +bein' so mean and full of bad thoughts." + +"I did my best," said Pearl, "especially with some of them who had had +so much to say, and they were keen to come, I tell you, to meet the +Premier. That's what he'll always be called, too, and he sure looked +that day when he sat at the head of the table, with the sunshine +dappling the long table, with its salads and jellies and plates of +sliced ham, and all the people sitting around kind of humble and +sheepish. He wore his Prince Albert coat and his silk hat. He didn't +want to--he thought it wasn't the thing for a picnic, but I held him +up to it, for I didn't want the people to see him in his corduroy +hunting suit. I know how impressed they would be with the fine +clothes, and I was determined they should have every thrill. + +"So he put on all his good clothes, even to his gray spats. I had to +argue a long time to get them on him. He said they looked foppish, but +I just got the button-hook and put them on him while he was arguing, +and asked him who thought of this picnic anyway! and he just laughed +and said he guessed he had to pass under the rod. + +"And after all the people had been introduced, and the men were +standing back, pretty hot and uncomfortable in their white shirts, he +got up and asked every one to have a seat at the table, for he wanted +to say a few words before we began to eat. + +"You could have heard a leaf fall, it was so still, and then he told +them all about his son, and how he didn't understand him, and never +made a chum of him, and how he was so taken up with politics he forgot +to be a father to his own boy. And he told about his son's marriage, +and the whole story, right up to the time I went to see him in the +city." + +"'It's not easy telling this,' he said, 'but I put my daughter-in-law +in wrong in this neighborhood, and I am going to make it right if I +can. She is a noble, brave woman,' he said, 'and I am proud of her. I +lost the election,' he continued, 'but I am glad of it, for in losing +it, I found a daughter and a grandson,' and then he put his hand on my +shoulder and said, 'and here's the deepest conspirator in the country, +who managed the whole thing. This is the girl who made fun of me, and +lambasted me, but who brought my daughter-in-law and me together, +and when she runs for the Legislature, I promise I will get out and +campaign for her.' + +"Every one laughed then, and the people crowded up around him, and +Annie, and you never saw so many people laughing and crying at the one +time in your life. + +"We had a big boiler of coffee on the little tin stove in the trees, +and I grabbed off the white pitchers, and the biggest girls from the +school helped serve, and we got the people all started in to eat, for +it doesn't do to let people's feelings go too far. + +"When they had quieted down a little, and were nearly through eating, +the minister, who was at the other end of the table, got up and said +he had an idea he wanted to pass on. + +"'I'm ashamed,' he said--and I know he was--'of the way this community +has treated Mrs. Gray and Jimmy,'--he didn't seem able to call her +anything else either. 'On behalf of the district of Purple Springs, I +apologize. We'll show our apology in something better than words, too, +I hope,' he said, kind of swallowing his Adam's apple. 'We denied her +child the right to play with our children, through our stupid and +cruel thoughtlessness, now let us apologize by doing something for all +the children of this neighborhood. This is a beautiful spot, a natural +park; let us make it the Jim Gray Playgrounds, with swings, and +sand-pile and acting bars and swimming pool, with a baseball ground up +on the hill; where all our children, young people and old people too, +can gather and be young and human and sociable together.' + +"The people broke out into cheers and cries of 'We'll do it!' It +seemed to relieve them. + +"'And let us hold our church service here on Sundays, too, when the +weather is fine. Our religion has been too stuffy, too mouldy, too +damp, too narrow. It needs the sunshine and the clear air of heaven to +sweeten it and revive it. I feel it today, that God is in the sunshine +more than in the narrow limits we have tried to set upon Him.' + +"'We sometimes deplore the tendency of our young people to go to the +city,' he continued, 'but I don't know as I blame them. We've been +living dull, drab lives for sure. Let us liven things up a bit, and +give our people something to look forward to during the week, and +something pleasant to remember. It's the utter dreariness of life that +kills people--not hard work.' + +"And then," said Pearl, "I could see the people wanted to sing or cry, +or dance, or something, to work off their emotions; so I signalled to +Bessie Cowan, who is one of our best singers, to start a hymn that the +children sing every morning. They knew it well, and the people had +learned it from them. I never heard anything like it. It flashed up +through the highest branches of the trees, into the blue air. I am +sure God heard it, and was pleased: + + "God is in His temple + Let the earth keep silent." + +"Little Jim knew it too, and his voice was sweeter than all the rest. +It seemed easy for every one to talk or sing or laugh--or do whatever +they wanted to do. It was wonderful to see people come out of their +hard brown husks and be natural and neighborly." + +"Sure, and it was more like a revival meetin' than a picnic, Pearlie," +said her father, laughing. + +"It was that, pa," she answered, "and like a term in a reform school +for some of them. There had been a big quarrel among them about a +road-scraper, and the next day every one was offering to wait, instead +of grabbing at it the way they had been; and the women who had fallen +out over a sleeve pattern and fought rings round, and called each +other everything they could name, made it up right there. + +"Before they parted, they agreed to have the services there on +Sunday--that's tomorrow, and the ex-Premier is going to speak after +the service on 'How to Build a Community.' All the women are baking, +and everybody will bring their visitors, instead of staying home from +church the way they've been doing, and the children can play in the +sand-pile, and sail their boats on the little creek, and it looks as +if Purple Springs has experienced a change of heart." + +"Don't you think there's a danger of leadin' them to thinkin' too +light of the Lord's day, Pearlie, picknicking that way," asked her +mother anxiously, "and maybe makin' them lose their religion?" + +"O, I'm not worried about that neighborhood losing its religion, ma," +said Pearl. "Any neighborhood that could treat a stranger the way +they did! But I do believe the sunshine and blue sky, the flowers and +birds, and the getting together, along with the words of the sermon +and the hymns they'll sing, will make them a lot more human. I never +can think it would hurt God's feelings a bit to see children playing, +and neighbors happy together on His day. + +"They want us all to come; if you don't think it's too far to drive +with the whole family, and I've been training the children all week to +sing--it looks like a good time." + +"We'll go!" cried Danny and Patsey, with one voice, and with brotherly +unity prevailing--for once. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +"THERE IS NOTHING TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE" + + +"O don't touch it--it hurts," Danny wailed, when Pearl examined his +grimy little foot, from which a trickle of blood was showing through +the murk of prairie soil. + +"Just let me wash it, dear," said Pearl soothingly. "We cannot tell +how badly you are hurt until we get the dirt off. It may not be so bad +at all." + +This was the afternoon of the same day. + +Danny's tears came in torrents. "It is bad," he sobbed. "It's the +worst sliver there's ever been in this family--or maybe in these +parts." + +"Well now, maybe it is. I wouldn't wonder if we'll have to send for +the doctor," said Pearl, "and that will be one on Patsey--he never +had a doctor in his life--and maybe never will. Just let me see how +serious it is--and I'll promise you if I can't pull it out with my +fingers--the doctor will be phoned for at once, and told to hurry." + +With this promise to sustain him, Danny bravely submitted to a +thoroughly good washing of the afflicted member, and even the +cleansing of the other, for Pearl explained to him that feet came in +pairs, and had to be treated alike in matters of washing. + +But the sliver refused to move, though Pearl appeared to try to pull +it out. + +"Send for the doctor, Pearl," Danny gasped. "I'm getting weaker +every minute, and everything is goin' from me--and now its gettin' +dark--can't some of yez light a lamp?" + +Danny had heard his mother tell so many times the story of his +grandfather's last moments--it came easily to him now, and he revelled +in the sensation he was making. + +"Rouse yourself, Danny dear," his mother cried tearfully, "speak to +us, darlin' and don't let yourself go to sleep--I'm feart it's gone to +his heart." + +"It couldn't, ma," said Pearl, "it's only a sliver--it's not a +telephone pole--a dash of cold water in the face will bring him back." + +Danny suddenly returned to the earth, that his young soul seemed about +to spurn, and the look he gave his sister was at once an appeal and a +reproach. + +"Haven't you anything in your rainy-day box that's good for slivers?" +he asked. + +"Sure there is," said Pearl, "I think in a case of this kind, an +accident that calls for medical treatment entitles its owner to a very +substantial donation from the emergency chest. Mary, will you please +make a selection, while I go and phone, and remember, your youngest +brother is grievously wounded; do your best for him." + +Pearl went to the phone, with a curiously lightened heart. At least +she would hear him speak--she would see him. Not once had she seen him +since the day she had been in his office. Not once--and that was three +months ago. Three months, which seemed like three years! + +"Give me twenty-one, please Central," she said steadily. + +She knew the way he took off the receiver. + +"Dr. Clay, this is Pearl speaking," she hurried on, without giving him +time for reply. "Danny has a sliver in his foot, and we want you to +come out. Can you come?" + +"Right away," he answered. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Is it +very bad, Pearl?" + +"No, not very--I nearly got it out myself." + +"Well, I'm glad you didn't,"--his voice was eager. + +"But he wanted you--" + +"Good for Danny--he was always a wise child." + +When the patient was made comfortable in a rocking-chair, with a +package of Japanese water "Flowers" and a cup of water in which to +expand them, as a means of keeping his mind from despair, Pearl made +a hurried survey of herself in the mirror, and pulled her brown hair +into curls over her ears. + +"Ears are not good this year, Mary," she laughed. "They must not be +seen." + +A roar of pain from Danny brought her flying back to him. + +"Stay with me Pearl," he shouted, "I'm a sick man, and tell the kids +to keep quiet--it jars me--I can't stand it--it makes me all go cold!" + +Pearl sat down beside him, making a rather unsuccessful effort to be +becomingly solemn. Mary hushed the shouts of the others, who +were quite ready to be thrilled by their brother's precarious +condition--and when the doctor came in, the Watson brothers assembled +to hear the verdict. + +"He will recover," said the doctor. "Not only recover, but regain the +full use of the injured member. But it's a bad, bad sliver just the +same, and some boys would cry if they had it." + +Danny set his lips tightly together, as one who was determined to +endure to the end. + +Very tenderly the doctor took him on his knee, and examined the little +foot. "I'll have a basin of water, Pearl, please," he said. + +"It has been washed," Danny cried, with indignation. "Pearl washed +both of them." + +"Sure enough," the doctor said, "but you just watch and see what I am +going to do." + +The doctor opened his black bag to get out a lance, the sight of which +was too much for Danny's reserve of courage, and in spite of his brave +efforts, the tears burst forth. + +The doctor laid the lance back in the bag, and said, "Now Danny, I am +going to tell you a real true story, and we won't touch your foot at +all, unless you ask me to. + +"There's a bad, bold sliver about this long, that ran into Danny +Watson's foot. No one asked the sliver to go in--no one wanted it--but +it went. Danny's foot does not like it--and every nerve is crying +'Pull it out--pull it out,' and the blood has gathered round to see +what's wrong, just like a crowd of people on the street, growing +bigger every minute, so Danny's foot is beginning to swell and get red +and hot. + +"Now, if we leave the sliver alone, the foot will get it out its own +way, but it will take a long time. The foot will get redder, hotter, +sorer. It will be very stiff, and Danny will not be able to walk on +it. And even after the sliver works out, it will take quite a while +to heal, and there may be an ugly mark here for a long time. Still, +that's one way to get rid of slivers. + +"There's another way. It is to let me cut the skin with this sharp +knife--sharp like a razor-blade--and then take these little tweezers, +catch the end of the sliver, and give one quick jerk. Then we'll +put your foot in the warm water and let all the blood that has been +gathering to see what was wrong, run away, and then we'll put on +something nice and soft, and some absorbent cotton, and make a fine +bandage, and about tomorrow it will be as good as the other one. + +"Which way will we do it, Danny?" + +Danny had followed every word of the story, his eyes meeting the +doctor's calmly. + +"Which way, Danny?" the doctor repeated. + +Danny buried his head in the doctor's shoulder, and said one word: + +"Jerk!" + +In a few minutes it was all over, and Danny, looking a little pale, +with his foot resting on a pillow, was taken for a ride in the new +wheelbarrow, well padded with fresh hay by his thoroughly concerned +and solicitous young brothers. Danny, knowing the transitory nature of +his popularity, was not too overcome by his recent operation to accept +promptly the presents his brothers offered, and did so with a sweetly +wan and patient smile which kindled a noble rivalry in the matter of +gifts. Patsey, now very repentant, brought his catapult, Bugsey his +alleys, his loveliest "pure," and the recumbent lamb set in a ball of +clear glass; Tommy surrendered his pair of knobbies. Their mother, +watching the procession leaving the gate, was moved almost to tears by +these expressions of brotherly love. + +"They fight and squabble and jander at each other, but when trouble +comes, they cling together. That's what the psalmist means when he +says 'A brother is born for adversity.' It's the day of trouble that +proves what your own mean to you." + +Mary and her mother were at the kitchen door, having come out to get +the patient properly started for his ride. + +"I never knew it meant that, ma," said Mary, "but that's a nice +meaning anyway." + +She looked into the living-room, where Pearl and the doctor sat +without speaking, and just as her mother was about to go to join them, +she said: + +"I believe there's cream for a churnin', ma, it will be too sour +before Monday. If you come out and stay with me, I'll do it, but I +hate to work alone." + +As she flung the cream from end to end of the barrel-churn, while her +mother sat beside her mending the boys' shirts for the Sabbath, Mary +said to herself: + +"A sister is born for adversity, too--you bet." Meanwhile, the doctor +and Pearl, left alone, had broken the silence which fell upon them at +first. + +"Come out for a ride, Pearl," he said at last. "Saturday is the +teacher's happy day, and I haven't seen you for months--not to speak +to you--and I want to hear all about what you've been doing. You +haven't told me yet that you are glad I was elected." + +"But I wrote you a note, didn't I?" + +"Oh yes indeed, you did," he agreed, "but you know even the best notes +in the world lack color--or something." + +"Even roses," said Pearl, "lack something too, though it isn't color." + +"You will come, won't you, Pearl?" he urged. + +Pearl sat on the flowered lounge, looking at him intently. + +"Just wait a minute, doctor," she said, "your explanation of slivers +and their treatment interests me very much. I think I had better +consult you now as my physician. I have never had a physician, but it +would no doubt be you if I should need one." + +"Thank you, Miss Watson," he said, quite gravely, "I appreciate the +compliment," and waited for her to speak. + +"I have a sliver, too," she said at last. "No, not in my foot. It is +in my heart, and I am afraid I have been trying the foolish way of +letting it work out. You are quite right in saying it is slow, and +painful--and attracts attention to itself. It does. Now that day, the +second day of March, you and I had some serious conversation. I didn't +understand why you said what you did. I don't yet. I am sure you +said what you thought you should say. You may have been telling the +truth--or if not, something you considered better than the truth, +easier, more comfortable, less painful." + +"Sometimes a very bitter thought comes to me--a sore thought--it is +the sliver. I am not trying to be tactful now, just truthful. Tact and +truth do not always combine naturally. This is one of the times. I am +going to ask you something--but, don't speak until I am all done." + +Here Pearl straightened her fine young shoulders, and her eyes grew +very dark and luminous. + +"Was it really because you think I am too young to know my own mind, +that you spoke as you did, or is there another reason?" + +She was looking into his eyes with such intensity, with such +directness, that he knew he was going to tell her everything. It +seemed as if she must read whatever was in his heart. + +"My people are common, working people," she went on--and her head was +held very high now, and her voice, all silver as it was, had an inner +foundation of steel, like the famous silverware. "My people have +always worked for a living. They are honest, kindly, honorable people, +but they are what the vulgar would call--and do call--people who have +no 'class.' My father eats with his knife; my mother does not know +anything about having her subject and predicate agree in certain fine +points in which subjects and predicates are supposed to agree. She +knows how to work in harmony with her family and her neighbors, but +her adjectives, verbs and nouns do sometimes tangle. I don't mind. +These are small matters to me. I love my own people--admire and honor +them." + +Pearl's cheeks were flaming now. + +"If you care greatly for these things--I know many do--and feel they +are too serious, I want you to do something for me as my physician. +You can do it with one word. It will hurt, but not for long. It will +heal quickly. I will wash out the place with pride, and put on a +bandage of the love I bear my own people. It will just be the first +shock--there will be no after effects. Tell me the one word. Was it +because--my father eats with his knife? Danny buried his face in your +shoulder so he could not see. I will use a pillow--it is--more seemly. +All right! Ready! Jerk!" + +The pillow was thrown across the room, and Pearl found herself looking +into his eyes, as he held her close. + +"No, Pearl," he cried, "it is not that. I love you--more than all the +world. I would marry you--if every relative you ever had had been +hanged on the highest hill. There are no two people I know, to whom I +would rather be related, than your father and mother. But there is a +gap between us. I did not tell you the truth that day, because I felt +it was more honorable to hide it. But I will tell you everything now." + +When he was done, Pearl's eyes were soft and tender, and her arms +tightened around him. + +"Is that all?" she said happily. "Is that all?" + +"You don't understand, dear, how serious it is," he said, "I couldn't +ask you to marry a sick man." + +"But you love me?" she said, "You want me--you have been miserable +trying to give me up." + +"It has been a bitter fight," he said, "a miserable, lonesome fight." + +Pearl stood up suddenly, and he thought he had never seen her so +beautiful, so queenly or so compelling. He knew he was going to do +whatever she said. The weight of responsibility seemed to be lifted. + +"Come out," she said quickly, "we are too happy to stay inside. I must +breathe the sunshine and look up at the sky. My heart is too full for +a house." + +They drove to the river bank, a mile away, and sat on a fallen log at +the head of a ravine, which fell sharply to the river below. Through +the opening in the trees, they would see the slow running Souris, on +which the sunshine glinted, making its easy way to join its elder +brother, the Assiniboine, on the long, long march to the sea. Across +the river plumy willows, pale green and tremulous, grew paler still as +a wind passed over them. + +The afternoon sun was sinking in a sea of wine-red mist, throwing +streamers of light into the upper sky, like a giant's fan. + +"I know now," said Pearl, "why I was led to Purple Springs, and why I +felt when I met Annie Gray that my life would be knit with hers;" +and then as they sat, hand-in-hand, with the glory of the sunset +transfiguring the every-day world, she told him of the wonder valley +of hot springs in the far North, whose streams have magical powers of +healing. The valley of Purple Springs--away beyond the sunset. + +"We'll go over tomorrow," said Pearl, "and Annie will tell you all +about it, with its arch of mountains, its tropical flowers, the size +of the vegetables and grains which grow there, and the delight of the +Indians when they find their sick people growing well again. Annie has +been longing to go, and I told her yesterday I would go with her, and +we can still get there before the cold weather." + +The doctor made one last effort to hold to his original intention: + +"Pearl, I cannot let you bind yourself to me until I am well again. +I am holding my own, Dr. Brander says. He thought the election would +pull me down, but it didn't. My case is a hopeful one. It's too much +like taking advantage of your romantic way of looking at this. To +marry a sick man is a serious affair, and I cannot ask a girl like +you, so full of promise, so splendid in every way, to do it." + +"You won't need to," she laughed, slipping her arm through his. "It's +all settled--I'll just marry you without being asked. The covenant +between you and me was made before the foundations of the world. +You're my man. I knew you the moment I saw you. So when I say, 'I, +Pearl, take you, Horace,' it's not a new contract--it's just a +ratification of the old. It's just the way we have of letting the +world know. You see dear, you just can't help it--it's settled." + +"But are you sure, Pearl; you are so young in years; I mean--are you +sure you will not be sorry? I love you Pearl--I want you, but I desire +still more to see you get the most out of life." + +"I'm sure," she said steadily. "If I can't have you, life has fooled +me--cheated me--and I do not believe God ever intended that. Peter +Neelands said I was in love with life, with romance; that because you +were the nearest hero I had selected you and hung a halo around you, +and that maybe I was mistaken." + +"What does he know about it?" asked the doctor sharply. + +"I told him," said Pearl. "He was the only person I could talk to, and +when there came not a word from you--and Mrs. Crocks told me you went +quite often to the city to see Miss Keith, I began to wonder if I +could be mistaken--so I tried to forget you." + +"You did!" + +"Yes. I worked two weeks on it, when I was in the city." + +"How did you go about it?" he asked, after a pause. + +"Peter said most girls were so romantic and ready to fall in love, +they often loved a man who cared nothing for them, but who married +them rather than break their hearts, and that's what causes so many +unhappy homes. Of course, it works the other way too, and he said +the way to tell if it were a real true, undying love, was to try the +'expulsive power of a new love.' That's a fine phrase, isn't it?" + +"Well, Peter was willing to be experimented on. He said if he had come +to Millford about the same time you did, I might have selected him +instead of you, and made a hero of him." + +"He has his nerve," exclaimed the doctor. + +"O, I don't know," she said. "I mean I didn't know. I was willing to +see. So Peter stuck around all the time, and he drove me everywhere, +and always saw me home. I like him--all right--but you see I couldn't +make my heart beat when he came into the room, and there was no +rainbow in the sky, or music in the air, when he came to see me, and +every day I got more lonesome for you, until it just seemed as if I +couldn't go on. The three years when I thought you loved me, I saved +up a lot of happiness--sort of money in the bank--and I used it every +day and told myself you would tell me everything some day--and it +would all come right. I got that mixed in with my prayers every night. +But when you didn't come--and didn't come--my balance in the bank grew +less and less--and I got panicky, and afraid I had been mistaken. So +just to be sure, I did try to like Peter--not because I wanted to, +but just to see if it could be done--in the interest of scientific +research, Peter said it was." + +"But I couldn't get accustomed to having him with me--he tired me +sometimes--he talked too much, and I never could let him pay for my +lunch, when we had lunch together. I could not let him spend a cent on +me--not even the price of a movie." + +"I'm glad you didn't, Pearl," the doctor said quickly. "You were quite +right about that, but you won't feel that way about me, will you dear? +These new women can get to be so independent--they are uncomfortable +to live with." + +Pearl rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, like a well-pleased +kitten. + +"No chance!" she said. "I'll let you pay every time--I'll just love +spending your money--I won't ever know it from mine." + +"O won't you?" laughed the doctor. "Well now, I am glad to be warned, +and I am glad there are some laws to protect poor simple-minded men +like me. I'll speak to Driggs about it as soon as I go back, and you +may expect to see on the front page of the 'Mercury' something like +this: 'I, Horace Clay, physician of the village of Millford, hereby +warn the public I will not be responsible for my wife's debts.'" + +At that, they laughed so much that the woodpecker in the tree above +them stopped drumming, to listen, and when he found out how matters +stood, he turned the whole story into telegraphic code and sent it up +and down the valley; and a brown squirrel looked at them through +a tangle of cranberry leaves, and when he got the drift of +their conversation, he raced to the top of the highest tree and +chee--chee--chee-d the news to all the other squirrels in the woods; +and old silver-spot, the crow, scenting a piece of gossip, came +circling over the trees and made a landing on a stump quite near them, +and with his head on one side, listened for a few minutes, and then, +with an insufferable smirk, rose cautiously and, circling high over +the trees, made a rapid flight up the river, without uttering a sound. + +The doctor watched him as he disappeared around the bend. "Do you know +where he's off to, Pearl?" he said. "He's going to tell Mrs. Crocks. +She understands Crow, of course--it's left over from her last +re-incarnation. This will save an announcement!" + +All afternoon, a black cloud, thick and thunderous, had huddled over +the hills to the north, but before the sun went down, there came +across its shoulder, a shining ribbon of rainbow. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PURPLE SPRINGS*** + + +******* This file should be named 10221.txt or 10221.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/2/10221 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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