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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/11106-0.txt b/11106-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..72c58d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/11106-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11965 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11106 *** + + THE GIRL AT COBHURST + + BY FRANK R. STOCKTON + + 1898 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. DR. TOLBRIDGE + II. MISS PANNEY + III. BROTHER AND SISTER + IV. THE HOME + V. PANNEYOPATHY + VI. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS + VII. DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK + VIII. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED + IX. JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON + X. A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE + XI. TWO GIRLS AND A CALF + XII. TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY + XIII. DORA'S NEW MIND + XIV. GOOD-NIGHT + XV. MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER + XVI. "KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" + XVII. JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN + XVIII. BLARNEY FLUFF + XIX. MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" + XX. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE + XXI. THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS + XXII. A TRESPASS + XXIII. THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON + XXIV. THE DOCTOR'S MISSION + XXV. BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE + XXVI. DORA COMES AND SEES + XXVII. "IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" + XXVIII. THE GAME IS CALLED + XXIX. HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO + XXX. A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT + XXXI. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED + XXXII. MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS + XXXIII. LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD + XXXIV. A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY + XXXV. MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH + XXXVI. A CRY FROM THE SEA + XXXVII. LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES + XXXVIII. CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT + XXXIX. UNDISTURBED LETTUCE + XL. ANGRY WAVES + XLI. PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE + XLII. AN INTERVIEWER + XLIII. THE SIREN AND THE IRON + XLIV. LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE + + + + +THE GIRL AT COBHURST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DR. TOLBRIDGE + + +It was about the middle of a March afternoon when Dr. Tolbridge, giving +his horse and buggy into the charge of his stable boy, entered the warm +hall of his house. His wife was delighted to see him; he had not been at +home since noon of the preceding day. + +"Yes," said he, as he took off his gloves and overcoat, "the Pardell boy +is better, but I found him in a desperate condition." + +"I knew that," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "when you told me in your note that +you would be obliged to stay with him all night." + +The doctor now walked into his study, changed his overcoat for a +well-worn smoking-jacket, and seated himself in an easy chair before the +fire. His wife sat by him. + +"Thank you," he said, in answer to her inquiries, "but I do not want +anything to eat. After I had gone my round this morning I went back to +the Pardells, and had my dinner there. The boy is doing very well. No, I +was not up all night. I had some hours' sleep on the big sofa." + +"Which doesn't count for much," said his wife. + +"It counts for some hours," he replied, "and Mrs. Pardell did not +sleep at all." + +Dr. Tolbridge, a man of moderate height, and compactly built, with some +touches of gray in his full, short beard, and all the light of youth in +his blue eyes, had been for years the leading physician in and about +Thorbury. He lived on the outskirts of the little town, but the lines of +his practice extended in every direction into the surrounding country. + +The doctor's wife was younger than he was; she had a high opinion of him, +and had learned to diagnose him, mentally, morally, and physically, with +considerable correctness. It may be asserted, in fact, that the doctor +seldom made a diagnosis of a patient as exact as those she made of him. +But then it must be remembered that she had only one person to exert her +skill upon, while he had many. + +The Tolbridge house was one of the best in the town, but the family was +small. There was but one child, a boy of fourteen, who was now away at +school. The doctor had readjusted the logs upon the andirons, and was +just putting the tongs in their place when a maidservant came in. + +"There's a boy here, sir," she said, "from Miss Panney. She's sent for +you in a hurry." + +In the same instant the doctor and his wife turned in their chairs and +fixed their eyes upon the servant, but there was nothing remarkable +about her; she had delivered her message and stood waiting. The doctor's +fists were clenched and there was a glitter in his eye. He seemed on the +point of saying something in a loud voice, but he changed his mind, and +quietly said, "Tell the boy to come here," and turned back to the fire. +Then, when the girl had gone, he struck his fist upon his knee and +ejaculated, "Confound Miss Panney!" + +"Harry!" exclaimed his wife, "you should not speak of your patients in +that way, but I agree with you perfectly;" and then, addressing the boy, +who had just entered, and who stood by the door, "Do you mean to say that +there is anything serious the matter with Miss Panney?" she said +severely. "Does she really want to see the doctor immediately?" + +"That's what they told me, ma'am," said the boy, looking about him at the +books and the furniture. "They told me that she was took bad, and that I +must come here first to tell the doctor to come right away, and if he +wasn't at home to leave that message." + +"How did you come?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge; "on horseback?" + +"No, ma'am; with a wagon." + +"You could have come a great deal quicker without the wagon," said she. + +"Oh, yes, but then I've got to stop at the store going back." + +"That will do," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "you can go now and attend to your +other business." + +The doctor was quietly looking into the fire, and as his wife turned to +him he gave a little snort. + +"I was just beginning to get up enough energy," he remarked, "to think of +putting on my slippers." + +"Well, put them on," said she, in a very decided tone. + +"No," replied the doctor, "that will not do; of course I must go to her." + +"You mustn't do anything of the kind!" exclaimed Mrs. Tolbridge, her eyes +sparkling. "How many times by night and by day has that woman called you +away on a fool's errand? It is likely as not that there is nothing more +the matter with her than there is with me. She has no right to worry the +life out of you in this way. She ought to have gone to heaven long ago." + +"You shouldn't talk of my patients in that way, Kitty," said the doctor; +"and in the opinion of a good many of her neighbors the old lady is not +bound for heaven." + +"I don't care where she is going, but one thing is certain: you are not +going to her this afternoon. You are not fit for it." + +"You must remember, Kitty," said the doctor, "that Miss Panney is an old +lady, and though she may sound many a false alarm, the true alarm is to +be expected, and I would much prefer to go by daylight than to wait until +after supper. The roads are bad, the air is raw, and she would keep me +nobody knows how late. I want to go to bed early to-night." + +"And that is what you are going to do," said Mrs. Tolbridge. + +He looked at her inquiringly. "Harry," said she, "you have been up +nearly all night. You have been working the greater part of this day, and +I do not intend to let you drive three miles to be nearly talked to death +by Racilia Panney. No, you needn't shake your head in that way; she is +not to be neglected. I shall go myself and see what is the matter with +her, and if it is really anything serious, I can then let you know. I do +not believe she would have sent for you at all, if she had not known the +wagon was going to town." + +"But, my dear," said the doctor, "you cannot--" + +"Yes, I can," interrupted his wife. "I want some fresh air and shall +enjoy the drive, and Buckskin has done nothing for two days. I shall +take the cart, Tom can get up behind, and I can go there in less than +half an hour." + +"But if there really is anything the matter--" said the doctor. + +"It's just as likely as not," interrupted his wife, "that what she wants +is somebody to talk to, and that a minister or a lawyer or a stranger +from foreign parts would do just as well as you. And now put on your +slippers, push the sofa up to the fire, and take your nap, and I'll go +and see how the case really stands." + +The doctor smiled. "I have no more to say," said he. "There are angels +who bless us by coming, and there are angels who bless us by going. You +belong to both classes. But don't stay too long." + +"In any case I shall be back before dark," she said, and with a kiss on +his forehead she left him. + +Dr. Tolbridge looked into the fire and considered. + +"Ought I to let her go?" he asked himself. This question, mingled with +various thoughts and recollections of former experiences with Miss +Panney, occupied the doctor's mind until he heard the swift rolling of +the dog-cart wheels as they passed his window. Then he arose, put on his +slippers, drew up the soft cushioned sofa, and lay down for a nap. + +In about half an hour he was aroused by the announcement that Miss +Bannister had called to see him. + +Long practice in that sort of thing made him wake in an instant, and the +young lady who was ushered into the study had no idea that she had +disturbed the nap of a tired man. She was a very pretty girl, handsomely +dressed; she had large blue eyes, and a very gentle and sweet expression, +tinged, however, by an anxious sadness. + +"Who is sick, Miss Dora?" asked the doctor, quickly, as he shook +hands with her. + +She did not seem to understand him. "Nobody," she said. "That is, I have +come to see you about myself." + +"Oh," said he, "pray take a seat. I imagined from your face," he +continued, with a smile, "that some one of your family was in desperate +need of a doctor." + +"No," said she, "it is I. For a long time I have thought of consulting +you, and to-day I felt I must come." + +"And what is the matter?" he asked. + +"Doctor," said she, a tear forcing itself into each of her beautiful +eyes, "I believe I am losing my mind." + +"Indeed," said the doctor; "and how is your general health?" + +"Oh, that's all right," answered Miss Dora. "I do not think there is the +least thing the matter with me that way. It is all my mind. It has been +failing me for a good while." + +"How?" he asked. "What are the symptoms?" + +"Oh, there are ever so many of them," she said; "I can't think of them +all. I have lost all interest in everything in this world. You remember +how much interest I used to take in things?" + +"Indeed I do," said he. + +"The world is getting to be all a blank to me," she said; "everything +is blank." + +"Your meals?" he asked. + +"No," she said. "Of course I must eat to live." + +"And sleep?" + +"Oh, I sleep well enough. Indeed, I wish I could sleep all the time, so +that I could not know how the world--at least its pleasures and +affections--are passing away from me. All this is dreadful, doctor, when +you come to think of it. I have thought and thought and thought about it, +until it has become perfectly plain to me that I am losing my mind." + +Dr. Tolbridge looked into the fire. + +"Well," said he, presently, "I am glad to hear it." + +Miss Dora sprang to her feet. + +"Oh, sit down," said he, "and let me explain myself. My advice is, if you +lose your mind, don't mind the loss. It really will do you good. That +sounds hard and cruel, doesn't it? But wait a bit. It often happens that +the minds of young people are like their first teeth--what are called +milk teeth, you know. These minds and these teeth do very well for a +time, but after a while they become unable to perform the services which +will be demanded of them, and they are shed, or at least they ought to +be. Sometimes, of course, they have to be extracted." + +"Nonsense, doctor," said the young lady, smiling in spite of herself, +"you cannot extract a mind." + +"Well, perhaps not exactly that," he answered, "but we can help it to be +absorbed and to disappear, and so make a way for the strong, vigorous +mind of maturity, which is certain to succeed it. All this has happened +and is happening to you, Miss Dora. You have lost your milk mind, and the +sooner it is gone the better. You will be delighted with the one that +succeeds it. Now then, can you give me an idea about how angry you are?" + +"I am not angry at all," she replied, "but I feel humiliated. You think +my mental sufferings are all fanciful." + +"Oh, no," said the doctor; "to continue the dental simile, they are the +last aches of your youthful mentality, forced to make way for the +intellect of a woman." + +Miss Bannister looked out of the window for a few moments. + +"Doctor," she then said, "I do not believe there is any one else who +knows me, who would tell me that I have the mind of a child." + +"Oh, no," replied Dr. Tolbridge, "for it is not likely that there is any +one else to whom you have made the fact known." + +There was a quick flush on the face of Miss Dora, and a flash in her blue +eyes, and she reached out her hand toward her muff which lay on the table +beside her, but she changed her purpose and drew back her hand. The +doctor looked at her with a smile. + +"You were just on the point of jumping up and leaving the room without a +word, weren't you?" + +"Yes, I was," said she, "and I have a great mind to do it now, but +first I must--" + +"Miss Dora," said the doctor, "I am delighted. Actually you are cutting +your new mind. Before you can realize the fact, you will have it all +full-formed and ready for use. Let me see; this is the ninth of March; +bad roads; bad weather; no walking; no driving; nothing inspiriting; +disagreeable in doors and out. I think the full change will occur within +three weeks. By the end of this month, you will not only have forgotten +that your milk mind has troubled you, but that the world was ever blank, +and that your joys and affections were ever on the point of passing away +from you. You will then be the brave-hearted, bright-spirited woman that +Nature intended you to be, after she had passed you through some of the +preliminary stages." + +The flush on the face of Miss Dora gradually passed away as she listened +to this speech. + +She rose. "Doctor," said she, "I like that better than what you have been +saying. Anyway, I shall not be angry, and I shall wait three weeks and +see what happens, and if everything is all wrong then, the responsibility +will rest on you." + +"Very good," said he, "I agree to the terms. It is a bargain." + +Now Miss Dora seemed troubled again. She took up her muff, put it down, +drew her furs about her, then let them fall again, and finally turned +toward the physician, who had also risen. + +"Doctor," she said, "I don't want you to put this visit in the family +bill. I wish to--to attend to it myself. How much should I pay you?" and +she took out her little pocketbook. + +Dr. Tolbridge put his hands behind him. + +"This case is out of my usual line of practice," he said, "and my +ordinary schedule of fees does not apply to it. For advice such as I have +given you I never charge money. I take nothing but cats." + +"What!" exclaimed Miss Dora; "what on earth do you mean?" + +"I mean cats," he replied, "or rather kittens. I am very fond of kittens, +and at present we have not one in the house. So, if you have a kitten--" + +"Dr. Tolbridge," cried Miss Dora, her eyes sparkling, "do you really mean +that? Would you truly like to have an Angora kitten?" + +"That is exactly the breed I want," he answered. + +"Why, I have five," she said; "they are only four days old, and perfect +beauties. I shall be charmed to give you one, and I will pick out the +very prettiest for you. As soon as it is old enough, I will bring it to +you, already named, and with a ribbon on its neck. What color would you +like the ribbon to be?" + +"For Angoras, blue," he said; "I shall be so glad to have a kitten like +that; but remember that you must not bring it to me until its eyes are +opened, and it has--" + +"Doctor," interrupted Miss Dora, raising her forefinger, "you were just +on the point of saying, 'and has shed its milk mind.' Now I am going away +before you make me angry again." + +When his patient had gone, Dr. Tolbridge put another log on the fire, +shook up the cushions of the sofa, and lay down to continue his nap. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MISS PANNEY + + +The Witton family, distant relatives of Miss Panney, with whom she had +lived for many years, resided on a farm in the hilly country above +Thorbury, and when Mrs. Tolbridge had rattled through the town, she found +the country road very rough and bad--hard and bumpy in some places, and +soft and muddy in others; but Buckskin was in fine spirits and pulled her +bravely on. + +When she reached the Witton house she left the horse in charge of the +boy, and opening the hall door, went directly up to Miss Panney's room. +Knocking, she waited some little time for an answer, and then was told, +in a clear, high voice, to come in. The room was large and well lighted. +Against one of the walls stood a high-posted bed with a canopy, and on +one of the pillows of the bed appeared the head of an elderly woman, the +skin darkened and wrinkled by time, the nose aquiline, and the black eyes +very sharp and quick of movement. This head was surrounded by the frills +of a freshly laundered night-cap, and the smooth white coverlid was drawn +up close under its chin. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed the person in the bed, "is that you, Mrs. +Tolbridge? I thought it was the doctor." + +"I don't wonder at that, Miss Panney," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "At times we +have very much the same sort of knock." + +"But where is the doctor?" asked the old lady. + +"I hope he is at home and asleep," was the reply. "He has been working +very hard lately, and was up the greater part of last night. He was +coming here when he received your message, but I told him he should not +do it; I would come myself, and if I found it absolutely necessary that +you should see him, I would let him know. And now what is the trouble, +Miss Panney?" + +Miss Panney fixed her eyes steadfastly upon her visitor, who had taken a +seat by the bedside. + +"Catherine Tolbridge," said she, "do you know what will happen to you, if +you don't look out? You'll lose that man." + +"Lose him!" exclaimed the other. + +"Yes, just that," replied the old lady; "I have seen it over and over +again. Down they drop, right in the middle of their harness. And the +stouter and sturdier they are, the worse it is for them; they think they +can do anything, and they do it. I'll back a skinny doctor against a +burly one, any day. He knows there are things he can't do. He doesn't +try, and he keeps afloat." + +"That is exactly what I am trying to do," said the doctor's wife, "and if +those are your opinions, Miss Panney, don't you think that the doctor's +patients ought to have a regard for his health, and that they ought not +to make him come to them in all sorts of weather, and at all hours of the +day, unless there is something serious the matter with them? Now I don't +believe there is anything serious the matter with you today." + +"There is always something serious the matter with a person of my age," +said Miss Panney, "and as for Dr. Tolbridge's visits to me doing him any +harm, it is all stuff and nonsense. They do him good; they rest him; they +brighten him up. He's never livelier than when he is with me. He doesn't +have to hang over me all the night, giving me this and that, to keep the +breath in my body, when he ought to be taking the rest that he needs more +than any of us." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. "No, indeed," said she, "he never has to do +anything of that kind for you. I believe you are the healthiest +patient he has." + +"That may be," said the other, "and it is much to his credit, and to +mine, too. I know when I want a doctor. I don't send for him when I am +in the last stages of anything. But we won't talk anything more about +that. I want to know all about your husband. Do you think he is really +out of health?" + +"No," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "he is simply overworked, and needs rest. Just +the sort of rest I hope he is getting this afternoon." + +"Nonsense," said Miss Panney; "rest is well enough, but you must give him +more than that if you do not want to see him break down. You must give +him good victuals. Rest, without the best of food, amounts to little in +his case." + +"Truly, Miss Panney!" exclaimed her visitor, "I think I give my husband +as good living as any one in Thorbury has or can expect." + +"Humph!" said the old lady. "He may have all that, and yet be starving +before your eyes. There isn't a man, woman, or child, in or about +Thorbury, who really lives well--excepting, perhaps, myself." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I think you do manage to live very well, +Miss Panney." + +"Yes," said the other, "and I'd like to manage to have my friends live +well, too. By the way, did you ever make rum-flake for the doctor when +he comes in tired and faint?" + +"I never heard of it," replied the other. + +"I thought as much," said Miss Panney. "Well, you take the whites of two +eggs and beat them up, and while you are beating you sprinkle rum over +the egg, from a pepper caster, which you ought to keep clean to use for +this and nothing else. Then you should sift in sugar according to taste, +and when you have put a dry macaroon, which has been soaking in rum all +this time, in the bottom of a glass saucer, you pile the flake over it, +and it's ready for him, except that sometimes you put in,--let me see!--a +little orange juice, I think, but I've got the recipe there in my +scrap-book, and I can find it in a minute." So saying, the old lady threw +aside the coverlid, and jumped to the floor with the activity of a cat. + +Mrs. Tolbridge burst out laughing. + +"I declare, Miss Panney!" she exclaimed, "you have your dress on." + +"What of that?" said the old lady, opening a drawer. "A warm dress is a +good thing to wear, at least I have always found it so." + +"But not with a night-cap," said the other. + +"That depends on circumstances," said Miss Panney, turning over the pages +of a large scrap-book. + +"And shoes," continued Mrs. Tolbridge, laughing again. + +"Shoes," cried Miss Panney, pushing out one foot, and looking at it. +"Well, truly, that was an oversight; but here is the recipe;" and without +the aid of spectacles, she began to read. "It's exactly as I told you," +she said presently, "except that some people use sponge cake instead of +macaroons. The orange juice depends on individual taste. Shall I write +that out for you, or will you remember it?" + +"Oh, I can remember it," said the other; "but tell me, Miss Panney--" + +"Well, then," said the old lady, "make it for him, and see how he likes +it. There is one thing, Mrs. Tolbridge, that you should never forget, and +that is that the doctor is not only your husband, but the mainstay of the +community." + +"Oh, I know that, and accept the responsibility; but you must tell me why +you are in bed with all your clothes on. I believe that you did not +expect the doctor so soon, and when you heard my knock, you clapped on +your night-cap and jumped into bed." + +"Catherine," quietly remarked the old lady, "there is nothing so +discouraging to a doctor as to find a person who has sent for him out of +bed. If the patient is up and about, she mystifies him; he is apt to make +mistakes; he loses interest; he wonders if she couldn't come to him, +instead of his having to go to her; but when he finds the ailing person +in bed, the case is natural and straightforward; he feels at home, and +knows how to go to work. If you believe in a doctor, you ought to make +him believe in you. And if you are in bed, he will believe in you, and if +you are out of it, he is apt not to. More than that, Mrs. Tolbridge, +there is no greater compliment that you can pay to a physician you have +sent for, than to have him find you in bed." + +The doctor's wife laughed. She thought, but she did not say so, that +probably this old lady had paid her husband a great many compliments. + +"Well, Miss Panney," she said, rising, "what report shall I make?" + +The old lady took off her night-cap, and replaced it with her ordinary +headgear of lace and ribbons. + +"Have you heard anything," she asked, "of the young man who is coming to +Cobhurst?" + +"No," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "nothing at all." + +"Well," continued Miss Panney, "I think the doctor knows something about +him through old Butterwood. I have an idea that I know something about +him myself, but I wanted to talk to the doctor about him. Of course this +is a mere secondary matter. My back has been troubling me a good deal +lately, but as the doctor is so pushed, I won't ask him to come here on +purpose to see me. If he's in the neighborhood, I shall be very glad to +have him call. For the present, I shall try some of the old liniments. +Dear knows, I have enough of them, dating back for years and years." + +"But it will not do to make any mistakes, Miss Panney. Those old +prescriptions might not suit you now." + +"Don't trouble yourself in the least about that," said the old lady, +lifting her hand impressively; "medicine never injures me. Not a drop of +it do I ever take inside of me, prescription or no prescription. But I +don't mind putting things on the outside of me--of course, I mean in +reason, for there are outside applications that would ruin the +constitution of a jack-screw." + +There were very few people in the neighborhood of Thorbury who were older +than Miss Panney, and very few of any age who were as alert in both mind +and body. She had been born in this region; had left it in her youth, and +had returned about thirty years ago, when she had taken up her abode with +the Wittons, who at that time were a newly married couple. They were now +middle-aged people, but Miss Panney still lived with them, and seemed to +be much the very same old lady as she was when she arrived. She was a +woman who kept a good deal to herself, having many resources for her +active mind. With many people who were not acquainted with her socially +but knew all about her, she had the reputation of being wicked. The +principal reason for this belief was the well-known fact that she always +took her breakfast in bed. This was considered to be a French habit, and +the French were looked upon as infidels. Moreover, she never went to +church, and when questioned upon this subject, had been known to answer +that she could not listen with patience to a sermon, for she had never +heard one without thinking that she could preach on that subject a great +deal better than the man in the pulpit. + +In spite of this fact, however, the rector of the Episcopal church of +Thorbury and the Methodist minister were both great friends of Miss +Panney, and although she did not come to hear them, they liked very much +to go to hear her. Mr. Hampton, the Methodist, would talk to her about +flower-gardening and the by-gone people and ways of the region, while Mr. +Ames, the rector, who was a young man, did not hesitate to assert that he +frequently got very good hints for passages in his sermons, from remarks +made by Miss Panney about things that were going on in the religious and +social world. + +But although Miss Panney took pleasure in the company of clergymen and +physicians, she boldly asserted that she liked lawyers better. + +"In the law," she would say, "you find things fixed and settled. A law +is a law, the same for everybody, and no matter how much people may +wrangle and dispute about it, it is there, and you can read it for +yourself. But the practice of medicine has to be shifted to suit +individual cases, and the practice of theology is shifted to suit +individual creeds, and you can't put your finger on steady principles as +you can in law. When I put my finger down, I like to be sure what is +under it." + +Miss Panney had other reasons for liking lawyers, for her first real +friend had been her legal guardian, old Mr. Bannister of Thorbury. She +was one of the few people of the place who remembered this old gentleman, +and she had often told how shocked and pained she had been when summoned +from boarding-school to attend his funeral, and how she had been +impressed by the idea that the preparations for this important event +consisted mainly in beating up eggs, stemming raisins, baking cakes and +pies, and making all sorts of provision for the sumptuous entertainment +of the people who should be drawn together by the death of the principal +citizen of the town. To her mind it would have been more appropriate had +the company been fed on bread and water. + +Thomas Bannister, who succeeded to his father's business, had been Miss +Panney's legal friend and counsellor for many years. But he, too, was +dead, and the office had now devolved on Herbert Bannister, the grandson +of the old gentleman, and the brother of Miss Dora. + +Herbert and Miss Panney were very good friends, but not yet cronies. He +was still under thirty, and there were many events of the past of which +he knew but little, and about which he could not wholly sympathize with +her. But she believed that years would ripen him, and that the time would +come when she would get along as well with him as she had with his father +and grandfather. + +She was not supposed to be a rich woman, and she had not been much +engaged in suits at law, but it was surprising how much legal business +Miss Panney had, as well as business of many other kinds. + +When Mrs. Tolbridge had left her, the old lady put away her scrap-book, +and prepared to go downstairs. + +"It is a great pity," she said to herself, "that one of the bodily +ailments which is bound to show itself in the family in the course of the +spring, should not have turned up to-day. I want very much to talk to the +doctor about the young man at Cobhurst, and I cannot drive about the +country in such weather as this." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BROTHER AND SISTER + + +There were other people in and around Thorbury, who very much wanted to +know something about the young man at Cobhurst, but this desire was +interfered with by the fact that the young man was not yet at Cobhurst, +and did not seem to be in a hurry to get there. + +Cobhurst was the name of an estate a mile or so from the Witton farm, +whose wide fields had lain for a half a dozen years untilled, and whose +fine old mansion had been, for nearly a year, uninhabited. Its former +owner, Matthias Butterwood, a bachelor, and during the greater part of +his life, a man who took great pride in his farm, his stock, and his +fruit trees, had been afflicted in his later years with various kinds of +rheumatism, and had been led to wander about to different climates and +different kinds of hot springs for the sake of physical betterment. + +When at home in these latter days, old Butterwood had been content to +have his garden cultivated, for he could still hobble about and look at +that, and had left his fields to take care of themselves, until he should +be well enough to be his own farmer, as he had always been. But old age, +coming to the aid of his other complaints, had carried him off a few +months before this story begins. + +The only person now living at Cobhurst was a colored man named Mike, +who inhabited the gardener's house and held the office of care-taker of +the place. + +Whenever Mike now came to town with his old wagon and horse, or when he +was met on the road, he found people more and more inquisitive about the +new owner of Cobhurst. Mike was not altogether a negro, having a good +deal of Irish blood in his veins, and this conjunction of the two races +in his individuality had had the effect upon his speech of destroying all +tendency to negro dialect or Irish brogue, so that, in fact, he spoke +like ordinary white people of his grade in life. The effect upon his +character, however, had been somewhat different, and while the vivacity +of the African and that of the Hibernian, in a degree, had neutralized +each other, making him at times almost as phlegmatic as the traditional +Dutchman, he would sometimes exhibit the peculiarities of a Sambo, and +sometimes those of a Paddy. + +Mike could give no satisfaction to his questioners; he knew nothing of +the newcomer, except that he had received a postal card, directed to the +man in charge of Cobhurst, and which stated that Mr. Haverley would +arrive there on the fourth of April. + +"More'n that," Mike would say, "I don't know nothin'. Whether he's old or +young, and what family he's got, I can't tell ye. All I know is, that he +don't seem in no hurry to see his place, an' he must be a reg'lar city +man, or he'd know that winter's the time to come to work a farm in the +spring of the year." + +Other people, however, knew more about Mr. Haverley than Mike did, and +Miss Panney could have informed any one that he was a young man, +unmarried, and a second nephew to old Butterwood. She had faith that Dr. +Tolbridge could give her some additional points, provided she could get +an opportunity of properly questioning him. + +Meanwhile the days passed on; the roads about Thorbury dried up and grew +better; in low, sheltered places, the grass showed a greenish hue; the +willows turned yellow, and people began to ponder over the catalogues of +seed merchants. At last, it was the third of April, and on that day, in +a large bright room of a New York boarding-house, kneeling in front of an +open trunk, were Mr. Ralph Haverley and his sister Miriam. + +Presently Miriam, whose years had not yet reached fifteen, vigorously +pushed a pair of slippers into an unoccupied crevice in the trunk, and +then, drawing back, seated herself on a stool. + +"The delightful thing about this packing is," she said, "that it will +never have to be done again. I am not going to any school, or any country +place to board; you are not going to a hotel, not to any house kept by +other people; our things do not have to be packed separately; we can put +them in anywhere where they will fit; we are both going to the same +place; we are going home, and there we shall stay." + +"Always?" asked her brother, looking up with a smile. + +"Always," answered Miriam. "When one gets a home, one stays there. At +least I do." + +"And you will not even go away to school?" he asked. + +"By no means," said his sister, looking at him with much earnestness. "I +have been to school ever since I was six years old,--nearly nine +years,--and I positively declare that that is long enough for any girl. +Others stay later, but then they do not begin so soon. As to finishing my +education, as they call it, I shall do that at home. What a happy +thought! It makes me want to skip. And you are to be my teacher, Ralph. I +am sure you know everything that I shall need to know." + +Ralph laughed. + +"I suppose you will examine me to see what I do know," he said, as he +folded a heavy overcoat and laid it in the trunk. + +Miriam sprang up and began to collect more of her effects. + +"We shall see about that," she said, and then, suddenly stopping, she +turned toward her brother. "There is one thing, Ralph, about which I need +not examine you at all, and that is goodness of heart. If you had not had +a very good heart indeed, you would not have waited and waited and +waited--fairly pinching yourself, I expect--till I could get away from +school and we could both go together and look at our new home in the very +same instant." + +Ralph Haverley was a brown-haired, bright-eyed young fellow under thirty. +He had been educated for a profession, but the death of his parents, +before he reached his majority, made it necessary for him to go to work +at something by which he could immediately earn money enough to support +not only himself, but his little sister. At his father's death, which +occurred a month or two after that of his mother, young Haverley found +that the family resources, which had never been great, had almost +entirely disappeared. He could barely scrape together enough money to +send Miriam to a boarding-school and to keep himself alive until he could +get work. He had spent a great part of his boyhood in the country. His +tastes and disposition inclined him to an out-door life, and, had he been +able, he would have gone to the West, and established himself upon a +ranch. But this was impossible; he must do the work that was nearest at +hand, and as soon as he found it, he set himself at it with a will. + +For eight long years he had struggled and labored; changing his +occupation several times, but always living in the city; always making +his home in a boardinghouse or a hotel. His pluck and energy had had its +reward, and for the past three years he had held a responsible and +well-paid position in a mercantile house. But his life and his work had +for him nothing but a passing interest; he had no sympathy with bonded +warehouses, invoices, and ledgers. All he could look forward to was a +higher position, a larger salary, and, when Miriam should graduate, a +little home somewhere where she could keep house for him. In his dreams +of this home, he would sometimes place it in the suburbs, where Sundays +and holidays spent in country air would compensate for hasty breakfasts, +early morning trains, and late ones in the afternoon. But when he +reflected that it would not do to leave his young sister alone all day in +a thinly settled, rural place, at the mercy of tramps, he was forced to +the conclusion that the thing for them to do was to live in a city +apartment. But there was nothing in either of these outlooks to create +fervent longings in the soul of Ralph Haverley. + +For some legal reason, probably connected with the fact that old +Butterwood died at a health resort in Arkansas, Haverley did not learn +until late in the winter that his mother's uncle had left to him the +estate of Cobhurst. The reason for this bequest, as stated in the will, +was the old man's belief that the said Ralph Haverley was the only one of +his blood relations who seemed to be getting on in the world, and to him +he left the house, farm, and all the personal property he might find +therein and thereon, but not one cent of money. Where the testator's +money was bestowed, Ralph did not know, for he did not see the will. + +When Ralph heard of his good fortune, his true life seemed to open before +him; his Butterwood blood boiled in his veins. He did not hesitate a +moment as to his course, for he was of the opinion that if a healthy +young man could not make a living out of a good farm he did not deserve +to live at all. He gave immediate notice of his intention to abandon +mercantile life, and set himself to work by day and by night to wind up +his business affairs, so that he might be free by the beginning of April. +It was this work which helped him to control his desire to run off and +take a look at Cobhurst without waiting for his sister. + +Of the place which was to be their home, Miriam knew absolutely nothing, +but Ralph had heard his mother talk about her visits to her uncle, and, +in his mind, the name Cobhurst had always called up visions of wide halls +and lofty chambers, broad piazzas, sunny slopes and lawns, green meadows, +and avenues bordered with tall trees--a grand estate in fact, with woods +full of nuts, streams where a boy could fish, and horses that he might +ride. Had these ideas existed in Miriam's mind, the brother and sister +would have visited Cobhurst the day after he brought her the letter from +the lawyer; but her conceptions of the place were vague and without form, +except when she associated it with the homes of girls she had visited. +But as none of these suited her very well, she preferred to fall back +upon chaotic anticipation. + +"When I think of Cobhurst," she wrote to her brother, "I smell marigolds, +and think of rather poor blackberries that you pick from bushes. Please +do not put in your letters anything that you know about it, for I would +rather see everything for myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE HOME + + +It was late in the afternoon when Ralph and Miriam Haverley alighted at +the station at Thorbury. Miss Dora Bannister, who had come down to see a +friend off, noticed the two standing on the platform. She did not know +who they were, but she thought the one to be a very handsome young man, +and the other a nice-looking girl who seemed to be all eyes. + +"What a queer-looking colored man!" said Miriam. "He looks mashed on +top." + +The person alluded to was getting down from a wagon drawn by a mournful +horse, and now approached the platform. + +"Is you Mr. Hav'ley, sir?" he said, touching his hat. "Thought so; I'm +the man in charge o' yer place. Got any baggage, sir?" + +On being informed that the travellers had brought three trunks with them, +and that some boxes would be expected on the morrow, Mike, who with his +worn felt hat pressed flat upon his head, might give one the idea of a +bottle with the cork driven in, stood for a moment in thought. + +"I can take one trunk," he said, "the one ye will want the most tonight, +and ye'd better have the others hauled over tomorrow with the boxes. Ye +can both go in the wagon, if ye like. The seat can be pushed back, and I +can sit on the trunk myself, or ye can hire a kerridge." + +"Of course we will take a cab," said Ralph. "How far is it to Cobhurst?" + +"Well, some says three miles, and some says four. It depends a good deal +on the roads. They're pretty good today." + +Having engaged the services of a country cabman, who declared that he +had known Cobhurst ever since he was born, and having arranged for +the transfer of their goods the next day, the Haverleys rattled out +of the town. + +"Now," said Miriam, "we are truly going home, and I do not remember ever +doing that before. And, Ralph," she continued, after gazing right and +left from the cab windows, "one of the first things we ought to do is to +get a new man to take charge of the place. That person isn't fit. I never +saw such slouchy clothes." + +Ralph laughed. "I am the man who is to have charge of the place," he +said. "What do you think of my clothes?" + +Miriam gave a little pull at his hair for reply. "And there is another +thing," she continued. "If that is our horse and wagon, don't you really +think that we ought to sell them? They are awful." + +"Don't be in a hurry," said Ralph. "We shall soon find out whether we own +the horse or not. He may belong to the man. He's not a bad one, either. +See, he is passing us now with that big trunk in the wagon." + +"Passing us!" exclaimed Miriam. "Almost any horse could do that. Did you +ever see such an old poke as we have, and such a bouncy, jolting +rattletrap of a carriage? It squeaks all over." + +"Alas," said Ralph, "I am thinking of something worse than jolts or +squeaks. I am hungry, and I am sure you must be, and I don't see what we +are going to do about supper. I am afraid I am not a very good manager, +yet. I had an idea that Cobhurst was not so far from the station, and +that we could go over and look at the house, and come back to a hotel and +stay there for the night; but now I see it will be dark before we get +there, and we shall not feel like turning round and going directly back. +Perhaps it would be better to turn now." + +"Turn back, when we are going to our home!" cried Miriam. "How can you +think of such a thing, Ralph? And you needn't suppose that neither of us +is a good manager. I am housekeeper now, and I did not forget that we +shall need our supper. I have it all there in my bag, and I shall cook +it as soon as we reach the house. Of course I knew that we could not +expect anything to eat in a place with only a man to take care of it." + +"What in the world have you?" asked Ralph, much amused. + +"I have four breakfast rolls," she said, "six mutton chops, a package of +ground coffee, another of tea, a pound of sugar, and a good big piece of +gingerbread. I am sorry I couldn't bring any butter, but I was afraid +that might melt in a warm car, and run over everything. As for milk, we +shall have to make up our minds to do without that for one meal. I got up +early this morning, and went out and bought all these things." + +Ralph was on the point of saying, "What are we going to have for +breakfast?" But he would not trouble his sister's mind with any such +suggestions. + +"You are a good little housewife," said he; "I wish we were there, and +sitting down at the table--if there is any table." + +"I have thought it all out," said Miriam, "if it is one of those large +farm-houses, with a big kitchen, where the family eat and spend their +evening, we shall eat there, too, this once. You shall build a fire, +and I'll have the coffee made in no time. There must be a coffee-pot, +or a tin cup, or something to boil in. The chops can be broiled over +the coals." + +"On what?" asked Ralph. + +"You can get a pointed stick and toast them, if there is no other way, +sir. And you need not make fun of my supper; the chops are very nice +ones, and I have wrapped them up in oiled silk, so that they will not +grease the other things." + +"Oh, don't talk any more about them," exclaimed Ralph. "It makes me too +dreadfully hungry." + +"If it is a cottage," remarked Miriam, looking reflectively out of the +window, "I cannot get it out of mind that there will be all sorts of +kitchen things hanging around the old-fashioned fireplace. That would be +very nice and convenient, but--" + +"You hope it is not a cottage?" said her brother. + +"Well," answered Miriam, presently, "home is home, and I made up my mind +to be perfectly satisfied with it whatever kind of house it may be. It +seems to me that a real home ought to be like parents and relations; +we've got them, and we can't change them, and we never think of such a +thing. We love them quite as they are. But I cannot help hoping, just a +little, that it is not a cottage. The only ones I have ever been in smelt +so much of soapsuds." + +It was now quite dark, and the road appeared to be growing rougher. Every +now and then they jolted over a big stone, or sunk into a deep rut. Ralph +let down the front window. + +"Are we nearly there?" he asked of the driver. + +"Yes, sir," said the man; "we are on the place now." + +"You don't mean," exclaimed Miriam, "that this is our road!" + +"It's a good deal washed just here," said the man, "by the heavy rains." + +Presently the road became smoother and in a few minutes the +carriage stopped. + +"I am trembling all over," said Miriam, "with thinking of being at home, +and with not an idea of what it is like." + +In a moment they were standing on a broad flagstone. Although it was +dark, they could see the outline of the house before them. + +"Ralph," whispered Miriam, drawing close to her brother, "it is not a +cottage." Without waiting for a reply she went on: "Ralph," she said, her +hands trembling as they held his arm, "it is lordly." + +"I had some sort of an idea like that myself," he answered; "but, my +dear, don't you think it will be well to keep this man until we go inside +and see what sort of accommodations we shall find? Perhaps we may be +obliged to go back to the town." + +Miriam immediately began to ascend the broad steps of the piazza. + +"Come on, Ralph," she said, "and please don't talk like that." + +Her brother laughed, paid the driver and dismissed him. + +"Now, little girl," he cried, "we have burned our ships, and must take +what we shall find." + +"Oh, Ralph," cried Miriam, "I couldn't have gone back. If there are +floors to the rooms, they will do to sleep on for to-night." + +At this moment a wide front door opened, revealing a colored woman +holding a lamp. + +"Good evenin'," said she; "walk in." + +When Ralph and Miriam had entered, the woman looked out the open door. + +"Is you all?" she asked. + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph. + +The woman hesitated a moment, looked out again, and then closed the door. + +"Would you like to go to your rooms afore supper?" she asked. + +The brother and sister were so absorbed in gazing about them, that they +did not hear the question. The lamp, still in the woman's hand, gave a +poor and vacillating light, but they could see a wide, long hall, tall +doors opening on each side, some high-backed chairs, and other +dark-colored furniture. + +"Yer rooms is ready," continued the woman; "ye can take yer pick of them. +Supper'll be on the table the minute ye come down. Ye'd better take this +lamp, sir, and thar's another one in the upper hall. I expect ye two is +brother and sister. Ye're alike as two pins of different sizes." + +"You're right," said Ralph, holding up the lamp, and looking about him; +"but please tell me, where are the stairs?" + +"Oh, yer open that glass door right in front of ye," said the woman. "I'd +go with yer, but I smell somethin' bilin' over now." + +Opening the glass door, they saw before them a narrow staircase in +two flights. + +"Stairs shut up in a room of their own," said Ralph, as they ascended. +"Did you ever see anything like this before?" + +"I never saw anything like anything before," said Miriam, in a low, +reverent voice. + +On the floor above they found another wide hall, and four or five +open doors. + +"There is your lamp," said Ralph to his sister; "take the first room you +come to, and to-morrow we will pick and choose." + +"Who would have thought," said Miriam, "that a woman--" + +"Don't let us think or talk of her now," interrupted her brother. "To +hurry down to supper is our present business." + +When the two went downstairs, they found the colored woman standing by an +open door in the rear of the hall. + +"Supper's ready, sir," said she, and they entered the dining-room. + +It was a large and rather sparely furnished room, but Miriam and Ralph +took no note of anything except the table, which stood in the middle of +the floor, lighted by a hanging lamp. It was a large table and arranged +for eight people with chairs at every place. The woman gave a little +laugh, as she said:-- + +"I reckon you all may think this is a pretty big table for two people, +an' one not growed up, but you see I didn't know nothin' about the size +of the family, an' Mike he didn't know nothin' either. I'm Phoebe, Mike's +wife, an' I ain't got nothin' in the world to do with this house, for +mostly I go out to service in the town, but I'm here now; and of course +we didn't want you all to come an' find nothin' to eat, an' no beds made, +an' as you didn't write no orders, sir, we had just to do the best we +could accordin' to our own lights. I reckoned there would be the gem'en +and his wife, an' perhaps two growed-up sons, though Mike, he was +doubtful about the growed-up sons, especially as to thar bein' two of +them. Then I reckoned thar'd be a darter, just about your age, Miss, an' +then there'd be two younger chillen, one a boy an' one a girl, an' a +gov'ness for these two. Of course I didn't know whether the gov'ness was +in the habit of eatin' at your table or not, but I reckoned that this +time, comin' so late, you'd all eat at the same table, an' I put a plate +an' a cheer for her. An' Mike went ter town, an' got groc'ries an' things +enough for to-night and tomorrow, an' as everything was ready I just left +everything as it was. I reckoned you wouldn't want ter wait until I'd sot +the whole table over again." + +"By no means," cried Ralph, and down they sat, Ralph at one end of the +long table, and Miriam at the other. It was a good supper; beefsteak, an +omelet, hot rolls, fried potatoes, coffee, tea, preserved fruit, and all +on the scale suited to a family of eight. + +When Phoebe had retired to the kitchen, presumably for additional +supplies, Miriam stretched her arms over the table. + +"Think of it, Ralph," she said, "this is our supper. The first meal we +ever truly owned." + +They had not been long at the table when they were startled by the loud +ringing of the door-bell. + +"'Pon my word," ejaculated Phoebe, "it's a long time since that bell's +been rung," and setting down a plate of hotter biscuit, with which she +had been offering temptations, she left the room. Presently she returned, +ushering in Dr. Tolbridge. + +Briefly introducing himself, the doctor welcomed the brother and sister +to the neighborhood of Thorbury, and apologized for the extreme +promptness of his call. + +"I heard you had arrived," he said, "from a hackman I met on the road, +and having made a visit near by I thought I would look in on you. It +might be days before I should again have a chance. But don't let me +disturb your supper; I beg that you will sit down again." + +"And I beg you, sir," said Ralph, "to sit down with us." + +"Well," said the doctor, smiling, "I am hungry, and my own supper-time is +passed. You seem to have plenty of room for a guest." + +"Oh, yes, indeed, sir," said Miriam, who had already taken a fancy to the +doctor's genial face. "Phoebe thought we were a large family, and you can +take the seat of one of the grown-up sons, or the daughter's chair, or +the place that was intended for either the little boy or little girl, or +perhaps you would like the governess' seat." + +At this Phoebe turned her face to the wall and giggled. + +"A fine imagination," said the doctor, "and what is better, a bountiful +meal. Please consider me, for the present, the smallest boy, who might +naturally be supposed to have the biggest appetite." + +"It would have been funnier," said Miriam, gravely, "if you had been the +governess." + +The supper was a lively one; the three appetites were excellent; the +doctor was in his jolliest mood, and Ralph and Miriam were delighted with +him. On his part, he could not help looking upon it in the light of a +joke--an agreeable one, however--that these two young people, one of them +a mere child, should constitute the new Cobhurst family. He had known +that the property had gone to an unmarried man who was in business, and +had not thought of his coming here to live. + +"And now," said the doctor, as they rose from the table, "I must go. My +wife will call on you very soon, and in the meantime, what is there that +I can do for you?" + +"I think," answered Miriam, looking about her to see that Phoebe was not +in the room, "that it would be very nice if you could get us a new man. +We like the woman well enough, but the man is awful." + +The doctor looked at her, astonished. + +"Do you mean Mike?" he asked, "the faithful Mike, who has been in charge +here ever since Mr. Butterwood took to travelling about for the good of +his rheumatisms? Why, my dear young lady, the whole country looks upon +Mike as a pattern man-of-all-work. He may be getting a little cranky and +independent in his notions, for he has been pretty much his own master +for years, but I am sure you could find no one to take his place who +would be more trustworthy or so generally useful." + +Ralph was about to explain that it was only the appearance of the man to +which his sister objected, but she spoke for herself. + +"Of course, we oughtn't always to judge people by their looks," she said, +"but in my thoughts about our home, I never connected it with such a very +shabby person. But then, if he is an old family servant, he may be the +very kind of a man the place needs." + +"Oh, I advise you to stick to Mike, by all means," said the doctor, "and +to Phoebe, too, if she will stay with you. But I think she prefers the +town to this somewhat secluded place." + +"A good omen," said Ralph, as he closed the door after the doctor. "As a +neighbor, I believe that man is at the head of his class, and I am very +glad that he happened to be the first one who came to see us." + +"Well," said Miriam, "we haven't seen the others yet, and I am glad that +we don't know whether this doctor is homeopathic or allopathic, so that +we can get started in liking him before we know whether we approve of his +medicines or not." + +"Upon my word," cried Ralph, "I never knew that you had opinions about +the different medical schools. Did they teach you that sort of thing at +Mrs. Stone's?" + +"I suppose I can have opinions without having them taught to me, can't +I?" she answered. "I saw a lot of sickness among the girls, and I am +homeopathic." + +"Stuff," exclaimed Ralph, "I don't believe you ever took any medicine in +your life." + +"I have not taken much," answered Miriam, "but I have taken enough to +settle it in my mind that I am never going to take any more of the +same sort." + +"And they were not little sugar pills?" + +"No, indeed they were not," said Miriam, very decidedly. + +"I've made a fire in the parlor," said Phoebe, coming in, "if you all +want to sit there afore you go to bed." + +"I don't want to sit anywhere," cried Miriam, "and I am crazy to get a +peep out of doors. Come on, Ralph, just for a minute." + +Ralph followed her out on the piazza. + +"It's awfully dark," said Miriam, "but if we walk carefully, I think we +can get far enough away from the house to look up at it, and find out a +little what it looks like." + +They groped their way across the driveway, and on to the grass beyond. + +"We can see a good deal of it against the sky!" exclaimed Miriam. "What +tall pillars! It looks like a Greek temple in front. And from what I can +make out, it's pretty much all front." + +"I suppose it is a regular old-fashioned house," said her brother, +"with a Grecian portico front, and perhaps another at the back. But you +must come in now, for you have on neither hat nor wrap." And he took +her by the hand. + +"It isn't cold," said Miriam, "and oh, Ralph, look up at the stars. Those +are our stars, every one of them." + +Ralph laughed, as he led her into the house. + +"Yes, indeed," she insisted, "we own all the way down, and all the way +up." + +"Now then," said Miriam, when they had closed the door behind them, "how +shall we explore the house? Shall we each take a lamp, or will candles +be better?" + +"Little girl!" exclaimed her brother, "I had no idea that you were such a +bunch of watch springs. It is nearly nine o'clock, and after the day's +work that you have done, it is time you were in bed. House exploring can +be done to-morrow." + +"Yes, indeed, Miss," said Phoebe, who stood by, anxious to shut up the +house and retire to her own domicile, "and I will go up into your room +with you and show you about things." + +Half an hour after this, Miriam came out of her bedroom, holding a bit of +lighted candle in her hand. She was dressed, with the exception of her +shoes. Softly she advanced to the foot of the stairs which led to the +floor above. + +"They are partly my stairs," she said to herself, as she paused for a +moment at the bottom of the step. "Ralph told me that he considered the +place as much mine as his, and I have a right to go up. I cannot go to +sleep without seeing what is up here. I never imagined such a third floor +as this one." + +In less than a minute, Miriam was slowly creeping along the next floor of +the house, which was indeed an odd one. For it was nothing more than a +gallery, broader at the ends than the sides, with a railed open space, +through which one could look down to the floor below. Some of the doors +were open and she peeped into the rooms, but saw nothing which induced +her to enter them. Having made the circuit of the gallery, she reached a +narrow staircase which wound still higher upward. + +"I must go up," she said; "I cannot help it." + +Arrived at the top of these stairs, Miriam held up her candle and looked +about her. She was in a great, wide, magnificent, glorious garret! Her +soul swelled. To own such a garret was almost too much joy! It was the +realization of a thousand dreams. + +Slowly advancing, she beheld fascinations on every side. Here were old +trunks, doubtless filled with family antiquities; there was a door +fastened with a chain and a padlock--there must be a key to that, or the +lock could be broken; in the dim light at the other end of the garret, +she could see what appeared to be a piled-up collection of boxes, chests, +cases, little and big, and all sorts of old-fashioned articles of use and +ornament, doubtless every one of them a treasure. A long musket, its +stock upon the floor, reclined against a little trunk covered with +horse-hair, from under the lid of which protruded the ends of some dusty +folded papers. + +"Oh, how I wish Ralph were here, and that we had a lamp. I could spend +the night here, looking at everything; but I can't do it now with this +little candle end." + +At her feet was a wooden box, the lid of which was evidently unfastened, +for it lay at an angle across the top. + +"I will look into this one box," she said, "and then I will go down." + +She knelt down, and with the candle in her right hand, pushed aside the +lid with her left. From the box there grinned at her a human skull, +surrounded by its bones. She started back. + +"Uncle Butterwood," she gasped and tried to rise, but her strength and +senses left her, and she fell over unconscious, upon the floor. The +candle dropped from her hand, and, fortunately, went out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PANNEYOPATHY + + +About ten o'clock the next morning, Mike, in his little wagon, rattled up +to the door of Dr. Tolbridge. + +The doctor was not at home, but his wife came out. + +"That young girl!" she exclaimed. "Why, what can be the matter with her?" + +"I dunno, ma'am," answered Mike. "Phoebe told me just as the wagon got +there with the boxes an' trunks, an' nobody but me to help the man +upstairs with 'em, an' said I must get away to the doctor's jes' as fast +as I could drive. She said somethin' about her sleepin' in the garret and +ketchin' cold, but she wouldn't let me stop to ax no questions. She said +the doctor was wanted straight off." + +"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "that he is not here, but he +said he was going to stop and see Miss Panney. I can't tell you any +other place to which he was going. If you drive back by the Witton road, +you may find him, or, if he has not yet arrived, it might be well to +wait for him." + +Arrived at the Witton house, Mike saw Miss Panney, wrapped in a heavy +shawl and wearing a hood, taking her morning exercise on the piazza. + +"They want the doctor already!" she exclaimed in answer to Mike's +inquiries. "Who could have thought that? And he left here nearly half +an hour ago. His wife will send him when he gets home, but there is no +knowing when that will be. However, she must have somebody to attend +to her. Mike, I will go myself. I will go with you in your wagon. Wait +one minute." + +Into the house popped Miss Panney, and in a very short time returned, +carrying with her an umbrella and a large reticule made of brown plush, +and adorned with her monogram in yellow. One of the Witton girls came +with her, and assisted her to the seat, by the side of Mike. + +"Now then," said she, "get along as fast as you can. I shall not mind +the jolts." + +"Phoebe," said Miss Panney, as she entered the Cobhurst door, "it's a +long time since I have seen you, and I have not been in this house for +eight years. I hope you will be able to tell me something about this +sudden sickness, for Mike is as stupid as a stone post, and knows +nothing at all." + +"Now, Miss Panney," said Phoebe, speaking very earnestly, but in a low +voice, "I can't say that I can really give you the true head and tail of +it, for it's mighty hard to find out what did happen to that young gal. +All I know is that she didn't come down to breakfast, and that Mr. +Haverley went up to her room hisself, and he knocked and he knocked, and +then he pushed the door open and went in, and, bless my soul, Miss +Panney, she wasn't there. Then he hollered, and me and him, we sarched +and sarched the house. He went up into the garret by hisself, for you may +be sure I wouldn't go there, but he was just wild, and didn't care where +he went, and there he found her dead asleep on the floor, and a livin' +skeleton a sittin' watchin' her." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Miss Panney; "he never told you that." + +"That's the pint of what I got out of him, and you know, Miss Panney, +that that garret's hanted." + +Miss Panney wasted no words in attempting to disprove this assertion. + +"He found her asleep on the floor?" said she. + +"Yes, Miss Panney," answered Phoebe, "dead asleep, or more likely, to my +mind, in a dead faint, among all the drafts and chills of that garret, +and in her stockin' feet. She had tuk up a candle with her, but I'spect +the skeleton blowed it out. And now she's got an awful cold, so she can +scarcely breathe, and a fever hot enough to roast an egg." + +At this moment Ralph appeared in the hall. The visitor immediately went +up to him. + +"Mr. Haverley, I suppose. I am Miss Panney. I am a neighbor, and I came +to see if I could do anything for your sister before the doctor arrives. +I am a good nurse, and know all about sicknesses;" and she explained why +she had come and the doctor had not. + +When Miriam turned her head and saw the black eyes of Miss Panney gazing +down upon her, she pushed herself back in the bed, and exclaimed,-- + +"Are you his wife?" + +"No, indeed," said Miss Panney, "I wouldn't marry him for a thousand +pounds. I am your nurse. I am going to give you something nice to make +you feel better. Put your hand in mine. There, that will do. Keep +yourself covered up, even if you are a little warm, and I will come back +presently with the nicest kind of a cup of tea." + +"It's a cold and a fever," she said to Ralph, outside the chamber door. +"The commonest thing in the world. But I'll make her a hot drink that +will do her more good than anything else that could be given her, and +when the doctor comes, he'll tell you so. He knows me, and what I can do +for sick people. I brought everything that's needed in my bag, and I am +going down to the kitchen myself. But how in the world did she come to +stay on the garret floor all night? She couldn't have been in a swoon all +that time." + +"No," answered Ralph; "she told me she came to her senses, she didn't +know when, but that everything was pitch dark about her, and feeling +dreadfully tired and weak, she put her head down on her arm, and tried +to think why she was lying on such a hard floor, and then she must +have dropped into the heavy sleep in which I found her. She was tired +out with her journey and the excitement. Do you think she is in danger, +Miss Panney?" + +"Don't believe it," said the old lady. "She looks strong, and these young +things get well before you know it." + +"Now, my young lady," said Miss Panney, as she stood by Miriam's bedside, +with a steaming bowl, "you may drink the whole of this, but you mustn't +ask me for any more, and then you may go to sleep, and to-morrow morning +you can get up and skip around and see what sort of a place Cobhurst is +by daylight." + +"I can't wait until to-morrow for that," said Miriam, "and is that tea or +medicine?" + +"It's both, my dear; sit up and drink it off." + +Miriam still eyed the bowl. "Is it homeopathic or allopathic?" she asked. + +"Neither the one or the other," was the discreet reply; "it is +Panneyopathic, and just the thing for a girl who wants to get out of bed +as soon as she can." + +Miriam looked full into the bright black eyes, and then took the bowl, +and drank every drop of the contents. + +"Thank you," she said. "It is perfectly horrid, but I must get up." + +"Now you take a good long nap, and then I hope you will feel quite able +to go down and begin to keep house for your brother." + +"The first thing to do," said Miriam, as Miss Panney carefully adjusted +the bedclothes about her shoulders, "is to see what sort a house we have +got, and then I will know how I am to keep it." + +When her young patient had dropped asleep, Miss Panney went downstairs. +In the lower hall she found Ralph walking up and down. + +"There is no earthly need of your worrying yourself about your sister. I +am sure the doctor would say she is in no danger at all," said the old +lady. "And now, if you don't mind, I would like very much to go up into +the garret and see what frightened your sister." + +"It was apparently a box of human bones," he said, "but I barely glanced +at it. You are perfectly welcome to go up and examine." + +It was a quarter of an hour before Miss Panney came down from the +garret, laughing. + +"I studied anatomy on those bones," she said. "Every one of them is +marked in ink with its name. I had forgotten all about them. Mathias' +brother Reuben was a scientific man, and he used the skeleton. That is, +he studied all sorts of things, though he never did anything worth +notice. I took a look round the garret," she continued, "and I tell you, +sir, that if you care anything for family relics and records, you have +them to your heart's content. I expect there are things up there that +have not been touched for fifty years." + +"I should suppose," said Ralph, "that the servants of the house would +have had some curiosity about such objects, if no one else had." + +Miss Panney laughed. + +"There hasn't been a servant in that garret for many a long year," said +she. "You evidently don't know that this house is considered haunted, +particularly the garret; and I suppose that box of bones had a good deal +to do with the notion." + +"Well," said Ralph, "no doubt the ghosts have been a great protection to +our family treasures." + +"And to your whole house," said the old lady; "watch-dogs would be +nothing to them." + +Miss Panney and Ralph ate dinner together. The old lady would not leave +until the doctor had come; and the conversation was an education to young +Haverley in regard to the Butterwood family and the Thorbury +neighborhood. At the conclusion of the meal, Phoebe came into the room. + +"I went upstairs to see how she was gettin' on, sir," she said; "an' she +was awake, an' she made me get a pencil an' paper out of her bag, an' she +sent you this note." + +On a half-sheet of note-paper, he read the following: "Dear Ralph, I went +upstairs and looked at the third floor and a good deal of the garret, +without you being with me. I really want to be perfectly fair, and so you +must not stop altogether from looking at things until I am able to go +with you. I think good things to look at by yourself would be stables and +barnyards, and the lower part of barns. Please do not go into haylofts, +nor into the chicken-yard, if there is one. You might keep your eyes on +the ground until you get to these places and then look up. If there are +horses and cows, don't tell me anything about them when you see me. +Don't tell me anything. I think I shall be well to-morrow, perhaps +to-night. Miriam." + +Ralph laughed heartily, and read the note aloud. + +"I should say," said Miss Panney, "that that girl has a good deal more +conscience than fever. She ought to have slept longer, but as she is +awake I will go up and take a look at her; while you can blindfold +yourself, if you like, and go out to the barns." + +The doctor did not arrive until late in the afternoon, and it was +nearly half an hour after he had gone up to his patient before he +reported to Ralph. + +"She is all right," said he, "but I am not." + +The young man looked puzzled. + +"By which I mean," continued the other, "that Miss Panney's concoction +and the girl's vigorous young nature have thrown off the effects of her +nap in the haunted garret, and that I am an allopathist, whereas I ought +to be a homeopathist. The young lady and I have had a long conversation +on that subject and others. I find that she is a Nonconformist." + +"What?" asked Ralph. + +"I use the word in its political and social, as well as its religious +meaning. That is a sister worth taking care of, sir. Lock her up in her +room, if she inclines to any more midnight wanderings." + +"And now, having finished with the young patient," said Miss Panney, who +was waiting with her bonnet and shawl on, "you can take up an old one, +and I will get you to drive me home on your way back to Thorbury." + +The doctor had been very much interested in Miriam, and talked about +her to Miss Panney as he drove her to the Witton house, which, by the +way, was a mile and a half out of his direct road. The old lady +listened with interest, but did not wish to listen very much; she +wished to talk of Ralph. + +"I like him," she said; "he has pluck. I have had a good deal of talk +with him, and he told me frankly that he could not afford to put money +into the place and farm it as it ought to be farmed. But he was born a +country man, and he has the heart of a country man; and he is going to +see if he can make a living out of it for himself and his sister." + +"Which may result," said the doctor, "in his becoming a mere farm laborer +and putting an end to his sister's education." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the old lady. "Young fellows--college men--go out +on ranches in the West and do that sort of thing, and it lowers them in +nobody's estimation. Let young Haverley call his farm a ranch and rough +it. It would be the same thing. I've backed him up strongly. It's a manly +choice of a manly life. As for his sister, she has been so long at school +that it will do her more good to stop than to go on." + +"It will be hard scratching," said the doctor, "to get a living out of +Cobhurst, and I hope these young people will not come to grief while they +are making the experiment." + +Miss Panney smiled without looking at her companion. + +"Don't be afraid of that," she said presently; "I have pretty good +reason to think that he will get on well enough." + +That evening Miriam sat up in bed with a shawl about her shoulders and +discoursed to her brother. + +"Now, Ralph," said she, "you must have seen a lot of things about our +place, because, when I came to think of it, it was plain enough that you +couldn't help it. I am crazy to see what you saw, but you mustn't tell me +anything except what I ask you. Please be particular about that." + +"Go on," said Ralph. "You shall not have a word more or less than +you want." + +"Well, then, is your bed comfortable?" + +"Perfectly," he answered. + +"And have you pillows enough?" + +"More than I want," said Ralph. + +"And are the doors and windows all fastened and locked downstairs?" + +He laughed. "You needn't bother yourself about that sort of thing. I will +attend to the locking up." + +She slightly knitted her brows in reflection. "Now then, Ralph," said +she, "I am coming to it, and mind, not a word more than I ask for. Have +we any horses?" + +"We have," he replied. + +"How many?" + +"Four." + +Miriam clasped her hands and looked at her brother with sparkling eyes. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "four horses!" + +"Two of them," he began, but she stopped him in an instant. + +"Don't tell me another thing," she cried; "I don't want to know what +color they are, or anything about them. To-morrow I shall see them for +myself. Oh, Ralph, isn't it perfectly wonderful that we should have four +horses? I can't stand anything more just now, so please kiss me +good-night." + +About an hour afterwards Ralph was awakened by a knock at his door. + +"Who is there?" he cried. + +The door opened a very little way. + +"Ralph," said Miriam, through the crack, "is there one of our horses +which can be ridden by a lady?" + +Ralph's first impulse was to throw a pillow at the door, but he +remembered that sisters were different from fellows at school. + +"Can't say anything about that until we try," said he; "and now, Miriam, +please go to bed and to sleep." + +Miriam shut the door and went away, but in her dreams she rode a prancing +charger into Miss Stone's schoolyard, and afterwards drove all the girls +in a tally-ho. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS + + +The next day was a very fine one, and as the roads were now good, and the +air mild, Miss Panney thought it was quite time that she should begin to +go about and see her friends without depending on the vehicles of other +people, so she ordered her little phaeton and her old roan mare, and +drove herself to Thorbury to see Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"The doctor tells me," said that good lady, "that you take great interest +in those young people at Cobhurst." + +"Indeed I do," said Miss Panney, sitting up as straight in her easy chair +as if it had been a wooden bench with no back; "I have been thinking +about him all the morning. He ought to be married." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. + +"Dear me, Miss Panney," said she, "it is too soon to begin thinking of a +wife for the poor fellow. He has not had time to feel himself at home." + +"My motto is that it is never too soon to begin, but we won't talk about +that. Kitty, you are the worst matchmaker I ever saw." + +"I think I made a pretty good match for myself," said the other. + +"No, you didn't. The doctor made that, and I helped. You had nothing to +do with the preliminary work, which is really the most important." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I am sure I am very much obliged," she said. + +"You ought to be. And now while we are on the subject, let me ask you: +Have you a new cook?" + +"I have," replied the other, "but she is worse than the last one." + +Miss Panney rose to her feet, and walked across the room. + +"Kitty Tolbridge!" she exclaimed, "this is too bad. You're trifling +with the greatest treasure a woman can have on this earth--the life of a +good husband." + +"But what am I to do?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. "I have tried everywhere, +and I can get no one better." + +"Everywhere," repeated Miss Panney. "You mean everywhere in Thorbury. You +oughtn't to expect to get a decent cook in this little town. You should +go to the city and get one. What you want is to keep the doctor well, no +matter what it costs. He doesn't look well, and I don't see how he can be +well, on the kind of cooking you can get in Thorbury." + +Mrs. Tolbridge flushed a little. + +"I am sure," she said, "that Thorbury people, for generations and +generations, have lived on Thorbury cooking, and they have been just as +healthy as any other people." + +"Ah, Kitty, Kitty!" exclaimed the old lady, "you forget how things have +changed. In times gone by the ladies of the household superintended all +the cooking, and did a good deal of it besides; and they brought +something into the kitchen that seldom gets into it now, and that is +brains. A cook with a complete set of brains might be pretty hard to get, +and would cost a good deal of money. But it is your duty, Kitty, to get +as good a one as you can. If she has only a tea-cup full of brains, it +will be better than none at all. Don't mind the cost. If you have to do +it, spend more on cooking, and less on raw material." + +This was all Miss Panney had to say on the subject, and shortly +she departed. + +After brief stops at the post-office and one or two shops, she drove to +the abode of the Bannisters. Miss Panney tied her roan to the +hitching-post by the sidewalk, and went up the smooth gravel path to the +handsome old house, which she had so often visited, to confer on her own +affairs and those of the world at large with the father and the +grandfather of the present Bannister, attorney-at-law. + +She and the house were all that were left of those old days. Even the +widow was the second wife, who had come into the family while Miss Panney +was away from Thorbury. + +Mrs. Bannister was not at home, but Miss Dora was, and that entirely +satisfied the visitor. When the blooming daughter of the house came +hurrying into the parlor, Miss Panney, who had previously raised two of +the window shades, gazed at her earnestly as she saluted her, and nodded +her head approvingly. Then the two sat down to talk. + +They talked of several things, and very soon of the Cobhurst people. + +"Oh, have you seen them?" exclaimed Dora. "I have, but only for a minute +at the station, and then I didn't know who they were, though I was told +afterward. They seemed to be very nice." + +"They are," said Miss Panney. "The girl is bright, and young Mr. Haverley +is an exceedingly agreeable gentleman, just the sort of man who should be +the owner of Cobhurst. He is handsome, well educated, and spirited. I saw +a good deal of him, for I spent the best part of yesterday there. I +should say that your brother would find him a most congenial neighbor. +There are so few young men hereabout who are worth anything." + +"That is true," replied Dora, with a degree of earnestness, "and I know +Herbert will be delighted. I am sure he would call if he were here, but +he is away, and doesn't expect to be back for a week." + +It crossed Miss Panney's mind that a week's delay in a matter of +this sort would not be considered a breach of courtesy, but she did +not say so. + +"It would be friendly if Mrs. Bannister and you were to call on the +sister, before long," she remarked. + +"Of course we will do it," said Dora, with animation. "I should think a +young lady would be dreadfully lonely in that great house, at least at +first, and perhaps we can do something for her." + +Although Miss Panney had seen Miriam only in bed, she had a strong +conviction that she was not yet a young lady, but this, like the other +reflection, was not put into words. + +It was not noon when Miss Panney left the Bannister house, and the mind +of Miss Dora, which had been renewing itself within her with all the +vigor and freshness which Dr. Tolbridge had predicted, was at a loss how +to occupy itself until dinner-time, which, with the Bannisters and most +of the gentlefolk of Thorbury, was at two o'clock. + +Dora put on her prettiest hat and her wrap and went out. She wanted to +call on somebody and to talk, and suddenly it struck her that she would +go and inquire about the kitten she had given Dr. Tolbridge, and carry +it a fresh ribbon. She bought the ribbon, and found Mrs. Tolbridge and +the kitten at home. + +When the ornament had been properly adjusted, Miss Dora put the kitten +upon the floor and remarked: "Now there is some comfort in doing a thing +like that for Dr. Tolbridge, because he will be sure to notice it. There +are some gentlemen who hardly ever notice things you do for them. Herbert +is often that way." + +"Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Tolbridge, who had turned toward a desk at +which she had been writing. "The doctor is a man I can recommend, and I +hope you may get a husband as good as he is. And by the way, if you ever +do get such a one, I also hope you will be able to find some one who will +cook his meals properly. I find that I cannot do that in Thorbury, and I +am going to try to get one in the city. I am now writing an advertisement +which I shall put into several of the papers, and day after to-morrow I +shall go down to see the people who answer." + +"Oh, that will be fun," cried Dora; "I wish I could go with you." + +"And why not?" + +"Why not, indeed?" replied the young lady, and the matter was +immediately arranged. + +"And while we are talking about servants," said Dora, whose ebullient +mind now found a chance to bring in the subject which was most prominent +within it, "I should think that the new people at Cobhurst would find it +troublesome to get the right sort of service." + +"Perhaps so," replied Mrs. Tolbridge, "although I have a fancy they are +going to have a very independent household, at least for a time. It is a +great pity that the young girl was taken sick just as she entered into +her new home." + +"Sick!" exclaimed Dora; "I never heard of that." + +"Oh, it wasn't anything serious," said the other, her thoughts turning +to the advertisement, which she wished to get into the post-office +before dinner, "and I have no doubt she is quite well now, but still it +was a pity." + +"Indeed it was!" exclaimed Dora, in tones of the most earnest sympathy +and commiseration. "It was the greatest kind of a pity, and I think I +really ought to call on her very soon." And in this mood she went home +to dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK + + +Very early that afternoon Miss Dora Bannister was driven to Cobhurst to +call upon the young lady who had been taken sick, and who ought not to be +neglected by the ladies of Thorbury. Dora had asked her stepmother to +accompany her, but as that good lady seldom made calls, and disliked long +drives, and could not see why it was at all necessary for her to go, Dora +went alone. + +When the open carriage with its pair of handsome grays had bumped over +the rough entrance to the Cobhurst estate, and had drawn up to the front +of the house, Miss Dora skipped lightly out, and rang the door-bell. She +rang twice, and as no one came, and as the front door was wide open, she +stepped inside to see if she could find any one. She had never been in +that great wide hall before, and she was delighted with it, although it +appeared to be in some disorder. Two boxes and a trunk were still +standing where they had been placed when they were brought from the +station. She looked through the open door of the parlor, but there was no +one there, and then she knocked on the door of a closed room. + +No answer came, and she went to the back door of the long hall and looked +out, but not a soul could she see. This was discouraging, but she was not +a girl who would willingly turn back, after having set out on an errand +of mercy. There was a door which seemed to lead to the basement, and on +this she knocked, but to no purpose. + +"This is an awfully funny house," she said to herself. "If I could see +any stairs, I might go up a little way and call. Surely there must be +somebody alive somewhere." Then the thought suddenly came into her mind +that perhaps want of life in the particular person she had come to see +might be the reason of this dreadful stillness and desertion, and without +a moment's hesitation she stepped out of the back door into the open air. +She could not stay in that house another second until she knew. Surely +there must be some one on the place who could tell her what had happened. + +Approaching the gardener's house, she met Phoebe just coming out +of the door. + +"Bless my soul!" exclaimed the woman of color. "Is that you, Miss Dora? +Mike hollered to me that a kirridge had come, and I was a-hurryin' up to +the house to see who it was." + +"I came to call on Miss Haverley," said Dora. "How is she, Phoebe, and +can I see her?" + +"Oh, she's well enough, and you can see her if you can find her; but to +save my soul, Miss Dora, I couldn't tell you where she is at this minute. +You never did in all your life see anybody like that Miss Miriam is. Why, +true as I speak, the very sparrers in the trees isn't as wild as she is. +From sunrise this morning she has been on the steady go. You'd think, to +see her, that the hens and the cows and the colts and even the old apple +trees was all silver and gold and diamonds in her eyes, she takes on so +about 'em. I can't keep up with her, I can't. The last time I see her, +she was goin' into the barn, and I reckon she's thar yit, huntin' hens' +nests. If you like, I'll go look for her, Miss Dora." + +Phoebe had often worked for the Bannister family, and Dora knew her to be +one of the slowest movers among mankind; besides, the idea of calling +upon a young lady who was engaged in looking for hens' nests in a barn +was an exceedingly attractive one. It had not been long since Dora had +taken much delight in that sort of thing herself. + +"You needn't trouble yourself, Phoebe," she said; "I will walk over to +the barn. I would a great deal rather do that than wait in the house. If +I don't see her there, I will come back and leave our cards." + +"You might as well do that," said Phoebe, laughing, "for if she isn't +thar, she's as like as not at the other end of the farm in the field +where the colts is." + +The Cobhurst barn was an unusual, and, indeed, a remarkable structure. It +was not as old as the house, although it had been built many years ago by +Mathias Butterwood, in a fashion to suit his own ideas of what a barn +should be. + +It was an enormous structure, a great deal larger than the house, and +built of stone. It stood against a high bluff, and there was an entrance +on the level to the vast lower story, planned to accommodate Mr. +Butterwood's herd of fine cattle. A little higher up, a wide causeway, +supported by an arch, led into the second story, devoted to horses and +all kinds of vehicles, and still higher, almost on a level with the +house, there was a road, walled on each side, by which the loaded +haywagons could be driven in upon the great third floor of the barn. + +When Dora Bannister reached this barn, having followed a path which led +to the lower story, she looked in at an open door, and received the +impression of vast extent, emptiness, and the scent of hay. She entered, +looking about from side to side. At the opposite end of the great room, +was an open door through which the sun shone, and as she approached it, +she heard a voice and the cracking of cornstalks outside. + +Standing in the doorway, she looked out, and saw a large barnyard, the +ground near the door covered with fresh straw which seemed to have been +recently strewn there. The yard beyond was a neglected and bad-looking +expanse, into which no young lady would be likely to penetrate, and from +which Dora would have turned away instantly, had she not seen, crossing +it, a young man and a horse. + +The young man was leading the horse by its forelock, and was walking +in a sidewise fashion, with his back toward Dora. The horse, a +rough-looking creature, seemed reluctant to approach the barn, and its +leader frequently spoke to it encouragingly, and patted its neck, as +he moved on. + +This young man was tall and broad-shouldered. He wore a light soft hat, +which well suited his somewhat curling brown hair. A corduroy suit and +high top boots, in which he strode fearlessly through the debris and +dirt of the yard, gave him, in Dora's eyes, a manly air, and she longed +for him to turn his face toward her, that she might speak to him, and +ask him where she would be apt to find his sister--for of course this +must be Mr. Haverley. + +But he did not turn; instead of that he now backed himself toward the +stable door, pulling the horse after him. Dora was pleased to stand and +look at him; his movements struck her as athletic and graceful. He was +now so near that she felt she ought to make her presence known. She +stepped out upon the fresh straw, intending to move a little out of his +way and then accost him, but he spoke first. + +"Good," he said; "don't you want to take hold of this mare by the +forelock, as I am doing, and keep her here until I get a halter?" And as +he spoke he turned toward Miss Bannister. + +His face was a handsome one, fully equal in quality to his height, his +shoulders, and his grace of movement. His blue eyes opened wide at the +sight of the young lady in gray hat and ostrich plumes, fashionable +driving costume edged with fur, for the spring air was yet cool, and +bright silk parasol, for the spring sun was beginning to be warm. With +almost a stammer, he said:-- + +"I beg your pardon, I thought it was my sister I heard behind me." + +"Oh, it doesn't matter in the least," said Dora, with a charming smile; +"I am Miss Bannister. I live in Thorbury, and I came to call on your +sister. Phoebe told me she thought she was out here, and so I came to +look for her myself. A barn is so charming to me, especially a great one +like this, that I would rather make a call in it than in the house." + +"I will go and look for her," said Ralph. "She cannot be far away." And +then he glanced at the horse, as if he were in doubt what to do with it +at this juncture. + +"Oh, let me hold your horse," cried Dora, putting down the parasol by the +side of the barn and approaching; "I mean while you go and get its +halter. I am ever so fond of horses, and like to hold them and feed them +and pet them. Is this one gentle?" + +"I don't know much about her," said Ralph, laughing, "for we have just +taken possession of the place, and are only beginning to find out what +animals we own, and what they are like. This old mare seems gentle +enough, though rather obstinate. I have just brought her in out of the +fields, where she has been grazing ever since the season opened." + +"She looks like a very good horse, indeed," said Dora, patting the +tangled hair on the creature's neck. + +"I brought her in," said Ralph, "thinking I might rub her down, and get +her into proper trim for use. My sister is much disappointed to find that +out of our four horses, two are unbroken colts, and one is in constant +use by the man. I think if I can give her a drive, even if it is behind a +jogging old mare, it will set up her spirits again." + +"You must let me hold her," said Dora, "while you get the halter, and +then you can tie her, while we go and look for your sister. Don't +think of such a thing as letting her go, after all your trouble in +catching her." + +"If I could get her into these stables," said Ralph, "I might shut her +in, but I don't think that I shall be able to pull her through that +doorway in this fashion." + +Without further ado, Miss Dora put out her right hand, in its neatly +fitting kid glove, and took hold of the mare's forelock, just above +Ralph's hand. The young man demurred an instant, and then, laughing, ran +into the stable to find a halter. His ownership of everything was so +fresh that he forgot that the lower part of the barn was occupied by the +cow stables--which the old mare did not wish to enter, or even approach. +He hurriedly rummaged here and there among the stalls, finding nothing +but some chains and rope's ends fastened to the mangers, but in his hasty +search he could not help thinking how extremely ingenuous and neighborly +was that handsome girl outside. + +Dora held firmly the forelock of the mare, and patted the good animal's +head with the other hand; but, strange to say, the animal did not like +being held by the young lady, and gradually she backed, first toward the +side of the barn, and then out toward the open yard. Dora attempted to +restrain her, but in spite of all her efforts was obliged to follow the +retrogressive animal. + +"It's my gloves she doesn't like," she said to herself; "I know some +horses can't bear the smell of kid, but I can't take them off now, and I +will not let go. I wish he would hurry with the halter." + +Little by little poor Dora was pulled forward, until she reached a spot +which was at the very end of the clean straw, and yet not very far from +the wall of the barn. Here she vigorously endeavored to make a stand, +for if she went another step forward her dainty boots would sink into +mud and dirt. + +"Whoa!" she called out to the mare; "whoa, now!" + +At the sound of these words, plainly uttered in trouble, Ralph, who +happened to be in a stall next to the barn wall looking over some ropes, +glanced through a little window about four feet from the ground, and saw +Miss Bannister very close to him, tottering on the edge of the straw, and +just about to let go of the mare, or step into the mire. Before he could +shape words to tell her to release her dangerous hold, or make up his +mind to rush around to the door to go to her assistance, she saw him, and +throwing out her left hand in his direction, she exclaimed:-- + +"Oh, hold me, please." + +Instantly Ralph put out his long arm, and caught her by the hand. + +"Thank you," said Miss Dora. "In another moment she would have pulled me +into the dirt. Perhaps now I can make her walk up on the clean straw. +Come, come," she continued persuasively to the mare, which, however, +obstinately declined to advance. + +"Let go of her, I beg of you, Miss Bannister," cried Ralph. "It will hurt +you to be pulled on two sides in this way." + +Dora was a strong young girl, and so far the pulling had not hurt her at +all. In fact, she liked it, at least on one side. + +"Oh, I couldn't think of letting her go," she replied, "after all the +trouble you have had in catching her. The gate is open, and in a minute +she would be out in the field again. If she will only make a few steps +forward, I am sure I can hold her until you come out. If you would draw +me in a little bit, Mr. Haverley, perhaps she would follow." + +Ralph did not in the least object to hold the smoothly gloved little hand +in his own, but he was really afraid that the girl would be hurt, if she +persisted in this attempt to make a halter of herself. If he released his +hold, he was sure she would be jerked face forward into the mire, or at +least be obliged to step into it; and as for the mare, it was plain to be +seen that she did not intend to come any nearer the shed. He therefore +doubled his entreaties that she would let the beast go, as it made no +difference whether she ran into the fields or not. He could easily catch +her again, or the man could. + +"I don't want to let her go," said Dora. "Your sister would have a pretty +opinion of me when she is ready to take her drive, and finds that I have +let her horse run away; and, besides, I don't like to give up things. Do +you like to give up things? I am sure you don't, for I saw you bringing +this horse into the yard, and you were very determined about it. If I let +her go, all your determination and trouble will have been for nothing. I +should not like that. Come, come, you obstinate creature, just two steps +forward. I have some lumps of sugar in my pocket which I keep to give to +our horses, but of course I can't get it with both my hands occupied. I +wish I had thought of the sugar. By the way, the sugar is not in my +pocket; after all, it is in this little bag on my belt; I don't suppose +you could reach it." + +Ralph stretched out his other hand, but he could not reach the little +leather bag with its silver clasp. If he could have jumped out of the +window, he would have done so without hesitation, but the aperture was +not large enough. He could not help being amused by the dilemma in which +he was placed by this young lady's inflexibility. He did not know a girl, +his sister not excepted, whom, under the circumstances, he would not have +left to the consequences of what he would have called her obstinacy. But +there was something about Dora--some sort of a lump of sugar--which +prevented him from letting go of her hand. + +"I never saw a horse," said she, "nor, indeed, any sort of a living +thing, which was so unwilling to come to me. You are very good to hold me +so strongly, and I am sure I don't mind waiting a little longer, until +some one comes by." + +"There is no one to come by," exclaimed Ralph, "and I most earnestly +beg of you--" + +At this moment the horse began to back; Miss Dora's fingers nervously +clasped themselves about Ralph's hand, which pressed hers more closely +and vigorously than before. There was a strong pull, a little jerk, and +the forelock of the mare slipped out of Miss Dora's hand. + +"There!" she cried; "that is exactly what I knew would happen. The wicked +creature has galloped out of the gate." + +The young lady now made a step or two nearer the barn, Ralph still +holding her hand, as if to assist her to a better footing. + +She did not need the assistance at all, but she looked up gratefully, as +Ralph loosened his grasp, and she gently withdrew her hand. + +"Thank you ever so much," she said. "If it had not been for you, I do not +know where I should have been pulled to; but it is too bad that the horse +got off, after all." + +"Don't mention it," said Ralph. "I'll have her again in no time," and +then he ran outside to join her. + +"Now, sir," said she, and giving him no time to make any proposition, "I +should like very much to find your sister, and see her, for at least a +few moments before I go. Do you think she is anywhere in this glorious +old barn? Phoebe told me she was." + +"Is this a girl or a woman?" thought Ralph to himself. The charming and +fashionable costume would have settled this question in the mind of a +lady, but Ralph felt a little puzzled. But be the case what it might, it +would be charming to go with her through the barn or anywhere else. As +they walked over the lower floor of the edifice toward the stairway in +the corner, Dora remarked:-- + +"How happy your cows ought to be, Mr. Haverley, to have such a wide, cool +place as this to live in. What kind of cows have you?" + +"Indeed, I don't know," said Ralph, laughing. "I haven't had time to make +their acquaintance. I have seen them, only from a distance. They are but +a very small herd, and I am sure there are no fancy breeds among them." + +"Do you know," said Dora, as they went up the broad steps, sprinkled with +straw and hayseed, "that what are called common cows are often really +better than Alderneys, or Ayrshires, and those sorts? And this is the +second story! How splendid and vast! What do you have here?" + +"On the right are the horse stables," said Ralph, "and in those stalls +there should be a row of prancing chargers and ambling steeds; and on the +great empty floor, which you see over here, there should be the +carriages,--the coupe, the family carriage, the light wagon, the pony +phaeton, the top buggy, and all the other vehicles which people in the +country need. But, alas! you only see that old hay-wagon, which I am sure +would fall to pieces if horses attempted to pull it, and that affair +with two big wheels and a top. I think they call it a gig, and I believe +old Mr. Butterwood used to drive about in it." + +"Indeed he did," said Dora. "I remember seeing him when I was a little +girl. It must be very comfortable. I should think your sister and you +would enjoy driving in that. In a gig, you know, you can go +anywhere--into wood-roads, and all sorts of places where you couldn't +turn around with anything with four wheels. And how nice it is that it +has a top. I've heard it said that Mr. Butterwood would always have +everything comfortable for himself. Perhaps your sister is in some of +these smaller rooms. What are they?" + +"Oh, harness rooms, and I know not what," answered Ralph, and then he +called out:-- + +"Miriam!" His voice was of a full, rich tone, and it was echoed from the +bare walls and floors. + +"If my sister is in the barn at all," said Ralph, "I think she must be on +the floor above this, for there is the hay, and the hens' nests, if there +are any--" + +"Oh, let us go up there," said Dora; "that is just where we ought to +find her." + +There was not the least affectation in Dora's delight, as she stood on +the wide upper floor of the barn. Its great haymows rose on either side, +not piled to the roof as before, but with enough hay left over from +former years to fill the air with that delightful scent of mingled +cleanliness and sweetness which belongs to haylofts. At the back was a +wide open door with a bar across it, out of which she saw a +far-stretching landscape, rich with varied colors of spring, and through +a small side door at the other end of the floor, which there was level +with the ground, came a hen, clucking to a brood of black-eyed, downy +little chicks, which she was bringing in for the night to the spacious +home she had chosen for them. + +Whether or not Dora would have enjoyed all this as much had she been +alone is a point not necessary to settle, but she was a true country +girl, and had loved chickens, barns, and hay from her babyhood up. She +stepped quickly to the open door, and she and Ralph leaned upon the bar +and looked out upon the beautiful scene. + +"How charming it will be," she said, "for your sister to come here and +sit with her reading or sewing. She can look out and see you, almost +wherever you happen to be on your farm." + +"I don't believe Miriam will be content to sit still and watch anybody," +replied Ralph. "I wonder where she can be;" and twice he called her, once +directing his voice up toward the haymows and once out into the open air. +Dora still leaned on the bar and looked out. + +"It would be nice if we could see her walking somewhere in the fields," +she said, and she and Ralph both swept the landscape with their eyes, but +they saw nothing like a moving girl in shade or sunshine. + +Miss Bannister was not in the least embarrassed, as she stood here with +this young man whom she had met such a little time before. She did not +altogether feel that she was alone with him. The thought that any moment +the young man's sister might make one of the party, produced a sensation +not wholly unlike that of knowing she was already there. + +The view of the far-off hills with the shadows across their sides and +their forest-covered tops glistening in the sunshine was very +attractive, and there was a blossomy perfume in the outside air which +mingled charmingly with the hay-scents from within; but Dora felt that +it would not do to protract her pleasure in these things, especially as +she noticed signs of a slight uneasiness on the face of her companion. +Probably he wanted to go and look for his sister, so they walked slowly +over the floor of the great hayloft, and out of the little door where +the hen and chickens had come in, and Ralph accompanied the young lady +to her carriage. + +"I am sure I shall find Thomas and the horses fast asleep," said she, +"for I have made a long call, or, at least, have tried to make one, and +you must tell your sister that my stay proves how much I wanted to see +her. I hope she will call on me the first time she comes to Thorbury." + +"Oh, I shall drive her over on purpose," said Ralph, and, with a smile, +Miss Bannister declared that would be charming. + +When the carriage had rolled upon the smooth road outside of Cobhurst, +Miss Dora drew off her left glove and looked at her wrist. "Dear me!" +said she to herself, "I thought he would have squeezed those buttons +entirely through my skin, but I wouldn't have said a word for anything. I +wonder what sort of a girl his sister is. If she resembles him, I know I +shall like her." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED + + +A few days after Miss Bannister's call at Cobhurst, it was returned by +Ralph and Miriam, who drove to Thorbury with the brown mare and the gig. +To their disappointment, they found that the young lady was not at home, +and the communicative maid informed them that she had gone to the city to +help Mrs. Tolbridge to get a new cook. + +They went home by the way of the Witton house, and there they found +Miss Panney at home. The old lady was very much interested in Miriam, +whom she had not before seen out of bed. She scrutinized the girl from +hat to boots. + +"What do you want me to call you, my dear?" she asked. "Don't you +honestly think you are too young to be called Miss Haverley?" + +"I think it would be very well if you were to call me Miriam," said the +other, who was of the opinion that Miss Panney was old enough to call any +woman by her Christian name. + +The conversation was maintained almost entirely by the old lady and +Ralph, for Miriam was silent and very solemn. Once she broke in with a +question:-- + +"What kind of a person is Miss Bannister?" she asked. Miss Panney gave a +short laugh. + +"Oh, she is a charming person," she answered, "pretty, good-humored, +well educated, excellent taste in dress and almost everything, and very +lively and pleasant to talk to. I am very fond of her." + +"I am afraid," said Miriam, "that she is too old and too fine for me," +and turning to a photograph album she began to study the family +portraits. + +"Your sister's ideas are rather girlish as yet," said Miss Panney, "but +housekeeping at Cobhurst will change all that;" and then she went on with +her remarks concerning the Haverley and Butterwood families, a subject +upon which Ralph was not nearly so well informed as she was. + +When the brother and sister had driven away, Miss Panney reflected that +the visit had given her two pieces of information. One was that the +Haverley girl was a good deal younger than she had thought her, and the +other was that Mrs. Tolbridge was really trying to get a new cook. The +first point she did not consider with satisfaction. + +"It is a pity," she thought, "that Dora and his sister are not likely to +be friends. That would help wonderfully. This schoolgirl, probably +jealous of the superiority of grown-up young ladies, may be very much in +the way. I am sorry the case is not different." + +In regard to the other point the old lady was very well satisfied, and +determined to go soon to see what success Mrs. Tolbridge had had. + +About the middle of the next forenoon, Miss Panney tied her horse in +front of the Tolbridge house and entered unceremoniously, as she was in +the habit of doing. She found the doctor's wife standing by the +back-parlor window looking out on the garden. When the old lady had +seated herself she immediately proceeded to business. + +"Well, Kitty," said she, "what sort of a time did you have yesterday?" + +"A very discouraging and disagreeable one," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "I might +just as well have stayed at home." + +"You don't mean to say," asked Miss Panney, "that nobody answered your +advertisement?" + +"When I reached the rooms of the Non-Resident Club, where the applicants +were to call--" + +"That's the first time," interrupted Miss Panney, "that I ever heard that +that Club was of the slightest use." + +"It wasn't of any use this time," said the other; "for although I found +several women there who came before the hour appointed, and at least a +dozen came in the course of the morning, not one of them would do at +all. I was just now looking out at our asparagus bed, and wondering if +any of those beautiful heads would ever be cooked properly. The woman in +our kitchen knows that she is to depart, and she is in a terribly bad +temper, and this she puts into her cooking. The doctor is almost out of +temper himself. He says that he has pretty good teeth, but that he +cannot bite spite." + +Miss Panney now appeared to be getting out of temper. + +"I must say, Kitty," she said, in a tone of irritation, "that I do not +understand how it was that out of the score or more of applicants, you +could not find a better cook than the good-for-nothing creature you have +now. What was the matter with them?" + +"Everything, it seemed to me," answered Mrs. Tolbridge. "Now here +is Dora. She was with me yesterday, and you can ask her about the +women we saw." + +Miss Panney attached no value whatever to the opinions, in regard to +domestic service, of the young lady who had just entered the room, and +she asked her no questions. Miss Bannister, however, did not seem in the +least slighted, and sat down to join the chat. + +"I suppose," said Miss Panney, sarcastically, "that you tried to find +that woman that the doctor used to say he wanted: a woman who had +committed some great crime, who could find no relief from her thoughts +but in constant work, work, work." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. + +"No, I did not look for her; nor did I try to find the person who was of +a chilly disposition and very susceptible to draughts. We used to want +one of that sort, but she should be a waitress. But, seriously, there +were objections to every one of them. Religion was a great obstacle. The +churches of Thorbury are not designed for the consciences of city +servants. There was no Lutheran Church for the Swedes; and the fact that +the Catholic Church was a mile from our house, with no street-cars, +settled the question for most of them. The truth is, none of them wanted +to come into the country, unless they could get near Newport or some +other suitable summer resort." + +"But there was that funny old body in a shawl," said Dora, "who made no +objections to churches, or anything else in fact, as soon as she found +out your husband wasn't in trade." + +"True," replied Mrs. Tolbridge; "she didn't object, but she was +objectionable." + +Miss Panney was beginning to fasten her wrap about her. She had heard +quite enough, but still she deigned to snap out:-- + +"What was the matter with her?" + +"Oh, she was entirely out of the question," said the lady of the house. +"In the first place, she was the widow of a French chef, or somebody of +that sort, and has a wonderful opinion of her abilities. She understands +all kinds of cooking,--plain or fancy." + +"And even butter," said Dora; "she said she knew all about that." + +"Yes; and she understood how butcher's meat should be cut, and the +choosing of poultry, and I know not what else besides." + +"And only asked," cried Dora, laughing, "if your husband was in trade; +and when she heard that he was a professional man, was perfectly +willing to come." + +Miss Panney turned toward Mrs. Tolbridge, sat up very straight in her +chair, and glared. + +"Was not this the very woman you were looking for? Why didn't you +take her?" + +"Take her!" repeated Mrs. Tolbridge, with some irritation. "What could I +do with a woman like that? She would want enormous wages. She would have +to have kitchen maids, and I know not whom, besides, to wait on her; and +as for our plain style of living, she could not be expected to stand +that. She would be entirely out of place in a house like this." + +"Her looks were enough to settle her case," said Dora. "You never saw +such an old witch; she would frighten the horses." + +"Kitty Tolbridge," said Miss Panney, severely, "did you ask that woman if +she wanted high wages, if she required kitchen maids, if she would be +satisfied to cook for your family?" + +"No, I didn't," said the other; "I knew it was of no use. It was plain to +see that she would not do at all." + +"Did you get her address?" + +"Yes," said Dora; "she gave me a card as we were going out, and insisted +on my taking it. It is in my bag at home." + +Miss Panney was silent for a moment, and was evidently endeavoring to +cool her feelings so as to speak without indignation. + +"Kitty Tolbridge," she said presently, "I think you have deliberately +turned your back on one of the greatest opportunities ever offered to a +woman with a valuable husband. There are husbands who have no value, and +who might as well be hurried to their graves by indigestion as in any +other way, but the doctor is not one of these. Now, whatever you know of +that woman proves her to be the very person who should be in your kitchen +at this moment; and whatever you have said against her is all the result +of your imagination. If I were in your place, I would take the next +train for the city; and before I closed my eyes this night, I would know +whether or not such a prize as that were in my reach. I say prize because +I never heard of such a chance being offered to a doctor's wife in a +country town. Now what are you going to do about it, Kitty? If your +regard for your husband's physical condition is not sufficient to make +you look on this matter as I do, think of his soul. If you don't believe +that true religion and good cooking go hand in hand, wait a year and then +see what sort of a husband you will have." + +Mrs. Tolbridge felt that she ought to resent this speech, that she ought +to be, at least, a little angry; but when she was a small girl, Miss +Panney was an old woman who sometimes used to scold her. She had not +minded the scoldings very much then, and she could not bring herself to +mind this scolding very much now. Occasionally she had scolded Miss +Panney, and the old lady had never been angry. + +"I shall not go to the city," she said, with a smile; "but I will write, +and ask all the questions. Then our consciences will be easier." + +Miss Panney rose to her feet. + +"Do it, I beg of you," she said, "and do it this morning. And now, Dora, +if you walked here, I will drive you home in my phaeton, for you ought to +send that address to Mrs. Tolbridge without delay." + +As the old roan jogged away from the doctor's house, Miss Panney remarked +to her companion, "I needn't have hurried you off so soon, Dora, for it +is three hours before the next mail will leave; but I did want Mrs. +Tolbridge to sit down at once and write that letter without being +interrupted by anything which you might have come to tell her. Of course, +the sooner you send her the address, the better." + +"The boy shall take it to her as soon as I get home," said Dora. + +She very much disliked scoldings, and had not now a word to say against +the old body who would frighten the horses. Desirous of turning the +conversation in another direction without seeming to force it, "It seems +to me," she said, "that Mr. and Miss Haverley ought to have somebody +better to cook for them than old Phoebe. I have always looked upon her as +a sort of a charwoman, working about from house to house, doing anything +that people hired her to do." + +"That's just what those Haverleys want," said Miss Panney. "At present, +everything is charwork at their place, and as to their food, I don't +suppose they think much about it, so that they get enough. At their age +they can eat anything." + +"How old is Miss Haverley?" asked Dora. + +"Miss Haverley!" repeated Miss Panney, "she's nothing but a girl, with +her hair down her back and her skirts a foot from the ground. I call +her a child." + +A shadow came over the soul of Miss Bannister. + +Would it be possible, she thought, to maintain, with a girl who did not +yet put up her hair or wear long skirts, the intimacy she had hoped to +maintain with Mr. Haverley's sister? + +Very much the same idea was in the mind of Miss Panney, but she thought +it well to speak encouragingly. "I wish, for her brother's sake, the girl +were older," said she: "but housekeeping will help to mature her much +more quickly than if she had remained at school. And as for school," she +added, "it strikes me it would be a good thing for her to go back +there--after awhile." + +Dora thought this a good opinion, but before she could say anything on +the subject, she lifted her eyes, and beheld Ralph Haverley walking down +the street toward them. He was striding along at a fine pace, and looked +as if he enjoyed it. + +"I declare," ejaculated Miss Bannister, "here he is himself. We shall +meet him." + +"He? who?" and Miss Panney looked from side to side of the road, and the +moment she saw the young man, she smiled. + +It pleased her that Dora should speak of him as "he," showing that the +brother was in her mind when they had been talking of the sister. + +Miss Panney drew up to the sidewalk, and Ralph stopped. + +He was greatly pleased with the cordial greeting he received from +the two ladies. These Thorbury people were certainly very sociable +and kind-hearted. The sunlight was on Dora's soul now, and it +sparkled in her eyes. + +"It was my other hand that I gave you when I met you before," she said, +with a charming smile. + +"Yes," said Ralph, also with a smile, "and I think I held it an +uncommonly long time." + +"Indeed you did," said Dora; and they both laughed. + +Miss Panney listened in surprise. + +"You two seem to know each other better than I supposed," she said. "When +did you become acquainted?" + +"We have met but once before," replied Dora, "but that was rather a +peculiar meeting." And then she told the story of her call at Cobhurst, +and of the mare's forelock, and the old lady was delighted with the +narration. She had never planned a match which had begun so auspiciously. +These young people must be truly congenial, for already a spirit of +comradeship seemed to have sprung up between them. But of course that +sort of thing could not be kept up to the desirable point without the +assistance of the sister. In some way or other, that girl must be +managed. Miss Panney determined to give her mind to it. + +With Ralph standing close by the side of the phaeton, the reins lying +loose on the back of the drowsy roan, and Dora leaning forward from her +seat, so as to speak better with the young man, the interview was one of +considerable length, and no one seemed to think it necessary that it +should be brought to a close. Ralph had come to attend to some business +in the town, and had preferred to walk rather than drive the brown mare. + +"Did you ever catch that delightfully obstinate creature?" cried Dora. +"And did you give your sister a drive in the gig?" + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph, "I easily caught her again, and I curried and +polished her up myself, and trimmed her mane and tail and fetlocks, and +since she has been having good meals of oats, you can hardly imagine +what a sleek-looking beast she has become. We drove her into Thorbury +when Miriam returned your call. I am sorry you were not at home, so that +you might have seen what a change had come over Mrs. Browning." + +Dora looked inquiringly. + +"That is the name that Miriam has given to the mare." + +Dora laughed. + +"If Mrs. Browning is one of your sister's favorite poets," she said, +"that will be a bond between us, for I like her poems better than I do +her husband's, at least I understand them better. I wonder if your sister +will ever ask me to take a drive with her in the gig? I could show her so +many pretty places." + +"Indeed she will," said Ralph; "but you mustn't think we are going to +confine ourselves to that sedate conveyance and the old mare. The colts +are old enough to be broken, and when they are ready to drive we shall +have a spanking team." + +"That will be splendid," exclaimed Dora. "I cannot imagine anything more +inspiriting than driving with a pair of freshly broken horses." + +Miss Panney gave a little sniff. + +"That sort of thing," she said, "sometimes exalts one's spirit so high +that it is never again burdened by the body; but all horses have to be +broken, and people continue to live." + +She smiled as she thought that the pair of young colts which she had +taken in hand seemed to give promise of driving together most +beautifully. But it would not do to stop here all the morning, and as +there was no sign that Dora would tire of asking questions or Ralph of +answering them, the old lady gathered up the reins. + +"You mustn't be surprised, Mr. Haverley," she said, "if the ladies of +Thorbury come a good deal to Cobhurst. We have more time than the +gentlemen, and we all want to get well acquainted with your sister, and +help her in every way that we can. Miss Bannister is going to drive over +very soon and stop for me on the way, so that we shall call on her +together." + +When the young man had bowed and departed, and the old roan was +jogging on, Dora leaned back in the phaeton and said to herself, that, +without knowing it, Miss Panney was an angel. When they should go +together to Cobhurst, the old lady would be sure to spend her time +talking to the girl. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON + + +Two days after her lecture to Mrs. Tolbridge, Miss Panney was again in +Thorbury, and, having finished the shopping which brought her there, she +determined to go to see the doctor's wife, and find out if that lady had +acted on the advice given her. She had known Mrs. Tolbridge nearly all +that lady's life, and had always suspected in her a tendency to neglect +advice which she did not like, after the adviser was out of the way. She +did not wish to be over-inquisitive, but she intended, in some quiet way, +to find out whether or not the letter about which she had spoken so +strongly had been written. If it had not, she would take time to make up +her mind what she should do. Kitty Tolbridge and she had scolded each +other often enough, and had had many differences, but they had never yet +seriously quarrelled. Miss Panney did not intend to quarrel now, but if +she found things as she feared they were, she intended to interfere in a +way that might make Kitty uncomfortable, and perhaps produce the same +effect on herself and the doctor; but let that be as it might, she +assured herself there were some things that ought to be done, no matter +who felt badly about it. + +She found the doctor's wife in a state of annoyance and disquiet, and was +greatly surprised to be told that this condition had been caused by a +note which had just been brought to her from her husband, stating that he +had been called away to a distant patient, and would not be able to come +home to luncheon. + +"My dear Kitty!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "I should have thought you were +thoroughly used to that sort of thing. I supposed a country doctor would +miss his mid-day meal about half the time." + +"And so he does," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "but I was particularly anxious +that he should lunch at home to-day, and he promised me that he would." + +"Well," said the old lady, "you will have to bear up under it as well +as you can, and I hope they will give him something to eat wherever he +is going." + +Mrs. Tolbridge seemed occupied, and did not answer. + +"Miss Panney," she said suddenly, "will you stay and take lunch with me? +I should like it ever so much." + +"Are you going to have strawberries?" asked Miss Panney. + +Mrs. Tolbridge hesitated a little, and then replied, "Yes, we shall +have them." + +"Very well, then, I'll stay. The Witton strawberries are small and sour +this year; and I haven't tasted a good one yet." + +During the half hour which intervened before luncheon was announced, Miss +Panney discovered nothing regarding the matter which brought her there. +She would ask no questions, for it was Kitty Tolbridge's duty to +introduce the subject, and she would give her a chance; but if she did +not do it in a reasonable time, Miss Panney would not only ask questions, +but state her opinion. + +When she sat down at the pretty round table, arranged for two persons, +Miss Panney was surprised at the scanty supply of eatables. There was the +tea-tray, bread and butter, and some radishes. Her soul rose in anger. + +"Slops and fruit," she said to herself. "She isn't worthy to have any +sort of a husband, much less such a one as she has." + +There was a vase of flowers in the centre of the table; but although Miss +Panney liked flowers, at meal-times she preferred good honest food. + +"Shall I give you a cup of tea?" asked her hostess. + +The old lady did not care for tea, but as she considered that she could +not eat strawberries on an empty stomach, she took some, and was just +about to cast a critical eye on the bread, when a maid entered, bearing a +dish containing two little square pieces of fish, covered with a greenish +white sauce, and decorated with bits of water-cress. + +As soon as Miss Panney's eyes fell upon this dish, she understood the +situation--Mrs. Tolbridge had actually fallen back upon Kipper. Kipper +was a caterer in Thorbury, and a good one. He was patronized by the +citizens on extraordinary festive occasions, but depended for his custom +principally upon certain families who came to the village for a few +months in the summer, and who did not care to trouble themselves with +much domestic machinery. + +"Kipper, indeed," thought the old lady; "that is the last peg. A +caterer's tid-bit for a hard-working man. If she would have her fish +cooked properly in her own house, she could give him six times as much +for half the money. And positively," she continued, in inward speech, as +the maid presented the bread and butter, "Kipper's biscuit! I suppose she +is going to let him provide her with everything, just as he does for +those rich people on Maple Avenue." + +The fish was very good, and Miss Panney ate every morsel of it, but made +no remark concerning it. Instead of speaking of food, she talked of the +doings of the Methodist congregation in Thorbury, who were planning to +build a new church, far more expensive than she believed they could +afford. She was engaged in berating Mr. Hampton, the minister, who, she +declared, was actually encouraging his flock in their proposed +extravagance, when the maid gave her a clean plate, and handed her a dish +of sweetbread, tastefully garnished with clover blossoms and leaves. Miss +Panney stopped talking, gazed at the dish for a minute, and then helped +herself to a goodly portion of its contents. + +"Feathers," she said to herself; "no more than froth and feathers to a +man who has been working hard half a day, and as to the extravagance of +such flimsy victuals--" She could keep quiet no longer, she was obliged +to speak out, and she burst into a tirade against people who called +themselves pious, and yet, wilfully shutting their eyes, were about to +plunge into wicked wastefulness. She ate as she talked, however, and she +had brought up John Wesley, and was about to give her notion of what he +would have had to say about a fancy church for a Thorbury congregation, +when the plates were again changed, and a dainty dish of sirloin steak, +with mushrooms, and thin slices of delicately browned potatoes, was put +before her. + +"Well!" inwardly ejaculated the old lady, "something substantial at last. +But what money this meal must have cost!" + +As she cut into the thick, juicy piece of steak, which had been broiled +until it was cooked enough, and not a minute more, Miss Panney's mind +dropped from the consideration of congregational finances into that of +domestic calculation. She knew Kipper's charges; she knew everybody's +charges. + +"That dish of fish," she said to herself, "was not less than sixty cents; +the sweetbreads cost a dollar, if they cost a cent; this sirloin, with +mushrooms, was seventy-five cents; that, with the French biscuit, is two +dollars and a half for a family lunch for two people." + +Miss Panney did not let her steak get cold, for she could talk and eat at +the same time, and the founder of Methodism never delivered so scorching +a tirade against pomp and show in professors of religion as she gave +forth in his name. + +Mrs. Tolbridge had been very quiet during the course of the meal, but +she was now constrained to declare that she had nothing to do with the +plans for the new Methodist church, and, in fact, she knew very little +about them. + +"Some things concern all of us," retorted Miss Panney. "Suppose Bishop +White, when he was ordained and came back to this country, had found a +little village--" + +Her remarks were stopped by a dish of salad. The young and tender leaves +of lettuce were half concealed by a mayonnaise dressing. + +"This makes three dollars," thought Miss Panney, as she helped herself, +"for Kipper never makes any difference, even if you send your own lettuce +to be dressed." And then she went on talking about Bishop White, and what +he would have thought of a little cathedral in every country town. + +"But the Methodists do not have cathedrals," said Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"Which makes it all the worse when they try to build their +meeting-houses to look like them," replied the old lady. + +It was a long time since Miss Panney had tasted any mayonnaise dressing +as good as this. But she remembered that the strawberries were to come, +and did not help herself again to salad. + +"If one of the old Methodist circuit-riders," she said, "after toiling +over miles of weary road in the rain or scorching sun, and preaching +sometimes in a log meeting-house, sometimes in a barn, and often in a +private house, should suddenly come upon--" + +The imaginary progress of the circuit-rider was brought to a stop by the +arrival of the last course of the luncheon. From a pretty glass dish +uprose a wondrous structure. Within an encircling wall of delicate, +candied tracery was heaped a little mound of creamy frost, the sides of +great strawberries showing here and there among the veins and specks of +crimson juice. + +Miss Panney raised her eyes from this creation to the face of her +hostess. + +"Kitty," said she, "is this the doctor's birthday?" + +"No," answered Mrs. Tolbridge, with a smile; "he was born in January." + +"Yours then, perhaps?" + +Mrs. Tolbridge shook her head. + +"A dollar and a half," thought the old lady, "and perhaps more. Five +dollars at the very least for the meal. If the doctor makes that much +between meals, day in and day out, she ought to be thankful." + +The dainty concoction to which the blazing-eyed old lady now applied +herself was something she had never before tasted, and she became of the +opinion that Kipper would not get up a dish of that sort, and so much of +it, for less than two dollars. + +"There was a Methodist preacher," she said, spoonful after spoonful of +the cold and fruity concoction melting in her mouth as she spoke, "a +regular apostle of the poor, named Lorenzo Dow. How I would like to have +him here. He was a man who would let people know in trumpet tones, by day +and by night, what he thought of wicked, wasteful prodigality, no matter +how pleasant it might be, how easy it might be, or how proper in people +who could afford it. Is there to be anything more, Kitty Tolbridge?" + +The doctor's wife could not restrain a little laugh. + +"No," she said, "there is to be nothing more, unless you will take a +little tea." + +Miss Panney pushed back her chair and looked at her hostess. "Tea after a +meal like that! I should think not. If you had had champagne during the +luncheon, and coffee afterwards, I shouldn't have been surprised." + +"I did not order coffee," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "because we don't take it +in the middle of the day, but--" + +"You ordered quite enough," said her visitor, severely; "and I will say +this for Kipper, that he never got up a better meal, although--" + +"Kipper!" interrupted Mrs. Tolbridge. "Kipper had nothing to do with this +luncheon. It was prepared by my new cook. It is the first meal she has +given us, and I am so sorry the doctor could not be here to eat it." + +Miss Panney rose from her chair, and gazed earnestly at Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"What cook?" she asked, in her deepest tones. + +"Jane La Fleur," was the reply; "the woman you urged me to write to. I +sent the letter that afternoon. Yesterday she came to see me, and I +engaged her. And while we were at breakfast this morning, she arrived +with her boxes, and went to work." + +"And she cooked that meal? She herself made all those things?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "she even churned the butter and made the +biscuit. She says she is going to do a great deal better than this when +she gets things in order." + +"Better than this!" ejaculated Miss Panney. "Do you mean to say, Kitty +Tolbridge, that this sort of thing is going to happen three times a day? +What have you done? What sort of a creature is she? Tell me all about it +this very minute." + +Mrs. Tolbridge led the way to the parlor, and the two sat down. + +"Now," said the doctor's wife, "suppose you finish what you were saying +about the Methodist church, then--" + +Miss Panney stamped her foot. + +"Don't mention them!" she cried. "Let them build tower on tower, spire on +spire, crypts, picture galleries, altars, confessionals, if they like. +Tell me about your new cook." + +"It will take a long time to tell you all about her, at least all she +told me," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "for she talked to me more than an hour +this morning, working away all the time. Her name is Jane La Fleur, but +she does not wish any one to call her Jane. She would like the family to +use her last name, and the servants can do the same, or call her 'madam.' +She is the widow of two chefs, one a Florentine, named Tolati, and the +other a Frenchman, La Fleur. She acted as 'second' to each of these, and +in that way has thoroughly learned the art of Italian cooking, as well as +the French methods. She herself is English, and she has told me about +some of the great families she and her husbands lived with." + +"Kitty," said Miss Panney, "I should think she was trying to impose upon +you with a made-up story; but after that luncheon I will believe anything +she says about her opportunities. How in the world did you get such a +woman to come to you?" + +"Oh, the whole business of engaging her was very simple," answered +Mrs. Tolbridge. "Her last husband left her some money, and she came to +this country on a visit to relatives, but she loved her art so much, +she said--" + +"Did she call it art?" asked Miss Panney. + +"Yes, she did--that she felt she must cook, and she lived for some time +with a family named Drane, in Pennsylvania, with whom the doctor used +to be acquainted. She had a letter from them which fully satisfied me. +On her part she said she would be content with the salary I paid my +last cook." + +"Did she call it salary?" exclaimed the old lady. + +"That was the word she used," answered Mrs. Tolbridge, "and as I said +before, the only question she asked was whether or not my husband was +in trade." + +"What did that matter?" asked the other. + +"It seemed to matter a great deal. She said she had never yet lived with +a tradesman, and never intended to. She was with Mrs. Drane, the widow of +a college professor, for several months, and when the family found they +could no longer afford to keep a servant who could do nothing but cook, +La Fleur returned to her relatives, and looked for another position; but +not until I came, she said, had any one applied who was not in trade." + +"She must be an odd creature," said Miss Panney. + +"She is odder than odd," was the answer. At this moment the maid came in +and told Mrs. Tolbridge that the madam cook wanted to see her. The lady +of the house excused herself, and in a few minutes returned, smiling. + +"She wished to tell me," said she, "before my visitor left, that the +name of the 'sweet' which she gave us at luncheon is _la promesse_, being +merely a promise of what she is going to do, when she gets about her +everything she wants." + +"Kitty Tolbridge," said Miss Panney, solemnly, "whatever happens, don't +mind that woman's oddity. Keep your mind on her cooking, and don't +consider anything else. She is an angel, and she belongs to the very +smallest class of angels that visit human beings. You may find, by the +dozen, philanthropists, kind friends, helpers and counsellors, the most +loving and generous; but a cook like that in a Thorbury family is as rare +as--as--as--I can't think of anything so rare. I came here, Kitty, to +find out if you had written to that woman, and now to discover that the +whole matter has been settled in two days, and that the doors of Paradise +have been opened to Dr. Tolbridge--for you know, Kitty, that the Garden +of Eden was truly Paradise until they began to eat the wrong things--I +feel as if I had been assisting at a miracle." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE + + +It was toward the end of June that Miss Dora Bannister returned from a +fortnight's visit to some friends at the seashore, and she had been home +a very little while, when she became convinced that her most important +duty was to go to see that young girl at Cobhurst. It seemed very +strange that so long a time had passed since the arrival of the +Haverleys into the neighborhood, and she had never yet seen his sister. +In Miss Bannister's mind there was a central point, about which +clustered everything connected with Cobhurst: that point was a young +man, and the house was his house, and the fields were his fields, and +the girl was his sister. + +It so happened, the very next day, that Herbert Bannister found it +necessary to visit a lady client, who lived about four miles beyond +Cobhurst, and when Dora heard this she was delighted. Her brother should +take her as far as Cobhurst with him; they should start early enough to +give him time to stop and call on Ralph Haverley, which he most certainly +ought to do, and then he could go on and attend to his business, leaving +her at Cobhurst. Even if neither the brother nor the sister were at home, +she would not mind being left at that charming old place. She would take +a book with her, for there were so many shady spots where she could sit +and read until Herbert came back. + +Herbert Bannister, whose mind was devoted to business and the happiness +of his sister, was well pleased with this arrangement, and about three +o'clock in the afternoon the buggy containing the two stopped in front of +the Cobhurst portico. + +The front door was open, and they could see through the hall and the open +back door into the garden beyond. + +Dora laughed as she said, "This is just what happened when I came here +before,--everything wide open, as though there were no flies nor dogs nor +strangers." + +Herbert got out and rang the bell: he rang it twice, but no one came. +Dora beckoned him to her. + +"It is of no use," she said; "that also happened when I came before. +They don't live in the house, at least in the daytime. But Herbert, +there is a man." + +At this moment, the negro Mike was seen at a little distance, hurrying +along with a tin pitcher in his hand. Herbert advanced, and called to +him, and Mike, with his pitcher, approached. + +"The boss," he said, in response to their inquiries, "is down in the big +meadow, helpin' me get in the hay. We tried to git extry help, but +everybody's busy this time o' year, an' he an' me has got to step along +pretty sharp to git that hay in before it rains. No, Miss, I dunno where +the young lady is. She was down in the hay-field this mornin', rakin', +but I 'spects she is doin' some sort of housework jes' now, or perhaps +she's in the garden. I'd go an' look her up, but beggin' your pardon, I +ain't got one minute to spare, the boss is waitin' for me now," and, +touching his shabby old hat, Mike departed. + +"What shall we do?" asked Herbert, standing by the buggy. + +"I think," said Dora, slowly and decisively, as if she had fully +considered the matter, "that you may as well go on, for I don't suppose +it would do to disturb Mr. Haverley now. I know that when people are +making hay, they can't stop for anything." + +"You are right," said her brother, with a smile; "hay-making the is like +drawing will of a rich man on his death-bed; it must be done promptly, +if it is done at all. I shall go on, of course, and you will go with +me?" + +"No, indeed," said Dora, preparing to get down from the buggy; "I would +not want to wait for you in that tiresome old horse-hair parlor of the +Dudleys. I should ever so much rather sit here, by myself, until you come +back. But of course I shall see her before long. Isn't it funny, Herbert? +I had to look for her when I came here before, and I suppose I shall +always have to look for her whenever I come." + +Her brother admitted that it was funny, and accepting her arrangement, +he drove away. Dora rang the bell, and stepped into the hall. "I will +wait here a little while," she said to herself, "then I will go to +Phoebe's house, and ask her where she is. If she does not know, I do not +in the least mind walking over to the hay-field, and calling to Mr. +Haverley. It would not take him three minutes to come and tell me where I +would better go to look for his sister." + +At this Miss Bannister smiled a little. She would be really glad to know +if Mr. Haverley would be willing to leave that important hay, and make +everything wait until he came to speak to her. As she stood, she looked +about her; on a table by the wall lay a straw hat trimmed with flowers, +and a pair of long gloves, a good deal soiled and worn. Dora's eyes +passed carelessly over these, and rested on another pair of gloves, +larger and heavier. + +"He hasn't driven much, yet," she said to herself, "for they look almost +new. I wonder when he will break his colts. Then, I suppose, he will +drive a good deal." + +Dora was a girl who noticed things, and turning to the other side of the +hall, she saw a larger table, and on it lay a powder-horn and a +shot-flask, while in the angle of the table and the wall there stood a +double-barrelled fowling-piece. This sight made her eyes sparkle; he must +like to hunt and shoot. That pleased her very much. Herbert never cared +for those things, but she thought a young man should be fond of guns and +dogs and horses, and although she had never thought of it before, she +now considered it a manly thing to be able to go out into the hay-field +and work, if it happened to be necessary. + +She went to the back door, and stood, looking out. There was nobody +stirring about Phoebe's house, and she asked herself if it would be worth +while to go over to it. Perhaps it might be as well to stroll toward the +hay-field. She knew where the great meadow was, because she had looked +over it when she had stood at the wide barn window with Mr. Haverley. He +had pointed out a good many things to her, and she remembered them all. + +But she did not go to the hay-field. Just as she was about to step out +upon the back porch, she heard a door open behind her, and turning, saw, +emerging from the closed apartment which contained the staircase, a +strange figure. The head was that of a young girl about fourteen, with +large, astonished blue eyes, and light brown hair hanging in a long plait +down her back, while her form was attired in a plum-colored silk gown, +very much worn, torn in some places, with several great stains in the +front of the skirt, and a long and tattered train. The shoulders were +ever so much too wide, the waist was ever so much too big, and the long +sleeves were turned back and rolled up. In her hand the figure held a +large glass bottle, from the mouth of which hung a short rubber tube, +ending in a bulbous mouth-piece. + +Dora could not suppress a start and an expression of surprise, but she +knew this must be Miriam Haverley, and advanced toward her. In a moment +she had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to introduce herself +and explain the situation. Miriam took the bottle in her left hand, and +held out her right to Dora. + +"I have been expecting you would call," she said, "but I had no idea you +were here now. The door-bell is in the basement, and I have been +upstairs, trying to get dough off my hands. I have been making bread, and +I had no idea it was so troublesome to get your hands clean afterwards; +but I expect my dough is stickier than it ought to be, and after that I +was busy getting myself ready to go out and feed a calf. Will you walk +into the parlor?" + +"Oh, no," cried Dora, "let me go with you to feed the calf; I shall like +that ever so much better." + +"It can wait just as well as not," said Miriam; "we can sit in the hall, +if you like," and she moved toward an old-fashioned sofa which stood +against the wall; as she did so, she stepped on the front of her +voluminous silk gown, and came near falling. + +"The horrid old thing!" she exclaimed; "I am always tripping over it," +and as she glanced at Dora the two girls broke into a laugh. "I expect +you think I look like a perfect guy," she said, as they seated +themselves, "and so I do, but you see the calf is not much more than a +week old, and its mother has entirely deserted it, and kicks and horns at +it if it comes near her. It got to be so weak it could scarcely stand up, +and I have adopted it, and feed it out of this bottle. The first time I +did it I nearly ruined the dress I had on, and so I went to the garret +and got this old gown, which covers me up very well, though it looks +dreadfully, and is awfully awkward." + +"To whom did it belong?" asked Dora. "It is made in such a queer +way,--not like really old-fashioned things." + +"I am sure I don't know to whom it belonged," said Miriam. "There are +all sorts of things in our garret,--except things that are good for some +particular purpose,--and this old gown was the best I could find to +cover me up. It looks funny, but then the whole of it is +funny,--calf-feeding and all." + +"Why do you have to make your own bread?" asked Dora. "Don't +Phoebe do that?" + +"Oh, Phoebe isn't here now. She went away nearly a week ago, and I do all +the work. I went to Thorbury and engaged a woman to come here; but, as +that was three days ago and she has not come yet, I think she must have +changed her mind." + +"But why did Phoebe leave you?" exclaimed Miss Bannister. "She ought to +be ashamed of herself, to leave you without any one to help you." + +"Well," replied Miriam "she said she wasn't regularly employed, anyway, +and there were plenty of cooks in the town that I could get, and that she +was obliged to go. You see, the colored church in Thorbury has just got a +new minister, and he has to board somewhere; and as soon as Phoebe heard +that, she made up her mind to take a house and board him; and she did it +before anybody else could get the chance. Mike, her husband, who works +for us, talked to her and we talked to her, but it wasn't of any use. I +think she considers it one of the greatest honors in the world to board a +minister. Mike does not believe in that sort of business, but he says +that Phoebe has always been in the habit of doing what she wants to, and +he is getting used to it." + +"But it is impossible for you to do all the work," said Dora. + +"Oh, well," replied Miriam, "some of it doesn't get done, and some of it +I am helped with. Mike does ever so much; he makes the fires, and carries +the heavy things, and sometimes even cooks. My brother Ralph helps, too, +when there is anything he can do, which is not often; but just now they +are so busy with their hay that it is harder upon me than it was before. +We have had soda biscuit and all that sort of thing, but I saw that Ralph +was getting tired of them; and to-day I thought I would try and make some +real bread,--though how it is going to turn out, I don't know." + +"Come, let us go out and feed the calf," said Dora; "I really want to see +how you do it. I have come to make you a good long call, you must know;" +and then she explained how her brother had left her, while he went on to +attend to his business. + +At this Miriam was much relieved. She had been thinking that perhaps she +would better go upstairs and take off that ridiculous silk dress, and +entertain her visitor properly during the rest of her call; but if Miss +Bannister was going to stay a good while, and if there was no coachman +outside to see her and her train, there was no reason why she should not +go and feed the calf, and then come back and put herself into the proper +trim for the reception of visitors. It seemed strange to her, but she was +positively sure that she would not have felt so much at ease with this +handsomely dressed young lady, if she herself had been attired in her +best clothes; but now they had met without its being possible for either +Miss Bannister or herself to make any comparisons of attire. The old, +draggled silk gown did not count one way or the other. It was simply a +covering to keep one's clothes clean when one fed a calf. When they +should return to the house, and she took off her old gown, she and her +visitor would be better acquainted, and their comparative opinions of +each other would not depend so much on clothes. Miriam was accustomed to +making philosophical reflections concerning her relations with the rest +of the world; and in regard to these relations she was at times very +sensitive. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TWO GIRLS AND A CALF + + +Having gone to the kitchen to fill the bottle with milk, which she had +set to warm, Miriam accompanied her guest to the barn. As she walked by +the side of Dora, with the bottle in one hand and the other holding up +her voluminous silk robe, it was well for her peace of mind that no +stately coachman sat upon a box and looked at her. + +In a corner of the lower floor of the barn they found the calf, +lying upon a bed of hay, and covered by a large piece of mosquito +netting, which Miriam had fastened above and around him. Dora +laughed as she saw this. + +"It isn't every calf," she said, "that sleeps so luxuriously." + +"The flies worried the poor thing dreadfully," said Miriam, "but I take +it off when I feed it." + +She proceeded to remove the netting, but she had scarcely done so, when +she gave an exclamation that was almost a scream. + +"Oh, dear, oh, dear!" she cried; "I believe it is dead," and down she sat +upon the floor close to the calf, which lay motionless, with its head and +neck extended. Down also sat Dora. She did not need to consider the +hay-strewn floor and her clothes; for although she wore a very tasteful +and becoming costume, it was one she had selected with reference to barn +explorations, field strolls, and anything rural and dusty which any one +else might be doing, or might propose. No one could tell what dusty and +delightful occupation might turn up during an afternoon at Cobhurst. + +"Its eye does look as if it were dead," she exclaimed. "What a pity!" + +"Oh, you can't tell by that eye," said Miriam, over whose cheeks a few +tears were now running. "Dr. Tolbridge says it has infantile ophthalmia +in that eye, but that as soon as it gets strong enough, he can cure it. +We must turn up its other eye." + +She took the little creature's head in her lap, with the practicable eye +uppermost. This slowly rolled in its socket, as she bent over it. + +"There is life in it yet," she cried; "give me the bottle." The calf +slowly rolled its eye to the position from which it had just moved, and +declined to consider food. + +"Oh, it must drink; we must make it drink," said Miriam. "If I open its +mouth, will you put in the end of that tube? If it gets a taste of the +milk, it may want more. We must not let it die. But you must be careful," +she continued. "That bottle leaks all round the cork. Spread part of my +skirt over you." + +Dora followed this advice, for she had not considered a milk-stained lap +among the contingent circumstances of the afternoon. Holding the bottle +over the listless animal, she managed to get some drops on its tongue. + +"Now," said Miriam, "we will put that in its mouth, and shut its +jaws, and perhaps it may begin to suck. It will be perfectly dreadful +if it dies." + +The two girls sat close together, their eyes fixed upon the apparently +lifeless head of the bovine infant. + +"See!" cried Miriam, presently, "its throat moves; I believe it is +sucking the milk." + +Dora leaned over and gazed. It was indeed true; the calf was beginning to +take an interest in food. The interest increased; the girls could see the +milk slowly diminishing in the bottle. Before long the creature gave its +head a little wobble. Miriam was delighted. + +"That is the way it always does, when its appetite is good. We must let +it drink every drop, if it will." + +There they sat on the hard, hay-strewn floor, one entirely, and the other +almost entirely covered with purple silk, their eyes fixed upon the +bottle and the feeding calf. After a time the latter declined to take any +more milk, and raised its head from Miriam's lap. + +"There," she cried; "see, it can hold up its own head. I expect it was +only faint from want of food. After this I will feed it oftener. It was +the bread-making that made me forget it this time." + +"Let us wait a minute," said Dora, who was now taking an earnest and +womanly interest in the welfare of this weakling. "Perhaps after a while +it may want some more." And so they continued to sit. Every motion of the +calf's head, and every effort it made to bend its legs, or change its +position, sent sparkles of delight into Miriam's eyes, and brightened +Dora's beautiful face with sympathetic smiles. + +Dora had taken up the bottle, and was about to give the calf an +opportunity to continue its repast, when suddenly she stopped and sat +motionless. Outside the barn, approaching footsteps could be plainly +heard. They were heavy, apparently those of a man. Dora dropped the +bottle, letting it roll unheeded upon the floor; then pushing Miriam's +skirt from her lap, she sprang to her feet, and stepped backwards and +away from the little group so quickly, that she nearly stumbled over some +inequalities in the floor. Miriam looked up in astonishment. + +"You needn't be frightened," she said. "How red you are! I suppose it is +only Ralph." + +"I was afraid it was," said Dora, in a low voice, as she shook out her +skirts. "I wouldn't have had him see me that way for anything." + +Now Miriam was angry. There was nothing to be ashamed of, that she could +see, and it was certainly very rude in Miss Bannister to drop her +bottle, and nearly push her over in her haste to get away from her and +her poor calf. + +The person who had been approaching the barn now entered, but it was +not Ralph Haverley. It was a shorter and a stouter young man, with +side whiskers. + +"Why, Herbert!" exclaimed Dora, in a tone of surprise and disappointment, +"have you got back already?" + +Her brother smiled. "I haven't got back," he said, "for I haven't been +anywhere yet. I had not gone a mile before one of the springs of the +buggy broke, and it keeled over so far that I came near tumbling out. It +happened at a place where there were no houses near, so I drew the buggy +to the roadside, took out the horse, and led him back. I heard voices in +here, and I came in. I must go and look for Mr. Haverley, and ask him to +lend me a vehicle in which we may return home." + +Dora stood annoyed; she did not want to return home; at least, not so +soon. She had calculated on Herbert making a long stay with Mrs. Dudley. + +"I suppose so," she replied, in an injured tone; "but before we say +anything else, Herbert, let me introduce you to Miss Haverley." + +She turned, but in the corner to which she directed her eyes, she saw +only a calf; there was no young person in silk attire. The moment that +Miriam perceived that the man who came in was not her brother, but the +brother of some one else, her face had crimsoned, she had pushed away the +unfortunate calf, and, springing to her feet, had darted into the shadows +of an adjoining stall. From this, before Dora had recovered from her +surprise at not seeing her, Miriam emerged in the costume of a neatly +dressed school-girl, with her skirts just reaching to the tops of her +boots. It had been an easy matter to slip off that expansive silk gown. +She advanced with the air of defensive gravity with which she generally +greeted strangers, and made the acquaintance of Mr. Bannister. + +"I am sure," she said, when she had heard what had happened, "that my +brother will be very glad to lend you the gig. That is the only thing we +have at present which runs properly." + +"A gig will do very well, indeed," said Mr. Bannister. "We could not want +anything better than that; although," he continued, "I am not sure that +my harness will suit a two-wheeled vehicle." + +"Oh, we have gig harness," said Miriam, "and we will lend you a horse, +too, if you like." + +Dora now thought it was time to say something. She was irritated because +Herbert had returned so soon, and because he was going to take her away +before she was ready to go; and although she would have been delighted to +have a drive in the Cobhurst gig, provided the proper person drove her, +she did not at all wish to return to Thorbury in that ridiculous old +vehicle with Herbert. In the one case, she could imagine a delightful +excursion in she knew not what romantic by-roads and shaded lanes; but in +the other, she saw only the jogging old gig, and all the neighbors asking +what had happened to them. + +"I think," she said, "it will be well to see Mr. Haverley as soon as +possible. Perhaps he knows of a blacksmith's shop, where the buggy can +be mended." + +Herbert smiled. "Repairs of that sort," he said, "require a good deal of +time. If we waited for the buggy to be put in travelling condition, we +would certainly have to stay here all night, and probably the greater +part of tomorrow." + +In the sudden emotions which had caused her to act almost exactly as Dora +had acted, Miriam had entirely forgotten her resentment toward her +companion. + +"Why can't you stay?" she asked. "We have plenty of room, you know." + +The man of business shook his head. + +"Thank you very much," he replied, "but I must be in my office this +evening. I think I shall be obliged to borrow your gig. I will walk over +to the field--" + +"Oh, you need not take the trouble to do that," said Miriam. "They are +way over there at the end of the meadow beyond the hill. The gig is here +in the barn, and I can lend it to you just as well as he can." + +"You are very kind," said Herbert, "and I will accept your amendment. It +will be the better plan, because if I saw your brother, I should +certainly interfere with his work. He might insist upon coming to help +me, which is not at all necessary. Where can I find the gig, Miss +Haverley?" + +Miriam led her visitors to the second floor. + +"There it is," she said, "but of course you must have the harness +belonging to it, for your buggy harness will not hold up the shafts +properly. It is in the harness room, but I do not know which it is. There +is a lot of harness there, but it is mostly old and worn out." + +"I will go and look," said Herbert. "I think it is only part of it that I +shall need." + +During this conversation Dora had said nothing. Now as she stood by the +old gig, toppling forward with its shafts resting upon the floor, she +thought she had never seen such a horrible, antediluvian old trap in her +life. Nothing could add so much to her disappointment in going so soon, +as going in that thing. If there had been anything to say which might +prevent her brother from carrying out his intention, she would have said +it, but so far there had been nothing. + +She followed the others into the harness room, and as her eyes glanced +around the walls, they rested upon a saddle hanging on its peg. Instantly +she thought of something to say. + +"Herbert," she remarked, not too earnestly, "I think we shall be putting +our friends to a great inconvenience by borrowing the gig. You will never +be able to find the right harness and put it on so that there will not be +an accident on the road, and Mr. Haverley or the man will have to be +sent for. And, besides, there will be the trouble of getting the gig back +again. Now, don't you think it will be a great deal better for you to put +that saddle on the horse, and ride him home, and then send the carriage +for me? That would be very simple, and no trouble at all." + +Mr. Bannister turned his admiring eyes upon his sister. + +"I declare, Dora," he said, "that is a good practical suggestion. If Miss +Haverley will allow me, I will borrow the saddle and the bridle and ride +home; I shall like that." + +"Of course you are welcome to the saddle, if you wish it," said Miriam; +"but you need not send for your sister. Why can't she stay with me +to-night? I think it would be splendid to have a girl spend the night +with me. Perhaps I oughtn't to call you a girl, Miss Bannister." + +Dora's eyes sparkled. "But I am a girl, just as you are," she exclaimed, +"and I should be delighted to stay. You are very good to propose it. +Herbert is an awfully slow rider (I believe he always walks his horse), +and I am sure it would be after dark before the carriage would get here." + +"Do let her stay," cried Miriam, seizing Dora's arm, as if they had been +old friends; "I shall be so glad to have her." + +Mr. Bannister laughed. + +"It is not for me to say what Dora shall do," he replied. "You two must +decide that, and if I go home to report our safety, it will be all +right. It is now too late for me to go to Mrs. Dudley's, especially as I +ride so slowly; but I will drive there to-morrow, and stop for Dora on +my return." + +"Settled!" cried Miriam; and Dora gazed at her with radiant face. It was +delightful to be able to bestow such pleasure. + +In two minutes Mr. Bannister had brought in his horse. In the next minute +all three of the party were busy unbuckling his harness; in ten minutes +more it had been taken off, the saddle and bridle substituted, and Mr. +Bannister was riding to Thorbury. + +Dora of the sparkling eyes drew close to Miriam. + +"Would you mind my kissing you?" she asked. + +There was nothing in the warm young soul of the other girl which in the +least objected to this token of a new-born friendship. + +As Dora and Miriam, each with an arm around the waist of the other, +walked out of the barn and passed the lower story, the calf, who had been +the main instrument in bringing about the cordial relations between the +two, raised his head and gazed at them with his good eye. Then perceiving +that they had forgotten him, and were going away without even arranging +his mosquito net for the night, he slowly turned his clouded visual organ +in their direction, and composed himself to rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY + + +As the two girls entered the house, Miriam clapped her hands. + +"What a surprise this will be for Ralph!" she exclaimed. "He hasn't the +slightest idea that you are here, or that anybody is going to spend the +night with us. If Mike said anything about you and your brother,--which I +doubt, for he is awfully anxious to get in that hay,--Ralph thought, of +course, that you were both gone long ago." + +The situation suited Dora's fancy admirably. + +"Let us make it a regular surprise," she said. "I am going to help you to +get supper, and to do whatever you have to do. Suppose you don't tell +your brother that I am here, and let him find it out by degrees. Don't +you think that will be fun?" + +"Indeed it will," cried the other; "and if you don't mind helping a +little about the cooking, I think that will be fun too. Perhaps you can +tell me some things I don't know." + +"Let us begin," exclaimed Dora, "for everything ought to be ready before +he comes in. Can you lend me a big apron?" + +"I have only one," said Miriam, "and it is not very big; I intended to +make some more, but I haven't had time. But you needn't do anything, you +know. You can just give me advice and keep me company." + +"Oh, I want to do things. I want to work," cried Dora; "it would be cruel +to keep me from the fun of helping you get supper. Haven't you something +I can slip on instead of this dress? It is not very fine, but I don't +want to spatter or burn it." + +"None of my clothes are long enough for you," said Miriam; "but perhaps I +might find something in the garret. There are all sorts of clothes up +there. If you choose, we can go up and look." + +In the next minute the two girls were in the great garret, kneeling in +front of a trunk, in which Miriam had found the silk robe, which now lay +tumbled up in a corner of a stall in the cow-stable. Article after +article of female attire was drawn out and tossed on the floor. Dora was +delighted; she was fond of old-fashioned things, and here were clothes of +various eras. Some colonial, perhaps, and none that had been worn since +these two girls had come into the world. There was a calico dress with +large pink figures in it which caught Dora's eye; she sprang to her feet, +shook it out, and held it up before her. + +"This will do," she said. "The length is all right, and it does not +matter about the rest of the fit." + +"Of course not," said Miriam; "and now let us go down. We need not wait +to put the rest of the things back." + +As Dora was about to go, her eyes fell on an old-fashioned pink +sunbonnet. + +"If you don't mind," she said, "I will take that, too. I shall be +awfully awkward, and I don't want to get cinders or flour in my hair." + +When Dora had arrayed herself in the calico dress with pink flowers, she +stood for a moment before the large mirror in Miriam's room. The dress +was very short as to waist, and very perpendicular as to skirt, and the +sleeves were puffy at the elbows and tight about the wrists, but pink was +a color that became her, the quaint cut of the gown was well suited to +her blooming face, and altogether she was pleased with the picture in the +glass. As for the sunbonnet, that was simply hideous, but it could be +taken off when she chose, and the wearing of it would help her very much +in making herself known to Mr. Ralph Haverley. + +For half an hour the girls worked bravely in the kitchen. Dora had some +knowledge of the principles of cookery, though her practice had been +small, and Miriam possessed an undaunted courage in culinary enterprises. +However, they planned nothing difficult, and got on very well. Dora made +up some of Miriam's dough into little rolls. + +"I wish I could make these as the Tolbridges' new cook makes them. They +say that every morning she sends in a plate of breakfast rolls, each one +a different shape, and some of them ever so pretty." + +"I don't suppose they taste any better for that," remarked Miriam. + +"Perhaps not," said the other, "but I like to see things to eat look +pretty." And she did her best to shape the little rolls into such +forms that they might please the eye of Mr. Ralph as well as satisfy +his palate. + +Miriam went up to the dining-room to arrange the table. While doing this +she saw Ralph approaching from the barn. In the kitchen, below, Dora, +glancing out of the window, also saw him coming, and pulling her +sunbonnet well forward, she applied herself more earnestly to her work. +Ralph came in, tired and warm, and threw himself down on a long +horse-hair sofa in the hall. + +"Heigh ho, Miriam," he cried; "hay-making is a jolly thing, all the world +over, but I have had enough of it for to-day. How are you getting on, +little one? Don't put yourself to too much trouble about my supper. Only +give me enough of whatever you have; that is all I ask." + +"Ralph," said Miriam, standing gravely by him, "I did not have to get +supper all by myself; there is a new girl in the kitchen." + +"Good," cried Ralph; "I am very glad to hear that. When did she come?" + +"This afternoon," said Miriam, "and she is cooking supper now. But, +Ralph," she continued, "there is hardly any wood in the kitchen. We +have--she has used up nearly all that was brought in this morning." + +"Well," said Ralph, "there is plenty of it cut, in the woodhouse." + +"But, Ralph," said Miriam, "I don't like to ask her to go after the wood, +herself, and some is needed now." + +"Mike is just as busy as he can be down at the barn," said her brother, +"and I cannot call him now. If you show her the woodhouse, she can get +what she wants with very little trouble, and Mike will bring in a lot of +it to-night." + +"But, Ralph," persisted his sister, "I don't want to ask her to stop her +cooking and go out and get wood. It does not look like good management, +for one thing, and for other reasons I do not want to do it. Don't you +think you could bring her some wood? Just a little basketful of short +sticks will do." + +Ralph sat up and knitted his brows. "Miriam," said he, "if your new cook +is the right sort of a woman, she ought to be able to help herself in +emergencies of this kind, with the woodhouse not a dozen yards from the +kitchen. But as she is a stranger to the place, and I don't want to +discourage anybody who comes to help you, I will get some wood for her, +but I must say that it does not look very well for the lord of the manor +to be carrying fuel to the cook." + +"It isn't the lord of the manor," cried Miriam; "it is the head +hay-maker, and when you dress yourself for supper, she will never think +of you as the man who brought in the wood." + +Dora, from the kitchen window, saw Ralph go out to the woodhouse, and she +saw him returning with an arm-load of small sticks. Then she turned her +back to the kitchen door, and bent her head over a beefsteak she was +preparing for the gridiron. + +Ralph came in with the wood, and put it down by the side of the great +stove. As he glanced at the slight form in the pink gown, it struck him +that this woman would not be equal to the hard work which would be +sometimes necessary here. + +"I suppose this wood will be as much as you will want for the present," +he said, as he turned toward the door, "and the man will fill this box +to-night, but if you need any more before he does so, there is the +woodhouse just across the yard, where you can easily get a few sticks." + +Dora half turned herself in the direction of the woodhouse, and murmured, +"Yes, sir." + +"Miriam," said Ralph, as he went into the dining-room, where his sister +was putting the knives and forks upon the supper table, "do you think +that woman is strong enough to wash, iron, and do all the things that +Phoebe used to do when she was here? How old is she?" + +"I don't know, exactly," answered Miriam, going to a cupboard for some +glasses; "and as to rough work, I can't tell what she can do, until +she tries." + +When Ralph had made his toilet and come downstairs, attired in a very +becoming summer suit, his sister complimented him. + +"Hay-making makes you ever so much handsomer," she said; "you look as if +you had been on a yachting cruise. There is one thing I forgot to say to +you, but I do not suppose it will make any difference, as we are real +country people now: our new cook is accustomed to eating at the table +with the family." + +Ralph's face flushed. "Upon my word!" he exclaimed, staring at his +sister. "Well," he continued, "I don't care what she is accustomed to, +but she cannot eat at our table. I may carry wood for cooks, but I do +not eat with them." + +"But, Ralph," said Miriam, "you ought to consider the circumstances. She +is not a common Irishwoman, or German. She is an American, and has always +taken her meals with the family in which she lived. I could not ask her +to eat in the kitchen. You know, Mike takes his meals there since Phoebe +has gone. Indeed, Ralph, I cannot expect her to do a thing that she has +never done in her life, before. Do you really think you would mind it? +You work with Mike in the field, and you don't mind that, and this girl +is very respectable, I assure you." + +Ralph stood silent. He had supposed his sister, young as she was, knew +more of the world than to make an arrangement with a servant which would +put her, in many respects, on an equality with themselves. He was very +much annoyed, but he would not be angry with Miriam, if he could help it, +nor would he put her in the embarrassing position of revoking the +agreement with this American woman, probably a farmer's daughter, and, in +her own opinion, as good as anybody. But, although he might yield at +present, he determined to take the important matter of engaging domestic +servants into his own hands. His sister had not yet the necessary +judgment for that sort of thing. + +"Miriam," said he, "for how long have you engaged this woman?" + +"Nothing at all has been said about time," she answered. + +"Very well, then," said he, "she can come to the table to-night and +to-morrow morning, for, I suppose, if I object, she will go off and leave +you again without anybody, but to-morrow she must be told that she cannot +eat with us; and if she does not like that, she must leave, and I will go +to the city and get you a proper servant. The hay is in now, and there is +no more important work to which I could give a day. Now do not be angry, +little one, because I object to your domestic arrangements. We all have +to make mistakes, you know, when we begin." + +"Thank you, Ralph," said Miriam. "I really am ever so much obliged to +you," and going up to her brother, she lifted her face to his. Ralph +stooped to kiss her, but suddenly stopped. + +"Who, in the name of common sense, is that!" he exclaimed. The sound of +wheels was plainly heard upon the driveway, and turning, they saw a buggy +stop at the door. + +"It is Dr. Tolbridge!" cried Miriam. + +Through the open front door Ralph saw that it was the doctor, preparing +to alight. + +"Miriam," said he, quickly, "we must ask the doctor to stay to supper, +and if he does, that cook must not come to the table. It will not do at +all, as you can see for yourself. We cannot ask our friends and neighbors +to sit down with servants." + +"I will see," said Miriam. "I think that can be made all right," and they +both went to the door to meet their visitor. + +The doctor shook hands with them most cordially. + +"Glad to see you both so ruddy; Cobhurst air must agree with you. And +now, before we say anything else, let me ask you a question: Have you had +your supper?" + +"No," answered Ralph, "and I hope you have not." + +"Your hopes are realized. I have not, and if you do not mind letting me +sup with you, I will do it." + +The brother and sister, who both liked the hearty doctor, assured him +that they would be delighted to have him stay. + +"The reason of my extending an invitation to myself is this: I have been +making a visit in the country, where I was detained much longer than I +expected, and as I drove homeward, I said to myself, 'Good sir, you are +hungry, and where are you going to get your evening meal? You cannot +reach home until long after the dinner hour, and moreover you have a +patient beyond Cobhurst, whom you ought to see this evening. It would be +a great pity to drive all the way to Thorbury, and then back again, +to-night. Now there are those young Cobhurst people, who, you know, have +supper at the end of the day, instead of dinner, like the regular farmers +that they are, and as you want to see them, anyway, and find out how they +are getting on, it will be well to stop there, and ten to one, you will +find that they have not yet sat down to the table.'" + +"A most excellent conclusion," said Ralph, "and I will call Mike, and +have him take your horse." + +Having left the doctor in the charge of her brother, Miriam hurried +downstairs to apprise Dora of the state of affairs. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but we will have to give up the trick we were +going to play on Ralph, for Dr. Tolbridge has come, and will stay to +supper, and so, while you go upstairs and put on your own dress, I will +finish getting these things ready. I will see Ralph before we sit down, +and tell him all about it." + +Dora made no movement toward the stairs. + +"I knew it was the doctor," she said, "for I went out and looked around +the corner of the house, and saw his horse. But I do not see why we +should give up our trick. Let us play it on the doctor as well as on +your brother." + +Miriam stood silent a few moments. + +"I do not know how that would do," she said. "That is a very different +thing. And besides, I do not believe Ralph would let you come to the +table. You ought to have seen how angry he was when I told him the new +cook must eat with us." + +"Oh, that was splendid!" cried Dora. "I will not come to the table. That +will make it all the funnier when we tell him. I can eat my supper +anywhere, and I will go upstairs and wait on you, which will be better +sport than sitting down at the table with you." + +"But I do not like that," said Miriam. "I will not have you go without +your supper until we have finished." + +"My dear Miriam!" exclaimed Dora, "what is a supper in comparison with +such a jolly bit of fun as this? Let me go on as the new cook. And now +we must hurry and get these things on the table. It will make things a +great deal easier for me, if they can eat before it is time to light +the lamps." + +When Miriam went to call the gentlemen to supper, the doctor said to +her:-- + +"Your brother has told me that you have a new servant, and that she is so +preposterous as to wish to take her meals with you, but that he does not +intend to allow it. Now, I say to you, as I said to him, that if she +expected to sit at the table before I came, she must do it now. I am used +to that sort of thing, and do not mind it a bit. In the families of the +farmers about here, with whom I often take a meal, it is the custom for +the daughter of the family to cook, to wait on the table, and then sit +down with whomever may be there, kings or cobblers. I beg that you will +not let my coming make trouble in your household." + +Miriam looked at her brother. + +"All right," said Ralph, with a smile, "if the doctor does not mind, I +shall not. And now, do let us have something to eat." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DORA'S NEW MIND + + +When Ralph Haverley made up his mind to agree to anything, he did it with +his whole soul, and if he had had any previous prejudices against it, he +dismissed them; so as he sat at supper with the doctor and his sister he +was very much amused at being waited upon by a woman in a pink sunbonnet. +That she should wear such a head-covering in the house was funny enough +in itself, but the rest of her dress was also extremely odd, and she kept +the front of her dark projecting bonnet turned downward or away, as if +she had never served gentlemen before, and was very much overpowered by +bashfulness. But for all that she waited very well, and with a light +quickness of movement unusual in a servant. + +"I am afraid, doctor," said Miriam, when the pink figure had gone +downstairs to replenish the plate of rolls, "that you will miss your +dinner. I have heard that you have a most wonderful cook." + +"She is indeed a mistress of her art," replied the doctor; "but you do +very well here, I am sure. That new cook of yours beats Phoebe utterly. I +know Phoebe's cooking." + +"But you must not give her all the credit," exclaimed Miriam; "I made +that bread, although she shaped it into rolls. And I helped with the +beefsteak, the potatoes, and the coffee." + +"Which latter," said Ralph, "is as strong as if six or seven women had +made it, although it is very good." + +The meal went on until the two hungry men were satisfied, Miriam being so +absorbed in Dora's skilful management of herself that she scarcely +thought about eating. There was a place for the woman in pink, if she +chose to take it, but she evidently did not wish to sit down. Whenever +she was not occupied in waiting upon those at the table, she bethought +herself of some errand in the kitchen. + +"Well," said Ralph, "those rolls are made up so prettily, and look so +tempting, that I wish I had not finished my supper." + +"You are right," said the doctor, "they are aesthetic enough for La +Fleur," and then pushing back his chair a little, he looked steadfastly, +with a slight smile on his face, at the figure, with bowed sunbonnet, +which was standing on the other side of the table. + +"Well, young woman," he said, "how is your mind by this time?" + +For a moment there was silence, and then from out of the sunbonnet there +came, clearly and distinctly, the words:-- + +"That is very well. How is your kitten?" + +At this interchange of remarks, Ralph sat up straight in his chair, +amazement in his countenance, while Miriam, ready to burst into a roar of +laughter, waited convulsively to see what would happen next. Turning +suddenly toward Ralph, Dora tore off her sunbonnet and dashed it to the +floor. Standing there with her dishevelled hair, her flushed cheeks, her +sparkling eyes and her quaint gown, Ralph thought her the most beautiful +creature he had ever gazed upon. + +"How do you do, Mr. Haverley?" said Dora, advancing and extending her +hand; "I know you are not willing to eat with cooks, but I do not believe +you will object to shaking hands with one, now and then." + +Ralph arose, and took her hand, but she gave him no opportunity to +say anything. + +"Your sister and I got up this little bit of deception for you, Mr. +Haverley," she continued, "and we intended to carry it on a good deal +further, but that gentleman has spoiled it all, and I want you to know +that I stopped here to see your sister, and finding she had not a soul to +help her, I would not leave her in such a plight, and we had a royal good +time, getting the supper, and were going to do ever so many more +things--I should like to know, doctor, how you knew me. I am sure I did +not look a bit like myself." + +"You did not look like yourself, but you walked like yourself," replied +Dr. Tolbridge. "I watched you when you first tried to toddle alone, and I +have seen you nearly every day since, and I know your way of stepping +about as well as I know anything. But I must really apologize for having +spoiled the fun. I discovered you, Dora, before we had half finished +supper, but I thought the trick was being played on me alone. I had no +idea that Mr. Haverley thought you were the new cook." + +"I certainly did think so," cried Ralph, "and what is more, I intended to +discharge you to-morrow morning." + +There was a lively time for a few minutes, after which Dora explained +what had been said about her mind and a kitten. + +"He was just twitting me with having once changed my mind--every one +does that," she said; "and then I gave him a kitten. That is all. And +now, before I change my dress, I will go and get some wood for the +kitchen fire. I think you said, Mr. Haverley, that the woodhouse was not +far away." + +"Wood!" cried Ralph; "don't you think of it!" + +Miriam burst into a laugh. + +"Oh, you ought to have heard the lord of the manor declare that he would +not carry fuel for the cook," she cried. + +Ralph joined in the laugh that rose against him, but insisted that Dora +should not change her dress. + +"You could not wear anything more becoming," he said, "and you do not +know how much I want to treat the new cook as one of the family." + +"I will wear whatever the lord of the manor chooses," said Dora, +demurely, and was about to make reference to his concluding remark, but +checked herself. + +When the two girls joined the gentlemen on the porch, which they did with +much promptness, having delegated the greater part of their household +duties to Mike, who could take a hand at almost any kind of work, Dr. +Tolbridge announced that he must proceed to visit his patient. + +"Are you coming back this way, doctor?" asked Dora. "Because if you are, +would it be too much trouble for you to look for our buggy on the side of +the road, and to bring back the cushions and the whip with you? Herbert +may think that in this part of the country the people are so honest that +they would not steal anything out of a deserted buggy, but I do not +believe it is safe to put too much trust in people." + +"A fine, practicable mind," said the doctor; "cuts clean and sharp. I +will bring the cushions and the whip, if they have not been stolen before +I reach them. And now I will go to the barn and get my horse. We need +not disturb the industrious Mike." + +"If you are going to the barn, doctor," cried Miriam, seizing her hat, "I +will go with you and put the mosquito net over my calf, which I entirely +forgot to do. Perhaps, if it is light enough, you will look at its eye." + +The doctor laughed, and the two went off together, leaving Dora and Ralph +on the piazza. + +Dora could not help thinking of herself as a very lucky girl. When she +had started that afternoon to make a little visit at Cobhurst, she had +had no imaginable reason to suppose that in the course of a very few +hours she would be sitting alone with Mr. Haverley in the early +moonlight, without even his sister with them. She had expected to see +Ralph and to have a chat with him, but she had counted on Miriam's +presence as a matter of course; so this tête-à -tête in the quiet beauty +of the night was as delightful as it was unanticipated. More than that, +it was an opportunity that ought not to be disregarded. + +The new mind of Miss Dora Bannister was clear and quick in its +perceptions, and prompt and independent in action. It not only showed +what she wanted, but indicated pretty clearly how she might get it. Since +she had been making use of this fresh intellect, she had been impressed +very strongly by the belief that in the matter of matrimonial alliance, a +girl should not neglect her interest by depending too much upon the +option of other people. Her own right of option she looked upon as a +sacred right, and one that it was her duty to herself to exercise, and +that promptly. She had just come from the seaside, where she had met some +earnest young men, one or two of whom she expected to see shortly at +Thorbury. Also Mr. Ames, their young rector, was a very persevering +person, and a great friend of her brother. + +Of course it behooved her to act with tact, but for all that she must be +prompt. It was easy to see that Ralph Haverley could not be expected to +go very soon into the society of Thorbury, to visit ladies there, and as +she wanted him to learn to know her as rapidly as possible, she resolved +to give him every opportunity. + +Miriam was gone a long time, because when she reached the barn, the calf +was not to be found where she had left it, and she had been obliged to go +for Mike and a lantern. After anxious search the little fellow had been +found reclining under an apple tree, having gained sufficient strength +from the ministrations of its fair attendants to go through the open +stable door and to find out what sort of a world it had been born into. +It required time to get the truant back, secure it in its stall, and make +all the arrangements for its comfort which Miriam thought necessary. +Therefore, before she returned to the piazza, Miss Bannister and Ralph +had had a long conversation, in which the latter had learned a great deal +about the disposition and tastes of his fair companion, and had been much +interested in what he learned. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GOOD-NIGHT + + +When the three young people had been sitting for half an hour on the wide +piazza of Cobhurst, enjoying the moonlight effects and waiting for the +return of Dr. Tolbridge, Miriam, who was reclining in a steamer chair, +ceased making remarks, but very soon after she became silent she was +heard again, not speaking, however, but breathing audibly and with great +regularity. Ralph and Dora turned toward her and smiled. + +"Poor little thing," said the latter in a low voice; "she must be +tired out." + +"Yes," said Ralph, also speaking in an undertone, "she was up very early +this morning, and has been at some sort of work ever since. I do not +intend that this shall happen again. You must excuse her, Miss +Bannister,--she is a girl yet, you know." + +"And a sweet one, too," said Dora, "with a perfect right to go to sleep +if she chooses. I should be ashamed of myself if I felt in the least +degree offended. Do not let us disturb her until the doctor comes; the +nap will do her good." + +"Suppose, then," said Ralph, "that we take a little turn in the +moonlight. Then we need not trouble ourselves to lower our voices." + +"That will be very well," said Dora, "but I am afraid she may take cold, +although the night air is so soft. I think I saw a lap robe on a table +in the hall; I will spread that over her." + +Ralph whispered that he would get the robe, but motioning him back, and +having tiptoed into the hall and back again, Dora laid the light covering +over the sleeping girl so gently that the regular breathing was not in +the least interrupted. Then they both went quietly down the steps, and +out upon the lawn. + +"She is such a dear girl," said Dora, as they slowly moved away, "and +although we only met to-day, I am really growing very fond of her, and I +like her the better because there is still so much of the child left in +her. Do not you like her the better for that, Mr. Haverley?" + +Ralph did agree most heartily, and it made him happy to agree on any +subject with a girl who was even more beautiful by moonlight than by +day; who was so kind, and tended to his sister, and whose generous +disposition could overlook little breaches of etiquette when there was +reason to do so. + +As they walked backward and forward, not very far away from the piazza, +and sometimes stopping to admire bits of the silver-tinted landscape, +Dora, with most interesting deftness, gave Ralph further opportunity of +knowing her. With his sister as a suggesting subject, she talked about +herself; she told him how she, too, had lost her parents early in life, +and had been obliged to be a very independent girl, for her stepmother, +although just as good as she could be, was not a person on whom she could +rely very much. As for her brother, the dearest man on earth, she had +always felt that she was more capable of taking care of him, at least in +all matters in home life, than he of her. + +"But I have been very happy," she went on to say, "for I am so fond of +country life, and everything that belongs to it, that the more I have to +do with it, the better I like it, and I really begrudge the time that I +spend in the city. You do not know with what pleasure I look forward to +helping Miriam get breakfast to-morrow morning. I consider it a positive +lark. By the way, Mr. Haverley, do you like rolled omelets?" + +Ralph declared that he liked everything that was good, and had no doubt +that rolled omelets were delicious. + +"Then I shall make some," said Dora, "for I know how to do it. And I +think you said, Mr. Haverley, that the coffee to-night was too strong." + +"A little so, perhaps," said Ralph, "but it was excellent." + +"Oh, it shall be better in the morning. I am sure it will be well for one +of us to do one thing, and the other another. I will make the coffee." + +"You are wonderfully kind to do anything at all," said Ralph, and as he +spoke he heard the clock in the house strike ten. It was agreeable in the +highest degree to walk in the moonlight with this charming girl, but he +felt that it was getting late; it was long past Miriam's bedtime, and he +wondered why the doctor did not come. + +Dora perceived the perturbations of his mind; she knew that he thought it +was time for the little party to break up, but did not like to suggest +it. She knew that the natural and proper thing for her to do was to wake +up Miriam, and that the two should bid Ralph good-night, and leave him to +sit up and wait for the doctor as long as he felt himself called upon to +do so, but she was perfectly contented with the present circumstances, +and did not wish to change them just yet. It was a pleasure to her to +walk by this tall, broad-shouldered young fellow, who was so handsome and +so strong, and in so many ways the sort of man she liked, and to let him +know, not so much by her words, as by the incited action of his own +intelligence, that she was fond of the things he was fond of, and that +she loved the life he led. + +As they still walked and talked, the thought came to Dora, and it was a +very pleasing one, that she might act another part with this young +gentleman; she had played the cook, now for a while she could play the +mistress, and she knew she could do it so gently and so wisely that he +would like it without perceiving it. She turned away her face for a +moment; she felt that her pleasure in acting the part of mistress of +Cobhurst, even for a little time, was flushing it. + +"Suppose," she said, "we walk down to the road, and if we see or hear the +doctor coming, we can wait there and save him the trouble of driving in." + +They went out of the Cobhurst gateway, but along the moonlighted highway +they saw no approaching spot, nor could they hear the sounds of wheels. + +"I really think, Mr. Haverley," said Dora, turning toward the house, +"that I ought to go and arouse Miriam, and then we will retire. It is a +positive shame to keep her out of her bed any longer." + +This suggestion much relieved Ralph, and they walked rapidly to the +porch, but when they reached it they found an empty steamer chair and no +Miriam anywhere. They looked at each other in much surprise, and +entering the house they looked in several of the rooms on the lower +floor. Ralph was about to call out for his sister, but Dora quickly +touched him on the arm. + +"Hush," she said, smiling, "do not call her. Do you see that lap robe on +the table? I will tell you exactly what has happened; while we were down +at the road she awoke, at least enough to know that she ought to go to +bed, and I really believe that she was not sufficiently awake to remember +that I am here, and that she simply got up, brought the robe in with her, +and went to her room. Isn't it funny?" + +Ralph was quite sure that Dora's deductions were correct, for when Miriam +happened to drop asleep in a chair in the evening, it was her habit, when +aroused, to get up and go to bed, too sleepy to think about anything +else; but he did not think it was funny now. He was mortified that Miss +Bannister should have been treated with such apparent disrespect, and he +began to apologize for his sister. + +"Now, please stop, Mr. Haverley," interrupted Dora. "I am so glad to have +her act so freely and unconventionally with me, as if we had always been +friends. It makes me feel almost as if we had known each other always, +and it does not make the slightest difference to me. Miriam wanted to +give me another room, but I implored her to let me sleep with her in that +splendid high-posted bedstead, and so all that I have to do is to slip up +to her room, and, if I can possibly help it, I shall not waken her. In +the morning I do not believe she will remember a thing about having gone +to bed without me. So good-night, Mr. Haverley. I am going to be up very +early, and you shall see what a breakfast the new cook will give you. I +will light this candle, for no doubt poor Miriam has put out her lamp, if +she did not depend entirely on the moonlight. By the way, Mr. Haverley," +she said, turning toward him, "is there anything I can do to help you in +shutting up the house? You know I am maid of all work as well as cook. +Perhaps I should go down and see if the kitchen fire is safe." + +"Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Ralph; "I attend to all those things,--at least, +when we have no servant." + +"But doesn't Miriam help you?" asked Dora, taking up the candle which she +had lighted. + +"No," said he; "Miriam generally bids me good-night and goes upstairs an +hour before I do." + +"Very well," said Dora; "I will say only one more thing, and that is that +if I were the lord of the manor, who had been working in the hay-field +all day, I would not sit up very long, waiting for a wandering doctor." + +Ralph laughed, and as she approached the door of the stairway, he opened +it for her. + +"Suppose," she said, stopping for a moment in the doorway, and shielding +the flame of the candle from a current of air with a little hand that +was so beautifully lighted that for a moment it attracted Ralph's eyes +from its owner's face, "you wait here for a minute, and I will go up and +see if she is really safe in her own room. I am sure you will be better +satisfied if you know that." + +Ralph looked his thanks, and softly, but quickly, she went up the stairs. +At a little landing she stopped. + +"Do you know," she whispered, looking back, with the candle throwing her +head and hair into the prettiest lights and shadows, "I think this +stairway is lovely;" and then she went on and disappeared. + +In a few minutes she leaned over the upper part of the banisters and +softly spoke to him. + +"She is sleeping as sweetly and as quietly as the dearest of angels. I do +not believe I shall disturb her in the least. Good-night, Mr. Haverley." +And with her face thrown into a new light,--this time by the hall lamp +below,--she smiled ever so sweetly, and then drew back her head. In half +a minute it reappeared. She was right; he was still looking up. + +"I forgot to say," she whispered, "that all the windows in Miriam's room +are open. Do you think she was too sleepy to notice that, or is she +accustomed to so much night air?" + +"I really do not know," said Ralph, in reply. + +"Very well, then," said Dora; "I will attend to all that in my own way. +Good-night again, Mr. Haverley;" and with a little nod and a smile, she +withdrew her face from his view. + +If she had come back within the next minute, she would have found him +still looking up. She felt quite sure of this, but she could think of no +good reason for another reappearance. + +Ralph lighted a pipe and sat down on the piazza. He looked steadily in +front of him, but he saw no grass, no trees, no moonlighted landscape, no +sky of summer night. He saw only the face of a young girl, leaning over +and looking down at him from the top of a stairway. It was the face of a +girl who was so gentle, so thoughtful for others, so quick to perceive, +so quick to do; who was so fond of his sister, and so beautiful. He sat +and thought of the wondrous good fortune that had brought this girl +beneath his roof, and had given him these charming hours with her. + +And when his pipe was out, he arose, declared to himself that, no matter +what the doctor might think of it, he would not wait another minute for +him, and went to bed,--his mind very busy with the anticipation of the +charming hours which were to come on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER + + +When Dr. Tolbridge returned from the visit to the patient who lived +beyond Cobhurst, he did not drive into the latter place, for seeing +Mike by the gate near the barn, he gave the cushions and whip to him +and went on. + +As it was yet early in the evening, and bright moonlight, he concluded +to go around by the Wittons'. It was not far out of his way, and he +wanted to see Miss Panney. What he wanted to say to the old lady was not +exactly evident to his own mind, but in a general way he wished her to +know that Dora was at Cobhurst. + +Dora was a great favorite with the doctor. He had known her all her life, +and considered that he knew, not only her good points, of which there +were many, but also those that were not altogether desirable, and, of +which, he believed, there were few. One of the latter was her disposition +to sometimes do as she pleased, without reference to tradition or +ordinary custom. He had seen her acting the part of cook, disguised by a +pink sunbonnet and an old-fashioned calico gown. And what pranks she and +the Haverleys--two estimable young people, but also lively and +independent--might play, no one could tell. The duration of Dora's visit +would depend on her brother Herbert, and he was a man of business, whose +time was not at all at his own disposal, and so, the doctor thought, it +would not be a bad thing if Miss Panney would call at Cobhurst the next +day, and see what those three youngsters were about. + +The Wittons had gone to bed, but Miss Panney was in the parlor, reading. +"Early to bed and early to rise," was not one of her rules. + +"Well, really!" she exclaimed, as she rose to greet her visitor, "this is +amazing. How many years has it been since you came to see me without +being sent for?" + +"I do not keep account of years," said the doctor, "and if I choose to +stop in and have a chat with you, I shall do it without reference to +precedent. This is a purely social call, and I shall not even ask you +how you are." + +"I beg you will not," said the old lady, "and that will give me a good +reason for sending for you when you ought to be informed on that point." + +"This is not my first social call this evening," said he. "I took supper +at Cobhurst, where Dora Bannister waited on the table." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed Miss Panney, and then the doctor told his +tale. As the old lady listened, her spirits rose higher and higher. What +extraordinary good luck! She had never planned a match that moved with +such smoothness, such celerity, such astonishing directness as this. She +did not look upon Dora's disregard of tradition and ordinary custom as an +undesirable point in her character. She liked that sort of thing. It was +one of the points in her own character. + +"I wish I could have seen her!" she exclaimed. "She must have been +charming." + +"Don't you think there is danger that she may be too charming?" the +doctor asked. + +"No, I don't," promptly answered Miss Panney. + +The doctor looked at her in some surprise. + +"We should remember," said he, "that Dora is a girl of wealth; that +one-third of the Bannister estate belongs to her, besides the sixty +thousand dollars that came to her from her mother." + +"That does not hurt her," said Miss Panney. + +"And Ralph Haverley was a poor young man when he came here, and Cobhurst +will probably make him a good deal poorer." + +"I do not doubt it," said Miss Panney. + +"Do you believe," said the doctor, after a moment's pause, "that it is +wise or right in a girl like Dora Bannister, accustomed to fine living, +good society, and an atmosphere of opulence, to allow a poor man like +Ralph Haverley to fall in love with her? And he will do it, just as sure +as the world turns round." + +"Well, let him do it," replied the old lady. "I did not intend to give my +opinion on this subject, because, as you know, I am not fond of obtruding +my ideas into other people's affairs, but I will say, now, that Dora +Bannister will have to travel a long distance before she finds a better +man for a husband than Ralph Haverley, or a better estate on which to +spend her money than Cobhurst. I believe that money that is made in a +neighborhood like this ought to be spent here, and Thomas Bannister's +money could not be better spent than in making Cobhurst the fine estate +it used to be. I do not believe in a girl like Dora going off and +marrying some city fellow, and perhaps spending the rest of her life at +the watering-places and Paris. I want her here; don't you?" + +"I certainly do, but you forget Mr. Ames." + +"I do, and I intend to forget him," she replied, "and so does Dora." + +The doctor shook his head. "I do not like it," he said; "young Haverley +may be all very well,--I have a high opinion of him, already, but he is +not the man for Dora. If he had any money at all, it would be different, +but he has not. Now she would not be content to live at Cobhurst as it +is, and he ought not to be content to have her do everything to make it +what she would have it." + +"Doctor," said Miss Panney, "if there is anything about all this in your +medicine books, perhaps you know more than I do, and you can go on and +talk; but you know there is not, and you know, too, that I was a very +sensible middle-aged woman when you were toddling around in frocks and +running against people. I believe you are trying to run against somebody +now. Who is it?" + +"Well," said the doctor, "if it is anybody, it is young Haverley." + +Miss Panney smiled. "You may think so," she said, "but I want you to know +that you are also running against me, and I say to you, confidentially, +and with as much trust in you as I used to have that you would not tell +who it was who spread your bread with forbidden jam, that I have planned +a match between these two; and if they marry, I intend to make pecuniary +matters more nearly even between them, than they are now." + +The doctor looked at her earnestly. + +"Do you suppose," said he, "that he would take money from you?" + +"What I should do for him," she answered, "could not be prevented by him +or any one else." + +"But there is no reason," urged the other. + +The old lady smiled, took off her glasses, wiped them with her +handkerchief, and put them on again. + +"There is so little in medicine books," she said. "His grandfather was +my cousin." + +"The one--?" asked the startled doctor. + +"Yes, that very one," she answered quickly; "but he does not know it, +and now we will drop the subject. I will try to get to Cobhurst +to-morrow before Dora leaves, and I will see if I cannot help matters +along a little." + +The doctor laughed. "I was going to ask you to interfere with matters." + +"Well, don't," she said. "And now tell me about your cook. Is she as +good as ever?" + +"As good?" said the doctor. "She is better. The more she learns about our +tastes, the more perfectly she gratifies them. Mrs. Tolbridge and I look +upon her as a household blessing, for she gives us three perfect meals a +day, and would give us more if we wanted them; the butcher reverences +her, for she knows more about meat and how to cut it than he does. Our +man and our maid either tremble at her nod or regard her with the deepest +affection, for I am told that they spend a great deal of their time +helping her, when they should be attending to their own duties. She has, +in fact, become so necessary to our domestic felicity, and I may say, to +our health, that I do not know what will become of us if we lose her." + +"Is there any chance of that?" eagerly asked the old lady. + +"I fear there is," was the answer. + +Miss Panney sprang to her feet, her eyes flashing. + +"Now look here, Dr. Tolbridge," she said, "don't tell me that that woman +is going to leave you because she wants higher wages and you will not pay +them. I beg you to remember that I got you that woman. I saw she was what +you needed, and I worked matters so that she came to you. She has proved +to be everything that I expected. You are looking better now than I have +seen you look for five years. You have been eating food that you like, +and food that agrees with you, and a chance to do that comes to very few +people in your circumstances. There is no way in which you could spend +your money better than--" + +The doctor raised his hand deprecatingly. + +"There is no question of money," he said. "She has not asked for higher +wages, and if she had, I should pay anything in reason. The trouble is +more serious. You may remember that when she first came to this country, +she lived with the Dranes, and she left them because they could no longer +afford to employ her. She has the greatest regard for that family, and +has lately heard that they are becoming poorer and poorer. There are only +two of them,--mother and daughter,--and on account of some sort of unwise +investment they are getting into a pretty bad way. I used to know Captain +Drane, and was slightly acquainted with his family. I heard of their +misfortune through a friend in Pennsylvania, and as I knew that La Fleur +took such an interest in the family, I mentioned it to her. The result +was disastrous; she has been in a doleful mood ever since, and yesterday +assured Mrs. Tolbridge that if it should prove that Mrs. Drane and her +daughter, who had been so good to her, had become so poor that they +could not afford to employ a servant, she must leave us and go to them. +She would ask no wages and would take no denial. She would stay with them +and serve them for the love she bore them, as long as they needed her. I +know she is in earnest, for she immediately wrote to Mrs. Drane, and +asked me to put the letter in the post-office; and, by the way, she +writes a great deal better hand than I do." + +Miss Panney, who had reseated herself, gazed earnestly at the floor. + +"Doctor," she said, "this is very serious. I have not yet met La Fleur, +but I very much want to. I am convinced that she is a woman of character, +and when she says she intends to do a thing, she will do it. That is, +unless somebody else of character, and of pretty strong character too, +gets in her way. I do not know what advice to give you just now, but she +must not leave you. That must be considered as settled. I am coming to +your house to-morrow afternoon, and please ask Mrs. Tolbridge to be at +home. We shall then see what is to be done." + +"There is nothing to be done," said the doctor, rising. "We cannot +improve the circumstances of the Dranes, and we cannot prevent La Fleur +from going to them if her feelings prompt her to do it." + +"Stuff!" said the old lady. "There is always something to be done. The +trouble is, there is not always some one to do it; but, fortunately for +some of my friends, I am alive yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" + + +It was about ten o'clock the next morning when Miss Panney drove over to +Cobhurst in her phaeton. She did not go up to the house, but tied her +roan mare behind a clump of locust trees and bushes, where the animal +might stand in peace and shade. Then she walked around the house, and +hearing the clatter of crockery in the basement, she looked down through +a kitchen window, and saw Mike washing the breakfast dishes. + +Going on toward the back of the house, she heard voices and laughter over +in the garden. Behind a tangled mass of raspberries, she saw a pink +sunbonnet and a straw hat with daisies in it. She knew, then, that Dora +and Miriam were picking berries, and then her eyes and ears began to +search for Ralph. + +She went up on the back piazza and looked over toward the barn, which +appeared to be closed, and around and about the house, but saw nothing +of the young man. But she would wait; it was scarcely likely that he was +at work in the fields by himself. He would probably appear soon, and, if +possible, she wanted to speak to him before she saw any one else. She +went into the house, and took a seat in the hall, where, through a +narrow window by the side of the door, she had a good view of the garden +and the grounds at the back, and could also command the front entrance +of the house. + +Miss Panney had been seated but a very few minutes when the two girls +emerged from the bosky intricacies of the garden. + +"Upon my word!" exclaimed the old lady, "she has got on Judith Pacewalk's +teaberry gown. I could never forget that!" + +At this moment there was a clatter of hoofs and a rattle of wheels, and a +brown horse, drawing a very loose-jointed wagon, with Ralph Haverley, in +a broad hat and light tennis jacket, driving, dashed up to the back door +and stopped with a jerk. + +"Back so soon!" cried Miriam. "See what a lot of raspberries we have +picked. I will take them into the house, and then come out and get the +things you have brought." + +As Miriam went around toward the kitchen, Ralph sprang to the ground, and +Dora approached him. Miss Panney could see her face under the sunbonnet. +It was suffused with the light of a smiling, beaming welcome. + +"You did go quickly, didn't you?" she said. "You must be a good driver." + +"I didn't want to lose any time," answered Ralph, "and I made Mrs. +Browning step along lively. As it was, I was afraid that your brother +might arrive before I got back and that I might find you were gone." + +"It was a pity," said Dora, "that you troubled yourself to hurry back. +You may have wanted to do other things in Thorbury, and if Herbert missed +seeing you to-day he would have plenty of other opportunities." + +Ralph laughed. "I should like to meet your brother," he said, "but I am +bound to say that I was thinking more of the new cook. I did not want her +to leave before I got back." + +Dora raised her sunbonnet toward him. Miriam's steps were heard +approaching. + +"You might have felt sure," she said, "that she would not have gone +without seeing you again. You have been so kind and good to her that she +would not think of doing that." Then, as Miriam was very near, she +approached the wagon. "Did you get the snowflake flour, as I told you?" +she asked. "Yes, I see you did, and I am glad you listened to my advice, +and bought only a bag of it, for you know you may not like it." + +"If it is the flour you use, I know we shall like it," said Ralph; "but +still I am bound to follow your advice." + +"You would better follow me, now," said Miriam, who had taken some +parcels from the wagon, "and bring that bag into the pantry. I do not +like Mike to come into our part of the house with his boots." + +Ralph shouldered the bag, and Dora stepped up to him. + +"I will stay with the horse until you come out again," she said, not +speaking very loudly. + +Miss Panney, who had heard all that had been said, smiled, and her black +eyes twinkled. "Truly," she said to herself, "for so short an +acquaintance, this is getting on wonderfully." + +Miriam, her arms full of parcels, and her mind full of household economy, +walked rapidly by Miss Panney without seeing her at all, and, entering +the dining-room, passed through it into the pantry. But when Ralph +appeared in the open doorway, the old lady rose and confronted him, her +finger on her lip. + +"I have just popped in to make a little call on your sister," she +whispered; "but I saw she was pretty well loaded as she passed, and I did +not wish to embarrass her--I do not mind embarrassing you. Don't put down +the bag, I beg. I shall step into the drawing-room, and you can say I am +there. By the way, who is that young woman standing by the horse?" + +"It is Miss Bannister," answered Ralph, his face unreasonably flushing as +he spoke. "She is visiting Miriam and helping her." + +When Miss Panney wished to influence a person in favor of or against +another person, she was accustomed to go about the business in a very +circumspect way, and to accommodate the matter and the manner of her +remarks to the disposition of the person addressed, and to the occasion. +She wished very much to influence Ralph in favor of Miss Bannister, and +if she had had the opportunity of a conversation with him, she knew she +could have done this in a very easy and natural way. But there was no +time for conversation now, and she might not again have the chance of +seeing him alone, so she adopted a very different course, and with as +much readiness and quickness as Daniel Boone would have put a rifle-ball +into the head of an Indian the moment he saw it protrude from behind a +tree, so did Miss Panney concentrate all she had to say into one shot, +and deliver it quickly. + +"Help Miriam, eh?" she whispered; "take my advice, my boy, and keep her +to help you." And without another word she proceeded to the drawing-room, +where she seated herself in the most comfortable chair. + +Ralph stood still a minute with the bag on his shoulder. He scarcely +understood what had been said to him, but the words had been so well +aimed and sent with such force that before he reached Miriam and the +pantry his mind was illumined by the shining apparition of Dora as his +partner and helpmate. Two minutes before there had been no such +apparition. It is true that his mind had been filled with misty, +cloudlike sensations, entirely new to it, but the words of the old lady +had now condensed them into form. + +When Miriam was informed of the visitor in the drawing-room, she frowned +a little, and made up a queer face, and then, taking off her long apron, +went to perform her duty as lady of the house. + +Ralph returned to Dora, and as he looked at the girl who was patting the +neck of the brown mare, she seemed to have changed, not because she was +different from what she had been a few minutes before, but because he +looked upon her differently. As he approached, every word that she had +spoken to him that day crowded into his memory. The last thing she had +said was that she would wait until he returned to her, and here she was, +waiting. When he spoke, his manner had lost the free-heartedness of a +little while before; there was a slight diffidence in it. + +Hearing that Miss Panney was in the house, Dora turned her bonnet +downward, and she also frowned a little. + +"Why should that old person come in this very morning?" she thought. + +But in an instant the front of the bonnet was raised toward Ralph, and +upon the young face under it there was not a shadow of dissatisfaction. + +"Of course I must go in and see her," she said, and then, speaking as if +Ralph were one on whom she had always been accustomed to rely for +counsel, "do you think I need go upstairs and change my dress? If this is +good enough for you and Miriam, isn't it good enough for Miss Panney?" + +As Ralph gazed into the blue eyes that were raised to his, it was +impossible for him to think of anything for which their owner was not +good enough. This impression upon him was so strong that he said, with +blurting awkwardness, that she looked charming as she was, and needed not +the slightest change. The value of this impulsive remark was fully +appreciated by Dora, but she gave no sign of it, and simply said that if +he were suited, she was. + +They were moving toward the house when Dora suddenly laid her hand +upon his arm. + +"You have forgotten the horse, Mr. Ralph," she said. + +The touch and the name by which she called him for the first time made +the young man forget, for an instant, everything in the world, but the +girl who had touched and spoken. + +"Have you anything to tie her with? Oh, yes, there is a chain on +that post." + +As Ralph turned the horse toward the hitching-post, Dora ran before him, +and stood ready with the chain in her hand. + +"Oh, no," she said, as he motioned to take it from her, "let me hook it +on her bridle. Don't you want to let me help you at all?" + +As side by side Dora and Ralph entered the drawing-room, Miss Panney +declared in her soul that they looked like an engaged couple, coming to +ask for her blessing. And when Dora saluted her with a kiss, and, drawing +up a stool, took a seat at her feet, the old lady gave her her blessing, +though not audibly. + +As Miss Panney was in a high good humor, she wanted everybody else to be +so, and in a few minutes even the sedate Miriam was chatting freely and +pleasantly. + +"And so that graceless Phoebe has left you," said the old lady; "to board +the minister, indeed! I will see that minister, and give him a text for a +sermon. But you cannot keep up this sort of thing, my young friends; not +even with Dora's help." And she stroked the soft hair of Miss Bannister, +from which the sunbonnet had been removed. + +"I will see Mike before I go, and send him for Molly Tooney. Molly is a +good enough woman, and if I send for her, she will come to you until you +have suited yourselves with servants. And now, my dear child, where did +you find that gay dress? Upstairs in some old trunk, I suppose. Stand +over there and let me look at you. It is a good forty years since I have +seen that gown. Do you know to whom it used to belong? But of course you +do not. It was Judith Pacewalk's teaberry gown." + +"And who was Judith Pacewalk?" asked Dora; "and why was it teaberry? It +is not teaberry color." + +"No," said Miss Panney; "the color had nothing to do with it, but I must +say it has kept very well. Let me see," taking out her watch, "it is not +yet eleven o'clock, and if you young people have time enough, I will tell +you the story of that gown. What does the master say?" + +Ralph declared that they must have the story, and that time must not be +considered. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN + + +"Judith Pacewalk," said Miss Panney, "was Matthias Butterwood's cousin. +Before Matthias got rich and built this house, he lived with his Aunt +Pacewalk on her farm. That was over at Pascalville, about thirty miles +from here. He superintended the farm, and Judith and he were very good +friends, although he never showed any signs of caring anything for her +except in the way of a cousin; but she cared for him. There was no doubt +about that. I lived in Pascalville, then, and used to be a great deal at +their house, and it was as plain as daylight to me that Judith was in +love with her cousin, although she was such a quiet girl that few people +suspected it, and I know he did not. + +"The Pacewalks were poor, and always had been; and it could not be +expected that a man like Matthias Butterwood could stay long on that +little farm. He had a sharp business head, and was a money-maker, and as +soon as he was able he bought a farm of his own, and this is the farm; +but there was no house on it then, except the little one that Mike now +lives in. But Matthias had grand ideas about an estate, and in the course +of five years he built this house and the great barn, and made a fine +estate of it. + +"When this was going on, he still lived with his Aunt Pacewalk. He did +not want to go to his own house until everything was finished and ready. +Of course, everybody supposed he would take a wife there, but he never +said anything about that, and gave a sniff when the subject was +mentioned. During the summer in which Cobhurst was finished--he named the +place himself--he told his aunt that in the fall he was going there to +live, and that he wanted her and Judith to come there and make him a +visit of a month. He said he intended to have his relations visit him by +turns, and that was the sort of family he would have. Now it struck me +that if Judith went there and played her cards properly, she could stay +there as mistress. Although she was a girl very much given to keeping her +own counsel, I knew very well that she had something of the same idea. + +"As I said before, the Pacewalks were poor, and although they lived well +enough, money was scarce with them, and it was seldom that they were able +to spend any of it for clothes. But about this time Judith came to me--I +was visiting them at the time--and talked a little about herself, which +was uncommon. She said that if she went to Matthias' fine new house, and +sat at the head of his table,--and of course that would be her place +there, as it was at her mother's table,--she thought that she ought to +dress better than she did. 'I do not mean,' she said, 'that I want any +fine clothes for company; but I ought to have something neat and proper +for everyday wear, and I want you to help me to think of some way to buy +it.' So we talked the matter over, and came to the conclusion that the +best way to do was to try to gather teaberries enough to pay for the +material for a chintz gown. + +"In those days--I don't know how it is now--Pascalville was the greatest +place for teaberries. They used them as a flavor for candy, ice-cream, +puddings, cakes, and I don't know what else. They made summer drinks of +it, and it was used as a perfume for home-made hair-washes and +tooth-powder. So Judith and I and a girl named Dorcas Stone, who was a +friend of ours, went to work gathering teaberries in the woods. We worked +early and late, and got enough to trade off at the store for the ten +yards of chintz with which that gown is made. + +"As for the making of it, Judith and I did all that ourselves. Dorcas +Stone might be willing enough to go with us to pick berries, but when +she found what was to be bought with them, she drew out of the business. +She was not a girl who was particularly sharp about seeing things +herself, or keeping people from seeing through her; but she wanted to +marry Matthias Butterwood, and when she found Judith was to have a new +gown she would have nothing to do with it, which was a pity, for she was +a very fine sewer, especially as to gathers. + +"We cut the gown from some patterns we got from a magazine; I fitted it, +and we both sewed. When it was done, and Judith tried it on, it was very +pretty and becoming, and she looked better in it than in the gown she +wore when she went to a party. When we had seen that everything was all +right, Judith took off the dress, folded it up, and put it away in a +drawer. 'Now,' said she, 'I shall not wear that until I go to Cobhurst.' + +"Well, as everybody knows, houses are never finished at the time they are +expected to be, and that was the way with this house, and as Matthias +would not go into it until everything was quite ready, the moving was put +off and put off until it began to be cold weather, and then he said he +would not go into it until spring, for it would be uncomfortable to live +in the new house in the winter. + +"I was very sorry for this, for I thought that the sooner Judith got here +the better her chance would be for staying here the rest of her life. +Judith did not say much, but I am sure she was sorry too, and Matthias +seemed a little out of spirits, as if he were getting a little tired of +living with the Pacewalks, and wanted to be in his own house. I think he +began to feel more like seeing people, and I know he visited the Stones a +good deal. + +"One day when I was at the Pacewalks' and we were sitting alone, he +looked at me and my clothes, and then he said, 'I wish Judith cared more +for clothes than she does. I do not mean getting herself up for high days +and holidays, but her everyday clothes. I like a woman to wear neat and +becoming things all the time.' 'I am sure,' I said, 'Judith's clothes are +always very neat!' + +"'If you mean clean,' he said, 'I will agree to that, but when the color +is all washed out of a thing, or it is faded in streaks like that blue +gown she wears, the wearing of it day after day is bound to make a person +think that a young woman does not care how she looks to her own family, +and I do not like young women not to care how they look to their +families, especially when calico is only twelve cents a yard, and needles +and thread cost almost nothing.' 'Matthias,' said I, 'I expect you have +been to see Dorcas Stone, and are comparing her clothes with Judith's. +Now, Dorcas' father is a well-to-do man, and Judith hasn't any father, +and she does the best she can with the clothes she has.' 'It is not money +I am talking about,' he said, 'it is disposition. If a young woman wants +to look well in her own family, she will find some way to do it. At any +rate, she could let it be seen that she is not satisfied to look like a +dowdy.' And then he went away. + +"This was the first time that Matthias had ever spoken to me about +Judith, and I knew just as well as if he had told me that it was Dorcas +Stone's clothes that had got him into that way of thinking. + +"More than that, I knew he would never have taken the trouble to say that +much about Judith if he had not been taking more interest in her than he +ever had before. He was a practical, businesslike man, and I believed +then, and I believe now, that he was looking for some one to be mistress +of Cobhurst, and if Judith had suited his ideas of what such a woman +ought to be, he would have preferred her to any one else. I think that +was about as far as he was likely to go in such matters at that time, +though of course if he had gotten a loving wife, he might have become a +loving husband, for Matthias was a good fellow at bottom, though rather +hard on top. + +"When he had gone, I went straight upstairs to Judith, and said to her, +if she knew what was good for her, she would get out that teaberry gown +and put it on for supper, and wear it regularly at meals and at all times +when it would be suitable as a house gown. 'I shall do nothing of the +sort,' she said; 'I got it to wear when I go to Cobhurst, and I shall +keep it until then. If I put it on now, it will be a poor-looking thing +by spring.' I told her that was all nonsense, and she could wear that and +get another in the spring, but she shook her head and was not to be +moved. Now, I would have been glad enough to give her the stuff to make a +new gown, but I had hinted at that sort of thing before, and did not +intend to do it again, for she was a good deal prouder than she was poor. +Nor could I think of telling her what Matthias had said, for not only +was she very sensitive, and would have been hurt that he should have +talked to me in that way about her, but she would not have consented to +dress herself on purpose to please a man's fancy. + +"I could not do anything more then, but I have always been a matchmaker, +and I did not give up this match. I did everything I could to make Judith +look well in the eyes of Matthias, and I said everything I could to make +his eyes look favorably on her, but it was all of no use. Judith went to +a Christmas party, and she wore a purple silk gown that had belonged to +her mother. It was rather large for her, and a good deal heavier than +anything she had been accustomed to wear, and she got very warm in the +crowded room, and coming home in a sleigh, she caught cold, and died in +less than a month. + +"So you see, my dears, Judith Pacewalk never wore her teaberry gown, in +which, I believe, she would have been mistress of Cobhurst. When her +mother died, not long afterward, everything they owned went to Matthias +and his brother Reuben. The Pacewalk farm was sold, and all the personal +property of both brothers, including that disastrous box of bones, was +brought here, where it is yet, I suppose; and so, my good young people, I +imagine you will not wonder that I was surprised to see that pink gown +again, having helped, as I did, with every seam, pleat, and gather of it. +If you will look at it closely, you will see that there is good work on +it, for Judith and I knew how to use our needles a good deal better than +most ladies do nowadays." + +Miriam now spoke with much promptness. + +"I am ever so glad to hear that story, Miss Panney," she said, "and as +that teaberry gown should have been worn by the mistress of Cobhurst, I +intend to wear it myself, every day, as long as it lasts, and if it does +not fit me, I can alter it." + +Whether this remark, which was delivered with considerable spirit, was +occasioned by the young girl's natural pride, or whether a little +jealousy had been aroused by the evident satisfaction with which the +old lady gazed at Dora, arrayed in this significant garment, Miss +Panney could not know, but she took instant alarm. Nothing could be +more fatal to her plans than to see the sister opposed to them. She +had been delighted at the intimacy that had evidently sprung up +between her and Dora, but she knew very well that if this sedate +school-girl should resent any interference with her prerogatives, the +intimacy would be in danger. + +Miss Panney had no doubt that Dora and Ralph were on the right road, and +would do very well if left to themselves, but she scarcely believed that +the young man was yet sufficiently in love to brave the opposition of his +sister, which would be all the more wild and unreasonable because she was +yet a girl, and in a position of which she was very proud. + +For Dora and Ralph to marry, Dora and Miriam should be the best of +friends, so that both brother and sister should desire the alliance, +and in furtherance of this happy result, Miss Panney determined to +take Dora away with her. She had been at Cobhurst long enough to +produce a desirable impression upon Ralph, and if she stayed longer, +there was no knowing what might happen between her and Miriam. Dora, as +well as the other, was high-spirited and young, and it was as likely as +not that as she showed an inclination to continue to wear the teaberry +gown, there would be a storm in which matrimonial schemes would be +washed out of sight. + +"Dora," said Miss Panney, "I am now going to drive to Thorbury, and it +will be a great deal better for you to go with me than to wait for your +brother, for it may be very late in the day before he can come for you. +And more than that, it is ten to one that by this time he has forgotten +all about you, especially if his office is full of clients. So please +get yourself ready as soon as possible. And, Miriam, if you will come +over to see me some morning, and bring that teaberry gown with you, I +will alter it to fit you, and arrange it so that you can do the sewing +yourself. It is very appropriate that the little lady of the house +should wear that gown." + +Into the minds of Dora and Miss Panney there came, simultaneously, this +idea: that no matter how much or how often Miriam might wear that gown, +she would not be the first one whom it had figuratively invested with the +prerogatives of the mistress of Cobhurst. + +Miss Bannister, who well knew her brother's habits, agreed to the old +lady's suggestion, and it was well she did so, for when she got home, +Herbert declared that he had been puzzling his mind to devise a plan for +sending for his sister and the broken buggy on the same afternoon. As +for going himself, it was impossible. + +When Dora came downstairs arrayed in her proper costume, Ralph thought +her a great deal prettier than when she wore the pink chintz. Miss +Panney thought so, too, and she managed to leave them together, while +she went with Miriam to get pen and paper with which to write a note to +Molly Tooney. + +"Molly cannot read," said the old lady, "but if Mike will take that to +her, she will come to you and stay as long as you like," and then she +went on to talk about the woman until she thought that Ralph and Dora had +had about five minutes together, which she considered enough. + +"You must both come and see me," cried Miss Bannister, as, leaning from +the phaeton, she stretched out her hand to Miriam. + +"Indeed we shall do so," said Ralph, and as his sister relinquished the +hand of the visitor he took it himself. + +Miss Panney was not one of those drivers who start off with a jerk. Had +she been such a one, Miss Bannister might have been pulled against the +side of the phaeton, for the grasp was cordial. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BLARNEY FLUFF + + +About three o'clock that afternoon, La Fleur, Mrs. Tolbridge's cook, sat +in the middle of her very pleasant kitchen, composing the dinner. Had she +been the chef of a princely mansion, she could not have given the +subject more earnest nor intelligent consideration. It is true the +materials at hand were not those from which a dinner for princes would +have been prepared. But what she had was sufficient for the occasion, and +this repast for a country gentleman in moderate circumstances and his +wife was planned with conscientiousness as well as skill. From the first +she had known very well that it would be fatal to her pretensions to +prepare for the Tolbridges an expensive and luxurious meal, but she had +determined that they should never sit down to any but a good one. + +Her soup had been determined upon and was off her mind, and she had +prepared that morning, from some residuary viands, which would have been +wasted had she not used them in this way, the little entree which was to +follow. Her filet, which the butcher had that morning declared he never +separated from the contiguous portions for any one, but had very soon +afterward cut out for her, lay in the refrigerator, awaiting her pleasure +and convenience. The vegetables had been chosen, and her thoughts were +now intent upon a "sweet" which should harmonize with the other courses. + +On a chair, by the door opening into the garden, sat George, the +doctor's man, who was coachman, groom, and gardener, and who, having +picked a basket of peas, had been requested to shell them. By an open +window, Amanda, the chambermaid, was extracting the stones from a little +dish of olives. + +George was working rapidly and a little impatiently. + +"Madam," said he, "do you want all these peas shelled?" + +La Fleur turned and looked at him with a pleasant smile. + +"I want enough to surround my filet, but whether you shell enough for us +to have any, depends entirely on your good will, George." + +"Of course I'll shell as many as you want," said he, "but I've got a lot +to do this afternoon. There is the phaeton to be washed, that I don't +want the doctor to come home and find muddy yet; and I ought to have done +it this morning, madam, when I was walking about the garden with you, a +tellin' you what I had and a hearin' what I ought to have." + +"I was so glad to have you go with me, and show me everything," said La +Fleur, "because I do not yet exactly understand American gardens. It is +such a nice garden, too, and you do not know how pleased I was, after you +left me and I was coming to the house, to see that fine bed of +aubergines. When will any of them be ripe, do you think, George?" + +The man looked up in surprise. + +"There is nothing of that sort in my garden," said he. "I never +heard of them." + +"Oh, yes, you have," said La Fleur, "you call them egg-plants. You see, +I am learning your American names for things. And now, Amanda, if you +have finished the olives I'll get you to make a fine powder of those +things which I have put into the mortar. Thump and grind them well with +the pestle; they are to make the stuffing for the olives." + +"But, madam, what is to become of the sewing Mrs. Tolbridge wants me to +do? I have only hemmed two of the dozen napkins she gave me to do day +before yesterday." + +"Now, Amanda," said La Fleur, "you ought to know very well, that without +a meal on the table, napkins are of no use. You might have the meals +without napkins, but it wouldn't work the other way. And I am sure those +napkins are not to be used for a week, or perhaps several weeks, and this +dinner must be eaten to-day. So you can see for yourself--" + +At this moment there was a knock at the inner door of the kitchen. + +"Who can that be!" exclaimed La Fleur. "Come in." + +The door opened, and Miss Panney entered the kitchen. La Fleur rose from +her seat, and for a moment the two elderly women stood and looked at +each other. + +"And this is La Fleur," said Miss Panney; "Mrs. Tolbridge has been +talking about you, and I asked her to let me come in and see you. I want +to speak to you for a few minutes, and I will sit down here. Don't you +stand up." + +La Fleur liked people to come and talk to her, provided they were the +right sort of people, and came in the right way. Miss Panney's salutation +pleased her; she had a respect for people who showed a proper recognition +of differences of position. If Miss Panney had been brought into the +kitchen by Mrs. Tolbridge and in a manner introduced to La Fleur, the +latter would have regarded her as something of an equal, and would not +have respected her. Had the old lady accosted her in a supercilious +manner, La Fleur would have disliked her, even if she had supposed she +were a person to be respected. But Miss Panney had filled all the +requirements necessary for the cook's favorable opinion. In the few words +she had spoken, she had shown that she was a friend of the mistress of +the house; that she had heard interesting things of the cook, and +therefore wished to see her; that she knew this cook was a woman of +sense, who understood what was befitting to her position, and would +therefore stand when talking to a lady, and, moreover, in consequence of +the fact that this cook was superior to her class, she would waive the +privileges of her class, and request the cook to sit, while talking to +her. To have waived this privilege without first indicating that she knew +La Fleur would acknowledge her possession of it, would have been damaging +to Miss Panney. + +Upon the features of La Fleur, which were inclined to be bulbous, there +now appeared a smile, which was very different from that with which she +encouraged and soothed her conscripted assistants. It was a smile that +showed that she was pleasurably honored, and it was accompanied by a +slight bow and a downward glance. Then turning to the man and the maid, +she told them in a low voice that they might go, a permission of which +they instantly availed themselves. + +Miss Panney now sat down, and La Fleur, pushing her chair a little away +from the table, availed herself of the permission to do likewise. + +"I have eaten some of your cooking, La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "and I +liked it so much that I wished to ask you something about it. For one +thing, where did you get that recipe for that delicious ice, flavored +with raspberry?" + +The cook smiled with a new smile--one of genuine pleasure. + +"To make that ice," she answered, "one must have more than a recipe: one +must be educated. Tolati, my first husband, invented that ice, and no +chef in Europe could make it but himself. But he taught me, and I make it +for Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge. It has a quality of cream, though there is no +cream in it." + +"I never tasted anything of the kind so good," said Miss Panney, "and +I am a judge, for I have lived long and eaten meals prepared by the +best cooks." + +"French, perhaps," said La Fleur. + +"Oh, yes," was the reply, "and those of other nations. I have travelled." + +"I could see that," said La Fleur, "by your appreciation of my work. +French cooking is the best in the world, and if you have an English cook +to do it, then there is nothing more to be desired. It is like the French +china, with the English designs, which they make now. I once visited +their works, and was very proud of my countrymen." + +"The conceited old body," thought Miss Panney; but she said, "Very +true, very true. It is delightful to me to think that my friends here +have a cook who can prepare meals which are truly fit, not only to +nourish the body without doing it any harm, but to gratify the most +intelligent taste. I have noticed, La Fleur, that there is always +something about your dishes that pleases the eye as well as the palate. +When we say that cooking is thoroughly wholesome, delicious, and +artistic, we can say no more." + +"You do me proud," said La Fleur, "and I hope, madam, that you may eat +many a meal of my cooking. I want to say this, too: I could not cook for +Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge as I do, if I did not feel that they appreciate my +work. I know they do, and so I am encouraged to do my best." + +"Not only does the doctor appreciate you," said Miss Panney, "but his +health depends upon you. He is a man who is peculiarly sensitive to bad +cooking. I have known him all his life, and known him well. He was +getting in a bad way, La Fleur, when you came here, and you are already +making a new man of him." + +"I like to hear that," said La Fleur. "I have a high opinion of Dr. +Tolbridge. I know what he is and what he needs. I often sit up late at +night, thinking of things that will be good for him, and which he will +like. We all work here: every one of the household is industrious, but +the doctor and I are the only ones who must work with our brains. The +others simply work with their bodies and hands." + +Miss Panney fixed her black eyes on the bulbous-faced cook. + +"The word conceit," she thought, "is imbecile in this case." + +"I am glad you are both so well able to do it," she said aloud. "And you +like it here? The place suits you?" + +"Oh, yes, madam," replied La Fleur; "it suits me very well. It is not +what I am accustomed to, but I gave up all that of my own accord. Life in +great houses has its advantages and its pleasures, and its ambitions, +too; but I am getting on in years, and I am tired of the worry and bustle +of large households. I came to this country to visit my relatives, and to +rest and enjoy myself; but I soon found that I could not live without +cooking. You might as well expect Dr. Tolbridge to live without reading." + +"That is very true, La Fleur," said Miss Panney; "and it seems to me that +you are in the very home where you can spend the rest of your days most +profitably to others, and most happily to yourself. And yet I hear that +you are considering the possibility of not staying here." + +"Yes," answered La Fleur, "I am considering that; but it is not because I +am dissatisfied with anything here. It is altogether a different +question. I am very much attached to the family I first lived with in +this country. They are in trouble now, and I think they may need me. If +they do, I shall go to them. I have quite settled all that in my mind. I +am now waiting for an answer to a letter I have written to Mrs. Drane." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "if you leave Dr. Tolbridge, I think it +will be a great mistake; and, although I do not want to hurt your +feelings, I feel bound to say that it will be almost a crime." + +The cook's face assumed an expression of firmness. + +"All that may be," she said, "but it makes no difference. If they need +me, I shall go to them." + +"But cannot somebody else be found to go to them? You are not as +necessary there as you are here, nor so highly prized. They let you go of +their own accord." + +"No one else will go to them for nothing," said La Fleur, "and I +shall do that." + +Miss Panney sat with her brows knit. + +"If the Dranes have become poor," she said presently, "it is natural that +you should want to help them; but it may not be at all necessary that you +should go to them. In fact, by doing that, you might embarrass them very +much. There are only two of them, I believe,--mother and daughter. Do +they do anything to support themselves?" + +"Miss Cicely is trying to get a situation as teacher. If she can do that, +she can support her mother. At present they are doing nothing, and I fear +have nothing to live on. I know my going to them would not embarrass +them. I can help them in ways you do not think of." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "your feelings are highly honorable to +you, but you are not going about this business in the right way. I have +heard of the Drane family, and know what sort of people they are. They +would not have you work for them for nothing, and perhaps buy with your +own money the food you cook. What should be done is to help them to +help themselves. If Miss Drane wishes a position as teacher, one should +be got for her." + +"That is out of my line," said La Fleur, shaking her head, "out of my +line. I can cook for them, but I can't help them to be teachers." + +"But perhaps I can, and I am going to try. What you have told me +encourages me very much. To get a position as teacher for Miss Drane +ought to be easy enough. To get Dr. Tolbridge a cook who could take your +place would be impossible." + +La Fleur smiled. "I believe that," she said. + +"Now what I do is for the sake of the doctor," continued Miss Panney. "I +do not know the Dranes personally, but I have no objection to benefit +them if I can. But for the sake of a friend whom I have known all his +days, I wish to keep you in this kitchen. I am not afraid to say this to +you, because I know you are not a person who would take advantage of the +opinion in which you are held, to make demands upon the family which they +could not satisfy." + +"You need not say anything about that, madam," replied La Fleur. "Nobody +can tell me anything about my work and value which I did not know before, +and as for my salary, I fixed that myself, and there shall be no change." + +Miss Panney rose. "La Fleur," she said, "I am very glad I came here to +talk to you. I did not suppose that I should meet with such a sensible +woman, and I shall ask a favor of you; please do not take any steps in +this matter without consulting me. I am going to work immediately to see +what I can do for Miss Drane, and if I succeed it will be far better for +her and her mother than if you went to them. Don't you see that?" + +"Yes," said La Fleur, "that is reasonable enough, but I must admit that I +should like to see them." + +Miss Panney ignored the latter remark. + +"Now do not forget, La Fleur," she said, "to send me word when you get a +letter, and then I may write to Miss Drane, but I shall go to work for +her immediately. And now I will leave you to go on with your dinner. I +shall dine here to-day, and I shall enjoy the meal so much better because +I know the chef who prepared it." + +La Fleur resumed her seat and the consideration of her "sweet." + +"She is a wheedling old body," she said to herself, "but I suppose I +ought to give her something extra for that speech." + +The next morning Mrs. Tolbridge came into the kitchen. "La Fleur," said +she, "what is the name of that delicious dessert you gave us last night?" + +The cook sighed. "She will always call the 'sweet' a dessert," she +thought; and then she answered, "That was Blarney Fluff, ma'am, with +sauce Irlandaise." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. "Whatever is its name," she said, "we all thought +it was the sweetest and softest, most delightful thing of the kind we had +ever tasted. Miss Panney was particularly pleased with it." + +"I hoped she would be," said La Fleur. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" + + +"I have spoken to Mr. Ames about it," said Dr. Tolbridge to Miss Panney, +as two days later they were sitting together in his office, "and we are +both agreed that teachers in Thorbury are like the vines on the gable +ends of our church; they are needed there, but they do not flourish. You +see, so many of our people send their children away to school, that is, +when they are really old enough to learn anything." + +"I would do it too, if I had children," said the old lady; "but this is a +matter which rises above the ordinary points of view. I do not believe +that you look at it properly, for if you did you would not sit there and +talk so coolly. Do you appreciate the fact that if Miss Drane does not +soon get something to do, you will be living on soggy, half-baked bread, +greasy fried meat, water-soaked vegetables, and muddy coffee, and every +one of your higher sentiments will be merged in dyspepsia?" + +The doctor smiled. "I did not suppose it would be as bad as that," he +said; "but if what you say is true, let us skip about instantly, and do +something." + +"That is the sort of action that I am trying to goad you into," said +the old lady. + +"Oh, I will do what I can," said the doctor, "but I really think there is +nothing to be done here, and at this season. People do not want teachers +in summer, and I see no promise of a later demand of this sort in +Thorbury. We must try elsewhere." + +"Not yet," said the other. "I shall not give up Thorbury yet. It is +easier for us to work for Miss Drane here than anywhere else, because we +are here, and we are not anywhere else. Moreover, she will like to come +here, for then she will not be among strangers; so please let us exhaust +Thorbury before thinking of any other place." + +"Very good," said the doctor, leaning back in his chair, "and now let us +exhaust Thorbury as fast as we can, before a patient comes in. I am +expecting one." + +"If she comes, she can wait," said Miss Panney. "You have a case here +which is acute and alarming, and cannot be trifled with." + +"How do you know I expect a 'she'?" asked the doctor. + +"If it had been a man, he would have been here and gone," said +Miss Panney. + +Miss Panney knew as well as any one that immediate employment as a +teacher could be rarely obtained in summer, and for this reason she +wished to confine her efforts to the immediate neighborhood, where +personal persuasion and influence might be brought into action. +Moreover, she had said to herself, "If we cannot get any teaching for +the girl, we must get her something else to do, for the present. But +whatever is to be done must be done here and now, or the old woman will +be off before we know it." + +She sat for a few moments with her brows knitted in thought. Suddenly +she exclaimed, "Is it Susan Clopsey you expect? Very well, then, I will +make an exception in her favor. She is just coming in at the gate, and I +would not interfere with your practice on her for anything. She has got +money and a spinal column, and as long as they both last she is more to +be depended on than government bonds. If her troubles ever get into her +legs, and I have reason to believe they will, you can afford to hire a +little maid for your cook. Old Daniel Clopsey, her grandfather, died at +ninety-five, and he had then the same doctorable rheumatism that he had +at fifty. I have something to think over, and I will come in again when +she is gone." + +"Depart, O mercenary being!" exclaimed the doctor, "before you abase my +thoughts from sulphate of quinia to filthy lucre." + +"Lucre is never filthy until you lose it," said the old lady as she went +out on the back piazza, and closed the door behind her. + +About twenty minutes later she burst into the doctor's office. "Mercy on +us!" she exclaimed, "are you here yet, Susan Clopsey? I must see you, +doctor; but don't you go, Susan. I won't keep him more than two minutes." + +"Oh, don't mind me," cried Miss Clopsey, a parched maiden of twoscore. "I +can wait just as well as not. Where is the pain, Miss Panney? Were you +took sudden?" + +"Like the pop of a jackbox. Come, doctor, I must see you in the parlor." + +"Can I do anything?" asked Miss Clopsey, rising. "How dreadful! Shall I +go for hot water?" + +"Oh, don't be alarmed," said Miss Panney, hurrying the amazed doctor out +of the room; "it is chronic. He will be back in no time." + +Miss Clopsey, left alone in the office, sank back in her chair. + +"Chronic by jerks," she sighed; "there can be few things worse than that; +and at her age, too!" + +"What can be the matter?" asked the doctor, as the two stood in +the parlor. + +"It is an idea," said Miss Panney; "you cannot think with what violence +it seized me. Doctor, what became of that book you wrote on the +'Diagnosis of Sympathy'?" + +The doctor opened his eyes in astonishment. + +"Nothing has become of it. It has been in my desk for two years. I have +not had time even to copy it." + +"And of course your writing could not be trusted to a printer. Now what +you should do is this: employ that Drane girl to copy your manuscript. +She can do it here, and if she comes to a word she cannot make out, she +can ask you. That will keep her going until autumn, and by that time we +can get her some scholars." + +"Miss Panney," said the doctor, "are you going crazy? I cannot afford +charity on that scale." + +"Charity!" repeated the old lady, sarcastically. "A pretty word to use. +By that sort of charity you give yourself one of the greatest of +earthly blessings, in the shape of La Fleur, and you get out a book +which will certainly be a benefit to the world, and will, I believe, +bring you fame and profit. And you are frightened by the paltry sum +that will be necessary to pay the board of the girl and her mother for +perhaps two months. Now do not condemn this plan until you have had +time to consider it. Go back to your Clopsey; I am going to find Mrs. +Tolbridge and talk to her." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE + + +When Dora Bannister had gone away in Miss Panney's phaeton, Miriam walked +gravely into the house, followed by her brother. + +"Now," said she, "I must go to work in earnest." + +"Work!" exclaimed Ralph. "I think you have been working a good deal +harder than you ought to work, and certainly a good deal harder than I +intend you to work. As soon as he has had his dinner, Mike shall take the +wagon, and go after the woman Miss Panney told us of." + +"Of course I have been working," said Miriam, "but while Dora Bannister +was here, what we did was not like straightforward work; it all seemed to +mean something that was not just plain housekeeping. For one thing, the +dough I intended to bake into bread was nearly all used up in making +those rolls that Dora worked up into such pretty shapes; and now, if the +new woman comes, I shall not have another chance to try my hand at +making bread until she leaves us, for I am not going to do anything of +the sort with a servant watching me. And there are all those raspberries +we picked this morning. I am sure I do not know what to do with them, for +there are ever so many more than we shall want to eat with cream. What +was it, Ralph, that you said you liked, made of raspberries?" + +Ralph looked a little puzzled. + +"I think," he said, "it must have been something of the tart order. What +did I tell you?" + +"You did not tell me anything," said Miriam, "and I do not believe that +tarts are ever made of raspberries. Dora Bannister said she wanted to +cook something for you that you told her you liked, but as you have +forgotten what it was, I suppose it does not make much difference now." + +Ralph had said so many things to Dora that he could not remember what +remark he had made about cooked raspberries; but it delighted him to +think that, whatever it was, Dora had wished to make it for him. + +After dinner Miriam went up to her room, where upon the bed lay Judith +Pacewalk's teaberry gown. She took off her own school-girl dress, and put +on the pink gown. It was the first time she had ever worn the clothes of +a woman. When she had attired herself in the silken robe which had been +so fatal to the fortunes and life of Judith Pacewalk, it had been slipped +on in masquerade fashion, debased from its high position to a mere +protection from spilt milk. Miriam had thought of the purple silk when +Miss Panney was telling her story, and had said to herself that if the +stall in the cow-stable had been ever so much darker and dirtier, and if +the milk stains had been more and bigger, the career of that robe would +have ended all the more justly. + +The teaberry gown was too long for Miriam, and too large in every way. +She knew that for herself; but hearing Ralph's footsteps outside, she had +a longing to know what he would say on the subject, so, holding up her +skirt to keep herself from tripping, she ran downstairs and called him +into the big hall. + +"How do you like me in the teaberry gown?" she asked. + +Without a thought of any figurative significance connected with the +dress, Ralph only saw that it was as unsuitable to his sister as it had +been well suited to Dora. + +"You will have to grow a good deal bigger and older before you are able +to fill that gown, my little one," he said. + +"That is not the way I do things," said Miriam, severely. "I shall make +the gown fit me." + +Ralph was about to say that it would be a pity to cut down and alter that +picturesque piece of old-fashioned attire into an ordinary garment, and +that it would be well to keep it as a family relic, or to give it away to +some one who could wear it as it was, but Miriam's manner assured him +that she was extremely sensitive on the subject of this gown, and he +considered it wise to offer no further opinion about it. So he went about +his affairs, and Miriam, having resumed her ordinary dress, went out with +her cook-book to a bench under a tree on the lawn. She never stayed in +the house when it was possible to be out of doors. + +"I wish I could find out," she said to herself, "what Dora Bannister +intended to make for Ralph out of raspberries. Whatever it is, I know I +can make it just as well, and I want to do it all myself before the new +cook comes. It could not have been jam," she said, as she turned over +the leaves; "for Ralph does not care much for jam, and he would not have +told her he liked that. And then there is jelly; but it must take a long +time to make jelly, and I do not believe she would undertake to give him +that for dinner, made from raspberries picked this morning. Besides, I +cannot imagine Ralph saying he wanted jelly for his dinner. Well, well!" +she exclaimed aloud, as she stopped to read a recipe, "they do make +tarts out of raspberries! That must have been it, for Ralph is +desperately fond of every kind of pastry. I will go into the house this +minute, and make him some raspberry tarts. We shall have them for +supper, even if they give him the nightmare. I am not going to have him +say again that he wished the new cook, as he kept calling Dora +Bannister, had stayed a little longer." + +Alas! at dinner time Ralph had been guilty of that indiscretion. Without +exactly knowing it, he had missed in the meal a certain very pleasant +element, which had been put into the supper and breakfast by Dora's +desire to gratify his especial tastes. While he missed their visitor in +many other ways, he alluded to her premature departure only in connection +with their domestic affairs. + +But so far as Miriam was concerned, he could have done nothing worse +than this. To have heard her brother say that Dora Bannister was the most +lovely girl he had ever seen, and that he was filled with grief at losing +the delights of her society, might have been disagreeable to her, or it +might not. But to have him even in the lightest way intimate that her +housekeeping was preferable to that of his own sister nettled her +self-esteem. + +"I will show him," she said, "that he is mistaken." + +In the pleasant coolness of the great barn, Ralph stretched himself on a +pile of new-made hay to think. He was a farmer, and he intended to try +to be a good farmer, and he knew that good farmers, during working +hours, do not lie down on piles of hay to think. But notwithstanding +that, in this hay-scented solitude, looking out of the great door upon +the quiet landscape with the white clouds floating over it, he thought +of Dora. He had been thinking of her in all sorts of irregular and +disjointed ways ever since he had risen in the morning; but now he +wished to think definitely, and lay down here for that purpose. One +cannot think definitely and single-mindedly when engaged in farm work, +especially if he sometimes finds himself a little awkward at said work +and is bothered by it. + +Whenever he could do it, Ralph Haverley liked to get things clear and +straightforward in his mind. He had applied this rule to all matters of +his former business, and he now applied it to the affairs of his present +estate. But how much more important was it to apply the rules to Dora +Bannister! Nothing had ever put his mind into a condition less clear and +straightforward than the visit of that young lady. The main point to be +decided upon was: what should he do about seeing her again? He was filled +by an all-pervading desire to do that; but how should he set about it? +The simplest plan would be to go and see her; but if he did so, he knew +he ought to take his sister with him, and he had no reason to believe +that Miriam would be in any hurry to return Miss Bannister's visit. If he +had been acquainted with the brother, the case would have been different, +but that gentleman had not yet called upon him. + +Having thought some time on this subject, Ralph sat upright, and +rearranged his reflections. + +"Why is it," he said to himself, "that I am so anxious to see her again, +and to see her as soon as possible?" + +To the solution of this question, Ralph applied the full force of his +intellectual powers. The conclusion that came to him after about six +seconds of deliberation was not well defined, but it indicated that if +almost any young man had had in his house--actually living with him and +taking part in his household affairs--an unusually handsome young woman, +who, not only by her appearance, but by her gentle and thoughtful desire +to adapt herself to the tastes and circumstances of himself and his +sister, seemed to belong in the place into which she had so suddenly +dropped, that young man would naturally want to see that young woman just +as soon as he could. This would be so in any similar case, and there was +no use in trying to find out why it was so in this case. + +He rose to his feet, and at that moment he heard Miriam calling to him. + +"Ralph," she said, running into the barn, "I have been looking all over +for you. The new woman cannot come to-day." + +"I do not see why you should appear so delighted about it," said Ralph; +"I am very sorry to hear it." + +"And I am not," replied Miriam. "There are some things I want to do +before she comes, and I am very glad to have the chance. Mike brought +back word from her that if you send the wagon in the cool of the morning, +she will come over with her trunk." + +"You are a funny girl," said Ralph, "to be actually pleased at the +prospect of cooking and doing housework a little longer." And as he said +that, he congratulated himself that his sister had not had the chance of +thinking him a funny fellow for lying stretched on the hay when he ought +to have been at work. + +Miriam was now in good spirits again. She walked to the great open +window, and, leaning on the bar, looked out. + +"What a lovely air," she said, and then she turned to her brother. "It is +nice to have visitors, and to have plenty of people to do your work, but +it is a hundred times jollier for just us two to be here by ourselves. +Don't you think so, Ralph?" And, without waiting for her brother's +answer, she went on. "You see, we can do whatever we please. We can be +as free as anything--as free as cats. Here, puss, puss," she called to +the gray barn cat in the yard below. "No, she will not even look at me. +Cats are the freest creatures in the world; they will not come to you if +they do not want to. If you call your dog, he feels that he has to come +to you. Ralph, do you know I think it is the most absurd thing in the +world that in a place like this we should have no dog." + +"I have been waiting for somebody to give me one," said Ralph, taking up +a pitchfork and preparing to throw some hay into the stable below. + +"That will be the nicest way of getting one," said Miriam, as she came +and stood by him, and watched him thrust the hay into the yawning hole. +"We do not want a dog that people are willing to sell. We want one that +is the friend of the family, and which the owners are obliged to part +with because they are going to Europe, or something of that sort. Such a +dog we should prize. Don't you think so, Ralph?" + +"Yes," said he, and went on taking up forkloads of hay and thrusting them +into the hole. He was wondering if this were a good time to tell Miriam +that that very morning Dora Bannister had been talking about there being +no dog at Cobhurst, and had asked him if he would like to have one; for +if he would, she had a very handsome black setter, which had been given +to her when it was a little puppy, and of which she was very fond, but +which had now grown too big and lively to be cooped up in the yard of +their house. He had said that he would be charmed to have the dog, and +had intended to tell Miriam about it, but now a most excellent +opportunity had come to do so, he hesitated. Miriam's soul did not seem +to incline toward their late visitor, and perhaps she might not care for +a gift from her. It might be better to wait awhile. Then there came a +happy thought to Ralph; here was a good reason for going to see Dora. It +would be no more than polite to take an interest in the animal which had +been offered him, and even if he did not immediately bring it to +Cobhurst, he could go and look at it. Miriam now returned to the house, +leaving her brother pondering over the question whether or not the next +morning would be too soon to go and look at the dog. + +The sun had set, and Ralph, having finished his day's work, and having +helped his sister as much as she and Mike would let him, sat on the +piazza, gazing between the tall pillars upon the evening landscape, and +still trying to decide whether or not it would be out of the way to go +the next morning to Dora Bannister. The evening light grew less and less, +and Ralph's healthy instincts drew his mind from thoughts of Dora to +thoughts of supper. It certainly was very late for the evening meal, but +he would not worry Miriam with any signs of impatience. That would be +unkind indeed, when she was slaving away in the kitchen, while he sat +here enjoying the evening coolness. + +In a few minutes he heard his sister's step in the hall, and then a sob. +He had scarcely time to turn, when Miriam ran out, and threw herself down +on the wide seat beside him. Her face, as he could see it in the dim +light, was one of despair, and as sob after sob broke from her, tears ran +down her cheeks. Tenderly he put his arm around her and urged her to tell +him what had happened. + +"Oh, Ralph," she sobbed, "it is very hard, but I know it is true. I have +been just filled with vanity and pride, and after all I am nothing like +as good as she is, nor as good as anybody, and the best I can do is to go +back to school." + +"What is the matter?" exclaimed Ralph. "You poor little thing, how came +you to be so troubled?" + +Miriam gave a long sigh and dropped her head on her brother's shoulder. + +"Oh, Ralph," she said, "they are six inches high." + +"What are?" cried Ralph, in great amazement. + +"The tarts," she said; "the raspberry tarts I was making for you, because +you like them, and because Dora Bannister was going to make them for you, +and I determined that I could do it just as well as she could, and that I +would do it and that you would not have to miss her for anything. But it +is of no use; I cannot do things as well as she can, and those tarts are +not like tarts at all; they are like chimneys." + +"I expect they are very good indeed. Now do not drop another tear, and +let us go in and eat them." + +"No," said Miriam, "they are not good. I know what is the matter with +them. I have found out that I have no more idea of making pie crust than +I have about the nebulous part of astronomy, and that I never could +comprehend. I wanted to make the lightest, puffiest pastry that was +possible, and I used some self-raising flour, the kind that has the yeast +ground up with it, and when I put those tarts in the oven to bake, they +just rose up, and rose up, until I thought they would reach up the +chimney. They are perfectly horrid." + +Ralph sprang to his feet, and lifted his sister from her seat. "Come +along, little one," he cried, "and I shall judge for myself what sort of +a pastry-cook you are." + +"The pigs shall judge that," said Miriam, who had now dried her eyes, +"but fortunately there are other things to eat." + +The tarts, indeed, were wonderful things to look at, resembling, as +Miriam had said, a plateful of little chimneys, with a sort of swallow's +nest of jam at the top, but Ralph did not laugh at them. + +"Wait until their turn comes," said Ralph, "and I will give my opinion +about them." + +When he had finished the substantial part of the meal, he drew the plate +of tarts toward him. + +"I will show you how to eat the Cobhurst tart. You cut it down from top +to bottom: then you lay the two sections on their rounded sides: then you +get a lot more of jam, which I see you have on the side table, and you +spread the cut surfaces with it: then you put it together as it was +before, and slice it along its shorter diameter. Good?" said he; "they +are delicious." + +Miriam took a piece. "It is good enough," she said, "but it is not a +tart. If Dora Bannister had made them, they would have been real tarts." + +"It is very well I said nothing about the dog," thought Ralph; and then +he said aloud, "It is not Dora Bannister that we have to consider; it is +Molly Tooney. She is to save you from the tears and perplexities of flour +and yeast, and to make you the happy little lady of the house that you +were before the wicked Phoebe went away. But one thing I insist upon: I +want the rest of those tarts for my breakfast." + +Miriam looked at her brother with a smile that showed her storm was over. + +"You are eating those things, dear Ralph," she said, "because I made +them, and that is the only good thing about them." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS + + +In a small room at the back of Dr. Tolbridge's house there sat a young +woman by the window, writing. This was Cicely Drane; and although it was +not yet ten days since Miss Panney broached her plan of the employment of +Miss Drane as the doctor's secretary, or rather copyist, here she was, +hard at work, and she had been for two days. + +The window opened upon the garden, and in the beds were a great many +bright and interesting flowers, but paying no heed to these, Cicely gave +her whole attention to her task, which, indeed, was not an easy one. With +knitted brows she bent over the manuscript of the "Diagnosis of +Sympathy," and having deciphered a line or two, she wrote the words in a +fair hand on a broad sheet before her. Then she returned to the study of +the doctor's caligraphy, and copied a little more of it, but the +proportion of the time she gave to the deciphering of the original +manuscript to that occupied in writing the words in her own hand was +about as ten is to one. An hour had elapsed since she had begun to write +on the page, which she had not yet filled. + +Miss Cicely Drane was a small person, nearing her twenty-second year. She +had handsome gray eyes, tastefully arranged brown hair, and a vivacious +and pleasing face. Her hands were small, her feet were small, and she did +not look as if she weighed a hundred pounds, although, in fact, her +weight was considerably more than that. Her dress was a simple one, on +which a great deal of thought had been employed to make it becoming. + +For a longer time than usual she now bent over the doctor's manuscript, +endeavoring to resolve a portion of it into comprehensible words. Then +she held up the page to the light, replaced it on the table, stood up and +looked at it, and finally sat down again, her elbows on the paper, and +her tapering fingers in the little brown curls at the sides of her head. +Presently she raised her head, with a sigh. "It is of no use," she said. +"I must go and ask him what this means; that is, if he is at home." + +With the page in her hand, she went to the office door, and knocked. + +"Come in," said Dr. Tolbridge. + +Miss Drane entered; the doctor was alone, but he had his hat in his hand +and was just going out. + +"I am glad I caught you," said she, "for there is a part of this page in +which I can see no meaning." + +"What is it?" said the doctor. "Read it." + +Slowly and distinctly she read:-- + +"'The cropsticks of flamingo bicrastus quack.'" + +The doctor frowned, laid his hat on the table, and seating himself took +the paper from Cicely Drane. + +"This is strange," said he. "It does seem to be 'cropsticks of flamingo,' +but what can that mean?" + +"That is what I came to ask you," said she. "I have been puzzling over it +a good while, and I supposed, of course, you would know what it is." + +"But I do not," said the doctor. "It is often very hard for me to read my +own writing, and this was written two years ago. You can leave this sheet +with me, and this evening I will look over it and try to make something +out of it." + +Cicely Drane was methodical in her ways; she could not properly go on +with the rest of her work without this page, and so she told the doctor. + +"Oh, never mind any more work for today," said he. "It is after four +o'clock now, and you ought to go out and get a little of this pleasant +sunshine. By the way, how do you like this new business?" + +"I should like it very well," said Cicely, as she stood by the table, "if +I could get on faster with it, but I work so very, very slowly. I made a +calculation this morning, that if I work at the same rate that I have +been working since I came here, it will take me thirteen years and eleven +months to copy your manuscript." + +The doctor laughed. "If a child should walk to school," he said, "at the +same rate of speed that he takes his first toddling step on the nursery +floor, it might take him about thirteen years to get there. That is, if +his school were at the average distance. You will get on fast enough when +you become acquainted with my writing." + +She was on the point of saying that surely he had had time to get +acquainted with it, and yet he could not read it; but she considered that +she did not yet know the doctor well enough for that. + +The doctor rose and took up his hat; then he suddenly turned toward Miss +Drane and said, "La Fleur, our cook, came to speak to me this morning +about your mother. She says she thinks that you are not well lodged; that +the street is in the hottest part of the town, and that Mrs. Drane's +health will suffer if you stay there. Does your mother object to your +present quarters?" + +Cicely, who had been half way to the door, now came back and stood by +the table. + +"Mother never objects to anything," she said. "She thinks our rooms are +very neat and comfortable, and that Mrs. Brinkly is a kind landlady, +but she has complained a great deal of the heat. You know our house was +very airy." + +"I am sorry," said the doctor, "that Mrs. Brinkly's house is not likely +to prove pleasant. It is in a closely built portion of the town, but it +seemed the only place where we could find suitable accommodations for +your mother and you." + +"Oh, it is a nice place," exclaimed Cicely, "and I am sure we shall like +it, except in hot weather, such as we are having now. I have no doubt we +shall get used to it after a little while." + +"La Fleur does not think so," said the doctor. "She is very much +dissatisfied with the Brinkly establishment. I think I saw signs of +mental disturbance in our luncheon to-day." + +Cicely laughed. She was a girl who was pleasant to look at when she +laughed, for her features accommodated themselves so naturally to +mirthful expression. + +"It is almost funny," she said, "to see how fond La Fleur is of mother. +She lived with us less than a year, and yet one might suppose she had +always been a servant of the family. I think one reason for her feeling +is that mother never does anything. You know she has never been used to +do anything, and of late years she has not been well enough. La Fleur +likes all that; she thinks it is a mark of high degree. She told me once +that my mother was a lady who was born to be served, and who ought not to +be allowed to serve herself." + +"She does not seem to object to your working," remarked the doctor. + +"I am sure she does not like that, but then she considers it a thing that +cannot be helped. You know," continued Cicely, with a smile, "she is not +so particular about me, for I have some trade blood. Father's father was +a merchant." + +"So you are only a grade aristocrat," said the doctor; "but I must go. I +will talk to Mrs. Tolbridge about this affair of lodgings." + +That evening Mrs. Tolbridge and the doctor held a conference in regard to +the quarters of the Dranes. + +"I think La Fleur concerns herself entirely too much in the matter," said +the lady. "She first came to me, and then she went to you. You have done +a good deal for Mrs. Drane in giving her daughter employment, and we +cannot be expected to attend to her every need. I do not consider Mrs. +Brinkly's house a very pleasant one in hot weather, and I would be glad +to do anything I could to establish them more pleasantly, but I know of +nothing to do, at least at present; and then you say they have not +complained. From what I have seen of Mrs. Drane, I think she is a very +sensible woman, and under the circumstances probably expects some +discomforts." + +"But that is not all that is to be considered," said her husband. "La +Fleur's dissatisfaction, which is very evident, must be taken into the +question. She has a scheming mind. Before she left this morning she asked +me if I thought a little house could be gotten outside the town, for a +moderate rent. I believe she would not hesitate to take such a house, and +board and lodge the Dranes herself." + +"Doctor!" exclaimed Mrs. Tolbridge, "whatever happens, I hope we are not +going to be the slaves of a cook." + +The doctor laughed. + +"Whatever happens," he said, "we are always that. All we can do is to try +and be the slaves of a good one." + +"I am not altogether sure that that is the right way to look at it," +said Mrs. Tolbridge; and then she went on with her sewing, not caring to +expatiate on the subject. Her husband appreciated only the advantages of +La Fleur, but she knew something of her disadvantages. The work on which +she was engaged at that moment would have been done by the maid, had not +that young woman's services been so frequently required of late by the +autocrat of the kitchen. + +The doctor sat silent for a few minutes. He had a kindly feeling for Mrs. +Drane, and was willing to do all he could for her, but his thoughts were +now principally occupied with plans for the continuance of good living in +his own home. + +"I suppose it would not be practicable," he said presently, "to invite +them to stay with us during the heated term." + +Mrs. Tolbridge dropped her work into her lap. + +"That is not to be thought of for a moment," she said. "We have no +room for them, unless we give up having any more friends this summer; +and besides that, you would see La Fleur, with the other servants at +her heels, devoting herself to the gratification of every want and +notion of Mrs. Drane, and thinking no more of me than if I were a +chair in a corner." + +"We shall not have that," said the doctor, rising, and placing his hand +on his wife's head. "You may be sure we shall not have that. And now I +will go and get a bit of my handwriting, and see if you can help me +decipher it." + +He left the room, but in an instant returned. + +"A happy thought has just struck me!" he exclaimed. "I wonder if those +young Haverley people would take Mrs. Drane into their house for the rest +of the summer? It would be an excellent thing for them, for their +household needs the presence of an elderly person, and I am sure that no +one could be quieter, or more pleasant, and less troublesome, than Mrs. +Drane would be. What do you think of that idea?" + +Mrs. Tolbridge looked up approvingly. + +"It is not a bad one," she said; "but what would the daughter do? She +could not come into town every day to do your work. It is too long a walk +for her, and she could not afford a conveyance." + +"No," said the doctor, "of course she could not go back and forwards +every day, but it would not be necessary. She could take the work out +there and do it as well as here, and she could come in now and then, when +a chance offered, and ask me about the hard words, for which she could +leave blanks. Or, if I happen to be in the neighborhood, I could stop in +there and see how she was getting on. I would much rather arrange the +business in that way, than have her pop into my office at any moment to +ask me about my illegible words." + +"I should think the work could be done just as well out of the house as +in it," said the doctor's wife, who would be willing to have again the +use of the little room that she had cheerfully given up to the copyist of +her husband's book, which she, quite as earnestly as Miss Panney, desired +to be given to the world. + +"The first thing to do," said she, "is to make them acquainted. At first +the Haverleys would not be likely to favor the plan. They no doubt +consider themselves sufficient company for each other, and although a +slight addition to their income would probably be of advantage, I think +they are too young and unpractical to care much about that." + +"How would it do to have the Dranes and the Haverleys here, and give them +a first-class La Fleur dinner?" asked the doctor. + +"I do not like that," said his wife. "The intention would be too obvious. +The thing should be done more naturally." + +"Well," said the doctor, "I wish we had Miss Panney here. She has a great +capacity for rearranging and simplifying the circumstances of a +complicated case." + +Mrs. Tolbridge made no answer, but very intently examined her sewing. + +"But if we can think of no deeply ingenious plan," continued the doctor, +"we will go about it in a straightforward way. I will see Ralph Haverley, +and if I can win him over to the idea I will let him talk to his sister. +He can do it better than we can. If they utterly reject the whole scheme, +we will wait a week or so, and propose it again, just as if we had never +done it before. I have found this plan work very well with persons who, +on account of youth, or some other reason, are given to resentment of +suggestions and to quick decisions. When a rejected proposition is laid +before them a second time, the disposition to resent has lost its force, +and they are as likely to accept it as not." + +"You are right," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "for I have tried that plan +with you." + +The doctor looked at her and laughed. + +"It is astonishing," he exclaimed, "what coincidences we meet with in +this world," and with that he left the room. + +As soon as her husband had gone, Mrs. Tolbridge leaned back in her chair +and laughed quietly. + +"To think of asking Miss Panney to aid in a plan like that!" she said to +herself. "Why, when the old lady hears of it she will blaze like fury. To +send that pretty Cicely to live in the house for which she herself has +selected a mistress, will seem to her like high treason. But the +arrangement suits me perfectly, and I can only hope that Miss Panney may +not hear of it until everything is settled." + +The more Dr. Tolbridge thought of the plan to establish Mrs. and Miss +Drane, for a time, at Cobhurst, the better he liked it. Not only did he +think the arrangement would be a desirable one on the Drane side, but +also on the Haverley side. From the first, he had taken a lively interest +in Miriam, and he considered that her life of responsibility and +independence in that lonely household was as likely to warp her mind in +some directions as it was to expand it in others. Suitable companionship +would be a great advantage to her in this regard, and he fancied that +Cicely Drane would be as congenial and helpful a chum, and Mrs. Drane as +unobjectionable a matronly adviser, as could be found. If the plan suited +all concerned, it might perhaps be continued beyond the summer. He would +see Ralph as soon as possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A TRESPASS + + +Having received permission to stop work at four o'clock on a beautiful +summer afternoon, Cicely Drane put away her papers and walked rapidly +home. She found her mother on Mrs. Brinkly's front piazza, fanning +herself vigorously and watching some children, who, on the other side of +the narrow street, were feeding a tethered goat with clippings from a +newspaper. + +After a few words to explain her early return, Cicely went up to her own +room, and took from a drawer a little pocketbook, and opening it, +examined the money contained therein. Apparently satisfied with the +result, she went downstairs, wallet in hand. + +"Mother," said she, "you must find it dreadfully hot and stupid here, and +as this is a bit of a holiday, I intend we shall take a drive." + +Mrs. Drane was about to offer some sort of economic objection, but before +she could do so, Cicely was out of the little front yard, and hurrying +toward the station, where there were always vehicles to be hired. + +She engaged the man who had the best-looking horse, and in a little open +phaeton, a good deal the worse for wear, she returned to her mother. + +Andy Griffing, the driver, was a grizzled little man with twinkling eyes +and a cheery air that seemed to indicate that an afternoon drive was as +much a novelty and pleasure to him as it could possibly be to any two +ladies; which was odd, considering that for the last forty years Andy had +been almost constantly engaged in taking morning, afternoon, evening, and +night drives. + +The only direction given him by Cicely was to take them along the +prettiest country roads that he knew of, and this suited him well, for he +not only considered himself a good judge of scenery, but he knew which +roads were easiest for his horse. + +As they travelled leisurely along, the ladies enjoying the air, the +fields, the sweet summer smells, the stretches of woods, the blue and +white sky, and everything that goes to make a perfect summer afternoon. +Andy endeavored to add to their pleasure by giving them information +regarding the inhabitants of the various dwellings they passed. + +"That whitish house back there among the trees," said he, "with the green +blinds, is called the Witton place. The Wittons themselves are nuthin' +out o' the common; but there's an old lady lives there with 'em, who if +you ever meet, you'll know agin, if you see her agin. Her name's +Panney,--Miss Panney,--and she's a one-er. What she don't know about me, +I don't know, and what she won't know about you, three days after she +gits acquainted with you, you don't know. That's the kind of a person +Miss Panney is. There's a lot of very nice people, some rich and some +poor, and some queer and some not quite so queer, that lives in and +around Thorbury, and if you like it at Mrs. Brinkly's and conclude to +stay there any length of time, I don't doubt you'll git acquainted with a +good many of 'em; but take my word for it, you'll never meet anybody who +can go ahead of Miss Panney in the way of turnin' up unexpected. I once +had a sick hoss, who couldn't do much more than stand up, but I had to +drive him one day, 'cause my other one was hired out. 'Now' says I, as I +drew out the stable, 'if I can get around town this mornin' without +meetin' Miss Panney, I think old Bob can do my work, and to-morrow I'll +turn him out to grass.' And as I went around the first corner, there was +Miss Panney a drivin' her roan mare. She pulled up when she seed me, and +she calls out, 'Andy, what's the matter with that hoss?' I told her he +was a little under the weather, but I had to use him that day, 'cause my +other hoss was out. Then she got straight out of that phaeton she drives +in, and come up to my hoss, and says she, 'Andy, you ought to be ashamed +of yourself to make a hoss work when he is in a condition like that. Take +him right back to your stable, or I'll have you up before a justice.' +'Now look here, Miss Panney,' says I, 'which is the best, for a hoss to +jog a little round town when he ain't feeling quite well, or for a man to +sit idle on his front doorstep and see his family starve?' 'Now, Andy,' +says she, 'is that the case with you?' and havin' brought up the pint +myself, I was obliged to say that it was. 'Very good, then,' said she, +and she took her roan mare by the head and led it up to the curbstone. +'Now then,' said she, 'you can take your hoss out of the cab and put this +hoss in, and you can drive her till your hoss gets well, and durin' that +time I'll walk.' + +"Well, of course I didn't do that, and I took my hoss back to the stable, +and my family didn't starve nuther; but I just tell you this to show you +what sort of a woman Miss Panney is." + +"I should think she was a very estimable person," said Mrs. Drane. + +"Oh, there's nothin' the matter with her estimation," said Andy. "That's +level enough. I only told you that to show you how you can always expect +her to turn up unexpected." + +"Mrs. Brinkly spoke of Miss Panney," said Cicely; "she said that she was +the first one to come and see her about rooms for us." + +"That was certainly very kind," said Mrs. Drane, "considering that she +does not know us at all, except through Dr. Tolbridge. I remember his +speaking of her." + +"That place over there," said Andy, "you can jest see the tops of the +chimneys, that's called Cobhurst; that's where old Matthias Butterwood +used to live. It was an awful big house for one man, but he was queer. +There's nobody livin' there now but two young people, sort of temporary, +I guess, though the place belongs to 'em. I don't think they are any too +well off. They don't give us hack-drivers much custom, never havin' any +friends comin' or goin', or trunks or anything. He's got no other +business, they say, and don't know no more about farmin' than a potato +knows about preachin'. There's nothin' on the place that amounts to +anything except the barn. There's a wonderful barn there, that old +Butterwood spent nobody knows how much money on, and he a bachelor. You +can't see the barn from here, but I'll drive you where you can get a good +look at it." + +In a few minutes, he made a turn, and whipped up his horse to a better +speed, and before Mrs. Drane and her daughter could comprehend the state +of affairs, they were rolling over a not very well kept private road, and +approaching the front of a house. + +"Where are you going, driver?" exclaimed Mrs. Drane, leaning forward in +astonishment. + +Andy turned his beaming countenance upon her, and flourished his whip. + +"Oh, I'm just goin' to drive round the side of the house," he said; "at +the back there's a little knoll where we can stop, and you can see the +whole of the barn with the three ways of gittin' into it, one for each +story." At that moment they rolled past the front piazza on which were +Miriam and Ralph, gazing at them in surprise. The latter had risen when +he had heard the approaching carriage, supposing they were to have +visitors. But as the vehicle passed the door he looked at his sister in +amazement. + +"It can't be," said he, "that those people have come to visit Mike?" + +"Or Molly Tooney?" said Miriam. + +As for Mrs. Drane and Cicely, they were shocked. They had never been +in the habit of driving into private grounds for the sake of seeing +what might be there to see, and Mrs. Drane sharply ordered the +driver to stop. + +"What do you mean," said she, "by bringing us in here?" + +"Oh, that's nuthin'," said Andy, with a genial grin; "they won't mind +your comin' in to look at the barn. I've druv lots of people in here to +look at that barn, though, to be sure, not since these young people has +been livin' here, but they won't mind it an eighth of an inch." + +"I shall get out and apologize," said Mrs. Drane, "for this shameful +intrusion, and then you must drive us out of the grounds immediately. We +do not wish to stop to look at anything," and with this she stepped from +the little phaeton and walked back to the piazza. + +Stopping at the bottom of the steps, she saluted the brother and sister, +whose faces showed that they were in need of some sort of explanation of +her arrival at their domestic threshold. + +In a few words she explained how the carriage had happened to enter the +grounds, and hoped that they would consider that the impropriety was due +entirely to the driver, and not to any desire on their part to intrude +themselves on private property for the sake of sight-seeing. Ralph and +Miriam were both pleased with the words and manner of this exceedingly +pleasant-looking lady. + +"I beg that you will not consider at all that you have intruded," said +Ralph. "If there is anything on our place that you would care to look at, +I hope that you will do so." + +"It was only the barn," said Mrs. Drane, with a smile. "The man told us +it was a peculiar building, but I supposed we could see it without +entering your place. We will trespass no longer." + +Ralph went down the steps, and Miriam followed. + +"Oh, you are perfectly welcome to look at the barn as much as you wish +to," he said. "In fact, we are rather proud to find that this is anything +of a show place. If the other lady will alight, I will be pleased to have +you walk into the barn. The door of the upper floor is open, and there is +a very fine view from the back." + +Mrs. Drane smiled. + +"You are very good indeed," she said, "to treat intrusive strangers with +such kindness, but I shall be glad to have you know that we are not mere +tourists. We are, at present, residents of Thorbury. I am Mrs. Drane, and +my daughter is engaged in assisting Dr. Tolbridge in some literary work." + +"If you are friends of Dr. Tolbridge," said Ralph, "you are more than +welcome to see whatever there is to see on this place. The doctor is one +of our best friends. If you like, I will show you the barn, and perhaps +my sister will come with us." + +Miriam, who for a week or more had been beset by the very unusual desire +that she would like to see somebody and speak to somebody who did not +live at Cobhurst, willingly agreed to assist in escorting the strangers, +and Cicely having joined the group, they all walked toward the barn. + +There were no self-introductions, Ralph merely acting as cicerone, and +Miriam bringing up the rear in the character of occasional commentator. +Mrs. Drane had accepted the young gentleman's invitation because she felt +that the most polite thing to do under the circumstances was to gratify +his courteous desire to put them at their ease, and, being a lover of +fine scenery, she was well rewarded by the view from the great window. + +The pride of possession began to glow a little within Ralph as he pointed +out the features of this castle-like barn. Mrs. Drane agreed to his +proposition to descend to the second floor. But as these two were going +down the broad stairway, Cicely drew back, and suddenly turning, +addressed Miriam. + +"I have been wanting to ask a great many questions," she said, "but I +have felt ashamed to do it. I have nearly always lived in the country, +but I know hardly anything about barns and cows and stables and hay and +all that. Do the hens lay their eggs up there in your hay?" + +Miriam smiled gravely. + +"It is very hard to find out," she said, "where they do lay their eggs. +Some days we do not get any at all, though I suppose they lay them, just +the same. There is a henhouse, but they never go in there." + +Cicely moved toward the stairway, and then she stopped; she cast her +eyes toward the mass of hay in the mow above, and then she gave a little +sigh. Miriam looked at her and understood her perfectly, moreover she +pitied her. + +"How is it," said she as they went down the stairs, "that you lived in +the country, and do not know about country things?" + +"We lived in suburbs," she said. "I think suburbs are horrible; they are +neither one thing nor the other. We had a lawn and shade trees, and a +croquet ground, and a tennis court, but we bought our milk and eggs and +most of our vegetables. There isn't any real country in all that, you +know. I was never in a haymow in my life. All I know about that sort of +thing is from books." + +When, with many thanks for the courtesies offered them, Mrs. Drane and +her daughter had driven away, Miriam sat by herself on the piazza and +thought. She had a good deal of time, now, to think, for Molly Tooney was +a far more efficient servant than Phoebe had been, and although her +brother gave her as much of his time as he could, she was of necessity +left a good deal to herself. + +She began by thinking what an exceedingly gentlemanly man her brother +was; in his ordinary working clothes he had been as much at his ease with +those ladies as though he had been dressed in a city costume, which, +however, would not have been nearly so becoming to him as his loose +flannel shirt and broad straw hat. She then began to regret that her mind +worked so slowly. If it had been quicker to act, she would have asked +that young lady to come some day and go up in the haymow with her. It +would be a positive charity to give a girl with longings, such as she saw +that one had, a chance of knowing what real country life was. It would +be pleasant to show things to a girl who really wanted to know about +them. From this she began to think of Dora Bannister. Dora was a nice +girl, but Miriam could not think of her as one to whom she could show or +tell very much; Dora liked to do the showing and telling herself. + +"I truly believe," said Miriam to herself, and a slight flush came on her +face, "that if she could have done it, she would have liked to stay here +a week, and wear the teaberry gown all the time and direct +everything,--although, of course, I would never have allowed that." With +a little contraction of the brows, she went into the hall, where she +heard her brother's step. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON + + +"It bothers the head off of me," said Molly Tooney to Mike, as she sat +eating her supper in the Cobhurst kitchen, "to try to foind out what thim +two upstairs is loike, anyway, 'specially her. I've been here nigh onto +two weeks, now, and I don't know her no betther than when I fust come. +For the life of me I can't make out whether she's a gal woman or a woman +gal. Sometimes she's one and sometimes t'other. And then there's he. Why +didn't he marry and settle before he took a house to himself? And in the +two Sundays I've been here, nather of thim's been to church. If they +knowed what was becomin' to thim, they'd behave like Christians, if they +are heretics." + +Mike sat at a little table in the corner of the kitchen with his back to +Molly, eating his supper. He had enough of the Southern negro in him to +make him dislike to eat with white people or to turn his face toward +anybody while partaking of his meals. But he also had enough of a son of +Erin in him to make him willing to talk whenever he had a chance. Turning +his head a little, he asked, "Now look a here, Molly; if a man's a +heretic, how can he be a Christian?" + +"There's two kinds of heretics," said Molly, filling her great tea-cup +for the fourth time, and holding the teapot so that the last drop of the +strong decoction should trickle into the cup; "Christian heretics and +haythen heretics. You're one of the last koind yoursilf, Mike, for you +never go nigh a church, except to whitewash the walls of it. And you'll +never git no benefit to your own sowl, from Phoebe's boardin' the +minister, nather. Take my word for that, Mike." + +Mike allowed himself a sort of froggy laugh. "There's nobody gets no good +out of that, but him," said he; "but you've got it crooked about their +not goin' to church. They did go reg'lar at fust, but the gig's at the +wheelwright's gettin' new shaf's." + +"Gig, indeed!" ejaculated Molly. "No kirridge, but an auld gig! There's +not much quality about thim two. I wouldn't be here working for the likes +o' thim, if it was not for me wish to oblige Miss Panney, poor old woman +as she's gittin' to be." + +Mike shrewdly believed that it was due to Miss Panney's knowledge of +some of Molly's misdeeds, and not to any desire to please the old lady, +that the commands of the latter were law to the Irishwoman, but he would +not say so. + +"Kerridge or no kerridge," said he, "they're good 'nough quality for me, +and I reckon I knows what quality is. They hain't got much money, that's +sure, but there's lots of quality that ain't got money; and he's got +sense, and that's better than money. When he fust come here, I jes' goes +to him, and ses I, 'How's you goin' to run this farm, sir,--ramshackle or +reg'lar?' He looked at me kinder bothered, and then I 'splained. 'Well,' +said he, 'reg'lar will cost more money than I've got, and I reckon we'll +have to run it ramshackle.' That's what we did, and we're gittin' along +fust rate. He works and I work, and what we ain't got no time to do, we +let stand jes' thar till we git time to 'tend to it. That's ramshackle. +We don't spend no time on fancy fixin's, and not much money on nuthin'." + +"That's jes' what I've been thinkin' mesilf," said Molly. "I don't +see no signs of money bein' spint on this place nather for one thing +or anuther." + +"You don't always have to spend money to get craps," said Mike; "look at +our corn and pertaters. They is fust rate, and when we sends our craps to +market, there won't be much to take for 'spenses out of what we git." + +"Craps!" said Molly, with a sneer. "If you hauls your weeds to market, +it'll take more wagons than you can hire in this country, and thim's the +only craps my oi has lit on yit." + +This made Mike angry. He was, in general, a good-natured man, but he had +a high opinion of himself as a farm manager, and on this point his +feelings were very sensitive. As was usual with him when he lost his +temper, he got up without a word and went out. + +"Bedad!" said Molly, looking about her, "I wouldn't have sid that to him +if I'd seed there wasn't no kindlin' sphlit." + +As Mike walked toward his own house, he was surprised to see, entering a +little-used gateway near the barn, a horse and carriage. It was now so +dark he could not see who occupied it, and he stood wondering why it +should enter that gateway, instead of coming by the main entrance. As he +stood there, the equipage came slowly on, and presently stopped in front +of his little house. By the time he reached it, Phoebe, his wife, had +alighted, and was waiting for him. + +"Reckon you is surprised to see me," said she, and then turning to the +negro man who drove the shabby hired vehicle, she told him that he might +go over to the barn and tie his horse, for she would not be ready to go +back for some time. She then entered the house with Mike, and, a candle +having been lighted, she explained her unexpected appearance. She had met +Miss Dora Bannister, and that young lady had engaged her to go to +Cobhurst and take a note to Miss Miriam. + +"She tole me," said Phoebe, "that she had wrote two times already to Miss +Miriam, and then, havin' suspected somethin', had gone to the +pos'-office and found they was still dar. Don't your boss ever sen' to +the pos'-office, Mike?" + +"He went hisself every now an' then, till the gig was broke," said Mike, +"but I don't believe he ever got nuthin', and I reckon they thought it +was no use botherin' about sendin' me, special, in the wagon." + +"Well, they're uncommon queer folks," said Phoebe. "I reckon they've got +nobody to write to, or git letters from. Anyway, Miss Dora wanted her +letter to git here, and so she says to me that if I'd take it, she'd pay +the hire of a hack, and so, as I wanted to see you anyway, Mike, I 'greed +quick enough." + +Before delivering the letter with which she had been entrusted, Phoebe +proceeded to attend to some personal business, which was to ask her +husband to lend her five dollars. + +"Bless my soul," said Mike, "I ain't got no five dollars. I ain't asked +for no wages yit, and don't expect to, till the craps is sold." + +"I can't wait for that!" exclaimed Phoebe; "I's got to have money to +carry on the house." + +"Whar's the money the preacher pays you?" asked her husband. + +"Dat's a comin'," said Phoebe, "dat's a comin' all right. Thar's to be a +special c'lection next Sunday mornin', and the money's goin' to pay the +minister's board. I'm to git every cent what's owin' to me, and I reckon +it'll take it all." + +"He ain't paid you nuthin' yit, thin?" + +"Not yit; there was another special c'lection had to be tuk up fust, but +the next one's for me. Can't you go ask your boss for five dollars?" + +"Oh, yes," said Mike, "he'll give it to me if I ask him. Look here, +Phoebe, we might's well git all the good we kin out of five dollars, and +I reckon I'll come to chu'ch next Sunday, and put the five dollars in the +c'lection. I'll git the credit of givin' a big lot of money, and that'll +set me up a long time wid the congregation, and you git the five dollars +all the same." + +"Mike," said Phoebe, solemnly, "don't you go and do dat; mind, I tell +you, don't you do dat. You give me them five dollars, and jes' let that +c'lection alone. No use you wearin' youself out a walkin' to chu'ch, and +all the feedin' and milkin' to do besides." + +Mike laughed. "I reckon you think five dollars in th' pahm of th' hand is +better than a whole c'lection in the bush. I'll see th' boss before you +go, and if he's got the money, he'll let me have it." + +Satisfied on this point, Phoebe now declared that she must go and deliver +her letter; but she first inquired how her husband was getting on, and +how he was treated by Molly Tooney. + +"I ain't got no use for that woman;" and he proceeded to tell his wife of +the insult that had been passed on his crops. + +"That's brazen impidence," said Phoebe, "and jes' like her. But look +here, Mike, don't you quarrel with the cook. No matter what happens, +don't you quarrel with the cook." + +"I ain't goin' to quarrel with nobody," said Mike; "but if that Molly +'spects me to grease her wagon wheels for her, she's got hold of the +wrong man. If she likes green wood for the kitchen fire, and fotchin' it +mos' times for herself, that's her business, not mine." + +"If you do that, Mike, she'll leave," said Phoebe. + +Mike gave himself a general shrug. + +"She can't leave," said he, "till Miss Panney tells her she kin." + +Phoebe laughed and rose. + +"Reckon I'll go in and see Miss Miriam," she said, "and while I'm doin' +that you'd better ask the boss about the money." + +Having delivered the letter, and having, with much suavity, inquired into +the health and general condition of the Cobhurst family since she had +walked off and left it to its own resources, and having given Miriam +various points of information in regard to the Bannister and the +Tolbridge families, Phoebe gracefully took leave of the young mistress of +the house and proceeded to call upon the cook. + +"Hi, Phoebe!" cried Molly, who was engaged in washing dishes, "how did +you git here at this time o' night?" + +"I'd have you know," said the visitor, with lofty dignity, "that my name +is Mrs. Robinson, and if you want to know how I got here, I came in a +kerridge." + +"I didn't hear no kirridge drive up," said Molly. + +"Humph!" said Mrs. Robinson, "I reckon I know which gate is proper for my +kerridge to come in, and which gate is proper for the Bannister coachman +to drive in. I suppose there is cooks that would drive up to the front +door if the governor's kerridge was standin' there." + +Molly looked at the colored woman, with a grin. + +"You're on your high hoss, Mrs. Robinson," said she. "That's what comes +o' boardin' the minister. That's lofty business, Mrs. Robinson, an' I +expect you're afther gittin' rich. Is it the gilt-edged butter you give +him for his ash-cakes?" + +"A pusson that's pious," said Phoebe, "don't want to get rich onter a +minister of the gospel--" + +"Which would be wearin' on their hopes if they did," interrupted Molly. + +"But I can tell you this," continued Phoebe, more sharply, "that it isn't +as if I was a Catholic and boardin' a priest, and had to go on Wednesdays +and confess back to him all the money he paid me on Tuesdays." + +Molly laughed aloud. "We don't confess money, Mrs. Robinson, we confess +sins; but perhaps you think money is a sin, and if that's so, this house +is the innocentest place I ever lived in. Sit down, Mrs. Robinson, and be +friendly. I want to ax you a question. Has thim two, upstairs, got any +money? What made you pop off so sudden? Didn't they pay your wages?" + +Phoebe seated herself on the edge of a chair, and sat up very straight. +She felt that the answer to this question was a very important one. She +herself cared nothing for the Haverleys, but Mike lived with them, and +was their head man, and it was not consistent with her position among +the members of the congregation and in the various societies to which she +belonged, that her husband should be in the employ of poor and +consequently unrespected people. + +"My wages was paid, every cent," she said, "and as to their money, I can +tell you one thing, that I heard him say to his sister with my own ears, +that he was goin' to build a town on them meaders, with streets and +chu'ches, and stores on the corners of the block, and a libr'y and a +bank, and she said she wouldn't object if he left the trees standin' +between the house and the meaders, so that they could see the steeples +and nothin' else. And more than that, I can tell you," said Phoebe, +warming as she spoke, "the Bannister family isn't and never was intimate +with needy and no-count families, and nobody could be more sociable and +friendly with this family than Miss Dora is, writin' to her four or five +times a week, and as I said to Mike, not ten minutes ago, if Mr. Haverley +and Miss Dora should git married, her money and his money would make this +the finest place in the county, and I tol' him to mind an' play his cards +well and stay here as butler or coachman--I didn't care which; and he +said he would like coachman best, as he was used to hosses." + +Now, considering that the patience of her own coachman must be pretty +nearly worn out, and believing that what she had said would inure to her +own reputation, and probably to Mike's benefit as well, and that its +force might be impaired by any further discussion of the subject, Phoebe +arose and took a dignified leave. + +Molly stood some moments in reflection. + +"Bedad," she said aloud, "to-morrer I'll clane thim lamp-chimbleys and +swape the bidrooms." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE DOCTOR'S MISSION + + +The letter which Phoebe brought was a long and cordial one, in which Dora +begged that Miriam would come and make her a visit of a few days. She +said, moreover, that her brother was intending to call on Mr. Haverley +and urge him to come to their house as frequently as he could during his +sister's visit. Dora said that she would enjoy having Miriam with her so +very, very much; and although the life at the dear old farm must be +always charming, she believed that Miriam would like a little change, and +she would do everything that she could to make the days pass pleasantly. + +There could not have been a more cordial invitation, but its acceptance +was considered soberly and without enthusiasm. + +During the past fortnight, there had been no intercourse between the +Bannister and Haverley families. Dora, it is true, had written, but her +letters had not been called for, and Ralph had not been to her house to +inquire about the dog. The reason for this was that, turning over the +matter in his mind for a day or two, he thought it well to mention it to +Miriam in a casual way, for he perceived that it would be very unwise +for him to go to Dora's house without informing his sister and giving her +his reasons for the visit. To his surprise, Miriam strenuously opposed +his going to the Bannister house on any pretence until Mr. Bannister had +called upon him, and showed so much earnest feeling on the subject that +he relinquished his intention. He could see for himself that it would not +be the proper thing to do; and so he waited, with more impatience on +rainy days than others, for Mr. Herbert Bannister to call upon him. + +On nearly every morning of the two weeks, Dora asked her brother at +breakfast time if he were going that day to call at Cobhurst; and every +time she asked him, Herbert answered that he would go that day, if he +possibly could; but on each evening he informed her that at the hour he +had intended to start for Cobhurst a client or clients had come into the +office, or a client or clients had been in the office and had remained +there. A very busy man was Mr. Bannister. + +Miriam's opinion on the subject had been varied. She frequently felt in +her lonely moments that it would be a joy to see Dora Bannister drive in +at the gate. + +"If only," thought Miriam, with a sigh, "she would content herself to be +a visitor to me, just as I would be to her, and not go about contriving +things she thinks Ralph would like,--as if it were necessary that any +one should come here and do that! As for going to her house, that would +leave poor Ralph here all by himself, or else he would be there a good +deal, and--" + +Here a happy thought struck Miriam. + +"I can't go, anyway," she said aloud, "for the gig is broken;" and, her +brother coming in at that moment, she informed him, with an air of much +relief, how the matter had settled itself. + +"But I don't like matters to settle themselves in that way," said Ralph. +"The gig should certainly be in order by this time. I will go myself and +see the man about it, and if the new shafts are not finished, I can hire +a carriage for you. There is no need of your giving up a pleasant visit +for the want of means of conveyance." + +"But even if the gig were all ready for us to use, you know that you +could not go until Mr. Bannister has called," said the cruel-minded +sister. + +Ralph was of the opinion that there were certain features of social +etiquette which ought to be ruthlessly trodden upon, but he could think +of nothing suitable to say in regard to the point so frequently brought +up by Miriam, and, walking somewhat moodily to the front door, he saw Dr. +Tolbridge approaching in his buggy. + +The good doctor had come out of his way, and on a very busy morning, to +lay before the Haverleys his project concerning Mrs. Drane and her +daughter. Having but little time, he went straight to the point, and +surprised Miriam and Ralph as much as if he had proposed to them to open +a summer hotel. But, without regard to the impression he had made, he +boldly proceeded in the statement of his case. + +"You couldn't find pleasanter ladies than Mrs. Drane and her daughter," +he said. "The latter is copying some manuscript for me, which she could +do just as well here as at my house--" + +"Are you talking about the two ladies who were here yesterday afternoon?" +interrupted Miriam. + +"Here, yesterday afternoon!" cried the doctor, and now it was his turn to +be surprised. + +When he had heard the story of the trespass on private grounds, the +doctor laughed heartily. + +"Well," said he, "Mistress Fate has been ahead of me. The good lady is in +the habit of doing that sort of thing. And now that you know the parties +in question, what have you to say?" + +Miriam's blood began to glow a little, and as she gazed out of the open +door without looking at anything, her eyes grew very bright. In her +loneliness, she had been wishing that Dora Bannister would drive in at +the gate, and here was a chance to have a very different sort of a girl +drive in--a girl to whom she had taken a great fancy, although she had +seen her for so short a time. + +"Would they want to stay long?" she asked, without turning her head. + +The doctor saw his opportunity and embraced it. + +"That would be your affair entirely," he said. "If they came for only a +week, it would be to you no more than a visit from friends, and to +breathe this pure country air, for even that time, would be a great +pleasure and advantage to them both." + +Miriam turned her bright eyes on her brother. + +"What do you say, Ralph?" she asked. + +The lord of Cobhurst, who had allowed his sister to tell of the visit of +the Dranes, had been thinking what a wonderful piece of good luck it +would have been, if, instead of these strangers, Dora Bannister and her +family had desired to find quarters in a pleasant country house for a few +summer weeks. He did not know her family, nor did he allow himself to +consider the point that said family was accustomed to an expensive style +of living and accommodation, entirely unlike anything to be found on a +ramshackle farm. He only thought how delightful it would be if it were +Dora who wanted to come to Cobhurst. + +As Ralph looked upon the animated face of his sister, it was easy enough +to see that the case as presented by the doctor interested her very much, +and that she was awaiting his answer with an eagerness that somewhat +surprised him. + +"And you, little one, would you like to have these ladies come to us?" + +"Yes, I would," said Miriam, and then she stopped. There was much more +she could have said, which crowded itself into her mind so fast that she +could scarcely help saying it, but it would have been contrary to the +inborn spirit of the girl to admit that she ever felt lonely in this dear +home, or that, with a brother like Ralph, she ever craved the +companionship of a girl. But it was not necessary to say any more. + +"If you want them, they shall come," said Ralph, and if it had been the +Tolbridges or Miss Panney whose society his sister desired, his assent +would have been given just as freely. + +In fifteen minutes everything was settled and the doctor was driving +away. He was in good spirits over the results of his mission, for that +morning La Fleur had waylaid him as he went out and again had spoken to +him about the possibility of hiring a little house in the suburbs. + +"I am sure this arrangement will suit our good cook," he thought; "but as +for its continuance, we must let time and circumstances settle that." + +The doctor reached home about eleven o'clock. + +"What do you think it would be better to do," he said to his wife, when +he had made his report, "to stop at Mrs. Drane's as I go out this +afternoon, or to tell Cicely about our Cobhurst scheme, and let her tell +her mother?" + +"The thing to do," said Mrs. Tolbridge, closing her desk, at which she +was writing, "is for me to go and see Mrs. Drane immediately, and for you +to send Cicely home and give her a lot of work to do at Cobhurst. They +should go there this afternoon." + +"Yes," said the doctor; "of course, the sooner the better; but it has +struck me perhaps it might be well to mention the matter to Miss Panney +before the Dranes actually leave Mrs. Brinkly. You know she was very +active in procuring that place for them." + +Mrs. Tolbridge looked at her husband, gave a little sigh, and then +smiled. + +"What is your opinion of a bird," she asked, "who, flying to the shelter +of the woods, thinks it would be a good idea to stop for a moment and +look down the gun-barrel of a sportsman, to see what is there?" + +The doctor looked at her for a moment and then, catching her point, gave +her a hearty laugh for answer, and walking to his table, took up a sheet +of manuscript and carried it to the room where Miss Drane was working. + +"The passage which so puzzled you," he said, "has been deciphered by Mrs. +Tolbridge and myself, and reads thus: 'The philosophy of physiological +contrasts grows.'" + +"Why, yes," said Cicely, looking at the paper; "now that you tell me +what it is, it is as plain as can be. I will write it in the blank space +that I have left, and here are some more words that I would like to ask +you about." + +"Not now, not now," said the doctor. "I want you to stop work and run +home. As soon as I can I will talk with you about what you have written, +and give you some more of the manuscript. But no more work for to-day. +You must hurry to your mother. You will find Mrs. Tolbridge there, +talking to her about a change of quarters." + +"Another holiday!" exclaimed Cicely, in surprise. + +She was a girl who worked earnestly and conscientiously with the +intention of earning every cent of the money which was paid to her, and +these successive intermissions of work seemed to her unbusiness-like. But +she made no objections, and, putting away her papers, with a sigh, for +she had a list of points about which she was ready and anxious to consult +the doctor,--she went to join the consultation, which she presumed +concerned their removal from one street in Thorbury to another. But when +she discovered the heavenly prospect which had opened before her mother +and herself, her mind bounded from all thoughts of the manuscript of the +"Diagnosis of Sympathy," as if it had been a lark mounting to the sky. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE + + +About noon on the next day, Mrs. Tolbridge sat down at her desk to +finish the writing of the letter which had been so abruptly broken off +the day before. She had been very busy that afternoon and a part of this +morning, assisting Mrs. Drane and her daughter in their removal from a +hot street in a little town to the broad freedom and fine air of a +spacious country home. + +And this change had given so much pleasure to all parties concerned that +it was natural that so good a woman as Mrs. Tolbridge should feel a glow +of satisfaction in thinking of the part she had taken in it. + +She was satisfied in more ways than one: it was agreeable to her to +assist in giving pleasure to others, but besides this, she had a little +satisfaction which was peculiarly her own; she was pleased that that very +pretty and attractive Cicely would now work for the doctor, instead of +working so much with him. Of course she was willing to give up the little +room if it were needed, but it was a great deal pleasanter not to have +it needed. + +"It is so seldom," she thought, as she lifted the lid of her desk, "that +things can be arranged so as to please everybody." + +At this moment she glanced through the open window and saw Miss Panney at +the front gate. Closing her desk, Mrs. Tolbridge pushed back her chair, +her glow of satisfaction changing into a little chill. + +"Is the doctor at home?" she inquired of the servant who was passing the +door, and on receiving the negative reply, the chilly feeling increased. + +Miss Panney was in a radiant humor. She seated herself in her favorite +rocking-chair; she laid her fan on the table near her and her reticule by +it, and she pushed back from her shoulders a little India shawl. + +"I am treating myself," she said, "to a regular gala day; in the first +place, I intend to stay here to luncheon. People who have a La Fleur must +expect to see their friends at their table much oftener than if they had +a Biddy in the kitchen. That is one of the penalties of good fortune. I +have my cap in my bag, and as soon as I have cooled a little I will take +off my bonnet and shawl. This afternoon I am going to see the Bannisters, +and after that I intend to call on Mrs. Drane and her daughter. I put off +that until the last in order that Miss Drane may be at home. I ought to +have called on them before, considering that I did so much in getting +them established in Thorbury,--I am sure Mrs. Brinkly would not have +taken them if I had not talked her into it,--but one thing and another +has prevented my going there. But I have seen Miss Drane; I came to town +yesterday in the Witton carriage, and saw her in the street. She is +certainly a pretty little thing, and dresses with much taste. We all +thought her face was very sweet and attractive. We had a good look at +her, for she was waiting for our carriage to pass, in order to cross the +street. I told Jim, the driver, to go slowly, for I like to have a good +look at people before I know them. And by the way, Kitty, an idea comes +into my head," and as she said this, the old lady's eyes twinkled, and a +little smile stole over the lower part of her wrinkled face. "Perhaps you +may not like the doctor to have such an extremely pretty secretary. +Perhaps you may have preferred her to have a stubby nose and a freckled +face. How is that, Kitty?" + +"Nonsense," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "It makes no manner of difference what +sort of a face a secretary has; her handwriting is much more important." + +"Oh," said Miss Panney, "I am glad to hear that. And how does she get +on?" + +"Very well indeed," was the answer; "the doctor seems satisfied with +her work." + +"That is nice," said Miss Panney, "and how do they like it at Mrs. +Brinkly's? I saw their rooms, which are neatly furnished, and Mrs. +Brinkly keeps a very good table. I have taken many a meal at her house." + +Had there been a column of mercury at Mrs. Tolbridge's back, it would +have gone down several degrees, as she prepared to answer Miss Panney's +question. She did not exactly hesitate, but she was so slow in beginning +to speak, that Miss Panney, who was untying her bonnet-strings, had time +to add, reflectively, "Yes, they are sure to find her a good landlady." + +"The Dranes are not with Mrs. Brinkly now," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "They +left yesterday afternoon, although some of their things were not sent +away until this morning." + +The old lady's hands dropped from her bonnet-strings to her lap. + +"Left Mrs. Brinkly!" she exclaimed. "And where have they gone?" + +"To Cobhurst, where they will board for a while, during the hot weather. +They found it very close and uncomfortable in that part of the town, with +the mercury in the eighties." + +Miss Panney sat up tall and straight. Her eyes grew bigger and blacker as +with her mental vision she glared upon the situation. Presently she +spoke, and her voice sounded as if she were in a great empty cask, with +her mouth at the bunghole. + +"Who did this?" she asked. + +Mrs. Tolbridge was glad to talk; it suited her much better at this time +to do the talking than for her companion to do it, and she proceeded +quite volubly. + +"Oh, we all thought the change would be an excellent thing for them, +especially for Mrs. Drane, who is not strong; and as they had seen +Cobhurst and were charmed with the place, and as the Haverleys were quite +willing to take them for a little while, it seemed an excellent thing all +round. It was, however, our cook, La Fleur, who was the chief mover in +the matter. She was very much opposed to their staying with Mrs. +Brinkly,--you see she had lived with them and has quite an affection for +them,--and actually went so far as to talk of taking a house in the +country and boarding them herself. And you know, Miss Panney, how bad it +would be for the doctor to lose La Fleur." + +"Did the doctor have anything to do with this?" asked Miss Panney. + +Now Mrs. Tolbridge did hesitate a little. + +"Yes," she said, "he spoke to the Haverleys about it; he thought it would +be an excellent thing for them." + +Miss Panney rose, with her face as hard as granite. She drew her shawl +about her shoulders, and took up her fan and bag. Mrs. Tolbridge also +rose, much troubled. + +"You must not imagine for a minute, Miss Panney," she said, "that the +doctor had the slightest idea that this removal would annoy you. In fact, +he spoke about consulting you in regard to it, and had he seen you before +the affair was settled, I am sure he would have done so. And you must not +think, either, that the doctor urged the Haverleys to take these ladies, +simply because he wished to keep La Fleur. He values her most highly, but +he thought of others than himself. He spoke particularly of the admirable +influence Mrs. Drane would have on Miriam." + +The old lady turned her flashing eyes on Mrs. Tolbridge, and, slightly +lowering her head, she almost screamed these words: "Blow to the top of +the sky Mrs. Drane's influence on Miriam! That is not what I care for." + +Then she turned and walked out of the parlor, followed by Mrs. Tolbridge. +At the front door she stopped and turned her wrathful and inexorable +countenance upon the doctor's wife; then she deliberately shook her +skirts, stamped her feet, and went out of the door. + +When Dr. Tolbridge heard what had happened, he was sorely troubled. "I +must go to see her," he said. "I cannot allow her to remain in that state +of mind. I think I can explain the affair and make her look at it more as +we do, although, I must admit, now that I recall some things she recently +said to me, that she may have some grave objections to Cicely's residence +at Cobhurst. But I shall see her, and I think I can pacify her." + +Mrs. Tolbridge was not so hopeful as her husband; he had not seen Miss +Panney at the front door. But she could not bring herself to regret the +advice she had given him when he proposed consulting Miss Panney in +regard to the Dranes' removal. + +"I shall never object to La Fleur," she said to herself. "I will bear all +her impositions and queernesses for the sake of his health and pleasure, +but I cannot give up my little room to Cicely Drane." + +And that very hour she caused to be replaced in the said room the desk +and other appurtenances which had been taken out when the room had been +arranged for the secretary. + +These changes had hardly been made, when Dora Bannister called. + +"Miss Panney was at our house to-day," said the girl, "and I cannot +imagine what was the matter with her. I never saw anybody in such a +state of mind." + +"What did she say?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"She said very little, and that was one of the strangest things about +her. But she sat and stared and stared and stared at me, as if I were +some sort of curiosity on exhibition, and did not answer anything I said +to her. I was awfully nervous, though I knew from the few words she had +said that she was not angry with me; but she kept on staring and staring +and staring, and then she suddenly leaned forward and put her arms around +me and kissed me. Then she sat back in her chair again, slapped her two +hands upon her knees, and said, speaking to herself, 'It shall be done. I +am a fool to have a doubt about it.' And then she went without another +word. Now was not that simply amazing? Did she come here, and did she act +in that way?" + +"She was here," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "but she did not do anything so +funny as that." + +"Well, I suppose I shall find out some day what she means," said Dora. +"And now, Mrs. Tolbridge, I did not come altogether to see you this +afternoon. I hope Miss Drane has not gone home yet, for I thought it +would be nice to meet her here. Mother and I are going to call on them, +but I do not know when that will be; and I have heard so much about the +doctor's secretary that I am perishing to see her. They say she is very +pretty and bright. I wanted mother to go there to-day, but we have had a +long drive this morning, and to-morrow she and I and Herbert are going +to call at Cobhurst; and you know mother will never consent to crowd +things. And so I thought I would come here this afternoon by myself. It +won't be like a call, you know." + +"Miss Drane is not here," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "but if you want to see +her, you can do it to-morrow, if you go to Cobhurst. She and her mother +are now living there, boarding with the Haverleys." + +"Living at Cobhurst!" exclaimed Dora; and as she uttered these words, the +girl turned pale. + +"Heavens!" mentally ejaculated the doctor's wife. "I do nothing this day +but explode bombshells." + +In a moment Dora recovered nearly all her color, and laughed. + +"It is so funny," she said, "that all sorts of things happen in this town +without our knowing it. Is she still going to be the doctor's secretary?" + +"Yes, she can do her work out there as well as here." + +Dora looked out of the window as if she saw something in the garden, and +Mrs. Tolbridge charitably took her out to show her some new dahlias. + +Early the next morning, Dr. Tolbridge drove into the Witton yard. No +matter who waited for him, he would not delay this visit. When he asked +for Miss Panney, he had a strong idea that the old lady would refuse to +see him. But in an astonishingly short space of time, she marched into +the parlor, every war-flag flying, and closed the door behind her. + +Without shaking hands or offering the visitor any sort of salutation, she +seated herself in a chair in the middle of the room. "Now," said she, +"don't lose any time in saying what you have got to say." + +Not encouraged by this reception, the doctor could not instantly arrange +what he had to say. But he shortly got his ideas into order, and +proceeded to lay the case in its most favorable light before the old +lady, dwelling particularly on the reasons why she had not been consulted +in the affair. + +Miss Panney heard him to the end without a change in the rigidity of her +face and attitude. "Very well, then," she said, when he had finished, "I +see exactly what you have done. You have thrown me aside for a cook." + +"Not at all!" exclaimed the doctor. "I had no idea of throwing you aside. +In fact, Miss Panney, I never thought of you in the matter at all." + +"Exactly, exactly," said the old lady, with emphatic sharpness; "you +never thought of me at all. That is the sum and substance of what you +have done. I gave you my confidence. I told you my intentions, my hopes, +the plan which was to crown and finish the work of my life. I told you I +would make the grandson of the only man I ever loved my heir, and I would +do this, because I wished him to marry the daughter of the man who was my +best friend on earth. The marriage of these two and the union of the +estate of Cobhurst with the wealth of the Bannisters was a project which, +as I told you, had grown dear to my heart, and for which I was thinking +and dreaming and working. All this you knew, and without a word to me, +and if you speak the truth, all for the sake of your wretched stomach, +you clap into Cobhurst a girl who will be engaged to Ralph Haverley in +less than a month." + +The doctor moved impatiently in his chair. + +"Nonsense, Miss Panney. Cicely Drane will not harm your plans. She is a +sensible, industrious girl, who attends to her own business, and--" + +"Precisely," said Miss Panney; "and her own business will be to settle +for life at Cobhurst. She may not be courting young Haverley to-day, +but she will begin to-morrow. She will do it, and what is more, she +would be a fool if she did not. It does not matter what sort of a girl +she is;" and now Miss Panney began to speak louder, and stood up; "it +does not matter if she had five legs and two heads; you have no right +to thrust any intruder into a household which I had taken into my +charge, and for which I had my plans, all of which you knew. You are a +false friend, Dr. Tolbridge, and at your doorstep I have shaken the +dust from my skirts and my feet." And with a quick step and a high +head, she marched out of the room. + +The doctor took a little book out of his pocket, and on a blank leaf +wrote the following:-- + +Rx. + Potass. Bromid. 3iij + Tr. Dig. Natis. m. xxx + Tr. Lavand. Comp. ad 3iij +M.S. teaspoonful every three hours. +H. D. + +Having sent this to Miss Panney by a servant, he went his way. Driving +along, his conscience stung him a little when he thought of the fable his +wife had told him; but the moral of the fable had made but little +impression upon him, and as an antidote to the sting he applied his +conviction that matchmaking was a bad business, and that in love affairs, +as well as in many diseases, the very best thing to do was to let nature +take its course. + +When Miss Panney read the paper which had been sent to her, her eyes +flashed, and then she laughed. + +"The wretch!" she exclaimed; "it is just like him." And in the afternoon +she sent to her apothecary in Thorbury for the medicine prescribed. "If +it cools me down," she said to herself, "I shall be able to work better." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +DORA COMES AND SEES + + +The call by the Bannisters at Cobhurst was made as planned. Had storm or +sudden war prevented Mrs. Bannister and Herbert from going, Dora would +have gone by herself. She did not appear to be in her usual state of +health that day, and Mrs. Bannister, noticing this, and attributing it to +Dora's great fondness for fruit at this season and neglect of more solid +food, had suggested that perhaps it might be well for her not to take a +long drive that afternoon. But this remark was added to the thousand +suggestions made by the elder lady and not accepted by the younger. + +Miriam was in the great hall when the Bannister family drove up, and she +greeted her visitors with a well-poised affability which rather surprised +Mrs. Bannister. Dora instantly noticed that she was better dressed than +she had yet seen her. + +When they were seated in the parlor, Mrs. Bannister announced that their +call was intended to include Mrs. Drane and her daughter, and Herbert +hoped that this time he would be able to see Mr. Haverley. + +Mrs. Drane was sent for, but Miriam did not know where her brother and +Miss Drane should be looked for. She had seen them walk by the back +piazza, but did not notice in what direction they had gone. At this +moment there ran through Dora a sensation similar to that occasioned by a +mild galvanic shock, but as she was looking out of the open door, the +rest of the company saw no signs of this. + +"Excuse me," said Mrs. Bannister, in a low voice, and speaking rather +rapidly, "but I thought that Miss Drane was working for Dr. Tolbridge, +copying, or something of that kind." + +"She is," answered Miriam, "but she has her regular hours, and stops at +five o'clock, just as she did when she was in the doctor's house." + +When Mrs. Drane had appeared and the visitors had been presented, Miriam +said that she would go herself and look for Ralph and Miss Drane. She +thought now that it was very likely they were in the orchard. + +"Let me go with, you," exclaimed Dora, springing to her feet, and in a +moment she and Miriam had left the house. + +"I heard her say," said Miriam, "that she wanted some summer apples, +fresh from the tree, and that is the reason why I suppose they are in the +orchard. You never knew anybody so wild about country things as Miss +Drane is. And she knows so little about them too." + +"Do you like her?" asked Dora. + +"Ever so much. I think she is as nice as can be. She is a good deal older +than I am, but sometimes it seems as if it were the other way. I suppose +one reason is that she wants to know so much, and I think I must like to +tell people things--nice people, I mean." + +Dora's mind was in a state of lively receptivity, and it received an +impression from Miriam's words that might be of use hereafter. But now +they had reached the orchard, and there, standing on a low branch of a +tree, was Ralph, and below was Miss Drane. Her laughing face was turned +upward, and she was holding her straw hat to catch an apple, but it was +plain that she was not skilled in that sort of exercise, and when the +apple dropped, it barely touched the rim of the hat and rolled upon the +ground, and then they both laughed as if they had known each other for +twenty years. + +"What a little thing," said Miss Bannister. + +"She is small," answered Miriam, "but isn't she pretty and graceful? And +her clothes fit her so beautifully. I am sure you will like her." + +Ralph came down from the tree, the straw hat was replaced on the head of +Miss Drane, and then came introduction and greeting. Never before had +Dora Bannister found it so hard to meet any one as she found it to meet +these two. She was only eighteen, and had had no experience in comporting +herself in an ordinary way when her every impulse prompted her to do or +say something quite extraordinary. But she was a girl who could control +herself, and she now controlled herself so well, that had Miss Panney or +Mrs. Tolbridge been there they would instantly have suspected what was +meant by so much self-control. She greeted Miss Drane with much suavity, +and asked her if she liked apples. + +As the party started for the house, Dora, who was a quick walker, was not +so quick as usual, and Ralph naturally slackened his pace a little. In a +few moments Miriam and Miss Drane were hurrying toward the house, +considerably in advance of the others. + +"It is so nice," said Dora, "for your sister to have ladies in the house +with her. I have been wanting to see her ever so much, and was afraid +something was the matter with her, especially as you did not come for +your dog." + +As Ralph was explaining his apparent ungraciousness, Dora's soul was +roughly shaken. She was angry with him and wanted to show it, but she saw +clearly that this would be unsafe. Her hold upon him was very slight, and +a few unwise words now might make him no more than a mere acquaintance. +She did not wish to say words that would do that, but if she held him by +a cord ever so slender, she would obey the promptings of her soul and +endeavor to draw him a little toward her. She would take the risks of +that, for if he drifted away from her, the cord would be as likely to +break as if she drew upon it. + +"Oh yes," she said, "I knew all the time why you and Miriam did not come +to make a regular society call, but I did suppose that you would drop in +to see about Congo. As soon as I got home, after I promised him to you, I +began to educate him to cease to care for me, and to care for you. If you +had been there, all this would have been easy enough, but as it was, I +had to get Herbert or the coachman to take him out walking at the times I +used to take him, and when he was tied up I kept away from his little +house altogether, so that he should become accustomed to do without me. I +stopped feeding him, and made Herbert do that whenever he had time, and I +insisted that he should wear a big straw hat, which he does not like, but +which is a good deal like the one you wear, and which I thought might +have an influence on the mind of Congo." + +This touched Ralph, and he did not wish that Miss Bannister should +suppose that he thought so little of a gift of which she thought so much. +And in order to entirely remove any suspicion of ungratefulness, he +endeavored to make her understand that he had wished very much to go to +see the dog, but wished much more to go to see her. + +"I hate a great many of these social rules," he said, "and although I did +not know any of the rest of your family, I knew you, and felt very much +inclined to call on you and let the customs take care of themselves." + +"I wish you had!" exclaimed Dora; "I like to see people brave enough to +trample on customs." + +Her spirits were rising, and she walked still slower. This tête-à -tête +was very delightful to Ralph, but he had no desire to trample on all +social customs, and his feelings of courteous hospitality urged him to go +as rapidly as possible to greet the special visitor who was waiting for +him; but to desert that gentleman's sister, or make her walk quickly when +she did not wish to, was equally opposed to his ideas of courtesy, and so +it happened that Dora and Ralph entered the parlor so much later than the +others that a decided impression was made on the minds of Mrs. and Miss +Drane. And this was what Dora wished. She felt that it would be a very +good thing in this case to assert some sort of a preëmption claim. It +could do no harm, and might be of great service. + +After the manner of the country gentlemen who in mixed society are apt to +prefer their own sex for purposes of converse, Herbert Bannister +monopolized Ralph. His sister talked with Cicely Drane, and in spite of +her natural courage and the reasons for self-confidence which she had +just received, Dora's spirits steadily fell as she conversed with this +merry, attractive girl, who knew so well how to make herself +entertaining, even to other girls, and who was actually living in Ralph +Haverley's house. + +Dora made the visit shorter than it otherwise would have been. She had +come, she had seen, and she wanted to go home and think about the rest of +the business. The drive home was, in a degree, pleasant because Herbert +had a great deal to say about Mr. Haverley, whom he had found most +agreeable, and because Mrs. Bannister spoke in praise of Ralph's manly +beauty, but it would depend upon future circumstances whether or not +remarks of this kind could be considered entirely satisfactory. + +That evening, in her own room, in a loose dressing-gown, and with her +hair hanging over her shoulders, Dora devoted herself to an earnest +consideration of her relations with Ralph Haverley. At first sight it +seemed odd that there should be any relations at all, for she had known +him but a short time, and he had made few or no advances toward her--not +half so many or such pronounced ones as other men had made, during her +few visits to fashionable resorts. But she settled this part of the +question very promptly. + +"I like him better than anybody I have ever seen," she said to herself. +"In fact, I love him, and now--" and then she went on to consider the +rest of the matter, which was not so easy to settle. + +Cicely Drane was terribly hard to settle. There was that girl,--all the +more dangerous because, being charming and little, a man would be more +apt to treat her as a good comrade than if she were charming and +tall,--who was with him all the time. And how she would be with him, +Dora's imagination readily perceived, because she knew how she herself +would be with him under the circumstances. Before breakfast in the dewy +grass, gathering apples; during work hours, talking through the open +window as he chanced to pass; after five o'clock, walks in the orchard, +walks over the farm, in the woods everywhere, and always those two +together, because there were four of them. How much worse it was that +there were four of them! And the evenings, moonlight, starlight; on the +piazza; good-night on the stairs--it was maddening to think of. + +But, nevertheless, she thought of it hour after hour, with no other +result than to become more and more convinced that she was truly in love +with a man who had never given any sign that he loved her, and that there +was every reason to believe that when he gave a sign that he loved, it +would be to another woman, and not to her. + +She rose and looked out of the window. A piece of the moon, far gone in +the third quarter, was rising above a mass of evergreens. She had a +courageous young soul, and the waning brightness of the lovers' orb did +not affect her as a disheartening sign. + +"It is not right," she said to herself. "I will not do it. I will not +hang like an apple on a tree for any one to pick who chooses, or if +nobody chooses, to drop down to the chickens and pigs. A woman has as +much right to try to do the best for herself as a man has to try to do +the best for himself. I can't really trample on customs as a man can, but +I can do it in my mind, and I do it now. I love him, and I will get him +if I can." + +With this Dora sat down, and left the bit of moon to shed what +luminousness it could over the landscape. + +Her resolution shed a certain luminousness over Dora's soul. To +determine to do a thing is nearly always inspiriting. + +"Yes," she thought, "I will do what I can. He has promised to come very +soon, and he shall not have Congo the first time he comes. He shall come, +and I shall go, and I shall be great friends with Miriam. There will be +nothing false in that, for I like her ever so much, and I shall remember +to think more of what she likes. No one shall see me break down any +customs of society,--especially, he shall not,--but out of my mind they +are swept and utterly gone." + +Having thus shaped her course, Dora thought she would go to bed. But +suddenly an idea struck her, and she stood and pondered. + +"I believe," she said, speaking aloud in her earnestness, "I believe +that that is what Miss Panney meant. She has spoken so well of him to +me; she has heard about that girl, and she said, yes, she certainly did +say, 'It shall be done.' She wants it, I truly believe; she wants me to +marry him." + +For a few minutes she stood gazing at her ring, and then she said,-- + +"I will go to her; I will tell her everything. It will be a great thing +to have Miss Panney on my side. She does not care for customs, and she +will never breathe a word to a soul." + +Dr. Tolbridge was not mistaken in his estimate of the sort of mind Dora +Bannister would have when she should shed her old one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +"IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" + + +The Haverleys could not expect that the people of Thorbury would feel any +general and urgent desire to recognize them as neighbors. They did not +live in the town, and moreover newcomers, even to the town itself, were +usually looked upon as "summer people," until they had proved that they +were to be permanent residents, and the leading families of Thorbury made +it a rule not to call on summer people. + +But the example of the Tolbridges and Bannisters had a certain effect on +Thorbury society, and people now began to drive out to Cobhurst; not very +many of them, but some of them representative people. Mr. Ames, the +rector of Grace Church, came early because the Haverleys had been to his +church several times, and Mr. Torry, the Presbyterian minister, came +afterwards because the Haverleys had stopped going to Grace Church, and +he did not know that it was on account of the gig shafts. + +Mr. Hampton, the Methodist, who was a pedestrian, walked out to Cobhurst +one day, but as neither the brother or sister could be found, he +good-humoredly resolved to postpone a future call until cooler weather. + +Lately, when a lady had called, it happened that there had been no one to +receive her but Mrs. Drane; and although there could be no doubt that +that lady performed the duties of hostess most admirably, Miriam +resolved that that thing should never happen again. She did not wish the +people to think that there was a regent in rule at Cobhurst, and she now +determined to make it a point to be within call during ordinary visiting +hours. Or, if she felt strongly moved to a late afternoon ramble, she +would invite the other ladies to accompany her. She still wore her hair +down her back, and her dresses did not quite touch the tops of her boots, +and it was therefore necessary to be careful in regard to her +prerogatives as mistress of the house. + +Early one afternoon, much sooner than there was reason to expect +visitors, a carriage came in at the Cobhurst gate, driven by our friend +Andy Griffing. Miriam happened to be at a front window, and regarded +with some surprise the shabby equipage. It came with a flourish to the +front of the house, and stopped. But instead of alighting, its occupant +seemed to be expostulating with the driver. Andy shook his head a great +deal, but finally drove round at the back, when an elderly woman got +out, and came to the hall door. Miriam, who supposed, of course, that +she would be wanted, was there to meet her, and there was no necessity +for ringing or knocking. + +"My name," said the visitor, "is La Fleur, if you please. I came to see +Mrs. Drane and Miss Drane, if you please. Thank you very much, I will +come in. I will wait here, or, if you will be so good as to tell me where +I can find Mrs. Drane, I will go to her. I used to live with her: I was +her cook." + +Miriam had been gazing with much interest on the puffy face and +shawl-enwrapped body of the old woman who addressed her with a smiling +obsequiousness to which she was not at all accustomed. + +The thought struck her that with servants like this woman, it would be +easy to feel herself a mistress. She had heard from the Dranes a great +deal about their famous cook, and she was glad of the opportunity to look +upon this learned professor of kitchen lore. + +"What would she have said to my tall raspberry tarts?" involuntarily +thought the girl. + +But it was when La Fleur had gone to Mrs. Drane's room, and Cicely, +wildly delighted when informed who had come to see them, had run to meet +the dear old woman, that Miriam pondered most seriously upon this visit +from a cook. She had not known anything of the ties between families and +old family servants. At school, servants had been no more than machines; +she was nothing to them, and they were nothing to her; and now she felt +that the ignorance of these ties was one of the deprivations of her life. +That old woman upstairs had not lived very long with the Dranes, and yet +she regarded them with a positive affection. Miriam knew this from what +she had heard. If they were in trouble, and needed her, she would come to +them and serve them wherever they were. This she had told them often. How +different was such a woman from Phoebe or Molly Tooney! How happy would +she be if there had been such a one in her mother's family, and were she +with her now! + +"But I have only Ralph," thought Miriam; "no one else in the world." +Ralph was good,--no human being could be better; but he was only one +person, and knew nothing of many things she wanted to know, and could not +help her in many ways in which she needed to be helped. + +With a feeling that from certain points of view she was rather solitary +and somewhat forsaken, she went to look for her brother. It would be +better to talk to what she had than to think about what she had not. + +As she walked toward the barn and pasture fields, Ralph came up from the +cornfield by the woods on the other side of the house. As he went in he +met Mrs. Drane and La Fleur, who had just come downstairs. Cicely had +already retired to her work. At the sight of the gentleman, who, she was +informed, was the master of the house, La Fleur bowed her head, cast down +her eyes, smiled and courtesied. + +Mrs. Drane drew Ralph aside. + +"That is La Fleur, who used to be our cook. She is a kind old body, who +takes the greatest interest in our welfare. She is greatly pleased to +find us in such delightful quarters, but she has queer notions, and now +she wants very much to call on your cook. I don't know that this is the +right thing, and I have been looking for your sister, to ask her if she +objects to it, but I think she is not in the house." + +"Oh, bless me!" exclaimed Ralph, "she will not mind in the least. Let the +good woman go down and see Molly Tooney, and if she can give her some +points about cooking, I am sure we shall all be delighted." + +"Oh, she would not do that," said Mrs. Drane. "She is a very considerate +person; but I suppose, in any house, her instincts would naturally draw +her toward the cook." + +When Ralph turned to La Fleur, and assured her that his sister would be +glad to have her visit the kitchen, the old woman, who had not taken her +eyes from him for an instant, thanked him with great unction, again +bowed, courtesied, smiled, and, being shown the way to the kitchen, +descended. + +Molly Tooney, who was sitting on a low stool, paring potatoes, looked up +in amazement at the person who entered her kitchen. It was not an +obsequious old woman she saw, but a sedate, dignified, elderly person, +with her brows somewhat knitted. Throwing about her a glance, which was +not one of admiration, La Fleur remarked,-- + +"I suppose you are the cook of the house." + +"Indade, an' I am," said Molly, still upon the stool, with a knife in one +hand, and a potato, with a long paring hanging from it, in the other; +"an' the washer-woman, an' the chambermaid, an' the butler, too, as loike +as may be. An' who may you be, an' which do you want to see?" + +"I am Madame La Fleur," said the other, with a stateliness that none of +her mistresses ever supposed that she possessed. "I came to see Mrs. +Drane, in whose service I was formerly engaged, and I wish to know for +myself what sort of a person was cooking for the ladies whose meals I +used to prepare." + +Molly put down her knife and her half-pared potato, and arose. She had +heard of La Fleur, whose fame had spread through and about Thorbury. + +"Sit down, mum," said she. "This isn't much of a kitchen, for I +haven't had time to clane it up, an' as for me, I'm not much of a +cook, nather; for when ye have to be iverything, ye can't be anything +to no great ixtent." + +La Fleur, still standing, looked at her severely. + +"How often do you bake?" she asked. + +"Three times a week," answered Molly, lying. + +"The ladies upstairs," said La Fleur, "have been accustomed to fresh +rolls every morning for their breakfast." + +"An' afther this, they shall have 'em," said Molly, "Sundays an' weekday, +an' sorry I am that I didn't know before that they was used to have 'em." + +"How do you make your coffee?" asked La Fleur. + +Molly looked at her hesitatingly. + +"I am very keerful about that," she said. "I niver let it bile too +much--" + +"Ugh!" exclaimed La Fleur, raising her hand. "Tell your mistress to get +you a French coffee-pot, and if you don't know how to use it, I'll come +and teach you. I shall be here off and on as long as Mrs. Drane stops in +this house." And then, seating herself, La Fleur proceeded to put Molly +through an elementary domestic service examination. + +"Well," said the examiner, when she had finished, "I think you must be +the worst cook in this part of the country." + +"No, mum, I'm not," said Molly. "There was one here afore me, a nager +woman named Phoebe, that must have been worse, from what I'm told." + +"Where I have lived," said La Fleur, "they have such women to cook for the +farm laborers." + +"Beggin' your pardon, mum," said Molly, "that's what they are here, or +th' same thing. Mr. Haverley, he works on the farm with a pitchfork, jest +like the nager man." + +"Don't talk to me like that!" exclaimed La Fleur. "Mr. Haverley is a +gentleman. I have lived enough among gentlemen to know them when I see +them, and they can work and they can play and they can do what they +please, and they are gentlemen still. Don't you ever speak that way, +again, of your master." + +"I thought I had heard, mum," said Molly, "that you looked down on +tradespeople and the loike." + +"Tradespeople!" said the other, scornfully. "A gentleman farmer is very +different from a person in trade; but I can't expect anything better from +a woman who boils coffee, and never heard of bouillon. But remember the +things I have told you, and thank your stars that a cook as high up in +the profession as I am is willing to tell you anything. Are you the only +servant in this house?" + +"There's a man by the name of Mike," said Molly, "a nager, though you +wouldn't think it from his name. He helps me sometimes, an' he helps +iverybody else other times." + +"Is that the man?" said La Fleur, looking out of the window. + +"That's him, mum," said Molly; "he's jest goin' to the woodpile +with his axe." + +"I wish to speak to him," said La Fleur, and with a very slight nod of +the head she left the kitchen by the door that led into the grounds. + +Looking after her, Molly exclaimed,-- + +"Drat you, for a stuck-up, cross-grained, meddlin', bumble-bee-backed +old hag of a soup-slopper; to come stickin' yer big nose into other +people's kitchens! If there was a rale misthress to the house instead +of the little gal upstairs, you'd be rowled down the front steps afore +you'd been let come into my kitchen." And with this she returned to +her potatoes. + +La Fleur stopped at the woodpile, as if in passing she had happened to +notice a good man splitting logs. In her blandest voice she accosted Mike +and bade him good-day. + +"I think you must be Michael," she said. "The cook has been speaking of +you to me. My name is La Fleur." + +Mike, who had struck his axe into a log, touched his flattened hat. + +"Yes, mum," he said; "Mr. Griffing has been tellin' me that. Are you +lookin' for any of the folks?" + +"Oh no, no," said La Fleur; "I am just walking about to see a little of +this beautiful place. You don't mind that, do you, Michael? You keep +everything in such nice order. I haven't seen your garden, but I know it +is a fine one, because I saw some of the vegetables that came out of it." + +Mike grinned. "I reckon it ain't the same kind of a garden that you've +been used to, mum. I've heerd that you cooked for Queen Victoria." + +"Oh no, no," said La Fleur, dropping her head on one side so that her +smile made a slight angle with the horizon; "I never cooked for the +queen, no indeed; but I have lived with high families, lords, ladies, and +ambassadors, and I don't remember that any of them had better potatoes +than I saw to-day. Is this a large farm, Michael?" + +"It's considerable over a hundred acres, though I don't 'xactly know how +much. Not what you'd call big, and not what you'd call little." + +"But you grow beautiful crops on it, I don't doubt," remarked La Fleur. + +"Can't say about that," said Mike, shaking his head a little. "I 'spects +we'll git good 'nough craps for what we do for 'em. This ain't the kind +of farm your lords and ladies has got. It's ramshackle, you know." + +"Ramshackle?" repeated La Fleur. "Is that a sort of sheep farm?" + +Mike grinned. "Law, no, we ain't got no sheep, and I'm glad of it. +Ramshackle farmin' means takin' things as you find 'em, an' makin' 'em +do, an' what you git you've got, but with tother kind of farmin' most +times what you git, ye have to pay out, an' then you ain't got nuthin'." + +This was more than La Fleur could comprehend, but she inferred in a +general way that Mr. Haverley's farm was a profitable one. + +"All so pretty, so pretty," she said, looking from side to side; "such a +grand barn, and such broad acres. Is it the estate as far as I can see?" + +"Yes, mum," said Mike, "an' a good deal furder. The woods cuts it off +down thataway." + +"It is a lordly place," said La Fleur, "and it does you honor, Michael, +for the cook told me you were Mr. Haverley's head man." + +"I reckon she's about right there," said Mike. + +"And I am very glad indeed," continued the old woman, "that Mrs. and Miss +Drane are living here. And now, Michael, if either of them is ever taken +ill, and you're sent for the doctor, I want you to come straight to me, +and I'll see that he goes to them. If you knock at the back door of the +kitchen, I'll hear you, whether I am awake or asleep. And when you are +coming to town, Michael, you must drop in and see me. I can give you a +nice bit of a lunch, any day. I daresay you like good things to eat as +well as any-body." + +Mike stood silent for a moment, and his eyes began to brighten. + +"Indeed I do, mum," said he. "If I was to carry in a punkin to you when +they're ripe, I wonder if you'd be willin' to make me a punkin pie, same +kind as Queen Victoria has in the fall of the year." + +La Fleur beamed on him most graciously. + +"I will do that gladly, Michael: you may count on me to do that. And I +will give you other things that you like. Wait till we see, wait till we +see. Good-day, Michael; I must be going now, or the doctor will be kept +waiting for his dinner. Where's my cabby?" + +"Mr. Griffing has drove round to the front of the house, mum," said Mike. + +"Just like the stupid American," muttered the old woman as she hurried +away, "as if I'd get in at the front of the house." + +Andy Griffing talked a good deal on the drive back to Thorbury, but La +Fleur heard little and answered less. She was in a state of great mental +satisfaction, and during her driver's long descriptions of persons and +places, she kept saying to herself, "It couldn't be better than that. It +couldn't be better than that." + +This mental expression she applied to Mr. Haverley, whom she considered +an extraordinarily fine-looking young man; to the broad acres and fine +barn; to the fact that the Dranes were living with him; to the +probability that he would fall in love with the charming Miss Cicely, and +make her mistress of the estate; and to the strong possibility, that +should this thing happen, she herself would be the cook of Cobhurst, and +help her young mistress put the establishment on the footing that her +station demanded. + +"It couldn't be better than that," she muttered over and over again as +she busied herself about the Tolbridge dinner, and she even repeated the +expression two or three times after she went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE GAME IS CALLED + + +In her notions and schemes regarding the person and estate of Ralph +Haverley, the good cook, La Fleur, lacked one great advantage possessed +by her rival planner and schemer Miss Panney; for she whose cause was +espoused by the latter old woman was herself eager for the fray and +desirous of victory, whereas Cicely Drane had not yet thought of marrying +anybody, and outside of working hours was devoting herself to getting all +the pleasure she could out of life, not regarding much whether it was her +mother or Miriam or Mr. Haverley who helped her get it. Moreover, the +advantages of co-residence, which La Fleur naturally counted upon, were +not so great as might have been expected; for Mrs. Drane, having +perceived that Ralph was fond of the society of young ladies to a degree +which might easily grow beyond her ideas of decorous companionship +between a gentleman of the house and a lady boarder, gently interfered +with the dual apple gatherings and recreations of that nature. For this, +had she been aware of it, Dora Bannister would have been most grateful. + +Ralph had gone twice to see Congo, and to talk to Miss Bannister about +him, but he had not taken the dog home. Dora said she would take him to +Cobhurst the first time she drove over there to see Miriam. Congo would +follow her and the carriage anywhere, and this would be so much +pleasanter than to have him forced away like a prisoner. + +The gig shafts had now been repaired, and Ralph urged his sister to go +with him to Thorbury and attend to her social duties; but Miriam disliked +the little town and loved Cobhurst. As to social duties, she thought they +ought to be attended to, of course, but saw no need to be in a hurry +about them; so Ralph, one day, having business in Thorbury, prepared to +go in again by himself. He had been lately riding Mrs. Browning, who was +still his only available horse for family use; but she was not very +agreeable under the saddle, and he now proposed to take the gig. He had +thought it might be a good idea to take a little drive out of the town, +and see if Congo would follow him. Perhaps Miss Bannister would accompany +him, for she was very anxious that the dog should become used to Ralph +before leaving his present home; and her presence would help very much in +teaching the animal to follow. + +But although Miriam declined to go with her brother, she took much +interest in his expedition, and came out to the barn to see him harness +Mrs. Browning. + +"Are you going to Dora Bannister's again?" she asked. + +"Yes," said Ralph; "at least I think I shall stop in to see the dog. You +know the oftener I do that, the better." + +"I think it is a shame," said Miriam, "that you should be driving to town +alone, when there are other people who wish so much to go, and you have +no use at all for that empty seat." + +"Who wants to go?" asked Ralph, quickly. + +"Cicely Drane does. She has got into trouble over the doctor's +manuscript, and says she can't go on properly without seeing him. She has +been expecting him here every day, but it seems as if he never intended +to come. She asked me this morning how far it was to Thorbury, and I +think she intends to walk in, if he does not come to-day." + +"Why didn't you tell me this before?" asked Ralph. "I would have sent her +into town or taken her." + +"I had not formulated it in my mind," said Miriam. "Will you take her +with you to-day? I know that she has made up her mind she cannot wait any +longer for the doctor to come." + +"Of course I will take her," said Ralph. "Will you ask her to get ready? +Tell her I shall be at the door in ten or fifteen minutes." + +Ralph's tone was perfectly good-humored, but Miriam fancied that she +perceived a trace of disappointment in it. She was sorry for this, for +she could not imagine why any man should object to have Cicely Drane as a +companion on a drive, unless his mind was entirely occupied by some other +girl; and if Ralph's mind was thus occupied, it must be by Dora +Bannister, and that did not please her. So she resolutely put aside all +Cicely's suggestions that it might be inconvenient for Mr. Haverley to +take her with him, and deftly overcame Mrs. Drane's one or two impromptu, +and therefore not very well constructed, objections to the acceptance of +the invitation; and in the gig Cicely went with Ralph to Thorbury. + +After having left the secretary to attend to her business at the +doctor's house, Ralph drove to the Bannister's; but Dora would not see +him, and technically was not at home. Alas! She had seen him driving past +with Miss Drane, and she was angry. This was contrary to the plan of +action she had adopted; but her eighteen-year-old spirit rebelled, and +she could not help it. A more hideous trap than that old gig could not be +imagined, but she had planned a drive in it with Ralph on some of the +quiet country roads beyond Cobhurst. They would take Congo with them, and +that would be such a capital plan to teach the dog to follow his new +master. And now it was the Drane girl who was driving with him in his +gig. She could not go down and see him and meet him in the way she liked +to meet him. + +Miss Panney, on the other side of the street, had been passing the +Tolbridge house at the moment when Ralph and Cicely drove up. She +stopped for a moment, her feelings absolutely outraged. It was not +uncommon for her to pass places at times when people were doing things +in those places which she thought they ought not to do; but this was a +case which roused her anger in an unusual manner. Whatever else might +happen at Cobhurst, she did not believe that that girl would begin so +soon to go out driving with him. + +She had left her phaeton at a livery stable, and was on her way to the +Bannister house to have a talk with Dora on a subject in which they were +now both so much interested. She had been very much surprised when the +girl had come to her and freely avowed her feelings and hopes, but she +had been delighted. She liked a spirit of that sort, and it was a joy to +her to work with one who possessed it. But she knew human nature, and she +was very much afraid that Dora's purpose might weaken. It was quite +natural that a young person, in a moment of excitement and pique, should +figuratively raise her sword in air and vow a vow; but it was also quite +natural, when the excitement and pique had cooled down, that the young +person should experience what might be called a "vow-fright," and feel +unable to go through with her part. In a case such as Dora's, this was +very possible indeed, and all that Miss Panney had planned to say on her +present visit was intended to inspire the girl, if it should be needed, +with some of her own matured inflexibility and fixedness of purpose. But +if the man were doing this sort of thing already and Dora should know it, +she would have a right to be discouraged. + +Before the old lady reached the Bannisters' gate, she saw Mr. Haverley, +in his gig, drive away. This brightened her up a little. + +"He comes here, anyway," she thought; "what a pity Dora is not in." + +Nevertheless, she went on to the Bannister house; and when she found Dora +was in, she began to scold her. + +"This will never do, will never do," she said. "Get angry with him if you +choose, but don't show it. If you do that, you may crash him too low or +bounce him too high, and, in either case, he may be off before you know +it. It is too early in the game to show him that he has made you angry." + +"But if he doesn't want me, I don't want him," said Dora, sulkily. + +"If you think that way, my dear," said Miss Panney, "you may as well make +up your mind to make a bad match, or die an old maid. The right man very +seldom comes of his own accord; it is nearly always the wrong one. If you +happen to meet the right man, you should help him to know that he ought +to come. That is the way to look at it. That young Haverley does not know +yet who it is that he cares for. He is just floating along, waiting for +some one to thrust out a boat-hook and pull him in." + +"I shall marry no floating log," said Dora, stiffly. + +The old lady laughed. + +"Perhaps that was not a very good figure of speech," she said; "but +really, my dear, you must not interfere with your own happiness by +showing temper; and if you look at the affair in its proper light, you +will see it is not so bad, after all. Ten to one, he brought her to town +because she wanted to come with him,--probably on some patched-up errand; +but he came here because he wanted to come. There could be no other +reason; and, instead of being angry with him, you should have given him +an extraordinary welcome. For the very reason that she has so many +advantages over you, being so much with him, you should be very careful +to make use of the advantages you have over her. And your advantages are +that you are ten times better fitted to be his wife than she is; and the +great thing necessary to be done is to let him see it. But her chances +must come to an end. Those Dranes must be got away from Cobhurst." + +"I don't like that way of looking at it," said Dora, leaning back in her +chair, with a sigh. "It's the same thing as fishing for a man, though I +suppose it might have been well to see him when he came." + +Now Miss Panney felt encouraged; her patient was showing good symptoms. +Let her keep in that state of mind, and she would see that the lover +came. She had made a mistake in speaking so bluntly about getting the +Dranes out of Cobhurst. Although she would not say anything more to Dora +about that important piece of work, she would do it all the same. + +This little visit had been an important one to Miss Panney; it had +enabled her to understand Dora's character much better than she had +understood it before; and she perceived that in this case of matchmaking +she must not only do a great deal of the work herself, but she must do it +without Dora's knowing anything about it. She liked this, for she was not +much given to consulting with people. + +Miss Panney had another call to pay in the neighborhood, and she had +intended, for form's sake, to spend a little time with Mrs. Bannister; +but she did neither. She went back by the way she had come, wishing to +learn all she could about the movements of the Cobhurst gig. + +Approaching the Tolbridge house, she saw that vehicle standing before +the door, with the sleepy Mrs. Browning tied to a post, and as she drew +nearer, she perceived Ralph Haverley sitting alone on the vine-shaded +piazza. The old lady would not enter the Tolbridge gate, but she stood on +the other side of the street, and beckoned to Ralph, who, as soon as he +saw her, ran over to her. + +Ralph walked a little way with Miss Panney, and after answering her most +friendly inquiries about Miriam, he explained how he happened to be +sitting alone on the piazza; the doctor and Miss Drane, whom he had +brought to town, were at work at some manuscript, and he had preferred to +wait outside instead of indoors. + +"I called on Miss Bannister," he said, "but she was not at home, so I +came back here." + +"It is a pity she was out," said Miss Panney, carelessly, "and now that +you have mentioned Miss Bannister, I would like to ask you something; why +does not your sister return her visits? I saw Dora not very long ago, and +found that her feelings had been a little hurt--not much, perhaps, but a +little--by Miriam's apparent indifference to her. Dora is a very +sensitive girl, and is slow to make friends among other girls. I never +knew any friendship so quick and lively as that she showed for Miriam. +You know that Dora is still young; it has not been long since she left +school; there is not a girl in Thorbury that she cares anything about, +and her life at home must necessarily be a lonely one. Her brother is +busy, even in the evenings, and Mrs. Bannister is no companion for a +lively young girl." + +"I had thought," said Ralph, "that Miss Bannister went a good deal +into society." + +"Oh, no," answered Miss Panney; "she sometimes visits her relatives, who +are society people; but in years and disposition she is too young for +that sort of thing. Society women and society men would simply bore her. +At heart she is a true country girl, and I think it was because Miriam +had country tastes, and loved that sort of life, that Dora's affections +went out so quickly to her. I wish your sister had the same feelings +toward her." + +"Oh, Miriam likes her very much," exclaimed Ralph, "and is always +delighted to see her; but my little sister is wonderfully fond of staying +at home. I have told her over and over again that she ought to return +Miss Bannister's calls." + +"Make her do it," said the old lady. "It is her duty, and I assure you, +it will be greatly to her advantage. Miriam is a most lovely girl, but +her character has not hardened itself into what it is going to be, and +association with a thoroughbred girl, such as Dora Bannister, admirably +educated, who has seen something of the world, with an intelligence and +wit such as I have never known in any one of her age, and more than all +with a soul as beautiful as her face, cannot fail to be an inestimable +benefit to your sister. What Miriam most needs, at this stage of her +life, is proper companionship of her own age and sex." + +Ralph assented. "But," said he, "she is not without that, you know. Miss +Drane, who with her mother now lives with us, is a most--" + +Miss Panney's face grew very hard. + +"Excuse me," she interrupted, "I know all about that. Of course the +Dranes are very estimable people, and there are many things, especially +in the way of housekeeping, which Mrs. Drane could teach Miriam, if she +chose to take the trouble. But while I respect the daughter's efforts to +support herself and her mother, it must be admitted that she is a +working-girl--nothing more or less--and must continue to be such. Her +present business, of course, can only last for a little while, and she +will have to adopt some regular calling. This life she expects, and is +preparing herself for it. But a mind such as hers is, or must speedily +become, is not the one from which Miriam's young mind should receive its +impressions. The two will move in very different spheres, and neither can +be of any benefit to the other. More than that I will not say; but I will +say that your sister can never find any friend so eager to love her, and +so willing to help and be helped by her in so many ways in which girls +can help each other, as my dear Dora. Now bestir yourself, Mr. Haverley, +and make Miriam look at this thing as she ought to. I don't pretend to +deny that I have spoken to you very much for Dora's sake, for whom I have +an almost motherly feeling; but you should act for your sister's sake. +And please don't forget what I have said, young man, and give Miriam my +best love." + +When Ralph walked back to the Tolbridge piazza he found the working-girl +sitting there, waiting for him. His mind was not in an altogether +satisfactory condition; some things Miss Panney had said had pleased and +even excited him, but there were other things that he resented. If she +had not been such an old lady, and if she had not talked so rapidly, he +might have shown this resentment. But he had not done so, and now the +more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling grew. + +As for Cicely Drane, she was a great deal more quiet during the drive +home, than she had been when going to Thorbury. Her mind was in an +unsatisfactory condition, and this had been occasioned by an interview +with La Fleur, who had waylaid her in the hall as she came out of the +doctor's office. + +The good cook had been in a state of enthusiastic delight, since, looking +out of the kitchen window where she had been sitting, with a manuscript +book of recipes in her lap, planning the luncheon and dinner, she had +seen the lord of Cobhurst drive up to the gate with dear Miss Cicely. It +was a joy like that of listening to a party of dinner guests, who were +eating her favorite ice. With intense impatience she had awaited the +appearance of Cicely from the doctor's office; and, having drawn her to +one side, she hastily imparted her sentiments. + +"It's a shabby gig, Miss Cicely," she said, "such as the farmers use in +the old country, but it's his own, and not hired, and the big house is +his own, and all the broad acres. And he's a gentleman from head to heel, +living on his own estate, and as fine a built man as ever rode in the +Queen's army. Oh, Miss Cicely, your star is at the top of the heavens +this time, and I want you to let me know if there is anything you want in +the way of hats or wraps or clothes, or anything of that kind. It +doesn't make the least difference to me, you know, just now, and we'll +settle it all after a while. It is the Christian duty for every young +lady to look the smartest, especially at a time like this." + +Cicely, her face flushed, drew herself away. + +"La Fleur," she said, speaking quickly and in a low voice, "you ought to +be ashamed of yourself." And she hurried away, fearing that Mr. Haverley +was waiting for her. + +La Fleur was not a bit ashamed of herself; she chuckled as she went back +to the kitchen. + +"She's a young thing of brains and beauty," said she to herself, "and I +don't doubt that she had the notion in her own mind. But if it wasn't +there, I have put it there, and if it was there, I've dished it and +dressed it, and it will be like another thing to her. As for the rest of +it, he'll attend to that. I haven't a doubt that he is the curly-headed, +brave fellow to do that; and I'll find out from her mother if she needs +anything, and not hurt her pride neither." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO + + +To say that Cicely Drane had not thought of Ralph Haverley as an +exceedingly agreeable young man would be an injustice to her young +womanly nature, but it would be quite correct to state that she had not +thought him a whit more agreeable than Miriam. She was charmed with them +both; they had taken her into their home circle as if they had adopted +her as a sister. It was not until her mother began to put a gentle +pressure upon her in order to prevent her gathering too many apples, and +joining in too many other rural recreations with Mr. Haverley, that she +thought of him as one who was not to be considered in the light of a +brother. There could be no doubt that she would have come to the same +conclusion if left to herself, but she would not have reached it so soon. + +But the effect that her mother's precautionary disposition had had upon +her was nothing compared to that produced by the words of La Fleur. For +the first time she looked upon Ralph as one on whom other persons looked +as her lover, and to sit by the side of the said young man, immediately +after being informed of said fact, was not conducive to a free and +tranquil flow of remark. + +Her own sentiments on the subject, so far as she had put them into +shape,--and it was quite natural that she should immediately begin to +do this,--were neither embarrassing nor disagreeable. She liked him +very much, and there was no reason why she should object to his liking +her very much, and if they should ever do more than this, she should +not be ashamed of it, and perhaps should be glad of it. But she was +sorry that before either of them had thought of this, some one else +should have done so. + +This might prove to be embarrassing, and the only comfort she could give +herself was that La Fleur was such an affectionate old body, always +talking of some bit of good fortune for her, that if she had seen her in +company with a king or an emperor, she would immediately set herself to +find some sort of throne-covering which would suit her hair and +complexion. + +The definite result of her reflections, made between desultory questions +and answers, was that she regarded the young gentleman by her side in a +light very different from that in which she had viewed him before she had +met La Fleur in the doctor's hall. It was not that she looked upon him as +a possible lover--she had sense enough to know that almost any man might +be that--he was a hypothetic lover, and in view of the assumption it +behooved her to give careful observation to everything in him, herself, +or others, which might bear upon the ensuing argument. + +As for Ralph, it angered him to look at the young lady by his side, who +was as handsome, as well educated and cultured, as tastefully dressed, as +intelligent and witty, of as gentle, kind, and winning a disposition, +and, judging from what the doctor had told him when he first spoke of the +Dranes, of as good blood, family, and position, as any one within the +circle of his acquaintance, and then to remember that she had been called +a working-girl, and spoken of in a manner that was almost contemptuous. + +Ralph always took the side of the man who was down, and, consequently, +very often put himself on the wrong side; and although he did not +consider that Miss Drane was down, he saw that Miss Panney had tried to +put her down, and therefore he became her champion. + +"There could not be any one," he said to himself, "better fitted to be +the friend and companion of Miriam than Cicely Drane is, and the next +time I see that old lady, I shall tell her so. I have nothing to say +against Miss Bannister, but I shall stand up for this one." + +And now, feeling that it was not polite to treat a young lady with +seeming inattention, because he happened to be earnestly thinking about +her, he began to talk to Cicely in his liveliest and gayest manner, and +she, not wishing him to think that she thought that there was anything +out of the way in this, or in his previous preoccupation, responded +just as gayly. + +Ralph delivered Miss Panney's message to his sister, and Miriam, giving +much more weight to the advice and opinion of the old lady, whom she knew +very slightly and cared for very little, than to that of her brother, +whom she loved dearly, said she would go to see Miss Bannister the next +afternoon if it happened to be clear. + +It was clear, and she went, and Ralph drove her there in the gig, and +Dora was overwhelmed with joy to see her, and scolded Ralph in the most +charming way for not bringing her before; Miriam was taken to see Congo, +because Dora wanted her to begin to love him, and they were shown into +the library, because Dora said that she knew they both loved books, and +her father had gathered together so many. In ten minutes, Miriam was in +the window seat, dipping, which ended in her swimming, far beyond her +depth in Don Quixote, which she had so often read of and never seen, and +Dora and Ralph sat, heads together, over a portfolio of photographs of +foreign places where the Bannisters had been. + +There were very few books at Cobhurst, and Miriam had read all of them +she cared for, and consequently it was an absorbing delight to follow the +adventures of the Knight of La Mancha. + +Ralph had not travelled in Europe, and there were very few pictures at +Cobhurst, and he was greatly interested in the photographs, but this +interest soon waned in the increasing delight of having Dora seated so +close to him, of seeing her fair fingers point out the things he should +look at, and listening to her sweet voice, as she talked to him about the +scenes and buildings. There was an element of gentle and sympathetic +interest in Dora's manner, which reminded him of her visit to Cobhurst, +and the good-night on the stairs, and this had a very charming effect +upon Ralph, and made him wish that the portfolio were at least double its +actual size. + +The Haverleys stayed so long that Mrs. Bannister, upstairs, began to +be nervous, and wondered if Dora had asked those young people to +remain to tea. + +On the way home Ralph was in unusually good spirits, and talked much +about Dora. She must have seen a great deal of the world, he said, for +one so young, and she talked in such an interesting and appreciative way +about what she had seen, that he felt almost as if he had been to the +places himself. + +With this for a text, he dilated upon the subject of Dora and foreign +travel, but Miriam was not a responsive hearer. + +"I wish you knew Mr. Bannister better," she said in a pause in her +brother's remarks. "He must have been everywhere that his sister has +been, and probably saw a great deal more." + +"No doubt," said Ralph, carelessly, "and probably has forgotten most of +it; men generally do that. A girl's mind is not crammed with business and +all that sort of stuff, and she can keep it free for things that are +worth remembering." + +Miriam did not immediately answer, but presently she said, speaking with +a certain air of severity:-- + +"If my soul ached for the company of anybody as Miss Panney told you Dora +Bannister's soul ached for my company, I think I should have a little +more to say to her when she came to see me, than Dora Bannister had to +say to me to-day." + +"My dear child!" exclaimed Ralph, "that was because you were so busy with +your book. She saw you were completely wrapped up in it, and so let you +take your own pleasure in your own way. I think that is one of her good +points. She tries to find out what pleases people." + +"Bother her good points!" snapped Miriam. "You will make a regular +porcupine of her if you keep on. I wish Mr. Bannister had given +you the dog." + +Ralph was very much disturbed; it was seldom that his sister snapped at +him. He could see, now that he considered the matter, that Miriam had +been somewhat neglected. She was young and a little touchy, and this +ought to be considered. He thought it might be well, the next time he saw +Miss Bannister by herself, to explain this to her. He believed he could +do it without making it appear a matter of any great importance. It was +important, however, for he should very much dislike to see ill will grow +up between Miriam and Miss Bannister. What Miss Panney had said about +this young lady was very, very true, although, of course, it did not +follow that any one else need be disparaged. + +Early in the forenoon of the next day, Miss Panney drove to Cobhurst. She +had come, she informed Miriam, not only to see her, dear girl, but to +make a formal call upon the Dranes. + +The call was very formal; Miss Drane left her work to meet the visitor, +but having been loftily set aside by that lady during a stiff +conversation with her mother about old residents in the neighborhood in +which they had lived, she excused herself, after a time, and went back to +her table and her manuscripts. + +Then Miss Panney changed the conversational scene, and began to talk +about Thorbury. + +"I do not know, madam," she said, "that you are aware that I was the +cause of your coming to this neighborhood." + +Mrs. Drane was a quiet lady, and the previous remarks of her visitor had +been calculated to render her more quiet, but this roused her. + +"I certainly did not," she said. "We came on the invitation and through +the kindness of Dr. Tolbridge, my old friend." + +"Yes, yes, yes," said Miss Panney, "that is all true enough, but I told +him to send for you. In fact, I insisted upon it. I did it, of course, +for his sake; for I knew that the arrangement would be of advantage to +him in various ways, but I was also glad to be of service to your +daughter, of whom I had heard a good report. Furthermore, I interested +myself very much in getting you lodgings, and found you a home at Mrs. +Brinkly's that I hoped you would like. If I had not done so, I think you +would have been obliged to go to the hotel, which is not pleasant and +much more expensive than a private house. I do not mention these things, +madam, because I wish to be thanked, or anything of that sort; far from +it. I did what I did because I thought it was right; but I must admit, if +you will excuse my mentioning it, that I was surprised, to say the least, +that I was not consulted, in the slightest degree, on the occasion of +your leaving the home I had secured for you." + +"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Drane, "that I should appear to have been +discourteous to one who had done us a service, for which, I assure you, +we are both very much obliged, but Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge managed the +whole affair of our removal from Mrs. Brinkly's house, and I did not +suppose there was any one, besides them and ourselves, who would take the +slightest interest in the matter." + +"Oh, I find no fault," said Miss Panney. "It is not an affair of +importance, but I think you will agree, madam, that after the interest I +had shown in procuring you suitable accommodation, I might have been +spared what some people might consider the mortification of being told, +when I stated to Mrs. Tolbridge that I intended to call upon you, that +you were not then living with the lady whose consent to receive you into +her family I had obtained, after a great deal of personal solicitation +and several visits." + +Upon this presentation of the matter, Mrs. Drane could not help thinking +that the old lady had been treated somewhat uncivilly, and expressed her +regret in the most suitable terms she could think of, adding that she +was sure that Miss Panney would agree that the change had been an +excellent one. + +"Of course, of course," said Miss Panney. "For a temporary country +residence, I suppose you could not have found a better spot, though it +must be a long walk for your daughter when she goes to submit her work to +Dr. Tolbridge." + +"That has not yet been necessary," said Mrs. Drane; "Mr. Haverley is +very kind--" + +At this point Miss Panney rose. She had said all she wanted to say, and +to decline to hear anything about Ralph Haverley's having been seen +driving about with a young woman who had been engaged as Dr. Tolbridge's +secretary, was much better than speaking of it, and she took her leave +with a prim politeness. + +Mrs. Drane was left in an uncomfortable state of mind. It was not +pleasant to be reminded that this delightful country house was only a +temporary home, for that implied a return to Thorbury, a town she +disliked; and although she had, of course, expected to go back there, she +had not allowed the matter to dwell in her mind at all, putting it into +the future, without consideration, as she liked to do with things that +were unpleasant. + +Moreover, there was something, she could not tell exactly what, about +Miss Panney's words and manner, which put an unsatisfactory aspect upon +the obvious methods of Cicely's communications with her employer. + +Mrs. Drane's mind had already been slightly disturbed on this subject, +but Miss Panney had revived and greatly increased the disturbance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT + + +Having finished her visit of ceremony, Miss Panney asked permission of +Miriam to see Molly Tooney. That woman was, in a measure, her protégé, +and she had some little business with her. Declining to have the cook +sent for, Miss Panney descended to the kitchen. + +She had not talked with Molly more than five minutes, and had not +approached the real subject of the interview, which concerned the social +relations between the Haverleys and the Dranes, when the Irishwoman +lifted up her hands, and opened wide her eyes. + +"The Saints an' the Sinners!" she exclaimed, "if here isn't that auld +drab of a sausage, that cook of the docther's, a comin' here again to +tell me how to cook for them Dranes. Bad luck to them, they don't pay me +nothin', an' only give me trouble." + +Miss Panney turned quickly, and through the window she saw La Fleur +approaching the kitchen door. + +"She comes here to tell you how to cook for those people?" said Miss +Panney, quickly. + +"Indade she does, an' it's none of her business, nather, the meddlin' +auld porpoise." + +"Molly," said Miss Panney, "go away and leave me here. I want to talk to +this woman." + +"Which is more than I do," said the cook, and straightway departed to the +floor above. + +La Fleur had come to see Mrs. Drane, but perceiving Miss Panney's phaeton +at the door, she had concluded that there was company in the house, and +had consequently betaken herself to the kitchen to make inquiries. When +she found there Miss Panney, instead of Molly Tooney, La Fleur was +surprised, but pleased, for she remembered the old lady as one who +appreciated good cookery and a good cook. + +"How do you do, La Fleur," said Miss Panney. "I am glad to see you. I +suppose you still keep up your old interest in Mrs. Drane and her +daughter. Do you often find time to come out here to see them?" + +"Not often, madam, but sometimes. I can always find time for what I +really want to do. If I like to be away for an hour or two, I'll sit up +late the night before, long after midnight sometimes, planning the meals +and the courses for the next day, and when I go away, I leave everything +so that I can take it right up, the minute I get back, and lose nothing +in time or in any other way." + +"It is only a born chef who could do that," said Miss Panney, "and it is +very pleasant to see your affection for your former employers. Do you +suppose that they will remain here much longer?" + +"Remain!" exclaimed La Fleur; "they've never said a word to me, madam, +about going away, and I don't believe they have thought of it. I am sure +I haven't." + +Miss Panney shook her head. + +"It's none of my business," she said, "but I've lived a long time in this +world, and that gives me a right to speak my mind to people who haven't +lived so long. It may have been all very well for the Dranes to have come +here for a little vacation of a week or ten days, but to stay on and on +is not the proper thing at all, and if you really have a regard for them, +La Fleur, I think it is your duty to make them understand this. You might +not care to speak plainly, of course, but you can easily make them +perceive the situation, without offending them, or saying anything which +an old servant might not say, in a case like this." + +"But, madam," said La Fleur, "what's to hinder their stopping here? +There's no spot on earth that could suit them better, to my way of +thinking." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, regarding the other with moderate severity, +"you ought to know that when people see a young woman like Miss Drane +brought to live in a house with a handsome young gentleman, who, to all +intents and purposes, is keeping a bachelor's hall,--for that girl +upstairs is entirely too young to be considered a mistress of a +house,--and when they know that the young lady's mother is a lady in +impoverished circumstances, the people are bound to say, when they talk, +that that young woman was brought here on purpose to catch the master of +the house, and I don't think, La Fleur, that you would like to hear that +said of Mrs. Drane." + +As she listened, the bodily eyes of La Fleur were contracted until they +were almost shut, but her mental eyes opened wider and wider. She +suspected that there was something back of Miss Panney's words. + +"If I heard anybody say that, madam, meaning it, I don't think they would +care to say it to me again. But leaving out all that and looking at the +matter with my lights, it does seem to me that if Mr. Haverley wanted a +mistress for his house, and felt inclined to marry Miss Cicely Drane, he +couldn't make a better choice." + +"Choice!" repeated Miss Panney, sarcastically. "He has no choice to make. +That is settled, and that is the very reason why people will talk the +more and sharper, and nothing you can say, Madam Jane La Fleur, will stop +them. Not only does this look like a scheme to marry Mr. Haverley to a +girl who can bring him nothing, but to break off a most advantageous +match with a lady who, in social position, wealth, and in every way, +stands second to no one in this county." + +"And who may that be, please?" asked La Fleur. + +Miss Panney hesitated. It would be a bold thing to give the answer that +was on her tongue, but she was no coward, and this was a crisis of +importance. A proper impression made upon this woman might be productive +of more good results than if made upon any one else. + +"It is Miss Dora Bannister," she said, "and of course you know all about +the Bannister family. I tell you this, because I consider that, under the +circumstances, you ought to know it, but I expect you to mention it to no +one, for the matter has not been formally announced. Now, I am sure that +a woman of your sense can easily see what the friends of Mr. Haverley, +who know all about the state of affairs, will think and say when they see +Mrs. Drane's attempt to get for her daughter what rightfully belongs to +another person." + +If it had appeared to the mind of La Fleur that it was a dreadful thing +to get for one's daughter a lifelong advantage which happened to belong +to another, she might have greatly resented this imputation against Mrs. +Drane. But as she should not have hesitated to try and obtain said +advantage, if there was any chance of doing it, the imputation lost +force. She did not, therefore, get angry, but merely asked, wishing to +get as deep into the matter as possible, "And then it is all settled that +he's to marry Miss Bannister?" + +"Everything is not yet arranged, of course," said Miss Panney, speaking +rapidly, for she heard approaching footsteps, "and you are not to say +anything about all this or mention me in connection with it. I only +spoke to you for the sake of the Dranes. It is your duty to get them +away from here." + +She had scarcely finished speaking when Miriam entered the kitchen. La +Fleur had never seen her before, for on her previous visit it had been +Ralph who had given her permission to interview Molly Tooney, and she +regarded her with great interest. La Fleur's long years of service had +given her many opportunities of studying the characters of mistresses, in +high life as well as middle life, but never had she seen a mistress like +this school-girl, with her hair hanging down her back. + +Miriam advanced toward La Fleur. + +"My cook told me that you were here, and I came down, thinking that you +might want to see me." + +"This is Madam La Fleur," interpolated Miss Panney, "the celebrated chef +who cooks for Dr. Tolbridge. She came, I think, to see Mrs. Drane." + +"Not altogether. Oh, no, indeed," said La Fleur, humbly smiling and +bowing, with her eyes downcast and her head on one side. "I wished, very +much, also, to pay my respects to Miss Haverley. I am only a cook, and I +am much obliged to this good lady--Miss Panic, I think is the name--" + +"Panney," sharply interpolated the old lady. + +"Beg pardon, I am sure, Miss Panney--for what she has said about me; but +when I come to pay my respects to Mrs. Drane, I wish to do the same to +the lady of the house." + +There was a gravity and sedateness in Miriam's countenance, which was not +at all school-girlish, and which pleased La Fleur; in her eyes it gave +the girl an air of distinction. + +"I am glad to see you," said Miriam, and turned to Miss Panney, as if +wondering at that lady's continued stay in the kitchen. Miss Panney +understood the look. + +"I am getting points from La Fleur, my dear," she said, "cooking +points,--you ought to do that. She can give you the most wonderful +information about things you ought to know. Now, La Fleur, as you want to +see Mrs. Drane, and it is time I had started for home, it will be well +for us to go upstairs and leave the kitchen to Molly Tooney." + +Miss Panney was half way up the stairs when La Fleur detained Miriam by a +touch on the arm. + +"I will give you all the points you want, my dear young lady," she said. +"You have brains, and that is the great thing needful in overseeing +cooking. And I will come some day on purpose to tell you how the dishes +that your brother likes, and you like, ought to be cooked to make them +delicious, and you shall be able to tell any one how they should be done, +and understand what is the matter with them if they are not done +properly. All this the lady of the house ought to know, and I can tell +you anything you ask me, for there is nothing about cooking that I do not +thoroughly understand; but I will not go upstairs now, and I will not +detain you from your visitor. I will take a turn in the grounds, and when +the lady has gone, I will ask leave to speak with Mrs. Drane." + +With her head on one side, and her smile and her bow, La Fleur left the +kitchen by the outer door. She stepped quickly toward the barn, looking +right and left as she walked. She wished very much to see Mike, and +presently she had that pleasure. He had just come out of the barnyard, +and was closing the gate. She hurried toward him, for, although somewhat +porpoise-built, she was vigorous and could walk fast. + +"I am so pleased to see you, Michael," she said. "I have brought you +something which I think you will like," and, opening a black bag which +she carried on her arm, she produced a package wrapped in brown paper. + +"This," she said, opening the wrapping, "is a pie--a veal and 'am +pie--such as you would not be likely to find in this country, unless you +got me to make it for you. I baked it early this morning, intending to +come here, and being sure you would like it; and you needn't have any +scruples about taking it. I bought everything in it with my own money. I +always do that when I cook little dishes for people I like." + +The pie had been brought as a present for Mrs. Drane, but, feeling that +it was highly necessary to propitiate the only person on the place who +might be of use to her, La Fleur decided to give the pie to Mike. + +The face of the colored man beamed with pleasure. + +"Veal and ham. Them two things ought to go together fust rate, though +I've never eat 'em in that way. An' in a pie, too; that looks mighty +good. An' how do ye eat it, Mrs.--'scuse me, ma'am, but I never can +rightly git hold of yer name." + +"No wonder, no wonder," said the other; "it is a French name. My second +husband was a Frenchman. A great cook, Michael,--a Frenchman. But the +English of the name is flower, and you can call me Mrs. Flower. You can +surely remember that, Michael." + +Mike grinned widely. + +"Oh, yes indeed, ma'am," said he; "no trouble 'bout that, 'specially when +I think what pie crust is made of, an' that you's a cook." + +"Oh, it isn't that kind of flower," said La Fleur, laughing; "but it +doesn't matter a bit,--it sounds the same. And now, Michael, you must +warm this and eat it for your dinner. Have you a fire in your house?" + +"I can make one in no time," said Mike. "Then you think I'd better not +let the cook warm it for me?" + +"You are quite right," said La Fleur. "I don't believe she's half as good +a cook as you are, Michael, for I've heard that all colored people have a +knack that way; and like as not she'd burn it to a crisp." + +Wrapping up the pie and handing it to the delighted negro, La Fleur +proceeded to business, for she felt she had no time to lose. + +"And how are you getting on, Michael?" said she. "I suppose everybody is +very busy preparing for the master's wedding." + +"The what!" exclaimed Mike, his eyebrows elevating themselves to such a +degree that his hat rose. + +"Mr. Haverley's marriage with Miss Dora Bannister. Isn't that to take +place very soon, Michael?" + +Mike put his pie on the post of the barn gate, took off his hat, and +wiped his brow with his shirt-sleeve. + +"Bless my evarlastin' soul, Mrs. Flower! who on this earth told +you that?" + +"Is it then such a great secret? Miss Panney told it to me not twenty +minutes ago." + +Mike put on his hat; he took his pie from the post, and held it, +first in one hand and then in the other. He seemed unable to express +what he thought. + +"Look a here, Mrs. Flower," he said presently, "she told you that, did +she?" + +"She really did," was the answer. + +"Well, then," said Mike, "the long an' the short of it is, she lies. +'Tain't the fust time that old Miss Panney has done that sort of thing. +She comes to me one day, more than six year ago, an' says, 'Mike,' says +she, 'why don't you marry Phoebe Moxley?' ''Cause I don't want to marry +her, nor nobody else,' says I. 'But you ought to,' said she, 'for she's +a good woman an' a nice washer an' ironer, an' you'd do well together.' +'Don't want no washin' nor ironin', nor no Phoebe, neither,' says I. +But she didn't mind nothin' what I said, an' goes an' tells everybody +that me an' Phoebe was goin' to be married; an' then it was we did git +married, jest to stop people talkin' so much about it, an' now look at +us. Me never so much as gittin' a bite of corn-bread, an' she a +boardin' the minister! Jes' you take my word for it, Mrs. Flower, old +Miss Panney wants Miss Dora to marry him, an' she's goin' about tellin' +people, thinkin' that after a while they'll do it jes' 'cause everybody +'spects them to." + +"But don't you think they intend to marry, Mike?" forgetting to address +him by his full name. + +Mike was about to strike the pie in his right hand with his left, in +order to give emphasis to his words, but he refrained in time. + +"Don't believe one cussed word of it," said he. "Mr. Haverley ain't the +man to do that sort of thing without makin' some of his 'rangements p'int +that way, an' none of his 'rangements do p'int that way. If he'd been +goin' to git married, he'd told me, you bet, an' we'd laid out the farm +work more suitable for a weddin' than it is laid out. I ain't goin' to +believe no word about no weddin' till I git it from somebody better nor +Miss Panney. If he was goin' to marry anybody, he'd be more like to marry +that purty little Miss Drane. She's right here on the spot, an' she ain't +pizen proud like them Bannisters. She's as nice as cake, an' not stuck up +a bit. Bless my soul! She don't know one thing about nothin'." + +"You're very much mistaken, Michael," exclaimed La Fleur. "She is very +well educated, and has been sent to the best schools." + +"Oh, I don't mean school larnin'," said Mike; "I mean 'bout cows an' +chickens. She'll come here when I'm milkin', an' ask me things about the +critters an' craps that I knowed when I was a baby. I reckon she's the +kind of a lady that knows all about what's in her line, an' don't know +nothin' 'bout what's not in her line. That's the kind of young lady I +like. No spyin' around to see what's been did, an' what's hain't been +did. I've lived with them Bannisters." + +La Fleur gazed reflectively upon the ground. + +"I never thought of it before," she said, "but Miss Cicely would make a +very good wife for a gentleman like Mr. Haverley. But that's neither +here nor there, and none of our business, Michael. But if you hear +anything more about this marriage between Mr. Haverley and Miss +Bannister, I wish you'd come and tell me. I've had a deal of curiosity to +know if that old lady's been trying to make a fool of me. It isn't of any +consequence, but it is natural to have a curiosity about such things, and +I shall be very thankful to you if you will bring me any news that you +may get. And when you come, Michael, you may be sure that you will not go +away hungry, be it daytime or night." + +"Oh, I'll come along, you bet," said Mike, "an' I am much obleeged to +you, Mrs. Flower, for this here pie." + +When the good cook had gone to speak with Mrs. Drane, Mike repaired +to the woodshed, where, picking up an axe, he stood for some moments +regarding a short, knotty log on end in front of him. His blood +flowed angrily. + +"Marry that there Bannister girl," he said to himself. "A pretty piece of +business if that family was to come here with their money an' their +come-up-ence. They'd turn everythin' upside down on this place. No use +for ramshackle farmin' they'd have, an' no use for me, nuther, with their +top boots an' stovepipe hats." + +Mike had been discharged from the Bannisters' service because of his +unwillingness to pay any attention to his personal appearance. + +"If that durned Miss Panney," he continued, "keeps on tellin' that to the +people, things will be a cussed sight worse than me a livin' here without +decent vittles, an' Phoebe a boardin' that minister that ain't paid no +board yit. Blast them all, I say." And with that he lifted up his axe and +brought it down on the end of the upturned log with such force that it +split into two jagged portions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED + + +When Miss Panney had driven herself away from Cobhurst and Dr. +Tolbridge's cook had finished her conference with Mrs. Drane and had gone +out to the barn to look for her carriage, Miriam Haverley was left with +an impression upon her mind. This was to the effect that there was a good +deal of managing and directing going on in the house with which she had +nothing to do. + +Miss Panney went into her kitchen to talk to Molly Tooney, and when she +did not want to talk to her any more she sent her upstairs, in order that +she might talk to Dr. Tolbridge's cook, which latter person had come into +her kitchen, as Molly had informed her after La Fleur's departure, for +the purpose of finding fault with the family cooking. Whether or not the +old woman had felt herself called upon to instruct Mike in regard to his +duty, she did not know, but when Miriam went into the orchard for some +apples, she had seen her talking to him at the barn gate, and when she +came out again, she saw her there still. Even Ralph took a little too +much on himself, though of course he did not mean anything by it, but he +had told Molly Tooney that she ought to have breakfast sooner in order +that Miss Drane and he might get more promptly to their work. While +considering her impression, Molly Tooney came to Miriam, her face red. + +"What do you think, miss," said she, "that old bundle of a cook that was +here this mornin' has been doin'? She's been bringin' cauld vittles from +the docther's kitchen to that nager Mike, as if you an' Mr. Haverley +didn't give him enough to eat. I looked in at his winder, a wonderin' +what he wanted wid a fire in summer time, an' saw him heatin' the stuff. +It's an insult to me an' the family, miss, that's what it is." And the +irate woman rested her knuckles on her hips. + +Miriam's face turned a little pink. + +"I will inquire about that, Molly," she said, and her impression became a +conviction. + +Toward the close of the afternoon, Miriam went up to her room, and +spreading out on the bed the teaberry gown of Judith Pacewalk, she stood +looking at it. She intended to put on that gown and wear it. But it did +not fit her. It needed all sorts of alterations, and how to make these +she did not know; sewing and its kindred arts had not been taught in the +schools to which she had been sent. It is true that Miss Panney had +promised to cut and fit this gown for her, but Miriam did not wish Miss +Panney to have anything to do with it. That old lady seemed entirely too +willing to have to do with her affairs. + +While Miriam thus cogitated, Cicely Drane passed the open door of her +room, and seeing the queer old-fashioned dress upon the bed, she +stopped, and asked what it was. Miriam told the whole story of Judith +Pacewalk, which greatly interested Cicely, and then she stated her desire +to alter the dress so that she could wear it. But she said nothing about +her purpose in doing this. She was growing very fond of Cicely, but she +did not feel that she knew her well enough to entirely open her heart to +her, and tell her of her fears and aspirations in regard to her position +in the home so dear to her. + +"Wear it, my dear?" exclaimed Cicely. "Why, of course I would. You may +not have thought of it, but since you have told me that story, it seems +to me that the fitness of things demands that you should wear that gown. +As to the fitness of the dress itself, I'll help you about that. I can +cut, sew, and do all that sort of thing, and together we will make a +lovely gown of it for you. I do not think we ought to change the style +and fashion of it, but we can make it smaller without making it anything +but the delightful old-timey gown that it is. And then let me tell you +another thing, dear Miriam: you must really put up your hair. You will +never be treated with proper respect by your cook until you do that. +Mother and I have been talking about this, and thought that perhaps we +ought to mention it to you, because you would not be likely to think of +it yourself, but we thought we had no right to be giving you advice, and +so said nothing. But now I have spoken of it, and how angry are you?" + +"Not a bit," answered Miriam; "and I shall put up my hair, if you will +show me how to do it." + +So long as the Dranes admitted that they had no right to give her +advice, Miriam was willing that they should give her as much as +they pleased. + +For several days Cicely and Miriam cut and stitched and fitted and took +in and let out, and one morning Miriam came down to breakfast attired in +the pink chintz gown, its skirt touching the floor, and with her long +brown hair tastefully done up in a knot upon her head. + +"What a fine young woman has my little sister grown into!" exclaimed +Ralph. "To look at you, Miriam, it seems as if years must have passed +since yesterday. That is the pink dress that Dora Bannister wore when she +was here, isn't it?" + +This remark irritated Miriam a little; Ralph saw the irritation, and was +sorry that he had made the remark. It was surprising how easily Miriam +was irritated by references to Dora. + +"I lent it once," said his sister, as she took her seat at the table, +"but I shall not do it again." + +That day Mike was interviewed in regard to what might be called his +foreign maintenance. The ingenuous negro was amazed. His Irish and his +African temperaments struggled together for expression. + +"Bless my soul, Miss Miriam," he said; "nobody in this world ever +brought me nuthin' to eat, 'cause they know'd I didn't need it, an' +gittin' the best of livin' right here in your house, Miss Miriam, an' if +they had brought it I wouldn't have took it an' swallowed the family +pride; an' what's more, the doctor's cook didn't bring that pie on +purpose for me. She just comed down here to ax me how to make real good +corn-cakes, knowin' that I was a fust-rate cook, an' could make +corn-cakes, an' she wanted to know how to do it. When I tole her jes' +how to do it,--ash-cakes, griddle-cakes, batter-cake, every kin' of +cake,--she was so mighty obligated that she took a little bit of a pie, +made of meat, out of the bag what she'd brought along to eat on the way +home, not feelin' hungry at lunch time, an' give it to me. An' not +wantin' to hurt her feelin's, I jes' took it, an' when I went to my +house I het it an' eat it, an' bless your soul, Miss Miriam, it did +taste good; for that there woman in the kitchen don't give me half +enough to eat, an' never no corn-bread an' ham fat, which is mighty +cheap, Miss Miriam, an' a long sight better for a workin' pusson than +crusts of wheat bread a week old an'--" + +"You don't mean to say," interrupted Miriam, "that Molly does not give +you enough to eat? I'll speak to her about that. She ought to be ashamed +of herself." + +"Now look here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, speaking more earnestly, "don't +you go an' do that. If you tell her that, she'll go an' make me the +biggest corn-pone anybody ever seed, an' she'll put pizen into it. Oh, +it'd never do to say anythin' like that to Molly Tooney, if she's got me +to feed. Jes' let me tell you, Miss Miriam, don't you say nothin' to +Molly Tooney 'bout me. I never could sleep at night if I thought she was +stirrin' up pizen in my vittles. But I tell you, Miss Miriam, if you was +to say Molly, that you an' Mr. Haverley liked corn-cakes an' was always +used to 'em before you come here, an' that they 'greed with you, then in +course she'd make 'em, an' there'd be a lot left over for me, for I don't +'spect you all could eat the corn-bread she'd make, but I'd eat it, bein' +so powerful hungry for corn-meal." + +"Mike," said Miriam, "you shall have corn-bread, but that is all +nonsense about Molly. I do not see how you could get such a notion into +your head." + +Mike gave himself a shrug. + +"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," he said; "I've heard before of red-headed +cooks, an' colored pussons as wasn't satisfied with their victuals, an' +nobody knows what they died of, an' the funerals was mighty slim, an' no +'count, the friends an' congregation thinkin' there might be somethin' +'tagious. Them red-headed kind of cooks is mighty dangerous, Miss Miriam, +an' lemme tell you, the sooner you git rid of them, the better." + +Miriam's previous experiences had brought her very little into contact +with negroes, and although she did not care very much about what Mike was +saying, it interested her to hear him talk. His intonations and manner of +expressing himself pleased her fancy. She could imagine herself in the +sunny South, talking to an old family servant. This fancy was novel and +pleasant. Mike liked to talk, and was shrewd enough to see that Miriam +liked to listen to him. He determined to take advantage of this +opportunity to find out something in regard to the doleful news brought +to him by La Fleur and which, he feared, might be founded upon fact. + +"Now look here, Miss Miriam," said he, lowering his voice a little, but +not enough to make him seem disrespectfully confidential, "what you want +is a first-class colored cook--not Phoebe, she's no good cook, an' won't +live in the country, an' is so mighty stuck up that she don't like +nuthin' but wheat bread, an' ain't no 'count anyway. But I got a sister, +Miss Miriam. She's a number one, fust-class cook, knows all the northen +an' southen an' easten an' westen kind of cookin', an' she's only got two +chillun, what could keep in the house all day long an' not trouble +nobody, 'side bringin' kindlin' an' runnin' errands; an' the husband, +he's dead, an' that's a good sight better, Miss Miriam, than havin' him +hangin' round, eatin' his meals here, an' bein' no use, 'cause he had +rheumatism all over him, 'cept on his appetite." + +This suggestion pleased Miriam; here was a chance for another old +family servant. + +"I think I should like to have your sister, Mike," she said; "what is her +name? Is she working for anybody now?" + +"Her name is Seraphina--Seraphina Paddock. Paddock was his name. She's +keepin' house now, an' takin' in washin', down to Bridgeport. I reckon +she's like to come here an' live, mighty well." + +"I wish you'd tell her to come and see me," said Miriam. "I think it +would be a very good thing for us to have a colored cook." + +"Mighty good thing. There ain't nothin' better than a colored cook; but +jus' let me tell you, Miss Miriam, my sister's mighty particular 'bout +goin' to places an' takin' her family, an' furniture, an' settin' herself +up to live when she don't know whether things is fixed an' settled +there, or whether the fust thing she knows is she's got to pull up stakes +an' git out agin." + +"I am sure everything is fixed and settled here," said Miriam, in +surprise. + +"Well, now look a here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, "'spose you was clean +growed up, an' you're near that now, as anybody can see, an' you was +goin' to git married to somebody, or 'spose Mr. Haverley was goin' to +git married to somebody, why don' you see you'd go way with your +husband, an' your brother he'd come here with his new wife, an' +everything would be turned over an' sot upside down, an' then Seraphina, +she'd have to git up an' git, for there'd sure to be a new kin' of cook +wanted or else none, an' Seraphina, she'd fin' her house down to +Bridgeport rented to somebody who had gone way without payin' the rent, +an' had been splittin' kindlin' on the front steps an' hacking 'em all +up, and white-washin' the kitchen what she papered last winter to hide +the grease spots what they made through living like pigs, an' Seraphina, +she can't stand nothing like that." + +Miriam burst out laughing. + +"Mike," she cried, "nobody is going to get married here." + +Mike's eyes glistened. + +"That so, sure?" he said. "You see, Miss Miriam, you an' your brother is +both so 'tractive, that I sort o' 'sposed you might be thinkin' of +gittin' married, an' if that was so, I couldn't go to Seraphina, an' git +her to come here when things wasn't fixed an' settled." + +"If that is all that would keep your sister from coming," said Miriam, +"she need not trouble herself." + +"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, quickly, "of course everything +in this world depends on sarcumstances, an' if it happened that Mr. +Hav'ley was the one to git married, an' he was to take some lady that was +livin' here anyway an' was used to the place, an' the ways of the house, +an' didn't want to go anywheres else an' wanted to stay here an' not to +chance nothin' an' have the same people workin' as worked before, like +Miss Drane, say, with her mother livin' here jes' the same, an' you +keepin' house jes' as you is now, an' all goin' on without no upsottin', +of course Seraphina, she wouldn't mind that. She'd like mighty well to +come, whether your brother was married or not; but supposin' he married a +lady like Miss Dora Bannister. Bless my soul, Miss Miriam, everything in +this place would be turned heels up an' heads down, an' there wouldn't be +no colored pussons wanted in this 'stablishment, Seraphina nor me nuther, +an' I reckon you wouldn't know the place in six months, Miss Miriam, with +that Miss Dora runnin' it, an' old Miss Panney with her fingers in the +pie, an' nobody can't help her doin' that when Miss Dora is concerned, +an' you kin see for yourself, Miss Miriam, that Seraphina, an' me, too, +is bound to be bounced if it was to come to that." + +"I will talk to you again about your sister," said Miriam, and she went +away, amused. + +Mike was delighted. + +"It's all a cussed old lie, jes' as I thought it wuz," said he to +himself; "an' that old Miss Panney'll fin' them young uns is harder nuts +to crack than me an' Phoebe wuz. I got in some good licks fur dat purty +Miss Cicely, too." + +Miriam's amusement gradually faded away as she approached the house. At +first it had seemed funny to hear any one talk about Ralph or herself +getting married, but now it did not appear so funny. On the contrary, +that part of Mike's remarks which concerned Ralph and Dora was +positively depressing. Suppose such a thing were really to happen; it +would be dreadful. She had thought her brother overfond of Dora's +society, but the matter had never appeared to her in the serious aspect +in which she saw it now. + +She had intended to find Ralph, and speak to him about Mike's sister; but +now she changed her mind. She was wearing the teaberry gown, and she +would attend to her own affairs as mistress of the house. If Ralph could +be so cruel as to marry Dora, and put her at the head of everything,--and +if she were here at all, she would want to be at the head of +everything,--then she, Miriam, would take off the teaberry gown, and lock +it up in the old trunk. + +"But can it be possible," she asked herself, as a tear or two began to +show themselves in her eyes, "that Ralph could be so cruel as that?" + +As she reached the door of the house, Cicely Drane was coming out. +Involuntarily Miriam threw her arms around her and folded her close to +the teaberry gown. + +Miriam was not in the habit of giving away to outbursts of this sort, +and as she released Cicely she said with a little apologetic blush,-- + +"It is so nice to have you here. I feel as if you ought not ever +to go away." + +"I am sure I do not want to go, dear," said Cicely, with the smile of +good-fellowship that always went to the heart of Miriam. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS + + +Molly Tooney waited with some impatience the result of Miriam's interview +with Mike. If the "nager" should be discharged for taking cold victuals +like a beggar, Molly would be glad of it; it would suit her much better +to have a nice Irish boy in his place. + +But when Miriam told her cook that evening that Mike had satisfactorily +explained the matter of the pie, and also remarked that in future she +would like to have bread or cakes made of corn-meal, and that she +couldn't see any reason why Mike, who was accustomed to this sort of +food, should not have it always, Molly's soul blazed within her; it would +have burst out into fiery speech; but the girl before her, although +young, was so quiet and sedate, so suggestive of respect, that Molly, +scarcely knowing why she did it, curbed herself; but she instantly gave +notice that she wished to quit the place on the next day. + +When Ralph heard this, he was very angry, and wanted to go and talk to +the woman. + +"Don't you do anything of the kind," said Miriam. "It is not your +business to talk to cooks. I do that. And I want to go to-morrow to +Thorbury and get some one to come to us by the day until the new +cook arrives. If I can get her, I am going to engage Seraphina, +Mike's sister." + +Ralph looked at her and laughed. + +"Well, well, Miss Teaberry," he said, "you are getting on bravely. +Putting up your hair and letting down your skirts has done wonders. You +are the true lady of the house now." + +"And what have you to say against that?" asked Miriam. + +"Not a word!" he cried. "I like it, I am charmed with it, and I will +drive you into Thorbury to-morrow. And as to Mike's sister, you can have +all his relations if you like, provided they do not charge too much. If +we had a lot of darkies here, that would make us more truly ramshackle +and jolly than we are now." + +"Ralph," said Miriam, with dignity, "stop pulling my ears. Don't you see +Mrs. Drane coming?" + +The next day Miriam and Ralph jogged into Thorbury. Miriam, not wearing +the teaberry gown, but having its spirit upon her, had planned to inquire +of the grocer with whom she dealt, where she might find a woman such as +she needed, but Ralph did not favor this. + +"Let us first go and see Mrs. Tolbridge," he said. "She is one of our +first and best friends, and probably knows every woman in town, and if +she doesn't, the doctor does." + +This last point had its effect upon Miriam. She wanted to see Dr. +Tolbridge to ask if he could not stop in and quiet the mind of Cicely, +who really wanted to see him about her work, but who did not like, as +Miriam easily conjectured, to ask Ralph to send her to town. Miriam +wished to make things as pleasant as possible for Cicely, and Mrs. +Tolbridge had not, so far, meddled in the least with her concerns. If, +inadvertently, Ralph had proposed a consultation with Mrs. Bannister, +there would have been a hubbub in the gig. + +The doctor and his wife were both at home, and when the business of the +Haverleys had been stated to them, Mrs. Tolbridge clapped her hands. + +"Truly," she cried, "this is a piece of rare good fortune; we will lend +them La Fleur. Do you know, my dear girl," she said to Miriam, "that the +doctor and I are going away? He will attend a medical convention at +Barport, and I will visit my mother, to whom he will come, later. It will +be a grand vacation for us, for we shall stay away from Thorbury for two +weeks, and the only thing which has troubled us is to decide what we +shall do with La Fleur while we are gone. We want to shut up the house, +and she does not want to go to her friends, and if she should do so, I am +afraid we might lose her. I am sure she would be delighted to come to +you, especially as the Dranes are with you. Shall I ask her?" + +Miriam jumped to her feet, with an expression of alarm on her +countenance, which amused the doctor and her brother. + +"Oh, please, Mrs. Tolbridge, don't do that!" she exclaimed. "Truly, I +could not have a great cook like La Fleur in our kitchen. I should be +frightened to death, and she would have nothing to do anything with. You +know, Mrs. Tolbridge, that we live in an awfully plain way. We are not in +the least bit rich or stylish or anything of the sort. If Cicely had not +told me that she and her mother lived in the same way, we could not have +taken them. We keep only a man and a woman, you know, and we all do a lot +of work ourselves, and Molly Tooney was always growling because there +were not enough things to cook with, and what a French cook would do in +our kitchen I really do not know. She would drive us crazy!" + +"Come now," said the doctor, laughing, "don't frighten yourself in that +way, my little lady. If La Fleur consents to go to you for a couple of +weeks, she will understand the circumstances, and will be perfectly +satisfied with what she finds. She is a woman of sense. You would better +let Mrs. Tolbridge go and talk with her." + +Miriam sat down in a sort of despair. Here again, her affairs were being +managed for her. Would she ever be able to maintain her independence? She +had said all she could say, and now she hoped that La Fleur would treat +the proposition with contempt. + +But the great cook did nothing of the kind. In five minutes, Mrs. +Tolbridge returned with the information that La Fleur would be overjoyed +to go to Cobhurst for a fortnight. She wanted some country air; she +wanted to see the Dranes; she had a great admiration for Miss Haverley, +being perfectly able to judge, although she had met her but once, that +she was a lady born; she looked upon her brother as a most superior +gentleman; and she would be perfectly content with whatever she found in +the Cobhurst kitchen. + +"She says," added Mrs. Tolbridge, "that if you give her a gridiron, a +saucepan, and a fire, she will cook a meal fit for a duke. With brains, +she says, one can make up all deficiencies." + +Ralph took his sister aside. + +"Do go out and see her, Miriam," he said. "If we take her, we shall +oblige our friends here, and please everybody. It will only be for a +little while, and then you can have your old colored mammy and the +pickaninnies, just as you have planned." + +When Miriam came back from the kitchen, she found that the doctor had +left the house and was going to his buggy at the gate. + +"Oh, Ralph!" she exclaimed, "you do not know what a nice woman she is. +She is just like an old family nurse." And then she ran out to catch the +doctor, and talk to him about Cicely. + +"Your sister is a child yet," remarked Mrs. Tolbridge, with a smile. + +"Indeed she is," said Ralph; "and she longs for what she never +had--old family servants, household ties, and all that sort of thing. +And I believe she would prefer a good old Southern mammy to a fine +young lover." + +"Of course she would," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "That would be natural to any +girl of her age, except, perhaps," she added, "one like Dora Bannister. I +believe she was in love when she was fifteen." + +It seemed strange to Ralph that the mention of a thing of this sort, +which must have happened three or four years ago, and to a lady whom he +had known a very short time, should send a little pang of jealousy +through his heart, but such was the fact. + +There were picnic meals at Cobhurst that day; for La Fleur was not to +arrive until the morrow, and they were all very jolly. + +Mike was in a state of exuberant delight at the idea of having that good +Mrs. Flower in the place of Molly Tooney. He worked until nearly twelve +o'clock at night to scour and brighten the kitchen and its contents for +her reception. + +Into this region of bliss there descended, about the middle of the +afternoon, a frowning apparition. It was that of Miss Panney, to whom +Molly had gone that morning, informing her that she had been discharged +without notice by that minx of a girl, who didn't know anything more +about housekeeping than she did about blacksmithing, and wanted to put +"a dirty, hathen nager" over the head of a first-class Christian cook. + +When she heard this news, the old lady was amazed and indignant; and she +soundly rated Molly for not coming to her instantly, before she left her +place. Had she known of the state of affairs, she was sure she could +have pacified Miriam, and arranged for Molly to retain her place. It was +very important for Miss Panney, though she did not say so, to have some +one in the Cobhurst family who would keep her informed of what was +happening there. If possible, Molly must go back; and anyway the old lady +determined to go to Cobhurst and look into matters. + +Miss Panney was glad to find Miriam alone on the front piazza, training +some over-luxuriant vines upon the pillars; and the moment her eyes fell +upon the girl, she saw that she was dressed as a woman, and not in the +youthful costume in which she had last seen her. This strengthened the +old lady's previous impression that Ralph's sister was rapidly becoming +the real head of this house, and that it would be necessary to be very +careful in her conduct toward her. It might be difficult, even +impossible, to carry out her match-making plans if Miriam should rise up +in opposition to them. + +The old lady was very cordial, and entreated that Miriam should go on +with her work, while she sat in an armchair near by. After a little +ordinary chat, Miss Panney mentioned that she had heard that Molly Tooney +had been discharged. Instantly Miriam's pride arose, and her manner +cooled. Here again was somebody meddling with her affairs. In as few +words as possible, she stated that the woman had not been discharged, but +had left of her own accord without any good reason; that she did not like +her, and was glad to get rid of her; that she had an excellent cook in +view, and that until this person could come to her, she had engaged, +temporarily, a very good woman. + +All this she stated without question or remark from Miss Panney; and when +she had finished, she began again to tie the vines to their wires. Miss +Panney gazed very steadily through her spectacles at the resolute side +face of the girl, and said only that she was very glad that Miriam had +been able to make such a good arrangement. It was plain enough to her +that Molly Tooney must be dropped, but in doing this, Miss Panney would +not drop her plans. They would simply be changed to suit circumstances. + +Had Miss Panney known who it was who was coming temporarily to the +Cobhurst kitchen, it is not likely that she could have glided so quietly +from the subject of household service to that of the apple prospect and +Miriam's success with hens, and from these to the Dranes. + +"Do you expect to have them much longer with you?" she asked. "The +work the doctor gave the young lady must be nearly finished. When that +is done, I suppose she will go back to town to try to get something to +do there." + +"Oh, they have not thought of going," said Miriam; "the doctor's book is +a very long one, and when I saw him yesterday, he told me that he had +ever so much more work for her to do, and he is going to bring it out +here before he goes to Barport. I should be very sorry indeed if Cicely +had to leave here, and I don't think I should let her do it, work or no +work. I like her better and better every day, and it is the greatest +comfort and pleasure to have her here. It almost seems as if she were my +sister, and Mrs. Drane is just as nice as she can be. She is so good and +kind, and never meddles with anything." + +Miss Panney listened with great attention. She now saw how she must +change her plans. If Ralph were to marry Dora, Miriam must like Dora. As +for his own liking, there would be no trouble about that, after the Drane +girl should be got rid of. In regard to this riddance, Miss Panney had +intended to make an early move and a decided one. Now she saw that this +would not do. The Drane girl, that alien intruder, whom Dr. Tolbridge's +treachery had thrust into this household, was the great obstacle to the +old lady's schemes, but to oust her suddenly would ruin everything. +Miriam would rise up in opposition, and at present that would be fatal. +Miriam was not a girl whose grief and anger at the loss of one thing +could be pacified by the promise of another. Having lost Cicely, she +would turn her back upon Dora, and what would be worse, she would +undoubtedly turn Ralph's back in that direction. + +To this genial young man, his sister was still his chief object on earth. +Later, this might not be the case. + +When Miriam began to like Dora,--and this must happen, for in Miss +Panney's opinion the Bannister girl was in every way ten times more +charming than Cicely Drane,--then, cautiously, but with quick vigor, Miss +Panney would deliver the blow which would send the Dranes not only from +Cobhurst, but back to their old home. In the capacity of an elderly and +experienced woman who knew what everybody said and thought, and who was +able to make her words go to the very spinal marrow of a sensitive +person, she was sure she could do this. And when she had done it, it +would cheer her to think that she had not only furthered her plans, but +revenged herself on the treacherous doctor. + +Now was heard from within, the voice of Cicely, who had come downstairs +from her work, and who, not knowing that Miriam had a visitor, was +calling to her that it was time to get dinner. + +"My dear," said Miss Panney, "go in and attend to your duties, and if you +will let me, I shall like ever so much to stay and take dinner with you, +and you need not put yourself to the least trouble about me. You ought to +have very simple meals now that you are doing your own work. I very much +want to become better acquainted with your little friend Cicely and her +good mother. Now that I know that you care so much for them, I feel +greatly interested in them both, and you know, my dear, there is no way +of becoming acquainted with people which is better than sitting at table +with them." + +Miriam was not altogether pleased, but said the proper things, and went +to call Mike to take the roan mare, who was standing asleep between the +shafts of her phaeton. + +Miss Panney now had her cues; she did not offer to help in any way, and +made no suggestions in any direction. At luncheon she made herself +agreeable to everybody, and before the meal was over they all thought +her a most delightful old lady with a wonderful stock of good stories. On +her side Miss Panney was also greatly pleased; she found Ralph even a +better fellow than she had thought him. He had not only a sunny temper, +but a bright wit, and he knew what was being done in the world. Cicely, +too, was satisfactory. She was a most attractive little thing, pretty to +a dangerous extent, but in her treatment of Ralph there was not the least +sign of flirtation or demureness. She was as free and familiar with him +as if she had known him always. + +"Men are not apt to marry the girls they have known always," said Miss +Panney to herself, "and Dora can do better than this one if she has but +the chance; and the chance she must have." + +While listening with the most polite attention to a reminiscence related +by Mrs. Drane, Miss Panney earnestly considered this subject. She had +thought of many plans, some of them vague, but all of the same general +character, for bringing Dora and Miriam together and promoting a sisterly +affection between them, for her mind had been busy with the subject since +Miriam had left her alone on the piazza, but none of the plans suited +her. They were clumsy and involved too much action on the part of Dora. +Suddenly a satisfying idea shot into the old lady's mind, and she smiled +so pleasantly that Mrs. Drane was greatly encouraged, and entered into +some details of her reminiscence which she had intended to omit, thinking +they might prove tiresome. + +"If they only could go away together, somewhere," said Miss Panney to +herself, "that would be grand; that would settle everything. It would not +be long before Dora and Miriam would be the dearest of chums, and with +Ralph's sister away, that Drane girl would have to go. It would all be so +natural, so plain, so beautiful." + +When Miss Panney drove home, about the middle of the afternoon, she was +still smiling complacently at this good idea, and wondering how she might +carry it out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD + + +According to his promise, Dr. Tolbridge came to Cobhurst on the morning +of his intended departure for Barport, bringing with him more of his +manuscript and some other copying which he wished Cicely to do. He had +never known until now how much he needed a secretary. He saw only the +ladies, Ralph having gone off to try to shoot some woodcock. The young +man was not in a good humor, for he had no dog, and his discontent was +increased by the reflection that a fine setter had been presented to him, +and he had not yet come into possession of it. He wanted the dog, Congo, +because he thought it was a good dog, and also because Dora Bannister had +given it to him, and he was impatient to carry out the plan which Dora +had proposed to get the animal to Cobhurst. + +But this plan, which included a visit from Dora, in order that the dog +might come to his new home without compulsion, and which, as modified by +Ralph, included a drive or a walk through the woods with the donor in +order that the dog might learn to follow him, needed Miriam's +coöperation. And this coöperation he could not induce her to give. She +seemed to have all sorts of reasons for putting off the invitation for +which Miss Bannister was evidently waiting. Of course there was no reason +for waiting, but girls are queer. A word from Miriam would bring her, but +Miriam was very unresponsive to suggestions concerning said word. + +"It is not only ourselves," said the doctor, in reply to some questions +from Mrs. Drane in regard to the intended journey, "who are going this +afternoon. We take with us Mrs. Bannister and Dora. This is quite a +sudden plan, only determined upon last night. They both want a little +Barport life before the season closes, and thought it would be pleasant +to go with us." + +Mrs. Drane and Cicely were not very much interested in the Bannisters, +and received this news tranquilly, but Miriam felt a little touch of +remorse, and wished she had asked Dora to come out some afternoon and +bring her dog, which poor Ralph seemed so anxious to have. She asked the +doctor how long he thought the Bannisters would stay away. + +"Oh, we shall pick them up as we come back," he said "and that will be in +about two weeks." And with this the busy man departed. + +Since the beginning of his practice, Dr. Tolbridge had never gone away +from Thorbury for an absence of any considerable duration without first +calling on Miss Panney to see if she needed any attention from him before +he left, and on this occasion he determined not to depart from this +custom. It is true, she was very angry with him, but so far as he could +help it, he would not allow her anger to interfere with the preservation +of a life which he considered valuable. + +When the old lady was told that the doctor had called and had asked for +her, she stamped her foot and vowed she would not see him. Then her +curiosity to know what brought him there triumphed over her resentment, +and she went down. Her reception of him was cold and severe, and she +answered his questions regarding her health as if he were a census-taker, +exhibiting not the slightest gratitude for his concern regarding her +physical well-being, nor the slightest hesitation in giving him +information which might enable him to further said well-being. + +The doctor was as cool as was his patient; and, when he had finished his +professional remarks, informed her that the Bannisters were to go with +him to Barport. When Miss Panney heard this she sprang from her chair +with the air of an Indian of the Wild West bounding with uplifted +tomahawk upon a defenceless foe. The doctor involuntarily pushed back his +chair, but before he could make up his mind whether he ought to be +frightened or amused, Miss Panney sat down as promptly as she had risen, +and a grim smile appeared upon her face. + +"How you do make me jump with your sudden announcements," she said. "I +am sure I am very glad that Dora is going away. She needed a change, and +sea air is better than anything else for her. How long will they stay?" + +The slight trace of her old cordiality which showed itself in Miss +Panney's demeanor through the few remaining minutes of the interview +greatly pleased Dr. Tolbridge. + +"She is a good old woman at heart," he said to himself, "and when she +gets into one of her bad tempers, the best way to bring her around is +to interest her in people she loves, and Dora Bannister is surely one +of those." + +When the doctor had gone, Miss Panney gave herself up to a half minute of +unrestrained laughter, which greatly surprised old Mr. Witton, who +happened to be passing the parlor door. Then she sat down to write a +letter to Dora Bannister, which she intended that young lady to receive +soon after her arrival at Barport. + +That afternoon the good La Fleur came to Cobhurst, her soul enlivened by +the determination to show what admirable meals could be prepared from the +most simple materials, and with the prospect of spending a fortnight with +Mrs. Drane and Cicely, and with that noble gentleman, the master of the +estate, and to pass these weeks in the country. She was a great lover of +things rural: she liked to see, pecking and scratching, the fowls with +which she prepared such dainty dishes. In her earlier days, the sight of +an old hen wandering near a bed of celery, with a bed of beets in the +middle distance, had suggested the salad for which she afterwards became +somewhat famous. + +She knew a great deal about garden vegetables, and had been heard to +remark that brains were as necessary in the culling of fruits and roots +and leaves and stems as for their culinary transformation into +attractions for the connoisseur's palate. She was glad, too, to have the +opportunity of an occasional chat with that intelligent negro Mike, and +so far as she could judge, there were no objections to the presence of +Miriam in the house. + +Ralph did not come back until after La Fleur had arrived, and he returned +hungry, and a little more out of humor than when he started away. + +"I had hoped," he said to Miriam, "to get enough birds to give the new +cook a chance of showing her skill in preparing a dish of game for +dinner; but these two, which I may say I accidentally shot, are all I +brought. It is impossible to shoot without a dog, and I think I shall go +to-morrow morning to see Miss Bannister and ask her to let me take Congo +home with me. He will soon learn to know me, and the woodcock season does +not last forever." + +"But Dora will not be at home," said Miriam; "she goes to Barport to-day +with the Tolbridges." + +Ralph opened his mouth to speak, and then he shut it again. It was of no +use to say anything, and he contented himself with a sigh as he went to +the rack to put up his gun. Miriam sighed, too, and as she did so, she +hoped that it was the dog and not Dora that Ralph was sighing about. + +The next morning there came to Cobhurst a man, bringing a black setter +and a verbal message from Miss Bannister to the effect that if Mr. +Haverley would tie up the dog and feed him himself for two or three +days and be kind to him, she had no doubt Congo would soon know him as +his master. + +"Now that is the kind of a girl I like," said Ralph to his sister. "She +promises to do a thing and she does it, even if the other party is not +prompt in stepping forward to attend to his share of the affair." + +There was nothing to say against this, and Miriam said nothing, but +contented herself with admiring the dog, which was worthy of all the +praise she could give him. Congo was tied up, and Mike and Mrs. Drane and +Cicely, and finally La Fleur, came to look at him and to speak well of +him. When all had gone away but the colored man and the cook, the latter +asked why Miss Bannister had been mentioned in connection with this dog. + +"'Cause he was her dog," said Mike. "She got him when he was a little +puppy no bigger nor a cat, an' you'd a thought, to see her carry him +about an' put him in a little bed an' kiver him up o' night an' talk to +him like a human bein', that she loved him as much as if he'd been a +little baby brother; an' she's thought all the world of him, straight +'long until now, an' she's gone an' give him to Mr. Hav'ley." + +La Fleur reflected for a moment. + +"Are you sure, Mike," she asked, "that they are not engaged?" + +"I'm dead sartain sure of it," he said. "His sister told me so with her +own lips. Givin' dogs don't mean nothin', Mrs. Flower. If people married +all the people they give dogs to, there'd be an awful mix in this world. +Bless my soul, I'd have about eight wives my own self." + +La Fleur smiled at Mike's philosophy, and applied his information to the +comfort of her mind. + +"If his sister says they are not engaged," she thought, "it's like they +are not, but it looks to me as if it were time to take the Bannister pot +off the fire." + +La Fleur now retired to a seat under a tree near the kitchen door, and +applied her intellect to the consideration of the dinner, and the future +of the Drane family and herself. The present state of affairs suited her +admirably. She could desire no change in it, except that Mr. Haverley +should marry Miss Cicely in order to give security to the situation. For +herself, this was the place above all others at which she would like to +live, and a mistress such as Miss Cicely, who knew little of domestic +affairs, but appreciated everything that was well done, was the mistress +she would like to serve. She would be sorry to leave the good doctor, for +whom, as a man of intellect, she had an earnest sympathy, but he did not +live in the country, and the Dranes were nearer and dearer to her than he +was. He should not be deserted nor neglected. If she came to spend the +rest of her life on this fine old estate, she would engage for him a good +young cook, who would be carefully instructed by her in regard to the +peculiarities of his diet, and who should always be under her +supervision. She would get him one from England; she knew of several +there who had been her kitchen maids, and she would guarantee that the +one she selected would give satisfaction. + +Having settled this part of her plan, she now began to ponder upon that +important feature of it which concerned the marriage of Miss Cicely with +Ralph Haverley. Why, under the circumstances, this should not take place +as a mere matter of course and as the most natural thing in the world, +she could not imagine. But in all countries young people are very odd, +and must be managed. She had not yet had any good opportunity of judging +of the relations between these two; she had noticed that they were on +very easy and friendly terms with each other, but this was not enough. It +might be a long time before people who were jolly good friends came to +look upon each other from a marrying point of view. Things ought to be +hurried up; that Miss Bannister would be away for two weeks; she, La +Fleur, would be here for two weeks. She must try what she could do; the +fire must be brightened,--the draught turned on, ashes raked out, +kindling-wood thrust in if necessary, to make things hotter. At all +events the dinner-bell must ring at the appointed time, in a fortnight, +less one day. + +Ralph came striding across the lawn, and noticing La Fleur, +approached her. + +"I am glad to see you," he said, "for I want to tell you how much I +enjoyed your beefsteak this morning. One could not get anything +better cooked than that at Delmonico's. The dinner last night was +very good, too." + +"Oh, don't mention that, sir," said La Fleur, who had risen the moment +she saw him, and now stood with her head on one side, her eyes cast +down, and a long smile on her face. "That dinner was nothing to what I +shall give you when Miss Miriam has sent for some things from the town +which I want. And as for the steak, I beg you will not judge me until I +have got for myself the cuts I want from the butcher. Then you shall see, +sir, what I can do for you. In a beautiful home like this, Mr. Haverley, +the cooking should be of the noblest and best." + +Ralph laughed. + +"So long as you stay with us, La Fleur," he said, "I am sure Cobhurst +will have all it deserves in that respect." + +"Thank you very much, sir," she said, dropping a little courtesy. Then, +raising her eyes, she cast them over the landscape and bent them again +with a little sigh. + +"You are a gentleman of feeling, Mr. Haverley," she said, "and can +understand the feelings of another, even if she be an old woman and a +cook, and I know you can comprehend my sentiments when I find myself +again serving my most gracious former mistress Mrs. Drane, and her lovely +daughter, whose beautiful qualities of mind and soul it does not become +me to speak of to you, sir. They were most kind to me when I first came +to this country, she and her daughter, two angels, sir, whom I would +serve forever. Do not think, sir, that I would not gladly serve you and +your lady sister, but they are above all. It was last night, sir, as I +sat looking out of my window at the beautiful trees in the moonlight, and +I have not seen such trees in the moonlight since I lived in the Isle of +Wight at Lord Monkley's country house there; La Fleur was his chef, and I +was only there on a visit, because at that time I was attending to the +education of my boy, who died a year afterward; and I thought then, sir, +looking out at the moonlight, that I would go with the Dranes wherever +they might go, and I would live with them wherever they might live; that +I would serve them always with the best I could do, and that none could +do better. But I beg your pardon, sir, for standing here, and talking in +this way, sir," and with a little courtesy and with her head more on one +side and more bowed down, she shuffled away. + +"Now then," said she to herself, as she entered the kitchen, "if I have +given him a notion of a wife with a first-class cook attached, it is a +good bit of work to begin with." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY + + +Since her drive home from Thorbury with Ralph Haverley, Cicely Drane had +not ceased to consider the hypothesis which had been suggested to her +that day by La Fleur; but this consideration was accompanied by no plan +of action, no defined hopes, no fears, no suspicions, and no change in +her manner toward the young man, except that in accordance with her +mother's prudential notions, which had been indicated to her in a +somewhat general way, she had restricted herself in the matter of +tête-à -têtes and dual rambles. + +She looked upon the relations between Ralph and herself in the most +simple and natural manner possible. She was enjoying life at Cobhurst. It +delighted her to see her mother so contented and so well. She was greatly +interested in her work, for she was a girl of keen intelligence, and +thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed the novel theories and reflections of +Dr. Tolbridge. She thought it the jolliest thing in the world to have La +Fleur here with them. She was growing extremely fond of Miriam, who, +although a good deal younger than herself, appeared to be growing older +with wonderful rapidity, and every day to be growing nearer and dearer to +her, and she liked Ralph better than any man she had ever met. She knew +but little of Dora Bannister and had no reason to suppose that any +matrimonial connection between her and Mr. Haverley had ever been thought +of; in fact, in the sincerity and naturalness of her disposition, she +could see no reason why she should not continue to like Mr. Haverley, to +like him better and better, if he gave her reason to do so, and more than +that, not to forget the hypothesis regarding him. + +La Fleur was not capable of comprehending the situation with the sagacity +and insight of Miss Panney, but she was a woman of sense, and was now +well convinced that it would never do to speak again to Miss Cicely in +the way she had spoken to her in Dr. Tolbridge's hall. In her affection +and enthusiasm, she had gone too far that time, and she knew that any +further suggestions of the sort would be apt to make the girl fly away +like a startled bird. Whatever was to be done must be done without the +coöperation of the young lady. + +Miss Panney's letter to Dora Bannister contained some mild reproaches +for the latter's departure from Thorbury without notice to her oldest +friend, but her scolding was not severe, and there was as much pleasant +information and inquiry as the writer could think of. Moreover, the +epistle contained the suggestion that Dora should invite Miriam +Haverley to come down and spend some time with her while she was at the +seashore. This suggestion none but a very old friend would be likely to +make, but Miss Panney was old enough for anything, in friendship or in +any other way. + +"My mind was on Miriam Haverley," the old lady wrote, "at the moment I +heard that you had gone to Barport, and it struck me that a trip of the +sort is exactly what that young person needs. She is shut up in the +narrowest place in which a girl can be put, with responsibilities +entirely beyond her years, and which help to cramp her mind and her +ideas. She should have a total change; she should see how the world, +outside of her school and her country home, lives and acts--in fact, she +needs exactly what Barport and you and Mrs. Bannister can give her. I do +not believe that you can bestow a greater benefit upon a fellow-being +than to ask Miriam to pay you a visit while you are at the seaside. Think +of this, I beg of you, my dear Dora." + +This letter was read and re-read with earnest attention. Dora was fond +of Miriam in a way, and would be very glad to give her a glimpse of +seaside life. Moreover, Miriam's companionship would be desirable; for +although Miss Bannister did not expect to lack acquaintances, there +would be times when she could not call upon these, and Miriam could +always be called upon. + +After a consultation with Mrs. Bannister, who was pleased with the idea +of having some one to go about with Dora, when she did not feel like +it,--which was almost all the time,--Dora wrote to Miriam, asking her to +come and visit her during the rest of her stay at Barport. While +writing, Dora was not at all annoyed by the thought which made her stop +for a few minutes and look out of the window,--that possibly Miriam +might not like to make the journey alone, and that her brother might +come with her. She did not, however, mention this contingency, but +smiled as she went on writing. + +Miriam, attired in her teaberry gown, came up from the Cobhurst kitchen, +and walked out toward the garden. She was not in good spirits. She had +already found that La Fleur was a woman superior to influences from any +power derived from the wearing of Judith Pacewalk's pink chintz dress. +She was convinced that at this moment that eminent cook was preparing a +dinner for the benefit of the Dranes, without any thought of the tastes +or desires of the mistress of the house or its master. And yet she could +find nothing to say in opposition to this; consequently, she had walked +away unprotesting, and that act was so contrary to her disposition that +it saddened her. If she had supposed that a bad meal would be the result +of the bland autocracy she had just encountered, she would have been +better satisfied; but, as she knew the case would be quite otherwise, her +spirits continued to fall. Even the meat, that morning, had been ordered +without consultation with her. + +As Miriam walked dolefully toward the garden gate, Ralph came riding from +Thorbury with the mail-bag, and in it was the letter from Dora. + +"Oh, Ralph!" cried Miriam, when, with her young soul glowing in her face, +she thrust the open letter into her brother's hand, "may I go? I never +saw the sea!" + +Of Ralph's decision there could be no question, and the Cobhurst family +was instantly in a flurry. Mrs. Drane, Cicely, and Miriam gave all their +thoughts and every available moment of time to the work necessary on the +simple outfit that was all that Miriam needed or desired; and in two days +she was ready for the journey. Ralph was glad to do anything he could to +help in the good work, but, as this was little, he was obliged to content +himself with encomiums upon the noble character of Dora Bannister. That +she should even think of offering such an inexpressible delight and +benefit to his sister was sufficient proof of Miss Bannister's solid +worth and tender, gracious nature. These remarks made to the ladies in +general really did help in the good work, for, while Ralph was talking in +this way, Cicely bent more earnestly over her sewing and stitched faster. +Until now, she had never thought much about Miss Bannister; but, without +intending it, or in the least desiring it, she began to think a good deal +about her, even when Ralph was not there. + +Miriam herself settled the manner of her journey. She had thought for a +moment of Ralph as an escort, but this would cause him trouble and loss +of time, which was not at all necessary, and--what was very +important--would at least double the expenses of the trip; so she wrote +to Miss Pender, the head teacher in her late school, begging that she +might come to her and be shipped to Barport. Miss Pender had great skill +and experience in the shipping of girls from the school to destinations +in all parts of the country. Despatched by Miss Pender, the wildest or +the vaguest school-girl would go safely to her home, or to whatever spot +she might be sent. + +As this was vacation, and she happened to be resting idly at school, +Miss Pender gladly undertook the congenial task offered her; and +welcomed Miriam, and then shipped her to Barport with even more than her +usual success. + +When the dear girl had gone, everybody greatly missed her,--even La +Fleur, for of certain sweets the child had eaten twice as much as any one +else in the house. But all were happy over her great pleasure, including +the cook, who hated to have even the nicest girls come into her kitchen. + +Thus far Miss Panney's plan worked admirably, but one idea she had in +regard to Miriam's departure never came into the mind of any one at +Cobhurst. That the Dranes should go away because Miriam, as mistress +of the establishment, was gone, was not thought of for an instant. +With La Fleur and Mrs. Drane in the house, was there any reason why +domestic and all other affairs should not go on as usual during +Miriam's brief absence? + +Everything did indeed go on pretty much as it had gone on before, +although it might have been thought that Ralph was now living with the +Dranes. La Fleur expanded herself into all departments of the household, +and insisted upon doing many little things that Cicely had been in the +habit of doing for herself and her mother; and, with the assistance of +Mike, who was always glad to help the good Mrs. Flower whenever she +wanted him--which was always--and did it whenever he had a chance--which +was often--the household wheels moved smoothly. + +In one feature of the life at Cobhurst there was a change. The absence of +Miriam threw Cicely and Ralph much more together. For instance, they +breakfasted by themselves, for Mrs. Drane had always been late in coming +down in the morning, and it was difficult for her to change her habits. +Moreover, it now happened frequently that Cicely and Ralph found that +each must be the sole companion of the other; and in this regard more +than in any other was Miriam missed. But to say that in this regard more +than any other her absence was regretted would be inaccurate. + +Cicely felt that she ought to regret it, but she did not. To be so much +with Ralph was contrary to her own plans of action, and to what she +believed to be her mother's notions on the subject; but she could not +help it without being rude to the young man, and this she did not intend +to be. He was lonely and wanted a companion; and in truth, she was glad +to fill the position. If he had not talked to her so much about Dora +Bannister's great goodness, she would have been better pleased. But she +could nearly always turn this sort of conversation upon Miriam's virtues, +and on that subject the two were in perfect accord. + +Mrs. Drane intended now to get up sooner in the morning, but she did not +do it; and she resolved that she would not drop asleep in her chair early +in the evening, as she had felt perfectly free to do when Miriam was with +them; but she calmly dozed all the same. + +There was another obstacle to Mrs. Drane's good intentions, of which she +knew nothing. This was the craft of La Fleur, who frequently made it a +point to call upon the good lady for advice or consultation, and who was +most apt to do this at times when her interview with Mrs. Drane would +leave Ralph and Cicely together. It was wonderful how skilfully this +accomplished culinary artist planned some of these situations. + +Ralph was surprised to find that he could so well bear the absence of +his sister. He would not have believed it had he been told it in +advance. He considered it a great piece of luck that Miriam should be +able to go to the seashore, but it was also wonderful luck that Miss +Drane should happen to be here while Miriam was away. Had both gone, he +would have had a doleful time of it. As it was, his time was not at all +doleful. All the chickens, hens, cats, calves, and flowers that Miriam +had had under her especial care were now attended to most sedulously by +Cicely, and in these good works Ralph gave willing and constant +assistance. In fact, he found that he could do a great deal more for +Cicely than Miriam had been willing he should do for her. This +coöperation was very pleasing to him, for Cicely was a girl who knew +little about things rural but wanted to know much, and Ralph was a young +fellow who liked to teach such girls as Cicely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH + + +After her recent quick pull and strong pull, Miss Panney rested +placidly on her oars. She knew that Miriam had gone, but she had not +yet heard whether the Dranes had returned to their former lodging in +Thorbury, or had left the neighborhood altogether. She presumed, +however, that they were in the town; for the young woman's work for Dr. +Tolbridge was probably not completed. She intended to call on Mrs. +Brinkly and find out about this; and she also determined to drop in at +Cobhurst, and see how poor Ralph was getting on by himself. But for +these things there was no hurry. + +But jogging into town one morning, she was amazed to meet Ralph and Mrs. +Drane returning to Cobhurst in the gig. Both vehicles stopped, and Ralph +immediately began to tell the old lady of Miriam's good fortune. He told, +also, of his own good fortune in having Mrs. Drane and her daughter to +run the house during Miriam's absence, and was in high good spirits and +glad to talk. + +Miss Panney listened with rigid attention; but when Ralph had finished, +she asked Mrs. Drane if she had left her daughter alone at Cobhurst, +while she and Mr. Haverley came to town. + +"Oh, yes," answered the other lady; "Cicely is there, and hard at work; +but she is not alone. You know our good La Fleur is with us, and will +remain as long as the doctor and Mrs. Tolbridge are away." + +When Miss Panney received this last bit of information, she gazed +intently at Mrs. Drane and then at Ralph, after which she bade them good +morning, and drove off. + +"The old lady is not in such jolly good humor as when she lunched with us +the other day," said Ralph. + +"That is true," said Mrs. Drane; "but I have noticed that very elderly +people are apt to be moody." + +Twice in the course of a year Miss Panney allowed herself to swear, if +there happened to be occasion for it. In her young days a lady of fashion +would sometimes swear with great effect; and Miss Panney did not entirely +give up any old fashion that she liked. Now, there being good reason for +it, and no one in sight, she swore, and directed her abjurations against +herself. Then her mind, somewhat relieved from the strain upon it, took +in the humorous points of the situation, and she laughed outright. + +"If the Dranes had hired some sharp-witted rogue to help them carry out +their designs, he could not have done it better than I have done it. I +have simply put the whole game into their hands; I have given them +everything they want." + +But before she reached Thorbury, she saw that the situation was not +hopeless. There was one thing that might be done, and that successfully +accomplished the game would be in her hands. Ralph must be made to go to +Barport. A few days with Dora at the seaside, with some astute person +there to manage the affair, would settle the fate of Mr. Ralph Haverley. +At this thought her eyes sparkled, and she began to feel hungry. At this +important moment she did not wish to occupy her mind with prattle and +chat, and therefore departed from her usual custom of lunching with a +friend or acquaintance. Hitching her roan mare in front of a +confectionery shop, she entered for refreshment. + +Seated at a little table in the back room, with a cup of tea and some +sandwiches before her, Miss Panney took more time over her slight meal +than any previous customer had ever occupied in disposing of a similar +repast, at least so the girl at the counter believed and averred to the +colored man who did outside errands. The girl thought that the old lady's +deliberate method of eating proceeded from her want of teeth; but the man +who had waited at dinners where Miss Panney was a guest contemptuously +repudiated this assumption. + +"I've seen her eat," said he, "and she's never behind nobody. She's got +all the teeth she wants for bitin'." + +"Then why doesn't she get through?" asked the girl. "When is she ever +going to leave that table?" + +"When she gits ready," answered the man; "that's the time Miss Panney +does everything." + +Sipping her tea and nibbling her sandwich, Miss Panney considered the +situation. It would be, of course, a difficult thing to get that young +man to visit his sister at Barport. It would cost money, and there would +seem to be no good reason for his going. Of course no such influence +could be brought to bear upon him at this end of the line. Whatever +inducement was offered, must be offered from Barport. And there was no +one there who could do it, at least with the proper effect. The girls +would be glad to have him there, but nothing that either of them could, +with propriety, be prompted to say, would draw him into such extravagant +self-gratification. But if she were at Barport, she knew that she could +send him such an invitation, or sound such a call to him, that he would +be sure to come. + +Accordingly Miss Panney determined to go to Barport without loss of time; +and although she did not know what sort of summons she should issue to +Ralph after she got there, she did not in the least doubt that +circumstances would indicate the right thing to do. In fact, she would +arrange circumstances in such a way that they should so indicate. + +Having arrived at this conclusion, Miss Panney finished eating her +sandwich with an earnestness and rapidity which convinced the astonished +girl at the counter that she had all the teeth she needed to bite with; +and then she went forth to convince other people of the same thing. On +the sidewalk she met Phoebe. + +"How d'ye do, Miss Panney?" said that single-minded colored woman. "I +hain't seen you for a long time." + +Miss Panney returned the salutation, and stood for a moment in thought. + +"Phoebe," said she, "when did you last see Mike?" + +"Well, now, really, Miss Panney, I can't say, but it's been a mighty long +time. He don't come into town to see me, and I's too busy to go way out +thar. I does the minister's wash now, besides boardin' him an' keepin' +his clothes mended. An' then it's four or five miles out to that farm. I +can't 'ford to hire no carriage, an' Mike ain't no right to expect me to +walk that fur." + +"Phoebe," said Miss Panney, "you are a lazy woman and an undutiful wife. +It is not four miles to Cobhurst, and you walk two or three times that +distance every day, gadding about town. You ought to go out there and +attend to Mike's clothes, and see that he is comfortable, instead of +giving up the little time you do work to that minister, and everybody +knows that the reason you have taken him to board is that you want to set +yourself up above the rest of the congregation." + +"Good laws, Miss Panney!" exclaimed Phoebe, "I don't see as how anybody +can think that!" + +"Well, I do," replied the old lady, "and plenty of other people besides. +But as you won't go out to Cobhurst to attend to your own duty, I want +you to go there to attend to something for me. I was going myself, but I +start for the seashore to-morrow, and have not time. I want to know how +that poor Mr. Ralph is getting along. Molly Tooney has left, and his +sister is away, and of course those two Drane women are temporary +boarders and take no care of him or his clothes. To be sure, there is a +woman there, but she is that English-French creature who gives all her +time to fancy dishes, and I suppose never made a bed or washed a shirt in +her life." + +"That's so, Miss Panney," said Phoebe, eagerly, "an' I reckon it's a lot +of slops he has to eat now. 'Tain't like the good wholesome meals I gave +him when I cooked thar. An' as fur washin', if there's any of that done, +I reckon Mike does it." + +"I should not wonder," said the old lady. "And, Phoebe, I want you to go +out there this afternoon, and look over Mr. Haverley's linen, and see +what ought to be washed or mended, and take general notice of how things +are going on. I shall see his sister, and I want to report the state of +affairs at her home. For all I know, those Dranes and their cook may pack +up and clear out to-morrow if the notion takes them. Then you must meet +me at the station at nine o'clock to-morrow morning, and tell me what you +find out. If things are going all wrong, Mr. Haverley will never write to +his sister to disturb her mind. Start for Cobhurst as soon as you can, +and I will pay your carriage hire--no, I will not do that, for I want +you to make a good long stay, and it will cost too much to keep a hack +waiting. You can walk just as well as not, and it will do you good. And +while you are there, Phoebe, you might take notice of Miss Drane. If she +has finished the work she was doing for the doctor, and is just sitting +about idly or strolling around the place, it is likely they will soon +leave, for if the young woman does not work they cannot afford to stay +there. And that is a thing Miss Miriam ought to know all about." + +"Seems to me, Miss Panney," said the colored woman, "that 'twould be a +mighty good thing for Mr. Hav'ley to get married. An' thar's that Miss +Drane right thar already." + +"What stupid nonsense!" exclaimed Miss Panney. "I thought you had more +sense than to imagine such a thing as that. She is not in any way +suitable for him. She is a poor little thing who has to earn her own +living, and her mother's too. She is not in the least fit to be the +mistress of that place." + +"Don't see whar he'll get a wife, then," said Phoebe. "He never goes +nowhar, and never sees nobody, except p'r'aps Miss Dora Bannister; an' +she's too high an' mighty for him." + +"Phoebe, you are stupider than I thought you were. No lady is too high +and mighty for Mr. Haverley. And if he should happen to fancy Miss Dora, +it will be a capital match. What he needs is to marry a woman of position +and means. But that is not my business, or yours either, and by the way, +Phoebe, since you are here, I will get you to take a letter to the +post-office for me. I will go back into this shop and write it. You can +take these two cents and buy an envelope and a sheet of paper, and bring +them in to me." + +With this Miss Panney walked into the shop, and having asked the loan of +pen and ink, horrified the girl at the counter by proceeding to the table +she had left, which, in a corner favored by all customers, had just been +prepared for the next comer, and, having pushed aside a knife and fork +and plate, made herself ready to write her letter, which was to a friend +in Barport, informing her that the writer intended making her a visit. + +"I shall get there," she thought, "about as soon as it does, but it looks +better to write." + +Before the letter was finished, Phoebe was nearly as angry as the +shop-girl; but at last, with exactly two cents with which to buy a stamp, +she departed for the post-office. + +"The stingy old thing!" she said to herself as she left the shop; "not a +cent for myself, and makes me walk all the way out to that Cobhurst, too! +I see what that old woman is up to. She's afraid he'll marry the young +lady what's out thar, an' she wants him to marry Miss Dora, an' git a lot +of the Bannister money to fix up his old house, an' then she expects to +go out thar an' board with 'em, for I reckon she's gittin' mighty tired +of the way them Wittons live. She's always patchin' up marriages so she +can go an' live with the people when they first begins housekeepin', an' +things is bran-new an' fresh. She did that with young Mr. Witton, but +their furniture is gittin' pretty old an' worn out now. If she tries it +with Mr. Hav'ley an' Dora Bannister, I reckon she'll make as big a botch +of it as she did with Mike an' me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A CRY FROM THE SEA + + +Miss Panney left Thorbury the next morning, but she had to go without +seeing Phoebe, who did not appear at the station. She arrived at Barport +in the afternoon, and went directly to the house of the friend to whom +she had written, and who, it is to be hoped, was glad to see her. She +deferred making her presence known to the Bannister party until the next +morning. When she called at their hotel about ten o'clock, she was +informed that they had all gone down to the beach; and as they could not +be expected to return very soon, Miss Panney betook herself to the +ocean's edge to look for them. + +She found a wide stretch of sand crowded with bathers and spectators. It +had been a long time since she had visited the seashore, and she +discovered that seaside customs and costumes had changed very much. She +was surprised, amused, and at times indignant; but, as she had come to +look for the Bannisters, she confined herself to that business, +postponing reflections and judgments. + +Her search proved to be a difficult one. She walked up and down the beach +until she assured herself that the Bannisters and Miriam were not among +those who had come as lookers-on, or merely to breathe the salt air and +enjoy the ocean view. When she came to scrutinize the bathers, whether +they were disporting themselves in the sea or standing or lying about on +the sand, she found it would be almost impossible to recognize anybody in +that motley crowd. + +"I can scarcely make out," she said to herself, "whether they are men or +women, much less whether I know them or not. But if the Bannisters and +Miriam are among those water-monkeys, I shall know them when I see their +faces, and then I shall take the first chance I get to tell them what I +think of them." + +It was not long before Miss Panney began to grow tired. She was not used +to trudging through soft sand, and she had walked a good deal before she +reached the beach. She concluded, therefore, to look for a place where +she might sit down and rest, and if her friends did not show themselves +in a reasonable time she would go back to their hotel and wait for them +there; but she saw no chairs nor benches, and as for imitating the +hundreds of well-dressed people who were sitting down in the dirt,--for +to Miss Panney sand was as much dirt as any other pulverized portion of +the earth's surface,--she had never done such a thing, and she did not +intend to. + +Approaching a boat which was drawn up high and dry, she seated herself +upon, or rather leaned against, its side. The bathing-master, a burly +fellow in a bathing-costume, turned to her and informed her courteously +but decidedly that she must not sit upon that boat. + +"I do not see why," said Miss Panney, sharply, as she rose "for it is +not of any use in any other way, lying up here on the sand." + +She had scarcely finished speaking when the bathing master sprang to his +feet so suddenly that it made Miss Panney jump. For a moment the man +stood listening, and then ran rapidly down the beach. Now Miss Panney +heard, coming from the sea, a cry of "Help! Help!" + +Other people heard it, too, and began hurrying after the bathing master. +The cry, which was repeated again and again, came from a group of bathers +who were swimming far from shore, opposite a point on the beach a hundred +yards or more from where Miss Panney was standing. The spectators now +became greatly excited, and crowds of them began to run along the beach, +while many people came out of the sea and joined the hurrying throng. + +Still the cries came from the ocean, but they were feebler. Those +experienced in such matters saw what had happened, a party of four +bathers, swimming out beyond the breakers, had been caught in what is +called a "seapuss," an eccentric current, too powerful for them to +overcome, and they were unable to reach the shore. + +As he ran, the bathing master shouted to some men to bring him the +lifeline, and this, which was coiled in a box near the boat, was soon +seized by two swift runners and carried out to the man. + +"Fool!" exclaimed Miss Panney, who, with flushed face, was hurrying after +the rest, "why didn't he take it with him?" + +When the bathing master reached a point opposite the imperilled +swimmers, he was obliged to wait a little for the life-line, but as soon +as it reached him he tied one end of it around his waist and plunged into +the surf. The men who had brought the line did not uncoil it nor even +take it out of the box, and very soon it was seen that the bathing-master +was not only making his way bravely through the breakers, but was towing +after him the coil of rope, and the box in which it had been entangled. +As soon as he perceived this, the man stopped for an instant, jerked the +line from his waist and swam away without it. + +Meanwhile a party of men had seized the life-boat, and had pushed it over +the sand to the water's edge, where they launched it, and with much +difficulty kept it from grounding until four young men, all bathers, +jumped in and manned the oars. But before the excited oarsmen had begun +to pull together, an incoming wave caught the bow of the boat, turned it +broadside to the sea, and rolled it over. A dozen men, however, seized +the boat and quickly righted her; again the oarsmen sprang in, and having +been pushed out until the water reached the necks of the men who ran +beside her, she was vigorously pulled beyond the breakers. + +The excitement was now intense, not only on the beach, but in the hotels +near the spot, and the shore was black with people. The cries had +entirely ceased, but now the bathing-master was seen making his way +toward the shore, and supporting a helpless form; before he could touch +bottom, however, he was relieved of his burden by some of the men who +were swimming out after him, and he turned back toward a floating head +which could just be seen above the water. He was a powerful swimmer, but +without a line by which he and any one he might rescue could be pulled to +shore, his task was laborious and dangerous. + +The boat had now pulled to the bather who, though farthest out to sea, +was the best swimmer, and he, just as his strength was giving way, was +hauled on board. The lifeline had been rescued and disentangled, and the +shore end of it having been taken into proper charge, a man, with the +other end about him, swam to the assistance of the bathing master. +Between these two another lifeless helpless body was borne in. + +As might have been supposed, Miss Panney was now in a state of intense +agitation. Not only did she share in the general excitement, but she was +filled with a horrible dread. In ordinary cases of sickness and danger, +it had been her custom to offer her services without hesitation, but then +she knew who were in trouble and what she must do. Now there was a +sickening mystery hanging over what was happening. She was actually +afraid to go near the two lifeless figures stretched upon the sand, each +surrounded by a crowd of people eager to do something or see something. + +But her anxious questioning of the people who were scattered about +relieved her, for she found that the two unfortunate persons who had +been brought in were men. Nobody knew whether they were alive or not, +but everything possible was being done to revive them. Several doctors +had made their appearance, and messengers were running to the hotels +for brandy, blankets, and other things needed. In obedience to an +excited entreaty from a physician, one of the groups surged outward and +scattered a little, and Miss Panney saw the form of a strongly built man +lying on his back on the sand, with men kneeling around him, some +working his arms backward and forward to induce respiration, and others +rubbing him vigorously. It was difficult for her to restrain herself +from giving help or advice, for she was familiar with, and took a great +interest in, all sorts of physical distress, but now she turned away and +hurried toward the sea. + +She had heard the people say there was another one out there, and her +sickening feeling returned. She walked but a little way, and then she +stopped and eagerly watched what was going on. The bathing-master had +been nearly exhausted when he reached the shore the second time, but he +had rallied his strength and had swum out to the boat which was pulling +about the place where the unfortunate bathers had been swimming. Suddenly +the oarsmen gave a quick pull, they had seen something, a man jumped +overboard, there was bustling on the boat, something was pulled in, then +the boat was rapidly rowed shoreward, the man in the water holding to the +stern until his feet touched ground. + +The people crowded to the water's edge so that Miss Panney could scarcely +see the boat when it reached shore, but presently the crowd parted, and +three men appeared, carrying what seemed to be a very light burden. + +"Oh, dear," said a woman standing by, "that one was in the water a long +time. I wonder if it is a girl or a boy." + +Miss Panney said nothing, but made a few quick steps in the direction of +the limp figure which the crowd was following up the beach; then she +stopped. Her nature prompted her to go on; her present feelings +restrained her. She could not help wondering at this, and said to herself +that she must be aging faster than she thought. Her distant vision was +excellent, and she knew that the inanimate form which was now being laid +on the dry sand was not a boy. + +She turned and looked out over the sea, but she could not stand still; +she must do something. On occasions like this it was absolutely necessary +for Miss Panney to do something. She walked up the beach, but not toward +the ring of people that had now formed around the fourth unfortunate. She +must quiet herself a little first. + +Suddenly the old lady raised her hands and clasped them. It was a usual +gesture when she thought of something she ought to do. + +"If it is one of them," she said to herself, "he ought to know it +instantly! And even if it isn't, he ought to know. They will be in a +terrible state; somebody should be here, and Herbert has gone to the +mountains. There is no one else." She now began to walk more rapidly. +"Yes," she said, speaking aloud in the intensity of her emotion, "he +ought to come, anyway. I can't be left here to take any chances. And if +he does not know immediately, he cannot get here today." + +She now directed her steps toward one of the hotels, where she knew there +was a telegraph office. + +"No matter what has happened, or what has not happened," she said to +herself as she hurried along, "he ought to be here, and he must come!" + +The old lady's hand trembled a good deal as she wrote a telegram to Ralph +Haverley, but the operator at the window could read it. It ran: "A +dreadful disaster here. Come on immediately." + +When she had finished this business, Miss Panney stood for a few moments +on the broad piazza of the hotel, which was deserted, for almost +everybody was on the beach. In spite of her agitation a grim smile came +over her face. + +"Perhaps that was a little strong," she thought, "but it has gone now. +And no matter how he finds things, I can prove to him he is needed. I do +not believe he will be too much frightened; men never are, and I will see +to it that he has a blessed change in his feelings when he gets here." + +Miss Panney was now allowing to enter her mind the conviction, previously +denied admittance, that no one of her three friends would be likely to be +swimming far from shore with a party of men. And, having thus restored +herself to something of her usual composure, she went down to the beach +to find out who had been drowned. On the way she met Mrs. Bannister and +the two girls, and from them she got her information that two of the +persons were believed to be beyond any power of resuscitation, and one of +these was a young lady from Boston. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES + + +It was toward the middle of the afternoon that the good La Fleur sat +upon a bench under a tree by the side of the noble mansion of +Cobhurst. She was enjoying the scene and allowing her mind to revel in +the future she had planned for herself. She was not even thinking of +the dinner. Presently there drove into the grounds a boy in a +bowl-shaped trotting-wagon, bringing a telegram for Mr. Haverley. La +Fleur went to meet him. + +"He is not at home," she said. + +"Well," said the boy, "there is seventy-five cents to pay, and perhaps +there is an answer." + +"Are you sure the message was not prepaid?" asked La Fleur, suspiciously. + +"Oh, the seventy-five cents is for delivery," said the boy. "We deliver +free in town, but we can't come way out here in the country for nothing. +Isn't there somebody here who can 'tend to it?" + +La Fleur drew a wallet from her pocket. "I will pay you," she said; +"but if there is an answer you should take it back with you. Can't you +wait a bit?" + +"No," said the boy, "I can't. I shall be away from the office too long +as it is." + +La Fleur was in a quandary; there was no one at home but herself; a +telegram is always important; very likely an immediate answer was +required; and here was an opportunity to send one. If the message were +from his sister, there might be something which she could answer. At any +rate, it was an affair that must not be neglected, and Mr. Haverley had +gone off with his fishing-rod, and no one knew when he would get back. + +"Wait one minute," she said to the boy, and she hurried into the kitchen +with the telegram. She put on her spectacles and looked at it; the +envelope was very slightly fastened. No doubt this was something that +needed attention, and the boy would not wait. Telegrams were not like +private letters, anyway, and she would take the risk. So she opened the +envelope without tearing it, and read the message. First she was +frightened, and then she was puzzled. + +"Well, I can't answer that," she said, "and I suppose he will go as soon +as he gets it." + +She laid the telegram on the kitchen table and went out to the impatient +boy, and told him there was no answer. Whereupon he departed at the top +of his pony's speed. + +La Fleur returned to the kitchen and reread the telegram. The signature +was not very legible, and in her first hasty reading she had not made it +out, but now she deciphered it. + +"Panney!" she exclaimed, "R. Panney! I believe it is from that tricky old +woman!" And with her elbows on the table she gave herself up to the study +of the telegram. "I never saw anything like it," she thought. "It looks +exactly as if she wanted to frighten him without telling him what has +happened. It could not be worse than it is, even if his sister is dead, +and if that were so, anybody would telegraph that she was very ill, so as +not to let it come on him too sudden. Nothing can be more dreadful than +what he'll think when he reads this. One thing is certain: she meant him +to go when he got it. Yes, indeed!" And a smile came upon her face as she +thought. "She wants him there; that is as plain as daylight." + +At this moment a step was heard outside, and the telegram was slipped +into the table drawer. La Fleur arose and approached the open door; there +she saw Phoebe. + +"How d'ye do, ma'am?" said that individual. "Do let me come in an' sit +down, for I'm nearly tired to death, an' so cross that I'd like to +fight a cat." + +"What has happened to you?" asked La Fleur, when she and her visitor had +seated themselves. + +"Nothin'," replied Phoebe, "except that I've been sent on a fool's +errand, an' made to walk all the way from Thorbury, here, an' a longer +an' a dirtier an' a rockier road I never went over. I thought two or +three times that I should just drop. If I'd knowed how stiff my j'ints +would be, I wouldn't 'a' come, no matter what she said." + +"She said," repeated La Fleur. "Who?" + +"That old Miss Panney!" said Phoebe, with a snap. "She sent me out +here to look after Mike, an' was too stingy even to pay my hack fare. +She wanted me to come day before yesterday, but I couldn't get away +'til to-day." + +"Where is Miss Panney?" asked La Fleur, quickly. + +"She's gone to the seashore, where the Bannisters an' Miss Miriam is. She +said she'd come here herself if it hadn't been for goin' thar." + +"To look after Mike?" asked the other. + +"Not 'zactly," said Phoebe, with a grin. "There's other things here she +wanted to look after." + +"Upon my word!" exclaimed La Fleur, "I can't imagine what there is on +this place that Miss Panney need concern herself about." + +"There isn't no place," said Phoebe, "where there isn't somethin' that +Miss Panney wants to consarn herself in." + +La Fleur looked at Phoebe, and then dropped the subject. + +"Don't you want a cup of tea?" she asked, a glow of hospitality suddenly +appearing on her face. "That will set you up sooner than anything else, +and perhaps I can find a piece of one of those meat pies your husband +likes so much." + +Phoebe was not accustomed to being waited upon by white people, and to +have a repast prepared for her by this cook of high degree flattered her +vanity and wonderfully pleased her. Her soul warmed toward the good woman +who was warming and cheering her body. + +"I say it again," remarked La Fleur, "that I cannot think what that old +lady should want to look after in this house." + +"Now look here, madam," said Phoebe, "it's jes' nothin' at all. It's +jes' the most nonsensical thing that ever was. I don't mind tellin' you +about it; don't mind it a bit. She wants Mr. Hav'ley to marry Miss Dora +Bannister, an' she's on pins an' needles to know if the young woman here +is likely to ketch him. That's all there is 'bout it. She don't care two +snaps for Mike, an' I reckon he don't want no looking after anyway." + +"No, indeed," answered the other; "I take the best of care of him. Miss +Panney must be dreadful afraid of our young lady, eh?" + +"That's jes' what she is," said Phoebe. "I wonder she didn't take Mr. +Hav'ley along with her when she went to the seashore." + +La Fleur's eyes sparkled. + +"Now come, Phoebe," said she; "what on earth did she want you to do +here?" + +Phoebe took a long draught of tea, and put down the cup, with a sigh +of content. + +"Oh, nothin'," said she. "She jes' wanted me to spy round, an' see if Mr. +Hav'ley an' Miss Drane was fallin' in love with each other, an' then I +was to go an' tell her about it the mornin' before she started. Now I'll +have to keep it 'til she comes back, but I reckon thar ain't nothin' to +tell about." + +La Fleur laughed. "Nothing at all," said she. "You might stay here a week +and you wouldn't see any lovemaking between those two. They don't as much +as think of such a thing. So you need not put yourself to any trouble +about that part of Miss Panney's errand. Here comes your good Michael, +and I think you will find that he is doing very well." + +About ten minutes after this, when Phoebe and Mike had gone off to talk +over their more than semi-detached domestic affairs, La Fleur took the +telegram from the drawer, replaced it in its envelope, which she closed +and fastened so neatly that no one would have supposed that it had been +opened. Then she took from a shelf a railroad time-table, which lay in +company with her cookbook and a few other well-worn volumes; for the good +cook cared for reading very much as she cared for her own mayonnaise +dressing; she wanted but little at a time, but she liked it. + +"The last train to the city seems to be seven-ten," she said to herself. +"No other train after that stops at Thorbury. If he had been at home he +would have taken an early afternoon train, which was what she expected, I +suppose. It will be a great pity for him to have to go tonight, and for +no other reason than for that old trickster's telegram. If anything has +really happened, he'll get news of it in some sensible shape." + +At all events, there was nothing now to be done with the telegram, so she +put it on the shelf, and set about her preparations for dinner, which had +been very much delayed. + +Ralph had gone off fishing; but, before starting, he had put Mrs. +Browning to the gig and had told Cicely that as soon as her work was +finished, she must take her mother for a drive. The girl had been +delighted, and the two had gone off for a long jog through the +country lanes. + +It was late in the afternoon when Ralph came striding homeward +across the fields. He was still a mile from Cobhurst, and on a bit of +rising ground when, on the road below him, he saw Mrs. Browning and +the gig, and to his surprise the good old mare was demurely trotting +away from Cobhurst. + +"Can it be possible," he exclaimed, "that they have just started!" And +he hurried down toward the road. He now saw that there was only one +person in the gig, and very soon he was near enough to perceive that +this was Cicely. + +"I expect you are wondering what I am doing here by myself, and where I +am going," she said, when she stopped and he stood by the gig. "I shall +tell you the exact truth, because I know you will not mind. We started +out a long time ago, but mother had a headache, and the motion of the gig +made it worse. She was trying to bear it so that I might have a drive, +but I insisted upon turning back. I took her as far as the orchard, where +I left her, and since then I have been driving about by myself and having +an awfully good time. Mother did not mind that, as I promised not to go +far away. But I think I have now gone far enough along this road. I like +driving ever so much! Don't you want me to drive you home?" + +"Indeed I do!" said Ralph, and in he jumped. + +"I expect Miriam must be enjoying this lovely evening," she said. "And +she will see the sun set from the beach, for Barport faces westward, and +I never saw a girl enjoy sunsets as she does. At this moment I expect her +face is as bright as the sky." + +"And wouldn't you like to be standing by her?" asked Ralph. + +Cicely shook her head. "No," she said. "To speak truly, I should rather +be here. We used to go a good deal to the seashore, but this is the first +time that I ever really lived in the country, and it is so charming I +would not lose a day of it, and there cannot be very many more days of +it, anyway." + +"Why not?" asked Ralph. + +"I am now copying chapter twenty-seventh of the doctor's book, and there +are only thirty-one in all. And as to his other work, that will not +occupy me very long." + +Ralph was about to ask a question, but, instead, he involuntarily grasped +one of the little gloved hands that held the reins. + +"Pull that," he said quickly. "You must always turn to the right when you +meet a vehicle." + +Cicely obeyed, but when they had passed a wagon, drawn by a team of oxen, +she said, "But there was more room on the other side." + +"That may be," replied Ralph, with a laugh, "but when you are driving, +you must not rely too much on your reason, but must follow rules and +tradition." + +"If I knew as much about driving as I like it," said she, "I should be a +famous whip. Before we go, I am going to ask Miriam to take me out with +her, two or three times, and give me lessons in driving. She told me that +you had taught her a great deal." + +"So you would be willing to take your tuition secondhand," said Ralph. "I +am a much better teacher than Miriam is." + +"Would you like to make up a class?" she asked. "But I do not know how +the teacher and the two pupils could ride in this gig. Oh, I see. Miriam +and I could sit here, and you could walk by our side and instruct us, and +when the one who happened to be driving should make a mistake, she would +give up her seat and the reins, and go to the foot of her class." + +"Class indeed!" exclaimed Ralph; "I'll have none of it. I will take you +out tomorrow and give you a lesson." + +So they went gayly on till they came to a grassy hill which shut out the +western view. + +"Do you think I could go through that gate," asked Cicely, "and drive +Mrs. Browning up that hill? There is going to be a grand sunset, and we +should get a fine view of it up there." + +"No," said Ralph, "let us get out and walk up, and as Mrs. Browning can +see the barn, we will not worry her soul by tying her to the fence. I +shall let her go home by herself, and you will see how beautifully she +will do it." + +So they got out, and Ralph having fastened the reins to the dashboard, +clicked to the old mare, who walked away by herself. Cicely was greatly +interested, and the two stood and watched the sober-minded animal as she +made her way home as quietly and properly as if she had been driven. When +she entered the gate of the barnyard, and stopped at the stable door, +Ralph remarked that she would stand there until Mike came out, and then +the two went into the field and walked up the hill. + +"I once had a scolding from Miriam for doing that sort of thing," said +Ralph; "but you do not seem to object." + +"I do not know enough yet," cried Cicely, who had begun to run up the +hill; "wait until I have had my lessons." + +They stood together at the top of the little eminence. + +"I wonder," said Cicely, "if Miriam ever comes upon this hill at sunset. +Perhaps she has never thought of it." + +Ralph did not know; but the mention of Miriam's name caused him to think +how little he had missed his sister, who had seemed to live in his life +as he had lived in hers. It was strange, and he could not believe that he +would so easily adapt himself to the changed circumstances of his home +life. There was another thing of which he did not think, and that was +that he had not missed Dora Bannister. It is true that he had never seen +much of that young lady; but he had thought so much about her, and made +so many plans in regard to her, and had so often hoped that he might see +her drive up to the Cobhurst door, and had had such charming +recollections of the hours she had spent in his home, and of the travels +they had taken together by photograph, her blue eyes lifted to his as if +in truth she leaned upon his arm as they walked through palace and park, +that it was wonderful that he did not notice that for days his thoughts +had not dwelt upon her. + +When the gorgeous color began to fade out of the sky, Cicely said her +mother would be wondering what had become of her, and together they went +down the hill, and along the roadside, where they stopped to pick some +tall sprays of goldenrod, and through the orchard, and around by the +barnyard, where Mike was milking, and where Ralph stopped while Cicely +went on to the house. + +Phoebe was standing down by the entrance gate. She was waiting for an +oxcart, whose driver had promised to take her with him on his return to +Thorbury. She had arranged with a neighbor to prepare the minister's +supper, but she must be on hand to give him his breakfast. As there was +nothing to interest her at Cobhurst, and nothing to report, she was glad +to go, and considered this oxcart a godsend, for her plan of getting Mike +to drive her over in the spring cart had not been met with favor. + +Waiting at the gateway, she had seen Ralph and Cicely walk up the hill, +and watched them standing together, ever and ever so long, looking at the +sky, and she had kept her eyes on them as they came down the hill, +stopped to pick flowers which he gave to her, and until they had +disappeared among the trees of the orchard. + +"Upon my word an' honor!" ejaculated Mrs. Robinson, "if that old French +slop-cook hasn't lied to me, wus than Satan could do hisself! If them +two ain't lovers, there never was none, an' that old heathen sinner +thought she could clap a coffee bag over my head so that I couldn't see +nothin' nor tell nothin'. She might as well a' slapped me in the face, +the sarpent!" + +And unable, by reason of her indignation, to stand still any longer, she +walked up the road to meet the returning oxcart, whose wheels could be +heard rumbling in the distance. + +La Fleur had seen the couple standing together on the little hill, but +she had thought it a pity to disturb their tête-à -tête. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT + + +Just before Cicely reached the back piazza, La Fleur came out of the +kitchen door with the telegram in her hand. + +"Do you know," she said, "if Mr. Haverley has come home, and where I can +find him? Here is a message for him, and I have been looking for him, +high and low." + +"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely. "He is at the barn. I will take it to +him. I can get there sooner than you can, La Fleur," and without further +word, she took the yellow missive and ran with it toward the barn. She +met Ralph half way, and stood by him while he read the message. + +"I hope," she cried as she looked into his pale face, "that nothing has +happened to Miriam." + +"Read that," he said, his voice trembling. "Do you suppose--" but he +could not utter the words that were in his mind. + +Cicely seized the telegram and eagerly read it. She was on the point of +screaming, but checked herself. + +"How terrible!" she exclaimed. "But what can it mean? It is from Miss +Panney. Oh! I think it is wicked to send a message like that, which does +not tell you what has happened." + +"It must be Miriam," cried Ralph. "I must go instantly," and at the top +of his voice he shouted for Mike. The man soon appeared, running. + +"Mike!" exclaimed Ralph, "there has been an accident, something has +happened to Miss Miriam. I must go instantly to Barport. I must take the +next train from Thorbury. Put the horse to the gig as quickly as you can. +You must go with me." + +With a face expressing the deepest concern, Mike stood looking at the +young man. + +"Don't stop for a minute," cried Ralph, in great excitement. "Drop +everything. Take the horse, no matter what he has been doing; he can go +faster than the mare. I shall be ready in five minutes!" + +"Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "there ain't no down train stops at Thorbury +after the seven-ten, and it's past seven now. That train'll be gone +before I can git hitched up." + +"No train tonight!" Ralph almost yelled, "that cannot be. I do not +believe it." + +"Now look here, Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "I wouldn't tell you nothin' +that wasn't so, 'specially at a time like this. But I've been driving to +Thorbury trains an' from 'em, for years and years. There's a late train +'bout ten o'clock, but it's a through express and don't stop." + +"I must take that train," cried Ralph, "what is the nearest station where +it does stop?" + +"There ain't none nearer than the Junction, and that's sixteen miles up, +an' a dreadful road. I once druv there in the daytime, an' it tuk me four +hours, an' if you went to-night you couldn't get there afore daylight." + +"Why don't you go to Thorbury and telegraph?" asked Cicely, who was now +almost as pale as Ralph. "Then you could find out exactly what has +happened." + +"Oh, I must go, I must go," said Ralph; "but I shall telegraph. I shall +go to Thorbury instantly, and get on as soon as I can." + +Mike stood looking on the ground. + +"Mr. Hav'ley," he said, as the young man was about to hurry to the house, +"tain't no use, the telegraph office is shet up, right after that down +train passes." + +"It is barbarous!" exclaimed Ralph. "I will go anyway. I will find the +operator." + +"Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "don't you go an' do that. You is tremblin' +like a asp. You'll be struck down sick if you go on so. There's a train a +quarter of six in the mornin', an' I'll git you over to that. If you goes +to Thorbury, you won't be fit to travel in the mornin', an' you won't be +no good when you gits there." + +Tears were now on Cicely's cheeks, in spite of her efforts to +restrain herself. + +"He is right, Mr. Ralph," she said. "I think it will be dreadful for you +to be in Thorbury all night, and most likely for no good. It will be a +great deal better to leave here early in the morning and go straight to +Barport. But let us go into the house and talk to mother. After all, it +may not be Miriam. You cannot tell what it is. It is a cruel message." + +Mrs. Drane was greatly shocked, but she agreed with her daughter that it +would not be wise for Ralph to go to Thorbury until he could start for +Barport. La Fleur was somewhat frightened when she found that her wilful +delay of the telegram might occasion Mr. Haverley an harassing and +anxious night in Thorbury, and was urgent in her endeavors to quiet him +and persuade him to remain at home until morning. But it was not until +Cicely had put in her last plea that the young man consented to give up +his intention of going in search of the telegraph operator. + +"Mr. Ralph," said she, "don't you think it would be awful if you were to +send a message and get a bad answer to it, and have to stay there by +yourself until the morning? I cannot bear to think of it; and telegraphic +messages are always so hard and cruel. If I were you, I would rather go +straight on and find out everything for myself." + +Ralph looked down at her and at the tears upon her cheeks. + +"I will do that," he said, and taking her hand, he pressed it thankfully. + +Every preparation and arrangement was made for an early start, and Ralph +wandered in and out of the house, impatient as a wild beast to break +away and be gone. Cicely, whose soul was full of his sorrow, went out to +him on the piazza, where he stood, looking at the late moon rising above +the treetops. + +"What a different man I should be," he said, "if I could think that +Miriam was standing on the seashore and looking at that moon." + +Cicely longed to comfort him, but she could not say anything which would +seem to have reason in it. She had tried to think that it might be +possible that the despatch might not concern Miriam, but she could not +do it. If it had been necessary to send a despatch and Miriam had been +alive and well, it would have been from her that the despatch would have +come. Cicely's soul was sick with sorrow and with dread, not only for +the brother, but for herself, for she and Miriam were now fast friends. +But she controlled herself, and looking up with a smile, said, "What +time is it?" + +Ralph took out his watch and held the face of it toward the moon, which +was but little past the full. + +"It is a quarter to nine," he said. + +"Well, then," said she, "I will ask Miriam, when I see her, if she was +looking at the moon at this time." + +"Do you believe," exclaimed Ralph, turning suddenly so that they stood +face to face, "do you truly believe that we shall ever see her again?" + +The question was so abrupt that Cicely was taken unawares. She raised her +face toward the eager eyes bent upon her, but the courageous words she +wished to utter would not come, and she drooped her head. With a swift +movement, Ralph put his two hands upon her cheeks and gently raised her +face. He need not have looked at her, for the warm tears ran down upon +his hands. + +"You do not," he said; and as he gazed down upon her, her face became +dim. For the first time since his boyhood, tears filled his eyes. + +At a quick sound of hoofs and wheels, both started; and the next +moment the telegraph boy drove up close to the railing and held up a +yellow envelope. + +"One dollar for delivery," said he; "that's night rates. This come jest +as the office was shetting up, and Mr. Martin said I'd got to deliver it +to-night; but I couldn't come till the moon was up." + +Cicely, who was nearer, seized the telegram before Ralph could get it. + +"Drive round to the back of the house," she said to the boy, "and I will +bring you the money." + +She held the telegram, though Ralph had seized it. + +"Don't be too quick," she said, "don't be too quick. There, you will tear +it in half. Let me open it for you." + +She deftly drew the envelope from his hand, and spread the telegram on +the broad rail of the piazza, on which the moon shone full. Instantly +their heads were close together. + +"I cannot read it," groaned Ralph; "my eyes are--" + +"I can," interrupted Cicely, and she read aloud the message, which +ran thus,-- + +"Fear news of accident may trouble you. We are all well. Have written. +Miriam Haverley." + +Ralph started back and stood upright, as if some one had shouted to him +from the sky. He said not one word, but Cicely gave a cry of joy. Ralph +turned toward her, and as he saw her face, irradiated by the moonlight +and her sudden happiness, he looked down upon her for one moment, and +then his arms were outstretched toward her; but, quick as was his motion, +her thought was quicker, and before he could touch her, she had darted +back with the telegram in her hand. + +"I will show this to mother," she cried, and was in the house in +an instant. + +La Fleur was in the hall, where for some time she had been quietly +standing, looking out upon the moonlight. From her position, which was +not a conspicuous one, at the door of the enclosed stairway, she had been +able to keep her eyes upon Ralph and Cicely; and held herself ready, +should she hear Mrs. Drane coming down the stairs, to go up and engage +her in a consultation in regard to domestic arrangements. She had known +of the arrival of the telegraph boy, had seen what followed, and now +listened with rapt delight to Cicely's almost breathless announcement of +the joyful news. + +After the girl went upstairs, La Fleur walked away; there was no need for +her to stand guard any longer. + +"It isn't only the telegram," she said to herself, "that makes her face +shine and her voice quiver like that." Then she went out to congratulate +Mr. Haverley on the news from his sister. But the young man was not +there; his soul was too full for the restraints of a house or a roof, and +he had gone out, bareheaded, into the moonlight to be alone with his +happiness and to try to understand it. + +When Mrs. Drane returned to her room, having gone down at her daughter's +request to pay the telegraph messenger, she found her daughter lying on a +couch, her face wet with tears. But in ten minutes Cicely was sitting up +and chattering gayly. The good lady was rejoiced to know that there was +no foundation for the evils they had feared, but she could not understand +why her daughter, usually a cool-headed little thing and used to +self-control, should be so affected by the news. And in the morning she +was positively frightened when Cicely informed her that she had not slept +a wink all night. + +Mrs. Drane had not seen Ralph's face when he stretched out his arms +toward her daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +UNDISTURBED LETTUCE + + +When Ralph Haverley came in from his long moonlight ramble, he was so +happy that he went to bed and slept as sound as rock. But before he +closed his eyes he said to himself,-- + +"I will do that to-morrow; the very first thing to-morrow." + +But people do not always do what they intend to do the very first thing +in the morning, and this was the case with Ralph. La Fleur, who knew that +a letter was expected, sent Mike early to the post-office, and soon after +breakfast Ralph had a letter from Miriam. It was a long one; it gave a +full account of the drowning accident and of some of her own experiences, +but it said not one word of the message sent by Miss Panney, to whom +Miriam alluded very slightly. It gave, however, the important information +that Mrs. Bannister had been so affected by the dreadful scene on the +beach that she declared she could not go into the ocean again, nor even +bear the sight of it, and that, therefore, they were all coming home on +the morrow. + +"She will be here to-night," said Ralph, who knew the trains from +Barport. + +As soon as he had read the letter Ralph went to look for Cicely. She had +come down late to breakfast, and he had been surprised at her soberness +of manner. On the other hand, Mrs. Drane had been surprised at Ralph's +soberness of manner, and she found herself in the unusual position of the +liveliest person at the breakfast table. + +"People who have heard such good news ought to be very happy," she +thought, but she made no remark on the subject. + +It was Cicely's custom to spend the brief time she allowed herself +between breakfast and work, upon the lawn, or somewhere out of doors, +but to-day Ralph searched in vain for her. He met La Fleur, however, +and that conscientious cook, in her most respectful manner, asked him, +if he happened to meet Miss Cicely, would he be so good as to give her +a message? + +"But I don't know where she is," said Ralph. "I have a letter to +show her." + +La Fleur wished very much to know what was in the letter, which, she +supposed, explained the mystery of the telegrams, but at a moment like +this she would not ask. + +"She is in the garden, sir," she said. "I asked her to gather me some +lettuce for luncheon. She does it so much more nicely than I could do it, +or Mike. She selects the crispest and most tender leaves of that crimped +and curled lettuce you all like so much, and I thought I would ask you, +sir, if you met her, to be so very kind as to tell her that I would like +a few sprigs of parsley, just a very few. I would go myself, sir, but +there is something cooking which I cannot leave, and I beg your pardon +for troubling you and will thank you, sir, very much if you--" + +It was not worth while for her to finish her sentence, for Ralph had +gone. + +He found Cicely just as she stooped over the lettuce bed. She rose with a +face like a peach blossom. + +"I have a letter from Miriam," he said, "I will give it to you presently, +and you may read the whole of it, but I must first tell you that she, +with Mrs. Bannister and Dora, are coming home to-day. They will reach +Thorbury late this afternoon. Isn't that glorious?" + +All the delicate hues of the peach blossom went out of Cicely's face. +That everlasting person had come up again, and now he called her Dora, +and it was glorious to have her back! She did not have to say anything, +for Ralph went rapidly on. + +"But before they leave Barport," he said, "I want to send Miriam a +telegram. If Mike takes it immediately to Thorbury, she will get it +before her train leaves." + +"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely, but she did not look up at him. + +"Yes," said he; "I want to telegraph to Miriam that you and I are +engaged to be married. I want her to know it before she gets here. Shall +I send it?" + +She raised to him a face more brightly hued than any peach +blossom--rich with the color of the ripe fruit. Ten minutes after this, +two wood doves, sitting in a tree to the east of the lettuce bed, and +looking westward, turned around on their twig and looked toward the +east. They were sunny-minded little creatures, and did not like to be +cast into the shade. + +As they went out of the garden gate, Cicely said, "You have always been a +very independent person and accustomed to doing very much as you please, +haven't you?" + +"It has been something like that," answered Ralph; "but why?" + +"Only this," she said; "would you begin already to chafe and rebel if I +were to ask you not to send that telegram? It would be so much nicer to +tell her after she gets back." + +"Chafe!" exclaimed Ralph, "I should think not. I will do exactly as +you wish." + +"You are awfully good," said Cicely, "but you must agree with me more +prudently now that we are out here, and I will not tell mother until +Miriam knows." + +A gray old chanticleer, who was leading his hens across the yard, +stopped at this moment and looked at Ralph, but it is not certain that +he sniffed. + +Ralph knew very well when people, coming from Barport, should arrive in +Thorbury, but his mind was so occupied that when he went to the barn, he +forgot so many things he should have done at the house, and he ran +backward and forward so often, and waited so long for an opportunity to +say something he had just thought of, to somebody who did not happen to +be ready to listen at the precise moment he wished to speak, that he had +just stepped into the gig to go to the station for his sister, when +Miriam arrived alone in the Bannister carriage. Not finding anybody at +the station to meet her, they had sent her on. + +Mrs. Drane was not the liveliest person at the dinner table, and she +wondered much how Ralph and Cicely, who had been so extremely sober at +breakfast time, should now be so hilarious. The arrival of Miriam seemed +hardly reason enough for such intemperate gayety. + +As for Miriam, she overflowed with delight. The ocean was grand, but +Cobhurst was Cobhurst. "There was nothing better about my trip than the +opportunity it gave me of coming back to my home. I never did that +before, you know, my children." + +This she said loftily from her seat at the head of the table. Dinner was +late and lasted long, and Ralph had gone into the room on the lower +floor, in which he kept his cigars, and which he called his office, when +Miriam followed him. There was no unencumbered chair, and she seated +herself on the edge of the table. + +"Ralph," said she, "I want to say something to you, now, while it is +fresh in my mind. I think we can sometimes understand our affairs better +when we go away from them and are not mixed up in them. I have been +thinking a great deal since I have been at Barport about our affairs +here, not only as they are but as they may be, and most likely will be, +and I have come to the conclusion that some of these days, Ralph, you +will want to be married." + +"Do you mean me?" cried Ralph. "You amaze me!" + +"Oh, you are only a man, and you need not be amazed," said his sister. +"This is the way I have been thinking of it: if you ever do want to get +married, I hope you will not marry Dora Bannister. I used sometimes to +think that that might be a good thing to do, though I changed my mind +very often about it, but I do not think so, now, at all. Dora is an +awfully nice girl in ever so many ways, but since I have been at Barport +with her, I am positive that I do not want you to marry her." + +Ralph heaved a long sigh and put his hands in his pockets. + +"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed, "this is very discouraging; if I do not +marry Dora, who is there that I can marry?" + +"You goose," said his sister, "there is a girl here, under your very +nose, ever so much nicer and more suitable for you than Dora. If you +marry anybody, marry Cicely Drane. I have been thinking ever and ever so +much about her and about you, and I made up my mind to speak to you of +this as soon as I got home, so that you might have a chance to think +about it before you should see Dora. Don't you remember what you used to +tell me about the time when you were obliged to travel so much, and how, +when you had a seat to yourself in a car, and a crowd of people were +coming in, you used to make room for the first nice person you saw, +because you knew you would have to have somebody sitting alongside of +you, and you liked to choose for yourself? Now that is the way I feel +about your getting married; if you marry Cicely Drane, I shall feel safe +for the rest of my life." + +"Miriam!" exclaimed Ralph, "you astonish me by the force of your +statements. Wait here one moment," and he ran into the hall through which +he had seen Cicely passing, and presently reappeared with her. + +"Miss Drane," said he, "do you know that my sister thinks that I ought to +marry you?" + +In an instant Miriam had slipped from the table to the floor. + +"Good gracious, Ralph!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"I am merely stating your advice," he answered; "and now, Miss Drane, how +does it strike you?" + +"Well," said Cicely, demurely, "if your sister really thinks we should +marry, I suppose--I suppose we ought to do it." + +Miriam's eyes flashed from one to the other, then there were two girlish +cries and a manly laugh, and in a moment Miriam and Cicely were in each +other's arms, while Ralph's arms were around them both. + +"Now," said Cicely, when this group had separated itself into its several +parts, "I must run up and tell mother." And very soon Mrs. Drane +understood why there had been sobriety at breakfast and hilarity at +dinner. She was surprised, but felt she ought not to be; she was a little +depressed, but knew she would get over that. + +La Fleur did not hear the news that night, but it was not necessary; she +had seen Ralph and Cicely coming through the garden gate without a leaf +of lettuce or a single sprig of parsley. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +ANGRY WAVES + + +The ocean rolled angrily on the beach, and Miss Panney walked angrily +on the beach, a little higher up, however, than the line to which the +ocean rolled. + +The old lady was angrier than the ocean, and it was much more than mere +wind that made her storm waves roll. Her indignation was directed first +against Mrs. Bannister, that silly woman, who, by cutting short her stay +at the seashore, had ruined Miss Panney's plans, and also against Ralph, +who had not come to Barport as soon as he had received the telegram. If +he had arrived, the party might have stayed a little longer for his sake. +Why he had not come she knew no more than she knew what she was going to +say to him in explanation of her message, and she cared as little for the +one as for the other. + +Her own visit to Barport had been utterly useless. She had spent money +and time, she had tired herself, had been frightened and +disgusted,--all for nothing. She did not remember any of her plans that +had failed so utterly. + +Meeting the bathing-master, she rolled in upon him some ireful waves, +because he did not keep a boat outside the breakers to pick up people who +might be exhausted and in danger of drowning. In vain the man protested +that ten thousand people had said that to him, before, and that the thing +could not be done, because so many swimmers would make for the boat and +hang on to its sides, just to rest themselves until they were ready to go +back. It would simply be a temptation to people to swim beyond the +breakers. She went on, in a voice that the noise of the surf could not +drown, to tell him that she hoped ten thousand more people would say the +same thing to him, and to declare that he ought to have several boats +outside during bathing hours, so that people could cling to some of them, +and so, perhaps, save themselves from exhaustion on their return, and so +that one, at least, could be kept free to succor the distressed. At last +the poor man vowed that he acted under orders, and that, if she wanted to +pitch into anybody, she ought to pitch into the proprietors of the hotel +who employed him, and who told him what he must do. + +Miss Panney accepted this advice; and if the sea had broken into the +private office of that hotel, the owners and managers could not have had +a worse time than they had during the old lady's visit. It may be stated +that for the remainder of the season two or three boats might always be +seen outside the breakers during bathing hours at the Barport beach. + +For the sake of appearances, Miss Panney did not leave Barport +immediately; for she did not wish her friends to think that she was a +woman who would run after the Bannisters wherever they might please to +go. But in a reasonable time she found herself in the Witton household, +and the maid who had charge of her room had some lively minutes after the +arrival of the old lady therein. + +The next day she went to Thorbury to see what had happened, and chanced +to spy Phoebe resting herself on a bench at the edge of the public green. +Instantly the colored woman sprang to her feet, and began to explain to +Miss Panney why she had not made her report before the latter set out on +her journey. + +"You see, ma'am, I hadn't no shoes as was fit for that long walk out in +the country, an' I had to take my best ones to the shoemaker; and though +I did my best to make him hurry, it took him a whole day, an' so I had to +put off going to Cobhurst, an' I've never got over my walk out thar yit. +My j'ints has creaked ever sense." + +"If you used them more, they would creak less," snapped Miss Panney. "How +are things going on at Cobhurst? What did you see there?" + +"I seed a lot, an' I heard a lot," the colored woman answered. "Mike's +purty nigh starved, an' does his own washin'. An' things are in that +state in the house that would make you sick, Miss Panney, if you could +see them. What the rain doesn't wash goes dirty; an' as for that old cook +they've got, if she isn't drunk all the time, her mind's givin' way, an' +I expect she'll end by pizenin' all of them. The vittles she gave me to +eat, bein' nearly tired to death when I got thar, was sich that they give +me pains that I hain't got over yit. And what would have happened if I'd +eat a full meal, nobody knows." + +"Get out with you," cried Miss Panney. "I don't want any more of your +jealousy and spite. If that woman gave you anything to eat, I expect it +was the only decently cooked thing you ever put into your mouth. Did you +see Mr. Haverley? Were the Drane women still there? How were they all +getting on together?" + +Phoebe's eyes sparkled, and her voice took in a little shrillness. + +"I was goin' to git the minister to write you a letter 'bout that, Miss +Panney," said she; "but you didn't tell me whar you was goin', nor give +me no money for stamps nor nothin'. But I kin say to you now that that +woman, which some people may call a cook, but I don't, she told me, +without my askin' a word 'bout nothin', that Mr. Hav'ley an' that little +Miss Drane was to be married in the fall, an' that they was goin' away, +all of them, to the wife's mother's to live, bein' that that old farm +out thar didn't pay to run, an' never would. I reckoned they'd git sick +of it afore this, which I always said." + +"Phoebe!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "I do not believe a word of all that! +How dare you tell me such a lot of lies?" + +Phoebe was getting very angry, though she did not dare to show it; but +instead of taking back anything she had said, she put on more lie-power. + +"You may believe me, Miss Panney, or you needn't; that's just as you +choose," she said "but I can tell you more than I have told you, and that +is, that from what I've seen and heard, I believe Mr. Hav'ley an' Miss +Drane is married already, an' that they was only waitin' for the +Tolbridges to come home to send out the cards." + +Miss Panney glared at the woman. "I tell you what I believe, and that +is that you never went to Cobhurst at all. You must tell me something, +and you are making up the biggest story you can," and with this she +marched away. + +"I reckon the next time she sends me on an arrand," thought Phoebe, +whose face would have been very red if her natural color had not +interfered with the exhibition of such a hue, "she'll send me in a hack, +and pay me somethin' for my time. I was bound to tell her 'zactly what +she didn't want to hear, an' I reckon I done it, an' more'n that if she +gets her back up 'bout this, an' goes out to Cobhurst, that old cook'll +find herself in hot water. It was mighty plain that she was dreadful +skeered for fear anybody would think thar was somethin' goin' on 'twixt +them two." + +If Phoebe had been more moderate in her doubleheaded treachery, Miss +Panney might have been much disturbed by her news, but the story she had +heard was so preposterous that she really believed that the lazy colored +woman had not gone to Cobhurst, and by the time she reached the Bannister +house her mind was cleared for the reception of fresh impressions. + +She was fortunate enough to find Dora alone, and as soon as it was +prudent she asked her what news she had heard from Cobhurst. Dora was +looking her loveliest in an early autumn costume, and answered that she +had heard nothing at all, which surprised Miss Panney very much, for she +had expected that Miriam would have been to see Dora before this time. + +"Common politeness would dictate that," said Miss Panney, "but I expect +that that child is so elated and excited by getting back to the head of +her household that everything else has slipped out of her mind. But if +you two are such close friends, I don't think you ought to mind that sort +of thing. If I were you, I would go out and see her. Eccentric people +must be humored." + +"They needn't expect that from me," said Dora, a little sharply. "If +Miriam lived there by herself, I might go; but as it is, I shall not. It +is their duty to come here, and I shall not go there until they do." + +Miss Panney drummed upon the table, but otherwise did not show her +impatience. + +"We can never live the life we ought in this world, my dear," she said, +"if we allow our sensitive fancies to interfere with the advancement of +our interests." + +"Miss Panney," cried Dora, sitting upright in her chair, "do you mean +that I ought to go out there, and try to catch Ralph Haverley, no matter +how they treat me?" + +"Yes," said Miss Panney, leaning back in her chair, "that is exactly what +I mean. There is no use of our mincing matters, and as I hold that it is +the duty of every young woman to get herself well married, I think it is +your duty to marry Mr. Haverley if you can. You will never meet a man +better suited to you, and who can use your money with as much advantage +to yourself. I do not mean that you should go and make love to him, or +anything of that sort. I simply mean that you should allow him to expose +himself to your influences." + +"I shall do nothing of the kind!" cried Dora, her face in a flush; "if he +wants that sort of exposure, let him come here. I don't know whether I +want him to come or not. I am too young to be thinking of marrying +anybody, and though I don't want to be disrespectful to you, Miss Panney, +I will say that I am getting dreadfully tired of your continual harping +about Ralph Haverley, and trying to make me push myself in front of him +so that his lordship may look at me. If he had been at Barport, or there +had been any chance of his coming there, I should have suspected that you +went there for the express purpose of keeping us up to the work of +becoming attached to each other. And I say plainly that I shall have no +more to do with exerting influence on him, through his sister or in any +other way. There are thousands of other men just as good as he is, and +if I have not met any of them yet, I have no doubt I shall do so." + +"Dora," said Miss Panney, speaking very gently, "you are wrong when you +say that there was no chance of Ralph's coming to Barport. If some things +had not gone wrong, I have reason to believe he would have been there +before you left, and I am quite sure that if you had stayed there until +now, you would have been walking on the sands with him at this minute." + +Dora looked at her in surprise, and the flush on her face subsided a +little. + +"What do you mean?" she asked. "You do not think he would have gone there +on my account?" + +"Yes, I do," said Miss Panney. "That is exactly what I mean, and now, my +dear Dora, do not let--" + +At this moment Mrs. Bannister walked into the room, and was very glad +to see Miss Panney, and to know that she had returned in safety from +the seashore. + +When Dora went up to her room, after the visitor had gone, she shut the +door and sat down to think. + +"After all," she said to herself, "I do not believe much in the thousand +other men. Not one of them is here, and none may ever come, and if Ralph +really did intend to come to me at the seashore, I wish we had stayed +there. It is such a good place to find out just how people feel." + +In this frame of mind she sat and thought and thought, until a servant, +who had been to the post office, came up and brought her a note from +Miriam Haverley. + +The next morning Dora Bannister, in an open carriage, drawn by the +family bays, appeared at the door of the Witton mansion. Miss Panney, +with overshoes on and a little shawl about her, for the mornings were +beginning to be cool, was walking up and down between two rows of +old-fashioned boxwood bushes. She hurried forward, for she knew very well +that Dora had not come to call on the Wittons. + +"Miss Panney," said the young lady, "I am on my way to Cobhurst, and I +thought you might like to go there, and so if you choose, I shall be glad +to take you with me." + +"Now, my dear girl," said Miss Panney, "you are a trump. I always thought +you were, but I will not say anything more about that. I shall be +delighted to go with you, and we can talk on the way. If you will come in +or take a seat on the piazza, I shall be ready in five minutes." + +As Miss Panney busied herself preparing for the drive and the call, her +mind was a great deal more active than her rapid fingers. She had been +intending to go to Cobhurst, but did not wish to do so until she had +decided what she should say to Ralph about the telegram she had sent him. +Until that morning, this had given her very little concern, but as the +time approached when it would be absolutely necessary to speak upon the +subject, she found that she was a good deal concerned about it. She saw +that it was very important that nothing should be said to rouse Ralph +into opposition. + +But now everything seemed bright and clear before her. After Dora, +looking perfectly lovely, as she did this morning, had shone upon Ralph +for half an hour, or even less, the old lady felt that if the young man +asked her any questions about her telegram she would not in the least +mind telling him how she came to send it, giving him, of course, a +version of her motive which would make him understand her anxious +solicitude, in case anything had happened to any one dear to him, that +his arrival should not be delayed an instant, as well as the sympathetic +delight she would have felt in witnessing the joy his presence in Barport +would cause to the dear ones, alive and well. + +This somewhat complicated explanation might need policy and alteration, +but Miss Panney now felt quite ready for anything Ralph might ask about +the telegram. If any one else asked any questions, she would answer as +happened to please her. + +As they drove away Miss Panney immediately began to congratulate Dora on +her return to her senses. She was in high good humor, "You ought to know, +my dear, that if the loveliest woman in the world found herself stuck in +a quagmire, it would be quite foolish for her to expect that the right +sort of man would come and pull her out. In all probability it would be +precisely the wrong sort of man who would do it. Consequently, it would +be wise in her if she saw the right sort of man going by, not only to let +him know that she was there, but to let him understand that she was worth +pulling out. All women are born in a quagmire, and some are so anxious to +get out that they take the first hand that is stretched toward them, and +some, I am sorry to say, never get out at all. But they are the wise +ones who do not leave it to chance, who shall be their liberators. Number +yourself, my dear, among this happy class. I am so glad it is cool enough +this morning for you to wear that lovely costume. It is as likely as not +that by tomorrow it will be too warm. All these little things tell, my +child, and I am glad to know that even the thermometer is your friend." + +"I had a letter from Miriam yesterday afternoon," said Dora, "in which +she told me that her brother Ralph is engaged to Miss Drane." + +Miss Panney turned around like a weather vane struck by a squall. She +seized the girl's arm with her bony fingers. + +"What!" she exclaimed. + +Ordinarily, the pain of the old lady's grasp would have made Dora wince, +but she did not seem to feel it. Without the slightest sign of emotion in +her face, she answered,-- + +"It is so. It happened while I was at Barport." + +"Stop!" cried Miss Panney, in a voice that made the driver pull up his +horses with a jerk. In a moment she had stepped from the low carriage to +the ground, and with quick strides was walking back to the Witton house. +Dora turned in the seat, looked after her, and laughed. It was a sudden, +bitter laugh, which the circumstances made derisive. + +Never before had Miss Panney's soul been so stung, burned, and +lacerated, all at once, as by this laugh. But the sound had scarcely +left Dora Bannister's lips when she bounded out of the carriage and ran +after the old lady. Throwing her arms around her neck, she kissed her +on the cheek. + +"I am awfully sorry I did that," she said, "and I beg your pardon. I +don't mind the thing a bit, and won't you let me take you home in the +carriage?" + +Dora might as well have embraced a milestone and talked to it, for +the moment she could release herself, Miss Panney stalked away +without a word. + +When she was again driving toward Cobhurst, Dora took from the front of +the carriage a little hand mirror, and carefully arranged her hat, her +feathers, her laces and ribbons. Then having satisfied herself that her +features were in perfect order, she put back her glass. + +"I am not going to let any of them see," she said, "that I mind it in +the least." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE + + +Neither Ralph nor his sister nor either of the Drane ladies had the least +reason to believe that Dora minded the news contained in Miriam's note, +except that it had given her a heartfelt delight and joy, and that it had +made her unable to wait a single moment longer than was necessary to come +and tell them all how earnestly she congratulated them, and what a +capital good thing she thought it was. She caught Ralph by himself and +spoke to him so much like a sympathetic sister that he was a little, +just the least little bit in the world, pained. + +As Cicely had never had any objection to Miss Bannister, excepting her +frequent appearances in Ralph's conversation, she received Dora's +felicitations with the same cordiality that she saw in her lovely eyes +and on her lips. And Mrs. Drane thought that if this girl were a sample +of the Haverleys' friends and neighbors, her daughter's lot would be even +more pleasant than she had supposed it would be. As for Miriam, she and +Dora walked together, their arms around each other's waists, up and down +in the garden, and back and forward in the orchard, until the Bannister +coachman went to sleep on his box. + +During this long interview, the younger girl became impressed, not only +with the fact that Dora thought so well of the match, that, if she had +been looking for a wife for Ralph, she certainly would have selected Miss +Drane, but with the stability of Miss Bannister's affection for her, +which did not seem to be affected in the least by the changes which would +take place in the composition of the Cobhurst household. Dora had said, +indeed, that she had no doubt that she and Miriam would be more intimate +than ever, because Mr. Haverley would be so monopolized by his wife. + +This was all very pleasant to Miriam, but it did not in the least cause +her to regret Ralph's choice. Dora was a lovely girl, but it was now +plainer than ever that she was also a very superior one, whereas Cicely +was just like other people and did not pretend to be anything more, and, +moreover, she would not have wished her brother to marry anyone whose +idea of matrimony was the monopoly of her husband, and she knew that +Cicely had no such idea. But Dora was the dearest of good friends, Miriam +was very sure of that. + +The Bannister carriage had scarcely left the Cobhurst gates when the dog, +Congo, came bounding after it. Dora looked at him as his great brown eyes +were turned up towards her, and his tail was wagging with the joy of +following her once more, she knew that his training was so good that she +had only to tell him to go back and he would obey her, sorrowfully, with +his tail hanging down. He was Ralph's dog now, and she ought to send him +back, but would she? She looked at him for a few moments, considering the +question, and then she said,-- + +"Come, Congo" and with a bound he was in the carriage and at her feet. +"You were not an out and out gift, poor fellow," she said, stroking his +head. "I expected you to be partly my dog, all the same, and now we will +see if she will let him claim you." + +The dog heard all this, but Dora spoke so low, the coachman could not +hear it, and she did not intend that any one else should know it unless +the dog told. + +Ralph did not miss Congo until the next morning, and then, having become +convinced that the dog must have followed the Bannister carriage, he +expressed, in the presence of Cicely, his uncertainty as to whether it +would be better for him to go after the dog himself, or to send Mike. + +"If I were you," said Miss Cicely, "I would not send for him at all. If +Miss Bannister really wants to get rid of him, and does not know anybody +else who would take him, she may send him back herself. But it seems to +me that a setter is not the best sort of a dog for a farm like this. I +should think you ought to have a big mastiff, or something of that sort." + +"It is a great pity," said Ralph, musingly, "that he happened to be +unchained." + +"The more I think about it," said Cicely, "the less I like setters. They +are so intimately connected with the death of the beautiful. Did you ever +think of that?" + +Ralph never had, and as a man now came up to talk to him about hay, the +dog and everything connected with it passed out of his mind. + +When Miss Panney reached home after her abrupt parting from Dora +Bannister, she took a dose of the last medicine that Dr. Tolbridge had +prescribed for her. It was against her rules to use internal medicines, +but she made exceptions on important occasions, and as this was a remedy +for the effects of anger, she had taken it before and she took it now. +Then she went to bed and there she stayed until three o'clock the next +afternoon. This greatly disturbed the Wittons, for they had always +believed that this hearty old lady would not be carried off by any +disease, but when her time had come would simply take to her bed and die +there, after the manner of elderly animals. + +About the middle of the afternoon Mrs. Witton came up into her room. She +did not do this often, for the old lady had always made everybody in the +house understand that this room was her castle, and when any one was +wanted there, he or she would be summoned. + +"You must be feeling very badly," said the meek and anxious Mrs. Witton +"don't you think it would be better to send for a doctor?" + +"There is no doctor," said Miss Panney, shortly. + +"Oh yes," said the other, "there are several excellent doctors in +Thorbury, and Dr. Parker takes all of Dr. Tolbridge's practice while +he is away." + +"Stuff!" remarked Miss Panney. "I spanked Dr. Parker, when he wore +little frocks, for running his tin wheelbarrow against me so that I +nearly fell over it." + +"But he has learned a great deal since then," pleaded Mrs. Witton "and if +you do not want any new doctors, isn't there something I can do for you? +If you will tell me how you feel, it may be that some sort of herb +tea--or a mustard plaster--" + +"Gammon and spinach!" cried Miss Panney, throwing off the bedclothes as +if she were about to spring into the middle of the floor. "I want no teas +nor plasters. I have had as much sleep as I care for, and now I am going +to get up. So trot downstairs, if you please, and tell Margaret to bring +me up some hot water." + +For an hour or two before supper time, Miss Panney occupied herself in +clearing out her medicine closet. Every bottle, jar, vial, box, or +package it contained was placed upon a large table and divided into two +collections. One consisted of the lotions and medicines prescribed for +her by Dr. Tolbridge, and the other of those she herself, in the course +of many years, had ordered or compounded,--not only for her own use, but +for that of others. She had long prided herself on her skill in this sort +of thing, and was always willing to prepare almost any sort of medicine +for ailing people, asking nothing in payment but the pleasure of seeing +them take it. + +When everything had been examined and placed on its appropriate end of +the table, Miss Panney called for an empty coalscuttle, into which she +tumbled, without regard to spilling or breakage, the whole mass of +medicaments which had been prepared or prescribed by herself, and she +then requested the servant to deposit the contents of the scuttle in +the ash-hole. + +"After this," she said to herself, "I will get somebody else to do my +concocting," and she carefully replaced her physician's medicines on +the shelves. + +It was three days later when Miss Panney was told that Dr. Tolbridge was +in the parlor and wished to see her. + +"Well," said the old lady, as she entered the parlor, "I supposed that +after your last call here, you would not come again." + +"Oh, bless my soul!" said the doctor, "I haven't any time to consider +what has happened, I must give my whole attention to what is happening or +may happen. How are you? and how have you been during my absence?" + +"Oh, I had medicines enough" said she, "if I had needed them, but +I didn't." + +"Well, I wanted to see for myself, and, besides, I was obliged to come," +said the doctor; "I want to know what has happened since we left. We got +home late last night, and I have not seen anybody who knows anything." + +"And so," said the old lady, "you will swallow an insult in order to +gratify your curiosity." + +"Insult, indeed!" said he. "I have a regular rule about insults. When +anybody under thirty insults me, I give her a piece of my mind if she is +a woman, and a taste of my horsewhip if he is a man. But between thirty +and fifty, I am very careful about my resentments, because people are +then very likely to be cracked or damaged in some way or other, either in +body or mind, and unless I am very cautious, I may do more injury than I +intend. But toward folks over fifty, especially when they are old +friends, I have no resentments at all. I simply button up my coat and +turn up my collar, and let the storm pelt; and when it is fine weather +again, I generally find that I have forgotten that it ever rained." + +"And when a person is in the neighborhood of seventy-five, I suppose you +thank her kindly for a good slap in the face." + +The doctor laughed heartily. + +"Precisely," said he. "And now tell me what has happened. You are all +right, I see. How are the Cobhurst people getting on?" + +"Oh, well enough," said Miss Panney. "The young man and that Cicely Drane +of yours have agreed to marry each other, and I suppose the old lady +will live with them, and Miriam will have to get down from her high horse +and agree to play second fiddle, or go to school again. She is too young +for anything else." + +The doctor stared. "You amaze me!" he cried. + +"Oh, you needn't be amazed," said Miss Panney; "I did it!" + +"You?" said the doctor, "I thought you wanted him to marry Dora." + +"If you thought that," said Miss Panney, flashing her black eyes upon +him, "why did you lend yourself to such an underhanded piece of business +as the sending of that Drane girl there?" + +"Oh, bless my soul!" exclaimed the doctor, "I did not lend myself to +anything. I did not send her there to be married. Let us drop that, and +tell me how you came to change your mind." + +"I have a rule about dropping things," said the old lady, "and with +people of vigorous intellect, I never do it, but when any one is getting +on in years and a little soft-minded, so that he does what he is told to +do without being able to see the consequences of it, I pity him and drop +the subject which worries his conscience. I have not changed my mind in +the least. I still think that Dora would be the best wife young Haverley +could have, and after I found that you had added to your treacheries or +stupidities, or whatever they were, by carrying her off to Barport, I +intended to take advantage of the situation, so I got Dora to invite +Miriam there, feeling sure that the Drane women would have sense enough +to know that they then ought to leave Cobhurst; but they had not sense +enough, and they stayed there. Then I saw that the situation was +critical, and went to Barport myself, and sent the young man a telegram +that would have aroused the heart of a feather-bed and made it be with me +in three hours, but it did not rouse him and he did not come; and before +that silly Mrs. Bannister got back with the two girls, the mischief was +done, and that little Drane had taken advantage of the opportunity I had +given her to trap Mr. Ralph. Oh, she is a sharp one! and with you and me +to help her, she could do almost anything. You take off her rival, and I +send away the interfering sister; and all she has to do is to snap up the +young man, while her mother and that illustrious cook of yours stand by +and clap their hands. But I do not give you much credit. You are merely +an inconsiderate blunderer, to say no more. You did not plan anything; I +did that, and when my plans don't work one way, they do in another. This +one was like a boomerang that did not hit what it was aimed at, but came +banging and clattering back all the same. And now I will remark that I +have given up that sort of thing. I can throw as well as ever, but I am +too old to stand the back-cracks." + +"You are not too old for anything," said the doctor, "and you and I will +do a lot of planning yet. But tell me one thing; do you think that this +Haverley-Drane combination is going to deprive me of La Fleur?" + +"Upon my word!" cried the old lady, springing to her feet, "never did I +see a man so steeped in selfishness. Not a word of sympathy for me! In +all this unfortunate affair, you think of nothing but the danger of +losing your cook! Well, I am happy to say you are going to lose her. That +will be your punishment, and well you deserve it. She will no more think +of staying with you, after the Dranes set up housekeeping at Cobhurst, +than I would think of coming to cook for you. And so you may go back to +your soggy bread, and your greasy fries, and your dishwater coffee, and +get yellow and green in the face, thin in the legs, and weak in the +stomach, and have good reason to say to yourself that if you had let Miss +Panney alone, and let her work out that excellent plan she had confided +to you, you would have lived to a healthy old age, with the best cook in +this part of the country making you happy three times a day, and +satisfied with the world between meals." + +"Deal gently with the erring," said the doctor. "Don't crush me. I want +to go to Cobhurst this morning, to see them all, and find out my fate. +Wouldn't you like to go with me? I have a visit to make, two or three +miles above here, but I shall be back soon, and will drive you over. What +do you say?" + +"Very good," said Miss Panney. "I have been thinking of calling on the +happy family." + +As soon as the doctor had departed Miss Panney ordered her phaeton. + +"I intended going to Cobhurst to-day," she said to herself, "but I do not +propose to go with him. I shall get there first and see how the land +lies, before he comes to muddle up things with his sordid anxieties about +his future victuals and drink." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +AN INTERVIEWER + + +The roan mare travelled well that morning, and Miss Panney was at +Cobhurst before the doctor reached his patient's house. To her regret +she found that Mrs. Drane and Miriam had driven to Thorbury. Miss +Drane was upstairs at her work, and Mr. Haverley was somewhere on the +place, but could easily be found. All this she learned from Mike, whom +she saw outside. + +"And where is the cook?" + +"She's in the kitchen," said Mike. + +"A good place for her," replied the old lady; "let her stay there. I will +see Mr. Haverley, and I will see him out here. Go and find him and tell +him I am sitting under that tree." + +Ralph arrived, bright-eyed. + +"Well, sir," cried the old lady, "and so you have decided to take a wife +to yourself, eh?" + +"Indeed I have," said he, with the air of one who had conquered a +continent, and giving Miss Panney's outstretched hand a hearty shake. + +"Sit down here," said she, "and tell me all about it. I suppose your soul +is hungering for congratulations." + +"Oh yes," he said, laughing; "they are the collateral delights which are +next best to the main happiness." + +"Now," said Miss Panney, "I suppose you feel quite certain that Miss +Drane is a young woman who will suit your temperament and your general +intellectual needs?" + +"Indeed I do," cried Ralph. "She suits me in every possible way." + +"And you have thoroughly investigated her character, and know that she +has the well-balanced mind which will be very much wanted here, and that +she has cut off and swept away all remnants of former attachments to +other young men?" + +Ralph twisted himself around impatiently. + +"One moment," said Miss Panney, raising her hand. "And you are quite +positive that she would have been willing to marry you if you had not +owned this big farm; and that if you had had a dozen other girls to +choose from, you still would have chosen her; and that you really think +such a small person will appear well by the side of a tall fellow like +you; and you are entirely convinced that you will never look around on +other men's wives and wish that your wife was more like this one or that +one; and that--" + +"Miss Panney!" cried Ralph, "do you suppose there was ever a man in the +world who thought about all those things when he really loved a woman?" + +"No," said she, "I do not suppose there ever was one, and it was in the +hope that such a one had at last appeared on earth that I put my +questions to you." + +"Well, I can answer them all in a bunch," said he; "she is exactly the +wife I want, and nobody in the world would suit me as well. And if there +is any one who does not think so--" + +"Stop!" exclaimed Miss Panney; "your face is getting red. Never jump over +a wall when there is a bottomless ditch on the other side. You might miss +the ditch, but it is not likely. You are in love, and when people are +that way, the straight back of a saw is parallel to every line of its +teeth. Don't quarrel, and I will go on with my congratulations." + +"Very queer ones they are so far, I am sure," replied Ralph, his face +still flushed a little. + +"Oh yes," said Miss Panney, rising, "there are a lot of queer things in +this world, and I may be one of them. Now I will go and see your young +lady. I do not know her very well yet, and I must make her better +acquaintance." + +"Miss Panney," said Ralph, quickly, "if you are going to stir her up with +questions such as you put to me, I beg you will not see her." + +"Boy, boy," said the old lady, "don't bubble and boil. I have a great +regard for you, and care a great deal more for you than I do for her, and +it is only people that I care a great deal for that I stir up. Go back to +your grindstone, or whatever you were at work at, and do not worry your +mind about your little Cicely. It may be that I shall like her enough to +wish that I had made the match." + +When Cicely accidentally met Ralph in the garden, a few hours later, she +said to him that she could not have imagined that Miss Panney was such a +dear old lady. + +"Why, Ralph," said the girl, looking up at him with moistened eyes, "she +talked to me so sweetly and gave me such good advice that I actually +cried. And never before, dear Ralph, did good advice make me feel so +happy that I had to cry." + +And at this point the two wood doves, who had become regular detectives, +actually pecked at each other in their despair of emulation. + +Miss Panney's interview with Cicely had not been very long, because the +old lady was anxious to see La Fleur before the doctor got there, and she +went down into the kitchen, where, although she did not know it, the cook +was expecting her. La Fleur's soul was in a state of turbulent triumph, +but her expression was as soft as a dish of jelly. + +Miss Panney sat down on the chair offered her, while the cook +remained standing. + +"I came down to ask you," said the old lady, "if you have heard whether +Dr. Tolbridge and his wife have returned. I suppose you will be going +back to them immediately." + +"Oh no," said La Fleur, her eyes humbly directed toward the floor as she +spoke, "at least not for a permanency. I shall get the doctor a good +cook. I shall make it my business to see that she is a person fully +capable of filling the position. I have my eyes on such a one. As for me, +I shall stay here with my dear Miss Cicely." + +"Good heavens, woman!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "your Miss Cicely isn't +head of this house. What do you mean by talking in that way? Miss +Haverley is mistress of this establishment. Haven't you sense enough to +know that you are in her service, and that Miss Drane and her mother are +merely boarders?" + +Not a quiver or a shake was seen on the surface of the gentle jelly. + +"Oh, of course," said La Fleur, with her head on one side, and her +smile at its angle of humility, "I meant that I would come to her when +she is settled here as Mrs. Haverley, and her dear mother is living +with her, and when Miss Miriam has gone to finish her education at +whatever seminary is decided on. Then this house will seem like my true +home, and begging your pardon, madam, you cannot imagine how happy I am +going to be." + +"You!" exclaimed Miss Panney. "What earthly difference does it make to +anybody whether you are happy or not?" + +The jelly seemed to grow softer and more transparent. + +"I am only a cook," said La Fleur, "but I can be as happy as persons of +the highest quality, and I understand their natures very well, having +lived with them. And words cannot tell you, madam, how it gladdens my old +heart to think that I had so much to do myself with the good fortunes of +us all, for the Dranes and me are a happy family now, and I hope may long +be so, and hold together. I am sure I did everything that my humble mind +could conceive, to give those two every chance of being together, and to +keep other people away by discussing household matters whenever needed; +for I had made up my mind that Miss Cicely and Mr. Haverley were born for +each other, and if I could help them get each other, I would do it. When +your telegram came, madam, it disturbed me, for I saw that it might spoil +everything, by taking him away just at the time when they had nobody but +each other for company, and when he was beginning to forget that he had +ever been engaged to Miss Bannister, as you told me he was, madam, though +I think you must have been a little mistaken, as we are all apt to be +through thinking that things are as we want them to be. But I couldn't +help feeling thankful that nobody but me was home when the telegram was +brought without any envelope on it, and I had no chance to give it to him +until it was too late to take a train that night; for the trouble the +poor gentleman was in on account of his sister, being sure, of course, +that something had happened to her, put him into such a doleful way that +Miss Cicely gave herself up, heart and soul, to comfort him. And when a +beautiful young woman does that for a young man, their hearts are sure to +run together, like two eggs broken into one bowl. Now that's exactly what +theirs did that night, for being so anxious about them I watched them and +kept Mrs. Drane away. The very next morning when I asked her to go into +the garden and pick some lettuce, and then told him where she was, he +offered himself and was accepted. So you see, madam, that without +boasting, or exalting myself above others, I may really claim that I made +this match that I set my heart on. Although, to be sure--for I don't +take away rightful credit from anybody--some of the credit is yours for +having softened up their hearts with your telegram, just at the very +moment when that sort of softening could be of the most use." + +Miss Panney sat up very cold and severe. + +"La Fleur," said she, "I thought you were a cook who prided herself on +attending to her business. Since I have been sitting here, listening to +your twaddle, the cat has been making herself comfortable in that pan of +bread dough that you set by the fire to rise." + +La Fleur turned around; her impulse was to seize a poker and rush at +the cat. But she stood where she was and infused more benignity into +her smile. + +"Poor thing," said she, "she doesn't do any harm. There's a thick +towel over the pan, and I should be ashamed of my yeast if it couldn't +lift a cat." + +When Miss Panney went upstairs she laughed. She did not want to laugh, +but she could not help it. She had scarcely driven out of the gate when +she met Dr. Tolbridge. + +"A pretty trick you have played me!" he cried. + +"Yes, indeed, a very pretty one," replied the old lady, pulling up her +mare. "I thought you knew me better than to think that I would come here +to look into this engagement business with you or anybody else. Or that I +would let you get ahead of me, either. Well, I have got all the points I +want, and more too, and now you can go along, and Mr. Ralph will tell you +that he is the happiest man in the world, and your secretary will tell +you that she is the happiest young woman, and the cook you are going to +lose will vow that she is the happiest old woman, and if you stay until +Mrs. Drane and Miriam come back, the one will tell you that she is the +happiest middle-aged woman, and the other that she is the happiest girl, +and if you give Mike a half dollar, he will tell you that he is the +happiest negro in the world. Click!" + +The doctor went on to Cobhurst, where Mrs. Drane and Miriam soon arrived, +and he heard everything that Miss Panney told him he would hear. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE SIREN AND THE IRON + + +The summer, the Dranes, La Fleur, and Miriam had all left Cobhurst. The +summer had gone south for an eight months' stay; the Dranes had gone to +their old Pennsylvania home to settle up their affairs, and prepare for +the marriage of the younger lady, which was to take place early in the +coming spring; La Fleur had returned to the Tolbridges' to remain until +the new Cobhurst household should be organized; and Miriam, whose +association with Dora and Cicely had aroused her somewhat dormant +aspirations in an educational direction, had gone to Mrs. Stone's school +for the winter term. + +November had come to Cobhurst, and there Ralph remained to get his farm +ready for the winter, and his house in order for the bride who would come +with the first young leaves. He did not regret this period of solitary +bachelorhood, for not having very much money, he required a good deal of +time to do what was to be done. + +He had planned a good deal of refitting for the house, although not so +much as to deprive it of any of those characteristics which made it dear +old Cobhurst. And there were endless things to do on the farm, the most +important of which, in his eyes, was the breaking of the pair of colts, +which task he intended to take into his own hands. Mrs. Browning and the +gig were very well in their places, but something more would be needed +when the green leaves came. + +Seraphina, Mike's sister, now ruled in the kitchen, but Ralph's thoughts +had acquired such a habit of leaving the subject on which he was engaged +and flying southward, that even when he took a meal with the Tolbridges, +which happened not infrequently, he scarcely noticed the difference +between their table and his own. Nothing stronger than this could be said +regarding his present power of abstracting his mind from surrounding +circumstances. + +His income was a limited one, although it had been a good deal helped by +the products of his farm, and he had to do a great deal of calculating +with his pencil before he dared to order work which would oblige him to +draw a check with his pen. But by thus giving two dollars' worth of +thought to every dollar of expenditure, he made his money go a long way, +and the lively and personal interest he took in every little improvement, +made a garden fence to him of as much importance and satisfaction as a +new post-office would have been to the people of Thorbury. + +One day he went into a hardware store of the town to buy some nails, and +there he met Miss Panney, who had just purchased a corkscrew. + +"A thing you will not want for some time," she said, "for you do not look +as if you needed anything to cheer your soul. Now tell me, young man, is +it really the engagement rapture that has lasted all this time?" + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph, laughing, "and besides that I have had all sorts +of good fortune. For instance, one of my hens, setting unbeknown to +anybody in a warm corner of the barn, has hatched out a dozen little +chicks. Think of that at this season! I have put them in a warm room, and +by the time we begin housekeeping we shall have spring chickens to eat +before anybody else. And then there is that black colt, Dom Pedro. I had +great doubts about him, because he showed such decided symptoms of free +will, but now he is behaving beautifully. He has become thoroughly +reconciled to a haycart. I have driven him in a light wagon with his +sister, and he is just as good as she is, and yesterday I drove him +single, and find that he has made up his mind to learn everything I can +teach him. Now isn't that a fine thing?" + +"Oh, yes," said Miss Panney, "it must be such things as those that make +your eyes sparkle! But of course it warms your heart to give her delicate +eating when she first comes to you, and to have a fine pair of horses for +her to drive behind. If your face beams as it does now while she is +away, it will serve as an electric light when she comes back. Good +fortune! Oh, yes, of course, you consider that you have it in full +measure. But we are sometimes apt to look on our friends' good fortune in +an odd way. Now, if I had wanted you to go to Boston to get rich, and +instead of that you had insisted on going to Nantucket, and had become +rich there, I suppose that I should have been satisfied as long as you +were prosperous, but I do not believe I would have been; at least, not +entirely so. In this world we do want people to do what we think they +ought to do." + +"Yes," said Ralph, knowingly, "I see. But now, Miss Panney, don't you +really think that Boston would have been too rich a place for me? That it +would have expected too much of me, and that perhaps it would have done +too much for me? Boston is a good enough place, but if you only knew how +much lovelier Nantucket is--" + +"Stop, stop, boy!" said the old lady. "I am getting so old now, that I am +obliged to stop happy people and disappointed people from talking to me. +If I listened to all they had to say, I should have no time for anything +else. By the way, have you heard any news from the Bannister family? That +sedate Herbert is going to be married, and he intends to live with his +wife in the Bannister mansion." + +"And how will his sister like that?" asked Ralph. + +"She won't like it at all. She has told me she is going away." + +"I am sorry for that," he said. "That is too bad." + +"Not at all. She could not do better. A girl like that in a town such as +Thorbury, with nobody to marry her but the rector, is as much out of +place as a canary bird in a poultry yard. I have advised her to visit her +relatives in town, and go with them to Europe, where I hope she will +marry a prince. Good conscience! Look at her! Imagine that girl in a +sweeping velvet robe with one great diamond blazing on her breast." + +Ralph turned quickly, and as his eyes fell upon Dora, as she entered the +store, it struck him that no royal gowns could make her more beautiful +than she was at that moment. + +"Now, my dear," said Miss Panney, "what did you come here for? Do you +want a saw or a pitchfork?" + +"I came," said Dora, with her most charming smile, "because I saw you two +in here, and I wanted to speak to you. It is a funny place for this sort +of thing, but I do not see either of you very often, now, and I thought I +would like to tell you, before you heard it from any one else, of my +engagement." + +"To whom?" cried Miss Panney, in a voice that made the ox-chains rattle. + +Dora looked around anxiously, but there was no one in the front part of +the store. + +"To Mr. Ames," she replied. + +"The rector!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"Yes," said Dora; "I want to write to Miriam about it, and do you know I +have lost her address." + +"Dora Bannister," interrupted Miss Panney, "it may be a little early to +make bridal presents, but I want to give you this corkscrew. It is a +very good one, and I think that after a while you will have need of it. +Good morning." + +When the old lady had abruptly departed, the two young people laughed, +and Ralph offered his congratulations. + +"I do not know Mr. Ames very well," he said, "but I have heard no end of +good of him. But this is very surprising. It seems--" + +"Seems what?" asked Dora. + +"Well, since you ask me," Ralph answered, hesitating a little, "it seems +odd, not, perhaps, that you should marry the rector, but that you should +marry anybody. You appear to me too young to marry." + +"Oh, indeed!" said Dora; "you think that?" + +"I do not know that you understand me," said Ralph, "but I mean that you +are so full of youth--and all that, and enjoy life so much, that it is +a pity that you should not have more of youthful enjoyment before you +begin any other kind." + +Dora laughed. + +"Truly," said she, "I never looked at the matter in that light. Perhaps I +ought to have done so. You think me too young, and if you had had a +chance, perhaps you would have warned me! You are so kind and so +considerate, but don't you think you ought to speak to Mr. Ames about it? +He does not know you very well, but he has heard no end of good of you, +and perhaps what you say might make him reflect." + +As she spoke she looked at him with her eyes not quite so wide open as +usual. Ralph returned her gaze steadfastly. + +"I know what you are thinking of," he said. "You are thinking of a fable +with an animal in it and some fruit, and the animal was a small one, and +the fruit was on a high trellis." + +"Oh, dear," said Dora. "It must be very nice to have read as much as you +have, and to know fables and all sorts of things to refer to. But my life +hasn't been long enough for all that." + +The more Ralph's mind dwelt upon the matter, the more dissatisfied did he +feel that this beautiful young creature should marry the rector. If, in +truth, she applied the fable to him, this was all the more reason why he +should feel sorry for her. If anything of all this showed itself in his +eyes, he did not know it, but Dora's eyes opened to their full width, and +grew softer. + +"I expect I surprise you," she said, "by talking to you of these things, +but I have so few friends to confide in. Herbert is wrapped up in his +own engagement, and Mrs. Bannister is entirely apart from me. Almost +ever since I have known you two, I have felt that Miriam and you were +friends with whom I could talk freely, and I am now going to tell you, +and I know you will never mention it, that I do not believe I shall ever +marry Mr. Ames." + +"What!" exclaimed Ralph. "Didn't you say you were engaged to him?" + +"Of course I said so; and I am, and I was very glad to be able to say it +to Miss Panney, for she is always bothering me about such things; but +the engagement is a peculiar one. Mr. Ames has been coming to see me for +a long time, and I think it was because he heard that I was planning to +go away that he decided to declare himself at once, before he lost his +opportunity. I told him that I had never thought of anything of the sort; +but he was very insistent, and at last I consented, provided the +engagement should be a long one, and that, if after I had seen more of +the world and knew myself better, I should decide to change my mind, I +must be allowed to do so. He fought terribly against this, but there was +nothing for him to do but agree, and so now we are engaged on +approbation, as it were. This is a great relief to me in various ways, +because I feel as if I were safely anchored, and not drifting about +whichever way the wind blows, while other people are sailing where they +want to; and yet, whenever I please, I can loosen my anchor, and spread +my sails, and skim away over the beautiful sea." + +It is seldom that a siren, leaning lightly against a bright new +hay-cutter, with a background of iron rakes and hoes and spades, sings +her soft song. But it was so now, and Dora, her heart beating quickly, +looked from under her long lashes to note the effect of her words. + +"If he will drop the little Drane," she said to herself, "I will drop +the rector." + +But Ralph stood looking past her. It was as plain as could be that he was +not approaching the rocks; that he did not like the song; and that he was +thinking what he should say about it. + +"Oh, dear," said Dora, suddenly starting. "I have ever so much to do +this morning, and it must be nearly noon. I wonder what made that queer +Miss Panney think of giving me this corkscrew." + +Ralph knew very well that the old lady meant the little implement as a +figurative auxiliary of consolation, but he merely remarked that Miss +Panney did and gave very queer things. He opened the door for her, and +she bade him good-by and went out. + +She crossed the street, and when on the opposite sidewalk, she turned her +luminous eyes back upon the glass doors she had passed through. + +But there was no one looking out after her. Ralph was standing at the +counter, buying nails. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANNEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE + + +Cobhurst never looked more lovely than in the early June of the following +year. With the beauty of the trees, the grass, the flowers, the vines, +and all things natural, it possessed the added attractiveness of a +certain personal equation. To all the happy dwellers therein, the dear +old house appeared like one in which good people had always lived. +Although they used to think that it was as charming as could be, they now +perceived that the old mansion and all its surroundings had shown strong +evidences of that system of management which Mike called ramshackle. No +one said a word against any of the changes that Ralph had made, for in +spite of them Cobhurst was still Cobhurst. + +On a bench under a tree by the side of the house sat La Fleur, shelling +some early spring peas, a tin basin of which she held in her lap. Mrs. +Drane, in a rustic chair near by, was sewing, and Miriam, who had come +laden with blossoms from the orchard, had stopped in the pleasant shade. +Mike, absolutely picturesque in a broad new straw hat, was out in the +sunshine raking some grass he had cut, and Seraphina, who remained in the +household as general assistant, could be seen through the open window of +the kitchen. + +"As I told you before, madam," said La Fleur, "I don't think you need +feel the least fear about the young horses. Their master has a steady +hand, and they know his voice, and as for Mrs. Haverley, she's no more +afraid of them than if they were two sheep. As they drove off this +afternoon, I had a feeling as if I were living with some of those great +families in the old country in whose service I have been. For, said I to +myself, 'Here is the young master of the house, actually going to drive +out with his handsome wife and his spirited horses, and that in the very +middle of the working day, and without the prospect of making a penny of +profit.' You don't see that often in this country, except, perhaps, among +the very, very rich who don't have to work. But it is a good sign when a +gentleman like Mr. Haverley sets such an upper-toned example to his +fellow young men. + +"I spoke of that to Dr. Tolbridge once. 'Begging your pardon, sir,' said +I, 'it seems to me that you never drive out except when you have to.' +'Which is true,' said he, 'because I have to do it so much.' 'You will +excuse me, sir, for saying so,' said I, 'but if you did things for +pleasure sometimes, your mind would be rested, and you would feel more +like comprehending the deliciousness of some of my special dishes, which +I notice you now and again say nothing about, because you are so hungry +when you eat them, you don't notice their savoriness.'" + +"La Fleur," said Mrs. Drane, "I am surprised that you should have spoken +to the doctor in that way." + +"Oh, I have a mind," said La Fleur, "and I must speak it. My mind is like +a young horse--if I don't use it, it gets out of condition; and I don't +fear to speak to the doctor. He has brains, and he knows I have brains, +and he understands me. He said something like that when I left him, and I +am sure I never could have had a night's rest since if I hadn't put a +good woman there in my place. With what Mary Woodyard knows already, and +with me to pop in on her whenever I can coax Michael to drive me to town, +the doctor should never have need for any of his own medicines, so far as +digestion goes." + +"Don't you think," interpolated Miriam, "that there is a great deal more +said and done about eating than the subject is worth?" + +Mrs. Drane looked a little anxiously at La Fleur, but the cook did not in +the least resent the remark. + +"You are young yet, Miss Miriam," she said; "but when you are older, you +will think more of the higher branches of education, the very topmost of +which is cookery. But it's not only young people, but a good many older +ones, and some of them of high station, too, who think that cooking is +not a fit matter for the intellect to work on. When I lived with Lady +Hartleberry, she said over and over to my lord, and me too, that she +objected to the art works I sent up to the table, because she said that +the human soul ought to have something better to do than to give itself +up to the preparation of dishes that were no better to sustain the body +than if they had been as plain as a pike-staff. But I didn't mind her; +and everything that Tolati or La Fleur ever taught me, and everything I +invented for myself, I did in that house. My lady was an awfully serious +woman, and very particular about public worship: and on Sunday morning +she used to send the butler around to every servant with a little book, +and in that he put down what church each one was going to, and at what +time of day they would go. But when he came to me, I always said, 'La +Fleur goes to church when she likes and where she chooses.' And the +butler, being a man of brains, set down any church and time that happened +to suit his fancy, and my lady was never the wiser; and if I felt like +going to church, I went, and if I didn't, I didn't. But when the family +went to their seat in Scotland, they did not take their butler with them, +and the piper was sent round on Sunday morning to find out about the +servants going to church. And when he came to me, I said the same thing +I had always said, and do you know that pink-headed Scotchman put it down +in the book and carried it to my lady. And when she read it, she was in a +great rage, to be sure, and sent for me and wanted to know what I meant +by such a message. Then I told her I meant no offence by it, and that I +didn't think the idiot would put it down, but that I was too old to +change my ways, and that if her ladyship wasn't willing that I should +keep on in them, she would have to dismiss me. And then I curtsied and +left her; and my lord, when he heard of it, got a new piper. 'For,' said +he, 'a fool's a dangerous thing to have in the house,' and I stayed on +two years. So you see, Miss Miriam, that we are getting to the +point,--even my strait-laced lady made her opinions about church-going +give way before high art in her cook. For, as much as she might say +against my creations and compositions, she had gotten so used to 'em, +she couldn't do without 'em." + +"Well," said Miriam, "I suppose when the time comes I do not like +everything as I do now, I shall care more for some things. But I mustn't +sit here; I must go up to my sewing." + +"Miriam!" exclaimed Mrs. Drane, "what on earth are you working at? +Shutting yourself up, day after day, in your room, and at hours, too, +when everything is so pleasant outside. Cannot you bring out here what +you are doing?" + +"No," said Miriam, "because it is a secret; but it is nearly finished, +and as I shall have to tell you about it very soon, I may as well do it +now: I have been altering Judith Pacewalk's teaberry gown for Cicely. It +was altered once for me, and that makes it all the harder to make it fit +her now. I am not very good at that sort of thing, and so it has taken me +a long time. I expected to have it ready for her when she came back from +the wedding trip, but I could not do it. I shall finish it to-day, +however, and to-morrow I am going to invest her with it. She is now the +head of the house, and it is she who should wear the teaberry gown. Don't +tell her, please, until to-morrow; I thought it would be nice to have a +little ceremony about it, and in that case I shall have to have some one +to help me." + +"It is very good of you, my dear," said Mrs. Drane, "to think of such a +thing, and Cicely and your brother will be delighted, I know, to find out +what you think of this change of administration. Ralph said to me the +other day that he was afraid you were not altogether happy in yielding +your place to another. He had noticed that you had gotten into the habit +of going off by yourself." + +Miriam laughed. + +"Just wait until he hears the beautiful speech I am going to make +to-morrow, and then he will see what a wise fellow he is." + +"Mrs. Drane! Miss Miriam!" exclaimed La Fleur, her face beginning to glow +with emotion; "let me help to make this a grand occasion. Let me get up a +beautiful lunch. There isn't much time, it is true, but I can do it. I'll +make Michael drive me to town early in the morning, and I'll have +everything ready in time. A dinner would be all very well, but a +luncheon gives so much better chance to the imagination and the +intellect. There're some things you have to have at a dinner, but at a +lunch there is nothing you are obliged to have, and nothing you may not +have if you want it. And if you don't mind, I'd like you to ask old Miss +Panney. I've been a good deal at odds with her since I have known her, +but I'm satisfied now, and if there is anything I can do to make her +satisfied, I'm more than ready. Besides, when I do get up anything +extraordinary in the way of a meal, I like to have people at the table +who can appreciate it. And as for that, I haven't met anybody in this +country who is as well grounded in good eating as that old lady is." + +Her proposition gladly agreed to, La Fleur rose to a high heaven of +excited delight. She had had no chance to show her skill in a wedding +breakfast, for the young couple had been married very quietly in +Pennsylvania, and she was now elated with the idea of exhibiting her +highest abilities in an Investiture Luncheon. + +She handed the basin of peas through the open window to Seraphina, and +retired to her room, to study, to plan, and to revel in flights of +epicurean fancy. + +"Mike," said Seraphina to her brother, who was now raking the grass near +the kitchen window, "did you hear dat ar ole cook a talkin' jes' now?" + +"No," said Mike, "I hain't got no time to harken to people talkin', 'cept +they're talkin' to me, an' it 'pends on who they is whether I listens +then or not." + +"That fool thinks she made this world," said Seraphina. "I've been +thinkin' she had some notion like dat. She do put on such a'rs." + +"Git out," said Mike. "You never heard her say nothing like that." + +"I didn't hear all she said," replied the colored woman, "but I heard +more'n 'nough, an' I heard her talkin' about her creation. Her creation +indeed! I'll let her know one thing; she didn't make me." + +"Now look a here, Seraphiny," said Mike; "the more you shet up now, now +you's in the prime of life, the gooder you'll feel when you gits old. An' +so long as Mrs. Flower makes them thar three-inch-deep pies for me, I +don't care who she thinks she made, an' who she thinks she didn't make. +Thar now, that's my opinion." + + * * * * * + +The Investiture Luncheon, at which the Tolbridges and Miss Panney were +present, was truly a grand and beautiful affair, to which Dora would +certainly have been invited had she not been absent on her bridal trip +with Mr. Ames. Seldom had La Fleur or either of her husbands prepared for +prince, ambassador, or titled gourmand a meal which better satisfied the +loftiest outreaches of the soul in the truest interests of the palate. + +Cicely appeared in the teaberry gown, and if the spirit of Judith +Pacewalk hovered o'er the scene, and allowed its gaze to wander from the +charming bride, over the happy faces of the rest of the company, to the +half-open door of the dining-room, where shone the radiant face of the +proudest cook in the world, it must have been as well satisfied with the +fate of the pink garment as it could possibly expect to be. + +It was late in the afternoon when the luncheon party broke up, and +although Miss Panney was the last guest to leave, she did not go home, +but drove herself to Thorbury, and tied her roan mare in front of the +office of Mr. Herbert Bannister. When the young lawyer looked up and +perceived his visitor, he heaved a sigh, for he had expected in a few +moments to lock up his desk, and stop, on his way home, at the house of +his lady love. But the presence of Miss Panney at his office meant +business, and business with her meant a protracted session. Miss Panney +did not notice the sigh, and if she had, it would not have affected +her. Her soul had been satisfied this day, and no trifle could disturb +her serenity. + +"Now what I want," said she, after a good deal of prefatory remark, "is +for you to give me my will. I want to alter it." + +"But, madam," said young Bannister, when he had heard the alterations +desired by Miss Panney, "is not this a little quixotic? Excuse me for +saying so. Mr. Haverley is not even related to you, and you are bestowing +upon him--" + +"Herbert Bannister," said the old lady, "if you were your father instead +of yourself, you would know that this young man ought to have been my +grandson. He isn't; but I choose to consider him as such, and as such I +shall leave him what will make him a worthy lord of Cobhurst. Bring me +the new will as soon as it is ready and bring also the old one, with all +the papers I have given you, from time to time, regarding the disposition +of my property. I shall burn them, every one, and although it may set the +Wittons' chimney on fire the conflagration will make me happy." + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Girl at Cobhurst, by Frank Richard Stockton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11106 *** 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..2fc1bc8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11106 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11106) diff --git a/old/11106-8.txt b/old/11106-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9456437 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11106-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12387 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Girl at Cobhurst, by Frank Richard Stockton + +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: The Girl at Cobhurst + +Author: Frank Richard Stockton + +Release Date: February 15, 2004 [EBook #11106] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AT COBHURST *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + THE GIRL AT COBHURST + + BY FRANK R. STOCKTON + + 1898 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. DR. TOLBRIDGE + II. MISS PANNEY + III. BROTHER AND SISTER + IV. THE HOME + V. PANNEYOPATHY + VI. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS + VII. DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK + VIII. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED + IX. JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON + X. A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE + XI. TWO GIRLS AND A CALF + XII. TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY + XIII. DORA'S NEW MIND + XIV. GOOD-NIGHT + XV. MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER + XVI. "KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" + XVII. JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN + XVIII. BLARNEY FLUFF + XIX. MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" + XX. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE + XXI. THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS + XXII. A TRESPASS + XXIII. THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON + XXIV. THE DOCTOR'S MISSION + XXV. BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE + XXVI. DORA COMES AND SEES + XXVII. "IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" + XXVIII. THE GAME IS CALLED + XXIX. HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO + XXX. A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT + XXXI. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED + XXXII. MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS + XXXIII. LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD + XXXIV. A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY + XXXV. MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH + XXXVI. A CRY FROM THE SEA + XXXVII. LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES + XXXVIII. CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT + XXXIX. UNDISTURBED LETTUCE + XL. ANGRY WAVES + XLI. PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE + XLII. AN INTERVIEWER + XLIII. THE SIREN AND THE IRON + XLIV. LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE + + + + +THE GIRL AT COBHURST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DR. TOLBRIDGE + + +It was about the middle of a March afternoon when Dr. Tolbridge, giving +his horse and buggy into the charge of his stable boy, entered the warm +hall of his house. His wife was delighted to see him; he had not been at +home since noon of the preceding day. + +"Yes," said he, as he took off his gloves and overcoat, "the Pardell boy +is better, but I found him in a desperate condition." + +"I knew that," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "when you told me in your note that +you would be obliged to stay with him all night." + +The doctor now walked into his study, changed his overcoat for a +well-worn smoking-jacket, and seated himself in an easy chair before the +fire. His wife sat by him. + +"Thank you," he said, in answer to her inquiries, "but I do not want +anything to eat. After I had gone my round this morning I went back to +the Pardells, and had my dinner there. The boy is doing very well. No, I +was not up all night. I had some hours' sleep on the big sofa." + +"Which doesn't count for much," said his wife. + +"It counts for some hours," he replied, "and Mrs. Pardell did not +sleep at all." + +Dr. Tolbridge, a man of moderate height, and compactly built, with some +touches of gray in his full, short beard, and all the light of youth in +his blue eyes, had been for years the leading physician in and about +Thorbury. He lived on the outskirts of the little town, but the lines of +his practice extended in every direction into the surrounding country. + +The doctor's wife was younger than he was; she had a high opinion of him, +and had learned to diagnose him, mentally, morally, and physically, with +considerable correctness. It may be asserted, in fact, that the doctor +seldom made a diagnosis of a patient as exact as those she made of him. +But then it must be remembered that she had only one person to exert her +skill upon, while he had many. + +The Tolbridge house was one of the best in the town, but the family was +small. There was but one child, a boy of fourteen, who was now away at +school. The doctor had readjusted the logs upon the andirons, and was +just putting the tongs in their place when a maidservant came in. + +"There's a boy here, sir," she said, "from Miss Panney. She's sent for +you in a hurry." + +In the same instant the doctor and his wife turned in their chairs and +fixed their eyes upon the servant, but there was nothing remarkable +about her; she had delivered her message and stood waiting. The doctor's +fists were clenched and there was a glitter in his eye. He seemed on the +point of saying something in a loud voice, but he changed his mind, and +quietly said, "Tell the boy to come here," and turned back to the fire. +Then, when the girl had gone, he struck his fist upon his knee and +ejaculated, "Confound Miss Panney!" + +"Harry!" exclaimed his wife, "you should not speak of your patients in +that way, but I agree with you perfectly;" and then, addressing the boy, +who had just entered, and who stood by the door, "Do you mean to say that +there is anything serious the matter with Miss Panney?" she said +severely. "Does she really want to see the doctor immediately?" + +"That's what they told me, ma'am," said the boy, looking about him at the +books and the furniture. "They told me that she was took bad, and that I +must come here first to tell the doctor to come right away, and if he +wasn't at home to leave that message." + +"How did you come?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge; "on horseback?" + +"No, ma'am; with a wagon." + +"You could have come a great deal quicker without the wagon," said she. + +"Oh, yes, but then I've got to stop at the store going back." + +"That will do," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "you can go now and attend to your +other business." + +The doctor was quietly looking into the fire, and as his wife turned to +him he gave a little snort. + +"I was just beginning to get up enough energy," he remarked, "to think of +putting on my slippers." + +"Well, put them on," said she, in a very decided tone. + +"No," replied the doctor, "that will not do; of course I must go to her." + +"You mustn't do anything of the kind!" exclaimed Mrs. Tolbridge, her eyes +sparkling. "How many times by night and by day has that woman called you +away on a fool's errand? It is likely as not that there is nothing more +the matter with her than there is with me. She has no right to worry the +life out of you in this way. She ought to have gone to heaven long ago." + +"You shouldn't talk of my patients in that way, Kitty," said the doctor; +"and in the opinion of a good many of her neighbors the old lady is not +bound for heaven." + +"I don't care where she is going, but one thing is certain: you are not +going to her this afternoon. You are not fit for it." + +"You must remember, Kitty," said the doctor, "that Miss Panney is an old +lady, and though she may sound many a false alarm, the true alarm is to +be expected, and I would much prefer to go by daylight than to wait until +after supper. The roads are bad, the air is raw, and she would keep me +nobody knows how late. I want to go to bed early to-night." + +"And that is what you are going to do," said Mrs. Tolbridge. + +He looked at her inquiringly. "Harry," said she, "you have been up +nearly all night. You have been working the greater part of this day, and +I do not intend to let you drive three miles to be nearly talked to death +by Racilia Panney. No, you needn't shake your head in that way; she is +not to be neglected. I shall go myself and see what is the matter with +her, and if it is really anything serious, I can then let you know. I do +not believe she would have sent for you at all, if she had not known the +wagon was going to town." + +"But, my dear," said the doctor, "you cannot--" + +"Yes, I can," interrupted his wife. "I want some fresh air and shall +enjoy the drive, and Buckskin has done nothing for two days. I shall +take the cart, Tom can get up behind, and I can go there in less than +half an hour." + +"But if there really is anything the matter--" said the doctor. + +"It's just as likely as not," interrupted his wife, "that what she wants +is somebody to talk to, and that a minister or a lawyer or a stranger +from foreign parts would do just as well as you. And now put on your +slippers, push the sofa up to the fire, and take your nap, and I'll go +and see how the case really stands." + +The doctor smiled. "I have no more to say," said he. "There are angels +who bless us by coming, and there are angels who bless us by going. You +belong to both classes. But don't stay too long." + +"In any case I shall be back before dark," she said, and with a kiss on +his forehead she left him. + +Dr. Tolbridge looked into the fire and considered. + +"Ought I to let her go?" he asked himself. This question, mingled with +various thoughts and recollections of former experiences with Miss +Panney, occupied the doctor's mind until he heard the swift rolling of +the dog-cart wheels as they passed his window. Then he arose, put on his +slippers, drew up the soft cushioned sofa, and lay down for a nap. + +In about half an hour he was aroused by the announcement that Miss +Bannister had called to see him. + +Long practice in that sort of thing made him wake in an instant, and the +young lady who was ushered into the study had no idea that she had +disturbed the nap of a tired man. She was a very pretty girl, handsomely +dressed; she had large blue eyes, and a very gentle and sweet expression, +tinged, however, by an anxious sadness. + +"Who is sick, Miss Dora?" asked the doctor, quickly, as he shook +hands with her. + +She did not seem to understand him. "Nobody," she said. "That is, I have +come to see you about myself." + +"Oh," said he, "pray take a seat. I imagined from your face," he +continued, with a smile, "that some one of your family was in desperate +need of a doctor." + +"No," said she, "it is I. For a long time I have thought of consulting +you, and to-day I felt I must come." + +"And what is the matter?" he asked. + +"Doctor," said she, a tear forcing itself into each of her beautiful +eyes, "I believe I am losing my mind." + +"Indeed," said the doctor; "and how is your general health?" + +"Oh, that's all right," answered Miss Dora. "I do not think there is the +least thing the matter with me that way. It is all my mind. It has been +failing me for a good while." + +"How?" he asked. "What are the symptoms?" + +"Oh, there are ever so many of them," she said; "I can't think of them +all. I have lost all interest in everything in this world. You remember +how much interest I used to take in things?" + +"Indeed I do," said he. + +"The world is getting to be all a blank to me," she said; "everything +is blank." + +"Your meals?" he asked. + +"No," she said. "Of course I must eat to live." + +"And sleep?" + +"Oh, I sleep well enough. Indeed, I wish I could sleep all the time, so +that I could not know how the world--at least its pleasures and +affections--are passing away from me. All this is dreadful, doctor, when +you come to think of it. I have thought and thought and thought about it, +until it has become perfectly plain to me that I am losing my mind." + +Dr. Tolbridge looked into the fire. + +"Well," said he, presently, "I am glad to hear it." + +Miss Dora sprang to her feet. + +"Oh, sit down," said he, "and let me explain myself. My advice is, if you +lose your mind, don't mind the loss. It really will do you good. That +sounds hard and cruel, doesn't it? But wait a bit. It often happens that +the minds of young people are like their first teeth--what are called +milk teeth, you know. These minds and these teeth do very well for a +time, but after a while they become unable to perform the services which +will be demanded of them, and they are shed, or at least they ought to +be. Sometimes, of course, they have to be extracted." + +"Nonsense, doctor," said the young lady, smiling in spite of herself, +"you cannot extract a mind." + +"Well, perhaps not exactly that," he answered, "but we can help it to be +absorbed and to disappear, and so make a way for the strong, vigorous +mind of maturity, which is certain to succeed it. All this has happened +and is happening to you, Miss Dora. You have lost your milk mind, and the +sooner it is gone the better. You will be delighted with the one that +succeeds it. Now then, can you give me an idea about how angry you are?" + +"I am not angry at all," she replied, "but I feel humiliated. You think +my mental sufferings are all fanciful." + +"Oh, no," said the doctor; "to continue the dental simile, they are the +last aches of your youthful mentality, forced to make way for the +intellect of a woman." + +Miss Bannister looked out of the window for a few moments. + +"Doctor," she then said, "I do not believe there is any one else who +knows me, who would tell me that I have the mind of a child." + +"Oh, no," replied Dr. Tolbridge, "for it is not likely that there is any +one else to whom you have made the fact known." + +There was a quick flush on the face of Miss Dora, and a flash in her blue +eyes, and she reached out her hand toward her muff which lay on the table +beside her, but she changed her purpose and drew back her hand. The +doctor looked at her with a smile. + +"You were just on the point of jumping up and leaving the room without a +word, weren't you?" + +"Yes, I was," said she, "and I have a great mind to do it now, but +first I must--" + +"Miss Dora," said the doctor, "I am delighted. Actually you are cutting +your new mind. Before you can realize the fact, you will have it all +full-formed and ready for use. Let me see; this is the ninth of March; +bad roads; bad weather; no walking; no driving; nothing inspiriting; +disagreeable in doors and out. I think the full change will occur within +three weeks. By the end of this month, you will not only have forgotten +that your milk mind has troubled you, but that the world was ever blank, +and that your joys and affections were ever on the point of passing away +from you. You will then be the brave-hearted, bright-spirited woman that +Nature intended you to be, after she had passed you through some of the +preliminary stages." + +The flush on the face of Miss Dora gradually passed away as she listened +to this speech. + +She rose. "Doctor," said she, "I like that better than what you have been +saying. Anyway, I shall not be angry, and I shall wait three weeks and +see what happens, and if everything is all wrong then, the responsibility +will rest on you." + +"Very good," said he, "I agree to the terms. It is a bargain." + +Now Miss Dora seemed troubled again. She took up her muff, put it down, +drew her furs about her, then let them fall again, and finally turned +toward the physician, who had also risen. + +"Doctor," she said, "I don't want you to put this visit in the family +bill. I wish to--to attend to it myself. How much should I pay you?" and +she took out her little pocketbook. + +Dr. Tolbridge put his hands behind him. + +"This case is out of my usual line of practice," he said, "and my +ordinary schedule of fees does not apply to it. For advice such as I have +given you I never charge money. I take nothing but cats." + +"What!" exclaimed Miss Dora; "what on earth do you mean?" + +"I mean cats," he replied, "or rather kittens. I am very fond of kittens, +and at present we have not one in the house. So, if you have a kitten--" + +"Dr. Tolbridge," cried Miss Dora, her eyes sparkling, "do you really mean +that? Would you truly like to have an Angora kitten?" + +"That is exactly the breed I want," he answered. + +"Why, I have five," she said; "they are only four days old, and perfect +beauties. I shall be charmed to give you one, and I will pick out the +very prettiest for you. As soon as it is old enough, I will bring it to +you, already named, and with a ribbon on its neck. What color would you +like the ribbon to be?" + +"For Angoras, blue," he said; "I shall be so glad to have a kitten like +that; but remember that you must not bring it to me until its eyes are +opened, and it has--" + +"Doctor," interrupted Miss Dora, raising her forefinger, "you were just +on the point of saying, 'and has shed its milk mind.' Now I am going away +before you make me angry again." + +When his patient had gone, Dr. Tolbridge put another log on the fire, +shook up the cushions of the sofa, and lay down to continue his nap. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MISS PANNEY + + +The Witton family, distant relatives of Miss Panney, with whom she had +lived for many years, resided on a farm in the hilly country above +Thorbury, and when Mrs. Tolbridge had rattled through the town, she found +the country road very rough and bad--hard and bumpy in some places, and +soft and muddy in others; but Buckskin was in fine spirits and pulled her +bravely on. + +When she reached the Witton house she left the horse in charge of the +boy, and opening the hall door, went directly up to Miss Panney's room. +Knocking, she waited some little time for an answer, and then was told, +in a clear, high voice, to come in. The room was large and well lighted. +Against one of the walls stood a high-posted bed with a canopy, and on +one of the pillows of the bed appeared the head of an elderly woman, the +skin darkened and wrinkled by time, the nose aquiline, and the black eyes +very sharp and quick of movement. This head was surrounded by the frills +of a freshly laundered night-cap, and the smooth white coverlid was drawn +up close under its chin. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed the person in the bed, "is that you, Mrs. +Tolbridge? I thought it was the doctor." + +"I don't wonder at that, Miss Panney," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "At times we +have very much the same sort of knock." + +"But where is the doctor?" asked the old lady. + +"I hope he is at home and asleep," was the reply. "He has been working +very hard lately, and was up the greater part of last night. He was +coming here when he received your message, but I told him he should not +do it; I would come myself, and if I found it absolutely necessary that +you should see him, I would let him know. And now what is the trouble, +Miss Panney?" + +Miss Panney fixed her eyes steadfastly upon her visitor, who had taken a +seat by the bedside. + +"Catherine Tolbridge," said she, "do you know what will happen to you, if +you don't look out? You'll lose that man." + +"Lose him!" exclaimed the other. + +"Yes, just that," replied the old lady; "I have seen it over and over +again. Down they drop, right in the middle of their harness. And the +stouter and sturdier they are, the worse it is for them; they think they +can do anything, and they do it. I'll back a skinny doctor against a +burly one, any day. He knows there are things he can't do. He doesn't +try, and he keeps afloat." + +"That is exactly what I am trying to do," said the doctor's wife, "and if +those are your opinions, Miss Panney, don't you think that the doctor's +patients ought to have a regard for his health, and that they ought not +to make him come to them in all sorts of weather, and at all hours of the +day, unless there is something serious the matter with them? Now I don't +believe there is anything serious the matter with you today." + +"There is always something serious the matter with a person of my age," +said Miss Panney, "and as for Dr. Tolbridge's visits to me doing him any +harm, it is all stuff and nonsense. They do him good; they rest him; they +brighten him up. He's never livelier than when he is with me. He doesn't +have to hang over me all the night, giving me this and that, to keep the +breath in my body, when he ought to be taking the rest that he needs more +than any of us." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. "No, indeed," said she, "he never has to do +anything of that kind for you. I believe you are the healthiest +patient he has." + +"That may be," said the other, "and it is much to his credit, and to +mine, too. I know when I want a doctor. I don't send for him when I am +in the last stages of anything. But we won't talk anything more about +that. I want to know all about your husband. Do you think he is really +out of health?" + +"No," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "he is simply overworked, and needs rest. Just +the sort of rest I hope he is getting this afternoon." + +"Nonsense," said Miss Panney; "rest is well enough, but you must give him +more than that if you do not want to see him break down. You must give +him good victuals. Rest, without the best of food, amounts to little in +his case." + +"Truly, Miss Panney!" exclaimed her visitor, "I think I give my husband +as good living as any one in Thorbury has or can expect." + +"Humph!" said the old lady. "He may have all that, and yet be starving +before your eyes. There isn't a man, woman, or child, in or about +Thorbury, who really lives well--excepting, perhaps, myself." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I think you do manage to live very well, +Miss Panney." + +"Yes," said the other, "and I'd like to manage to have my friends live +well, too. By the way, did you ever make rum-flake for the doctor when +he comes in tired and faint?" + +"I never heard of it," replied the other. + +"I thought as much," said Miss Panney. "Well, you take the whites of two +eggs and beat them up, and while you are beating you sprinkle rum over +the egg, from a pepper caster, which you ought to keep clean to use for +this and nothing else. Then you should sift in sugar according to taste, +and when you have put a dry macaroon, which has been soaking in rum all +this time, in the bottom of a glass saucer, you pile the flake over it, +and it's ready for him, except that sometimes you put in,--let me see!--a +little orange juice, I think, but I've got the recipe there in my +scrap-book, and I can find it in a minute." So saying, the old lady threw +aside the coverlid, and jumped to the floor with the activity of a cat. + +Mrs. Tolbridge burst out laughing. + +"I declare, Miss Panney!" she exclaimed, "you have your dress on." + +"What of that?" said the old lady, opening a drawer. "A warm dress is a +good thing to wear, at least I have always found it so." + +"But not with a night-cap," said the other. + +"That depends on circumstances," said Miss Panney, turning over the pages +of a large scrap-book. + +"And shoes," continued Mrs. Tolbridge, laughing again. + +"Shoes," cried Miss Panney, pushing out one foot, and looking at it. +"Well, truly, that was an oversight; but here is the recipe;" and without +the aid of spectacles, she began to read. "It's exactly as I told you," +she said presently, "except that some people use sponge cake instead of +macaroons. The orange juice depends on individual taste. Shall I write +that out for you, or will you remember it?" + +"Oh, I can remember it," said the other; "but tell me, Miss Panney--" + +"Well, then," said the old lady, "make it for him, and see how he likes +it. There is one thing, Mrs. Tolbridge, that you should never forget, and +that is that the doctor is not only your husband, but the mainstay of the +community." + +"Oh, I know that, and accept the responsibility; but you must tell me why +you are in bed with all your clothes on. I believe that you did not +expect the doctor so soon, and when you heard my knock, you clapped on +your night-cap and jumped into bed." + +"Catherine," quietly remarked the old lady, "there is nothing so +discouraging to a doctor as to find a person who has sent for him out of +bed. If the patient is up and about, she mystifies him; he is apt to make +mistakes; he loses interest; he wonders if she couldn't come to him, +instead of his having to go to her; but when he finds the ailing person +in bed, the case is natural and straightforward; he feels at home, and +knows how to go to work. If you believe in a doctor, you ought to make +him believe in you. And if you are in bed, he will believe in you, and if +you are out of it, he is apt not to. More than that, Mrs. Tolbridge, +there is no greater compliment that you can pay to a physician you have +sent for, than to have him find you in bed." + +The doctor's wife laughed. She thought, but she did not say so, that +probably this old lady had paid her husband a great many compliments. + +"Well, Miss Panney," she said, rising, "what report shall I make?" + +The old lady took off her night-cap, and replaced it with her ordinary +headgear of lace and ribbons. + +"Have you heard anything," she asked, "of the young man who is coming to +Cobhurst?" + +"No," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "nothing at all." + +"Well," continued Miss Panney, "I think the doctor knows something about +him through old Butterwood. I have an idea that I know something about +him myself, but I wanted to talk to the doctor about him. Of course this +is a mere secondary matter. My back has been troubling me a good deal +lately, but as the doctor is so pushed, I won't ask him to come here on +purpose to see me. If he's in the neighborhood, I shall be very glad to +have him call. For the present, I shall try some of the old liniments. +Dear knows, I have enough of them, dating back for years and years." + +"But it will not do to make any mistakes, Miss Panney. Those old +prescriptions might not suit you now." + +"Don't trouble yourself in the least about that," said the old lady, +lifting her hand impressively; "medicine never injures me. Not a drop of +it do I ever take inside of me, prescription or no prescription. But I +don't mind putting things on the outside of me--of course, I mean in +reason, for there are outside applications that would ruin the +constitution of a jack-screw." + +There were very few people in the neighborhood of Thorbury who were older +than Miss Panney, and very few of any age who were as alert in both mind +and body. She had been born in this region; had left it in her youth, and +had returned about thirty years ago, when she had taken up her abode with +the Wittons, who at that time were a newly married couple. They were now +middle-aged people, but Miss Panney still lived with them, and seemed to +be much the very same old lady as she was when she arrived. She was a +woman who kept a good deal to herself, having many resources for her +active mind. With many people who were not acquainted with her socially +but knew all about her, she had the reputation of being wicked. The +principal reason for this belief was the well-known fact that she always +took her breakfast in bed. This was considered to be a French habit, and +the French were looked upon as infidels. Moreover, she never went to +church, and when questioned upon this subject, had been known to answer +that she could not listen with patience to a sermon, for she had never +heard one without thinking that she could preach on that subject a great +deal better than the man in the pulpit. + +In spite of this fact, however, the rector of the Episcopal church of +Thorbury and the Methodist minister were both great friends of Miss +Panney, and although she did not come to hear them, they liked very much +to go to hear her. Mr. Hampton, the Methodist, would talk to her about +flower-gardening and the by-gone people and ways of the region, while Mr. +Ames, the rector, who was a young man, did not hesitate to assert that he +frequently got very good hints for passages in his sermons, from remarks +made by Miss Panney about things that were going on in the religious and +social world. + +But although Miss Panney took pleasure in the company of clergymen and +physicians, she boldly asserted that she liked lawyers better. + +"In the law," she would say, "you find things fixed and settled. A law +is a law, the same for everybody, and no matter how much people may +wrangle and dispute about it, it is there, and you can read it for +yourself. But the practice of medicine has to be shifted to suit +individual cases, and the practice of theology is shifted to suit +individual creeds, and you can't put your finger on steady principles as +you can in law. When I put my finger down, I like to be sure what is +under it." + +Miss Panney had other reasons for liking lawyers, for her first real +friend had been her legal guardian, old Mr. Bannister of Thorbury. She +was one of the few people of the place who remembered this old gentleman, +and she had often told how shocked and pained she had been when summoned +from boarding-school to attend his funeral, and how she had been +impressed by the idea that the preparations for this important event +consisted mainly in beating up eggs, stemming raisins, baking cakes and +pies, and making all sorts of provision for the sumptuous entertainment +of the people who should be drawn together by the death of the principal +citizen of the town. To her mind it would have been more appropriate had +the company been fed on bread and water. + +Thomas Bannister, who succeeded to his father's business, had been Miss +Panney's legal friend and counsellor for many years. But he, too, was +dead, and the office had now devolved on Herbert Bannister, the grandson +of the old gentleman, and the brother of Miss Dora. + +Herbert and Miss Panney were very good friends, but not yet cronies. He +was still under thirty, and there were many events of the past of which +he knew but little, and about which he could not wholly sympathize with +her. But she believed that years would ripen him, and that the time would +come when she would get along as well with him as she had with his father +and grandfather. + +She was not supposed to be a rich woman, and she had not been much +engaged in suits at law, but it was surprising how much legal business +Miss Panney had, as well as business of many other kinds. + +When Mrs. Tolbridge had left her, the old lady put away her scrap-book, +and prepared to go downstairs. + +"It is a great pity," she said to herself, "that one of the bodily +ailments which is bound to show itself in the family in the course of the +spring, should not have turned up to-day. I want very much to talk to the +doctor about the young man at Cobhurst, and I cannot drive about the +country in such weather as this." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BROTHER AND SISTER + + +There were other people in and around Thorbury, who very much wanted to +know something about the young man at Cobhurst, but this desire was +interfered with by the fact that the young man was not yet at Cobhurst, +and did not seem to be in a hurry to get there. + +Cobhurst was the name of an estate a mile or so from the Witton farm, +whose wide fields had lain for a half a dozen years untilled, and whose +fine old mansion had been, for nearly a year, uninhabited. Its former +owner, Matthias Butterwood, a bachelor, and during the greater part of +his life, a man who took great pride in his farm, his stock, and his +fruit trees, had been afflicted in his later years with various kinds of +rheumatism, and had been led to wander about to different climates and +different kinds of hot springs for the sake of physical betterment. + +When at home in these latter days, old Butterwood had been content to +have his garden cultivated, for he could still hobble about and look at +that, and had left his fields to take care of themselves, until he should +be well enough to be his own farmer, as he had always been. But old age, +coming to the aid of his other complaints, had carried him off a few +months before this story begins. + +The only person now living at Cobhurst was a colored man named Mike, +who inhabited the gardener's house and held the office of care-taker of +the place. + +Whenever Mike now came to town with his old wagon and horse, or when he +was met on the road, he found people more and more inquisitive about the +new owner of Cobhurst. Mike was not altogether a negro, having a good +deal of Irish blood in his veins, and this conjunction of the two races +in his individuality had had the effect upon his speech of destroying all +tendency to negro dialect or Irish brogue, so that, in fact, he spoke +like ordinary white people of his grade in life. The effect upon his +character, however, had been somewhat different, and while the vivacity +of the African and that of the Hibernian, in a degree, had neutralized +each other, making him at times almost as phlegmatic as the traditional +Dutchman, he would sometimes exhibit the peculiarities of a Sambo, and +sometimes those of a Paddy. + +Mike could give no satisfaction to his questioners; he knew nothing of +the newcomer, except that he had received a postal card, directed to the +man in charge of Cobhurst, and which stated that Mr. Haverley would +arrive there on the fourth of April. + +"More'n that," Mike would say, "I don't know nothin'. Whether he's old or +young, and what family he's got, I can't tell ye. All I know is, that he +don't seem in no hurry to see his place, an' he must be a reg'lar city +man, or he'd know that winter's the time to come to work a farm in the +spring of the year." + +Other people, however, knew more about Mr. Haverley than Mike did, and +Miss Panney could have informed any one that he was a young man, +unmarried, and a second nephew to old Butterwood. She had faith that Dr. +Tolbridge could give her some additional points, provided she could get +an opportunity of properly questioning him. + +Meanwhile the days passed on; the roads about Thorbury dried up and grew +better; in low, sheltered places, the grass showed a greenish hue; the +willows turned yellow, and people began to ponder over the catalogues of +seed merchants. At last, it was the third of April, and on that day, in +a large bright room of a New York boarding-house, kneeling in front of an +open trunk, were Mr. Ralph Haverley and his sister Miriam. + +Presently Miriam, whose years had not yet reached fifteen, vigorously +pushed a pair of slippers into an unoccupied crevice in the trunk, and +then, drawing back, seated herself on a stool. + +"The delightful thing about this packing is," she said, "that it will +never have to be done again. I am not going to any school, or any country +place to board; you are not going to a hotel, not to any house kept by +other people; our things do not have to be packed separately; we can put +them in anywhere where they will fit; we are both going to the same +place; we are going home, and there we shall stay." + +"Always?" asked her brother, looking up with a smile. + +"Always," answered Miriam. "When one gets a home, one stays there. At +least I do." + +"And you will not even go away to school?" he asked. + +"By no means," said his sister, looking at him with much earnestness. "I +have been to school ever since I was six years old,--nearly nine +years,--and I positively declare that that is long enough for any girl. +Others stay later, but then they do not begin so soon. As to finishing my +education, as they call it, I shall do that at home. What a happy +thought! It makes me want to skip. And you are to be my teacher, Ralph. I +am sure you know everything that I shall need to know." + +Ralph laughed. + +"I suppose you will examine me to see what I do know," he said, as he +folded a heavy overcoat and laid it in the trunk. + +Miriam sprang up and began to collect more of her effects. + +"We shall see about that," she said, and then, suddenly stopping, she +turned toward her brother. "There is one thing, Ralph, about which I need +not examine you at all, and that is goodness of heart. If you had not had +a very good heart indeed, you would not have waited and waited and +waited--fairly pinching yourself, I expect--till I could get away from +school and we could both go together and look at our new home in the very +same instant." + +Ralph Haverley was a brown-haired, bright-eyed young fellow under thirty. +He had been educated for a profession, but the death of his parents, +before he reached his majority, made it necessary for him to go to work +at something by which he could immediately earn money enough to support +not only himself, but his little sister. At his father's death, which +occurred a month or two after that of his mother, young Haverley found +that the family resources, which had never been great, had almost +entirely disappeared. He could barely scrape together enough money to +send Miriam to a boarding-school and to keep himself alive until he could +get work. He had spent a great part of his boyhood in the country. His +tastes and disposition inclined him to an out-door life, and, had he been +able, he would have gone to the West, and established himself upon a +ranch. But this was impossible; he must do the work that was nearest at +hand, and as soon as he found it, he set himself at it with a will. + +For eight long years he had struggled and labored; changing his +occupation several times, but always living in the city; always making +his home in a boardinghouse or a hotel. His pluck and energy had had its +reward, and for the past three years he had held a responsible and +well-paid position in a mercantile house. But his life and his work had +for him nothing but a passing interest; he had no sympathy with bonded +warehouses, invoices, and ledgers. All he could look forward to was a +higher position, a larger salary, and, when Miriam should graduate, a +little home somewhere where she could keep house for him. In his dreams +of this home, he would sometimes place it in the suburbs, where Sundays +and holidays spent in country air would compensate for hasty breakfasts, +early morning trains, and late ones in the afternoon. But when he +reflected that it would not do to leave his young sister alone all day in +a thinly settled, rural place, at the mercy of tramps, he was forced to +the conclusion that the thing for them to do was to live in a city +apartment. But there was nothing in either of these outlooks to create +fervent longings in the soul of Ralph Haverley. + +For some legal reason, probably connected with the fact that old +Butterwood died at a health resort in Arkansas, Haverley did not learn +until late in the winter that his mother's uncle had left to him the +estate of Cobhurst. The reason for this bequest, as stated in the will, +was the old man's belief that the said Ralph Haverley was the only one of +his blood relations who seemed to be getting on in the world, and to him +he left the house, farm, and all the personal property he might find +therein and thereon, but not one cent of money. Where the testator's +money was bestowed, Ralph did not know, for he did not see the will. + +When Ralph heard of his good fortune, his true life seemed to open before +him; his Butterwood blood boiled in his veins. He did not hesitate a +moment as to his course, for he was of the opinion that if a healthy +young man could not make a living out of a good farm he did not deserve +to live at all. He gave immediate notice of his intention to abandon +mercantile life, and set himself to work by day and by night to wind up +his business affairs, so that he might be free by the beginning of April. +It was this work which helped him to control his desire to run off and +take a look at Cobhurst without waiting for his sister. + +Of the place which was to be their home, Miriam knew absolutely nothing, +but Ralph had heard his mother talk about her visits to her uncle, and, +in his mind, the name Cobhurst had always called up visions of wide halls +and lofty chambers, broad piazzas, sunny slopes and lawns, green meadows, +and avenues bordered with tall trees--a grand estate in fact, with woods +full of nuts, streams where a boy could fish, and horses that he might +ride. Had these ideas existed in Miriam's mind, the brother and sister +would have visited Cobhurst the day after he brought her the letter from +the lawyer; but her conceptions of the place were vague and without form, +except when she associated it with the homes of girls she had visited. +But as none of these suited her very well, she preferred to fall back +upon chaotic anticipation. + +"When I think of Cobhurst," she wrote to her brother, "I smell marigolds, +and think of rather poor blackberries that you pick from bushes. Please +do not put in your letters anything that you know about it, for I would +rather see everything for myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE HOME + + +It was late in the afternoon when Ralph and Miriam Haverley alighted at +the station at Thorbury. Miss Dora Bannister, who had come down to see a +friend off, noticed the two standing on the platform. She did not know +who they were, but she thought the one to be a very handsome young man, +and the other a nice-looking girl who seemed to be all eyes. + +"What a queer-looking colored man!" said Miriam. "He looks mashed on +top." + +The person alluded to was getting down from a wagon drawn by a mournful +horse, and now approached the platform. + +"Is you Mr. Hav'ley, sir?" he said, touching his hat. "Thought so; I'm +the man in charge o' yer place. Got any baggage, sir?" + +On being informed that the travellers had brought three trunks with them, +and that some boxes would be expected on the morrow, Mike, who with his +worn felt hat pressed flat upon his head, might give one the idea of a +bottle with the cork driven in, stood for a moment in thought. + +"I can take one trunk," he said, "the one ye will want the most tonight, +and ye'd better have the others hauled over tomorrow with the boxes. Ye +can both go in the wagon, if ye like. The seat can be pushed back, and I +can sit on the trunk myself, or ye can hire a kerridge." + +"Of course we will take a cab," said Ralph. "How far is it to Cobhurst?" + +"Well, some says three miles, and some says four. It depends a good deal +on the roads. They're pretty good today." + +Having engaged the services of a country cabman, who declared that he +had known Cobhurst ever since he was born, and having arranged for +the transfer of their goods the next day, the Haverleys rattled out +of the town. + +"Now," said Miriam, "we are truly going home, and I do not remember ever +doing that before. And, Ralph," she continued, after gazing right and +left from the cab windows, "one of the first things we ought to do is to +get a new man to take charge of the place. That person isn't fit. I never +saw such slouchy clothes." + +Ralph laughed. "I am the man who is to have charge of the place," he +said. "What do you think of my clothes?" + +Miriam gave a little pull at his hair for reply. "And there is another +thing," she continued. "If that is our horse and wagon, don't you really +think that we ought to sell them? They are awful." + +"Don't be in a hurry," said Ralph. "We shall soon find out whether we own +the horse or not. He may belong to the man. He's not a bad one, either. +See, he is passing us now with that big trunk in the wagon." + +"Passing us!" exclaimed Miriam. "Almost any horse could do that. Did you +ever see such an old poke as we have, and such a bouncy, jolting +rattletrap of a carriage? It squeaks all over." + +"Alas," said Ralph, "I am thinking of something worse than jolts or +squeaks. I am hungry, and I am sure you must be, and I don't see what we +are going to do about supper. I am afraid I am not a very good manager, +yet. I had an idea that Cobhurst was not so far from the station, and +that we could go over and look at the house, and come back to a hotel and +stay there for the night; but now I see it will be dark before we get +there, and we shall not feel like turning round and going directly back. +Perhaps it would be better to turn now." + +"Turn back, when we are going to our home!" cried Miriam. "How can you +think of such a thing, Ralph? And you needn't suppose that neither of us +is a good manager. I am housekeeper now, and I did not forget that we +shall need our supper. I have it all there in my bag, and I shall cook +it as soon as we reach the house. Of course I knew that we could not +expect anything to eat in a place with only a man to take care of it." + +"What in the world have you?" asked Ralph, much amused. + +"I have four breakfast rolls," she said, "six mutton chops, a package of +ground coffee, another of tea, a pound of sugar, and a good big piece of +gingerbread. I am sorry I couldn't bring any butter, but I was afraid +that might melt in a warm car, and run over everything. As for milk, we +shall have to make up our minds to do without that for one meal. I got up +early this morning, and went out and bought all these things." + +Ralph was on the point of saying, "What are we going to have for +breakfast?" But he would not trouble his sister's mind with any such +suggestions. + +"You are a good little housewife," said he; "I wish we were there, and +sitting down at the table--if there is any table." + +"I have thought it all out," said Miriam, "if it is one of those large +farm-houses, with a big kitchen, where the family eat and spend their +evening, we shall eat there, too, this once. You shall build a fire, +and I'll have the coffee made in no time. There must be a coffee-pot, +or a tin cup, or something to boil in. The chops can be broiled over +the coals." + +"On what?" asked Ralph. + +"You can get a pointed stick and toast them, if there is no other way, +sir. And you need not make fun of my supper; the chops are very nice +ones, and I have wrapped them up in oiled silk, so that they will not +grease the other things." + +"Oh, don't talk any more about them," exclaimed Ralph. "It makes me too +dreadfully hungry." + +"If it is a cottage," remarked Miriam, looking reflectively out of the +window, "I cannot get it out of mind that there will be all sorts of +kitchen things hanging around the old-fashioned fireplace. That would be +very nice and convenient, but--" + +"You hope it is not a cottage?" said her brother. + +"Well," answered Miriam, presently, "home is home, and I made up my mind +to be perfectly satisfied with it whatever kind of house it may be. It +seems to me that a real home ought to be like parents and relations; +we've got them, and we can't change them, and we never think of such a +thing. We love them quite as they are. But I cannot help hoping, just a +little, that it is not a cottage. The only ones I have ever been in smelt +so much of soapsuds." + +It was now quite dark, and the road appeared to be growing rougher. Every +now and then they jolted over a big stone, or sunk into a deep rut. Ralph +let down the front window. + +"Are we nearly there?" he asked of the driver. + +"Yes, sir," said the man; "we are on the place now." + +"You don't mean," exclaimed Miriam, "that this is our road!" + +"It's a good deal washed just here," said the man, "by the heavy rains." + +Presently the road became smoother and in a few minutes the +carriage stopped. + +"I am trembling all over," said Miriam, "with thinking of being at home, +and with not an idea of what it is like." + +In a moment they were standing on a broad flagstone. Although it was +dark, they could see the outline of the house before them. + +"Ralph," whispered Miriam, drawing close to her brother, "it is not a +cottage." Without waiting for a reply she went on: "Ralph," she said, her +hands trembling as they held his arm, "it is lordly." + +"I had some sort of an idea like that myself," he answered; "but, my +dear, don't you think it will be well to keep this man until we go inside +and see what sort of accommodations we shall find? Perhaps we may be +obliged to go back to the town." + +Miriam immediately began to ascend the broad steps of the piazza. + +"Come on, Ralph," she said, "and please don't talk like that." + +Her brother laughed, paid the driver and dismissed him. + +"Now, little girl," he cried, "we have burned our ships, and must take +what we shall find." + +"Oh, Ralph," cried Miriam, "I couldn't have gone back. If there are +floors to the rooms, they will do to sleep on for to-night." + +At this moment a wide front door opened, revealing a colored woman +holding a lamp. + +"Good evenin'," said she; "walk in." + +When Ralph and Miriam had entered, the woman looked out the open door. + +"Is you all?" she asked. + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph. + +The woman hesitated a moment, looked out again, and then closed the door. + +"Would you like to go to your rooms afore supper?" she asked. + +The brother and sister were so absorbed in gazing about them, that they +did not hear the question. The lamp, still in the woman's hand, gave a +poor and vacillating light, but they could see a wide, long hall, tall +doors opening on each side, some high-backed chairs, and other +dark-colored furniture. + +"Yer rooms is ready," continued the woman; "ye can take yer pick of them. +Supper'll be on the table the minute ye come down. Ye'd better take this +lamp, sir, and thar's another one in the upper hall. I expect ye two is +brother and sister. Ye're alike as two pins of different sizes." + +"You're right," said Ralph, holding up the lamp, and looking about him; +"but please tell me, where are the stairs?" + +"Oh, yer open that glass door right in front of ye," said the woman. "I'd +go with yer, but I smell somethin' bilin' over now." + +Opening the glass door, they saw before them a narrow staircase in +two flights. + +"Stairs shut up in a room of their own," said Ralph, as they ascended. +"Did you ever see anything like this before?" + +"I never saw anything like anything before," said Miriam, in a low, +reverent voice. + +On the floor above they found another wide hall, and four or five +open doors. + +"There is your lamp," said Ralph to his sister; "take the first room you +come to, and to-morrow we will pick and choose." + +"Who would have thought," said Miriam, "that a woman--" + +"Don't let us think or talk of her now," interrupted her brother. "To +hurry down to supper is our present business." + +When the two went downstairs, they found the colored woman standing by an +open door in the rear of the hall. + +"Supper's ready, sir," said she, and they entered the dining-room. + +It was a large and rather sparely furnished room, but Miriam and Ralph +took no note of anything except the table, which stood in the middle of +the floor, lighted by a hanging lamp. It was a large table and arranged +for eight people with chairs at every place. The woman gave a little +laugh, as she said:-- + +"I reckon you all may think this is a pretty big table for two people, +an' one not growed up, but you see I didn't know nothin' about the size +of the family, an' Mike he didn't know nothin' either. I'm Phoebe, Mike's +wife, an' I ain't got nothin' in the world to do with this house, for +mostly I go out to service in the town, but I'm here now; and of course +we didn't want you all to come an' find nothin' to eat, an' no beds made, +an' as you didn't write no orders, sir, we had just to do the best we +could accordin' to our own lights. I reckoned there would be the gem'en +and his wife, an' perhaps two growed-up sons, though Mike, he was +doubtful about the growed-up sons, especially as to thar bein' two of +them. Then I reckoned thar'd be a darter, just about your age, Miss, an' +then there'd be two younger chillen, one a boy an' one a girl, an' a +gov'ness for these two. Of course I didn't know whether the gov'ness was +in the habit of eatin' at your table or not, but I reckoned that this +time, comin' so late, you'd all eat at the same table, an' I put a plate +an' a cheer for her. An' Mike went ter town, an' got groc'ries an' things +enough for to-night and tomorrow, an' as everything was ready I just left +everything as it was. I reckoned you wouldn't want ter wait until I'd sot +the whole table over again." + +"By no means," cried Ralph, and down they sat, Ralph at one end of the +long table, and Miriam at the other. It was a good supper; beefsteak, an +omelet, hot rolls, fried potatoes, coffee, tea, preserved fruit, and all +on the scale suited to a family of eight. + +When Phoebe had retired to the kitchen, presumably for additional +supplies, Miriam stretched her arms over the table. + +"Think of it, Ralph," she said, "this is our supper. The first meal we +ever truly owned." + +They had not been long at the table when they were startled by the loud +ringing of the door-bell. + +"'Pon my word," ejaculated Phoebe, "it's a long time since that bell's +been rung," and setting down a plate of hotter biscuit, with which she +had been offering temptations, she left the room. Presently she returned, +ushering in Dr. Tolbridge. + +Briefly introducing himself, the doctor welcomed the brother and sister +to the neighborhood of Thorbury, and apologized for the extreme +promptness of his call. + +"I heard you had arrived," he said, "from a hackman I met on the road, +and having made a visit near by I thought I would look in on you. It +might be days before I should again have a chance. But don't let me +disturb your supper; I beg that you will sit down again." + +"And I beg you, sir," said Ralph, "to sit down with us." + +"Well," said the doctor, smiling, "I am hungry, and my own supper-time is +passed. You seem to have plenty of room for a guest." + +"Oh, yes, indeed, sir," said Miriam, who had already taken a fancy to the +doctor's genial face. "Phoebe thought we were a large family, and you can +take the seat of one of the grown-up sons, or the daughter's chair, or +the place that was intended for either the little boy or little girl, or +perhaps you would like the governess' seat." + +At this Phoebe turned her face to the wall and giggled. + +"A fine imagination," said the doctor, "and what is better, a bountiful +meal. Please consider me, for the present, the smallest boy, who might +naturally be supposed to have the biggest appetite." + +"It would have been funnier," said Miriam, gravely, "if you had been the +governess." + +The supper was a lively one; the three appetites were excellent; the +doctor was in his jolliest mood, and Ralph and Miriam were delighted with +him. On his part, he could not help looking upon it in the light of a +joke--an agreeable one, however--that these two young people, one of them +a mere child, should constitute the new Cobhurst family. He had known +that the property had gone to an unmarried man who was in business, and +had not thought of his coming here to live. + +"And now," said the doctor, as they rose from the table, "I must go. My +wife will call on you very soon, and in the meantime, what is there that +I can do for you?" + +"I think," answered Miriam, looking about her to see that Phoebe was not +in the room, "that it would be very nice if you could get us a new man. +We like the woman well enough, but the man is awful." + +The doctor looked at her, astonished. + +"Do you mean Mike?" he asked, "the faithful Mike, who has been in charge +here ever since Mr. Butterwood took to travelling about for the good of +his rheumatisms? Why, my dear young lady, the whole country looks upon +Mike as a pattern man-of-all-work. He may be getting a little cranky and +independent in his notions, for he has been pretty much his own master +for years, but I am sure you could find no one to take his place who +would be more trustworthy or so generally useful." + +Ralph was about to explain that it was only the appearance of the man to +which his sister objected, but she spoke for herself. + +"Of course, we oughtn't always to judge people by their looks," she said, +"but in my thoughts about our home, I never connected it with such a very +shabby person. But then, if he is an old family servant, he may be the +very kind of a man the place needs." + +"Oh, I advise you to stick to Mike, by all means," said the doctor, "and +to Phoebe, too, if she will stay with you. But I think she prefers the +town to this somewhat secluded place." + +"A good omen," said Ralph, as he closed the door after the doctor. "As a +neighbor, I believe that man is at the head of his class, and I am very +glad that he happened to be the first one who came to see us." + +"Well," said Miriam, "we haven't seen the others yet, and I am glad that +we don't know whether this doctor is homeopathic or allopathic, so that +we can get started in liking him before we know whether we approve of his +medicines or not." + +"Upon my word," cried Ralph, "I never knew that you had opinions about +the different medical schools. Did they teach you that sort of thing at +Mrs. Stone's?" + +"I suppose I can have opinions without having them taught to me, can't +I?" she answered. "I saw a lot of sickness among the girls, and I am +homeopathic." + +"Stuff," exclaimed Ralph, "I don't believe you ever took any medicine in +your life." + +"I have not taken much," answered Miriam, "but I have taken enough to +settle it in my mind that I am never going to take any more of the +same sort." + +"And they were not little sugar pills?" + +"No, indeed they were not," said Miriam, very decidedly. + +"I've made a fire in the parlor," said Phoebe, coming in, "if you all +want to sit there afore you go to bed." + +"I don't want to sit anywhere," cried Miriam, "and I am crazy to get a +peep out of doors. Come on, Ralph, just for a minute." + +Ralph followed her out on the piazza. + +"It's awfully dark," said Miriam, "but if we walk carefully, I think we +can get far enough away from the house to look up at it, and find out a +little what it looks like." + +They groped their way across the driveway, and on to the grass beyond. + +"We can see a good deal of it against the sky!" exclaimed Miriam. "What +tall pillars! It looks like a Greek temple in front. And from what I can +make out, it's pretty much all front." + +"I suppose it is a regular old-fashioned house," said her brother, +"with a Grecian portico front, and perhaps another at the back. But you +must come in now, for you have on neither hat nor wrap." And he took +her by the hand. + +"It isn't cold," said Miriam, "and oh, Ralph, look up at the stars. Those +are our stars, every one of them." + +Ralph laughed, as he led her into the house. + +"Yes, indeed," she insisted, "we own all the way down, and all the way +up." + +"Now then," said Miriam, when they had closed the door behind them, "how +shall we explore the house? Shall we each take a lamp, or will candles +be better?" + +"Little girl!" exclaimed her brother, "I had no idea that you were such a +bunch of watch springs. It is nearly nine o'clock, and after the day's +work that you have done, it is time you were in bed. House exploring can +be done to-morrow." + +"Yes, indeed, Miss," said Phoebe, who stood by, anxious to shut up the +house and retire to her own domicile, "and I will go up into your room +with you and show you about things." + +Half an hour after this, Miriam came out of her bedroom, holding a bit of +lighted candle in her hand. She was dressed, with the exception of her +shoes. Softly she advanced to the foot of the stairs which led to the +floor above. + +"They are partly my stairs," she said to herself, as she paused for a +moment at the bottom of the step. "Ralph told me that he considered the +place as much mine as his, and I have a right to go up. I cannot go to +sleep without seeing what is up here. I never imagined such a third floor +as this one." + +In less than a minute, Miriam was slowly creeping along the next floor of +the house, which was indeed an odd one. For it was nothing more than a +gallery, broader at the ends than the sides, with a railed open space, +through which one could look down to the floor below. Some of the doors +were open and she peeped into the rooms, but saw nothing which induced +her to enter them. Having made the circuit of the gallery, she reached a +narrow staircase which wound still higher upward. + +"I must go up," she said; "I cannot help it." + +Arrived at the top of these stairs, Miriam held up her candle and looked +about her. She was in a great, wide, magnificent, glorious garret! Her +soul swelled. To own such a garret was almost too much joy! It was the +realization of a thousand dreams. + +Slowly advancing, she beheld fascinations on every side. Here were old +trunks, doubtless filled with family antiquities; there was a door +fastened with a chain and a padlock--there must be a key to that, or the +lock could be broken; in the dim light at the other end of the garret, +she could see what appeared to be a piled-up collection of boxes, chests, +cases, little and big, and all sorts of old-fashioned articles of use and +ornament, doubtless every one of them a treasure. A long musket, its +stock upon the floor, reclined against a little trunk covered with +horse-hair, from under the lid of which protruded the ends of some dusty +folded papers. + +"Oh, how I wish Ralph were here, and that we had a lamp. I could spend +the night here, looking at everything; but I can't do it now with this +little candle end." + +At her feet was a wooden box, the lid of which was evidently unfastened, +for it lay at an angle across the top. + +"I will look into this one box," she said, "and then I will go down." + +She knelt down, and with the candle in her right hand, pushed aside the +lid with her left. From the box there grinned at her a human skull, +surrounded by its bones. She started back. + +"Uncle Butterwood," she gasped and tried to rise, but her strength and +senses left her, and she fell over unconscious, upon the floor. The +candle dropped from her hand, and, fortunately, went out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PANNEYOPATHY + + +About ten o'clock the next morning, Mike, in his little wagon, rattled up +to the door of Dr. Tolbridge. + +The doctor was not at home, but his wife came out. + +"That young girl!" she exclaimed. "Why, what can be the matter with her?" + +"I dunno, ma'am," answered Mike. "Phoebe told me just as the wagon got +there with the boxes an' trunks, an' nobody but me to help the man +upstairs with 'em, an' said I must get away to the doctor's jes' as fast +as I could drive. She said somethin' about her sleepin' in the garret and +ketchin' cold, but she wouldn't let me stop to ax no questions. She said +the doctor was wanted straight off." + +"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "that he is not here, but he +said he was going to stop and see Miss Panney. I can't tell you any +other place to which he was going. If you drive back by the Witton road, +you may find him, or, if he has not yet arrived, it might be well to +wait for him." + +Arrived at the Witton house, Mike saw Miss Panney, wrapped in a heavy +shawl and wearing a hood, taking her morning exercise on the piazza. + +"They want the doctor already!" she exclaimed in answer to Mike's +inquiries. "Who could have thought that? And he left here nearly half +an hour ago. His wife will send him when he gets home, but there is no +knowing when that will be. However, she must have somebody to attend +to her. Mike, I will go myself. I will go with you in your wagon. Wait +one minute." + +Into the house popped Miss Panney, and in a very short time returned, +carrying with her an umbrella and a large reticule made of brown plush, +and adorned with her monogram in yellow. One of the Witton girls came +with her, and assisted her to the seat, by the side of Mike. + +"Now then," said she, "get along as fast as you can. I shall not mind +the jolts." + +"Phoebe," said Miss Panney, as she entered the Cobhurst door, "it's a +long time since I have seen you, and I have not been in this house for +eight years. I hope you will be able to tell me something about this +sudden sickness, for Mike is as stupid as a stone post, and knows +nothing at all." + +"Now, Miss Panney," said Phoebe, speaking very earnestly, but in a low +voice, "I can't say that I can really give you the true head and tail of +it, for it's mighty hard to find out what did happen to that young gal. +All I know is that she didn't come down to breakfast, and that Mr. +Haverley went up to her room hisself, and he knocked and he knocked, and +then he pushed the door open and went in, and, bless my soul, Miss +Panney, she wasn't there. Then he hollered, and me and him, we sarched +and sarched the house. He went up into the garret by hisself, for you may +be sure I wouldn't go there, but he was just wild, and didn't care where +he went, and there he found her dead asleep on the floor, and a livin' +skeleton a sittin' watchin' her." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Miss Panney; "he never told you that." + +"That's the pint of what I got out of him, and you know, Miss Panney, +that that garret's hanted." + +Miss Panney wasted no words in attempting to disprove this assertion. + +"He found her asleep on the floor?" said she. + +"Yes, Miss Panney," answered Phoebe, "dead asleep, or more likely, to my +mind, in a dead faint, among all the drafts and chills of that garret, +and in her stockin' feet. She had tuk up a candle with her, but I'spect +the skeleton blowed it out. And now she's got an awful cold, so she can +scarcely breathe, and a fever hot enough to roast an egg." + +At this moment Ralph appeared in the hall. The visitor immediately went +up to him. + +"Mr. Haverley, I suppose. I am Miss Panney. I am a neighbor, and I came +to see if I could do anything for your sister before the doctor arrives. +I am a good nurse, and know all about sicknesses;" and she explained why +she had come and the doctor had not. + +When Miriam turned her head and saw the black eyes of Miss Panney gazing +down upon her, she pushed herself back in the bed, and exclaimed,-- + +"Are you his wife?" + +"No, indeed," said Miss Panney, "I wouldn't marry him for a thousand +pounds. I am your nurse. I am going to give you something nice to make +you feel better. Put your hand in mine. There, that will do. Keep +yourself covered up, even if you are a little warm, and I will come back +presently with the nicest kind of a cup of tea." + +"It's a cold and a fever," she said to Ralph, outside the chamber door. +"The commonest thing in the world. But I'll make her a hot drink that +will do her more good than anything else that could be given her, and +when the doctor comes, he'll tell you so. He knows me, and what I can do +for sick people. I brought everything that's needed in my bag, and I am +going down to the kitchen myself. But how in the world did she come to +stay on the garret floor all night? She couldn't have been in a swoon all +that time." + +"No," answered Ralph; "she told me she came to her senses, she didn't +know when, but that everything was pitch dark about her, and feeling +dreadfully tired and weak, she put her head down on her arm, and tried +to think why she was lying on such a hard floor, and then she must +have dropped into the heavy sleep in which I found her. She was tired +out with her journey and the excitement. Do you think she is in danger, +Miss Panney?" + +"Don't believe it," said the old lady. "She looks strong, and these young +things get well before you know it." + +"Now, my young lady," said Miss Panney, as she stood by Miriam's bedside, +with a steaming bowl, "you may drink the whole of this, but you mustn't +ask me for any more, and then you may go to sleep, and to-morrow morning +you can get up and skip around and see what sort of a place Cobhurst is +by daylight." + +"I can't wait until to-morrow for that," said Miriam, "and is that tea or +medicine?" + +"It's both, my dear; sit up and drink it off." + +Miriam still eyed the bowl. "Is it homeopathic or allopathic?" she asked. + +"Neither the one or the other," was the discreet reply; "it is +Panneyopathic, and just the thing for a girl who wants to get out of bed +as soon as she can." + +Miriam looked full into the bright black eyes, and then took the bowl, +and drank every drop of the contents. + +"Thank you," she said. "It is perfectly horrid, but I must get up." + +"Now you take a good long nap, and then I hope you will feel quite able +to go down and begin to keep house for your brother." + +"The first thing to do," said Miriam, as Miss Panney carefully adjusted +the bedclothes about her shoulders, "is to see what sort a house we have +got, and then I will know how I am to keep it." + +When her young patient had dropped asleep, Miss Panney went downstairs. +In the lower hall she found Ralph walking up and down. + +"There is no earthly need of your worrying yourself about your sister. I +am sure the doctor would say she is in no danger at all," said the old +lady. "And now, if you don't mind, I would like very much to go up into +the garret and see what frightened your sister." + +"It was apparently a box of human bones," he said, "but I barely glanced +at it. You are perfectly welcome to go up and examine." + +It was a quarter of an hour before Miss Panney came down from the +garret, laughing. + +"I studied anatomy on those bones," she said. "Every one of them is +marked in ink with its name. I had forgotten all about them. Mathias' +brother Reuben was a scientific man, and he used the skeleton. That is, +he studied all sorts of things, though he never did anything worth +notice. I took a look round the garret," she continued, "and I tell you, +sir, that if you care anything for family relics and records, you have +them to your heart's content. I expect there are things up there that +have not been touched for fifty years." + +"I should suppose," said Ralph, "that the servants of the house would +have had some curiosity about such objects, if no one else had." + +Miss Panney laughed. + +"There hasn't been a servant in that garret for many a long year," said +she. "You evidently don't know that this house is considered haunted, +particularly the garret; and I suppose that box of bones had a good deal +to do with the notion." + +"Well," said Ralph, "no doubt the ghosts have been a great protection to +our family treasures." + +"And to your whole house," said the old lady; "watch-dogs would be +nothing to them." + +Miss Panney and Ralph ate dinner together. The old lady would not leave +until the doctor had come; and the conversation was an education to young +Haverley in regard to the Butterwood family and the Thorbury +neighborhood. At the conclusion of the meal, Phoebe came into the room. + +"I went upstairs to see how she was gettin' on, sir," she said; "an' she +was awake, an' she made me get a pencil an' paper out of her bag, an' she +sent you this note." + +On a half-sheet of note-paper, he read the following: "Dear Ralph, I went +upstairs and looked at the third floor and a good deal of the garret, +without you being with me. I really want to be perfectly fair, and so you +must not stop altogether from looking at things until I am able to go +with you. I think good things to look at by yourself would be stables and +barnyards, and the lower part of barns. Please do not go into haylofts, +nor into the chicken-yard, if there is one. You might keep your eyes on +the ground until you get to these places and then look up. If there are +horses and cows, don't tell me anything about them when you see me. +Don't tell me anything. I think I shall be well to-morrow, perhaps +to-night. Miriam." + +Ralph laughed heartily, and read the note aloud. + +"I should say," said Miss Panney, "that that girl has a good deal more +conscience than fever. She ought to have slept longer, but as she is +awake I will go up and take a look at her; while you can blindfold +yourself, if you like, and go out to the barns." + +The doctor did not arrive until late in the afternoon, and it was +nearly half an hour after he had gone up to his patient before he +reported to Ralph. + +"She is all right," said he, "but I am not." + +The young man looked puzzled. + +"By which I mean," continued the other, "that Miss Panney's concoction +and the girl's vigorous young nature have thrown off the effects of her +nap in the haunted garret, and that I am an allopathist, whereas I ought +to be a homeopathist. The young lady and I have had a long conversation +on that subject and others. I find that she is a Nonconformist." + +"What?" asked Ralph. + +"I use the word in its political and social, as well as its religious +meaning. That is a sister worth taking care of, sir. Lock her up in her +room, if she inclines to any more midnight wanderings." + +"And now, having finished with the young patient," said Miss Panney, who +was waiting with her bonnet and shawl on, "you can take up an old one, +and I will get you to drive me home on your way back to Thorbury." + +The doctor had been very much interested in Miriam, and talked about +her to Miss Panney as he drove her to the Witton house, which, by the +way, was a mile and a half out of his direct road. The old lady +listened with interest, but did not wish to listen very much; she +wished to talk of Ralph. + +"I like him," she said; "he has pluck. I have had a good deal of talk +with him, and he told me frankly that he could not afford to put money +into the place and farm it as it ought to be farmed. But he was born a +country man, and he has the heart of a country man; and he is going to +see if he can make a living out of it for himself and his sister." + +"Which may result," said the doctor, "in his becoming a mere farm laborer +and putting an end to his sister's education." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the old lady. "Young fellows--college men--go out +on ranches in the West and do that sort of thing, and it lowers them in +nobody's estimation. Let young Haverley call his farm a ranch and rough +it. It would be the same thing. I've backed him up strongly. It's a manly +choice of a manly life. As for his sister, she has been so long at school +that it will do her more good to stop than to go on." + +"It will be hard scratching," said the doctor, "to get a living out of +Cobhurst, and I hope these young people will not come to grief while they +are making the experiment." + +Miss Panney smiled without looking at her companion. + +"Don't be afraid of that," she said presently; "I have pretty good +reason to think that he will get on well enough." + +That evening Miriam sat up in bed with a shawl about her shoulders and +discoursed to her brother. + +"Now, Ralph," said she, "you must have seen a lot of things about our +place, because, when I came to think of it, it was plain enough that you +couldn't help it. I am crazy to see what you saw, but you mustn't tell me +anything except what I ask you. Please be particular about that." + +"Go on," said Ralph. "You shall not have a word more or less than +you want." + +"Well, then, is your bed comfortable?" + +"Perfectly," he answered. + +"And have you pillows enough?" + +"More than I want," said Ralph. + +"And are the doors and windows all fastened and locked downstairs?" + +He laughed. "You needn't bother yourself about that sort of thing. I will +attend to the locking up." + +She slightly knitted her brows in reflection. "Now then, Ralph," said +she, "I am coming to it, and mind, not a word more than I ask for. Have +we any horses?" + +"We have," he replied. + +"How many?" + +"Four." + +Miriam clasped her hands and looked at her brother with sparkling eyes. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "four horses!" + +"Two of them," he began, but she stopped him in an instant. + +"Don't tell me another thing," she cried; "I don't want to know what +color they are, or anything about them. To-morrow I shall see them for +myself. Oh, Ralph, isn't it perfectly wonderful that we should have four +horses? I can't stand anything more just now, so please kiss me +good-night." + +About an hour afterwards Ralph was awakened by a knock at his door. + +"Who is there?" he cried. + +The door opened a very little way. + +"Ralph," said Miriam, through the crack, "is there one of our horses +which can be ridden by a lady?" + +Ralph's first impulse was to throw a pillow at the door, but he +remembered that sisters were different from fellows at school. + +"Can't say anything about that until we try," said he; "and now, Miriam, +please go to bed and to sleep." + +Miriam shut the door and went away, but in her dreams she rode a prancing +charger into Miss Stone's schoolyard, and afterwards drove all the girls +in a tally-ho. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS + + +The next day was a very fine one, and as the roads were now good, and the +air mild, Miss Panney thought it was quite time that she should begin to +go about and see her friends without depending on the vehicles of other +people, so she ordered her little phaeton and her old roan mare, and +drove herself to Thorbury to see Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"The doctor tells me," said that good lady, "that you take great interest +in those young people at Cobhurst." + +"Indeed I do," said Miss Panney, sitting up as straight in her easy chair +as if it had been a wooden bench with no back; "I have been thinking +about him all the morning. He ought to be married." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. + +"Dear me, Miss Panney," said she, "it is too soon to begin thinking of a +wife for the poor fellow. He has not had time to feel himself at home." + +"My motto is that it is never too soon to begin, but we won't talk about +that. Kitty, you are the worst matchmaker I ever saw." + +"I think I made a pretty good match for myself," said the other. + +"No, you didn't. The doctor made that, and I helped. You had nothing to +do with the preliminary work, which is really the most important." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I am sure I am very much obliged," she said. + +"You ought to be. And now while we are on the subject, let me ask you: +Have you a new cook?" + +"I have," replied the other, "but she is worse than the last one." + +Miss Panney rose to her feet, and walked across the room. + +"Kitty Tolbridge!" she exclaimed, "this is too bad. You're trifling +with the greatest treasure a woman can have on this earth--the life of a +good husband." + +"But what am I to do?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. "I have tried everywhere, +and I can get no one better." + +"Everywhere," repeated Miss Panney. "You mean everywhere in Thorbury. You +oughtn't to expect to get a decent cook in this little town. You should +go to the city and get one. What you want is to keep the doctor well, no +matter what it costs. He doesn't look well, and I don't see how he can be +well, on the kind of cooking you can get in Thorbury." + +Mrs. Tolbridge flushed a little. + +"I am sure," she said, "that Thorbury people, for generations and +generations, have lived on Thorbury cooking, and they have been just as +healthy as any other people." + +"Ah, Kitty, Kitty!" exclaimed the old lady, "you forget how things have +changed. In times gone by the ladies of the household superintended all +the cooking, and did a good deal of it besides; and they brought +something into the kitchen that seldom gets into it now, and that is +brains. A cook with a complete set of brains might be pretty hard to get, +and would cost a good deal of money. But it is your duty, Kitty, to get +as good a one as you can. If she has only a tea-cup full of brains, it +will be better than none at all. Don't mind the cost. If you have to do +it, spend more on cooking, and less on raw material." + +This was all Miss Panney had to say on the subject, and shortly +she departed. + +After brief stops at the post-office and one or two shops, she drove to +the abode of the Bannisters. Miss Panney tied her roan to the +hitching-post by the sidewalk, and went up the smooth gravel path to the +handsome old house, which she had so often visited, to confer on her own +affairs and those of the world at large with the father and the +grandfather of the present Bannister, attorney-at-law. + +She and the house were all that were left of those old days. Even the +widow was the second wife, who had come into the family while Miss Panney +was away from Thorbury. + +Mrs. Bannister was not at home, but Miss Dora was, and that entirely +satisfied the visitor. When the blooming daughter of the house came +hurrying into the parlor, Miss Panney, who had previously raised two of +the window shades, gazed at her earnestly as she saluted her, and nodded +her head approvingly. Then the two sat down to talk. + +They talked of several things, and very soon of the Cobhurst people. + +"Oh, have you seen them?" exclaimed Dora. "I have, but only for a minute +at the station, and then I didn't know who they were, though I was told +afterward. They seemed to be very nice." + +"They are," said Miss Panney. "The girl is bright, and young Mr. Haverley +is an exceedingly agreeable gentleman, just the sort of man who should be +the owner of Cobhurst. He is handsome, well educated, and spirited. I saw +a good deal of him, for I spent the best part of yesterday there. I +should say that your brother would find him a most congenial neighbor. +There are so few young men hereabout who are worth anything." + +"That is true," replied Dora, with a degree of earnestness, "and I know +Herbert will be delighted. I am sure he would call if he were here, but +he is away, and doesn't expect to be back for a week." + +It crossed Miss Panney's mind that a week's delay in a matter of +this sort would not be considered a breach of courtesy, but she did +not say so. + +"It would be friendly if Mrs. Bannister and you were to call on the +sister, before long," she remarked. + +"Of course we will do it," said Dora, with animation. "I should think a +young lady would be dreadfully lonely in that great house, at least at +first, and perhaps we can do something for her." + +Although Miss Panney had seen Miriam only in bed, she had a strong +conviction that she was not yet a young lady, but this, like the other +reflection, was not put into words. + +It was not noon when Miss Panney left the Bannister house, and the mind +of Miss Dora, which had been renewing itself within her with all the +vigor and freshness which Dr. Tolbridge had predicted, was at a loss how +to occupy itself until dinner-time, which, with the Bannisters and most +of the gentlefolk of Thorbury, was at two o'clock. + +Dora put on her prettiest hat and her wrap and went out. She wanted to +call on somebody and to talk, and suddenly it struck her that she would +go and inquire about the kitten she had given Dr. Tolbridge, and carry +it a fresh ribbon. She bought the ribbon, and found Mrs. Tolbridge and +the kitten at home. + +When the ornament had been properly adjusted, Miss Dora put the kitten +upon the floor and remarked: "Now there is some comfort in doing a thing +like that for Dr. Tolbridge, because he will be sure to notice it. There +are some gentlemen who hardly ever notice things you do for them. Herbert +is often that way." + +"Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Tolbridge, who had turned toward a desk at +which she had been writing. "The doctor is a man I can recommend, and I +hope you may get a husband as good as he is. And by the way, if you ever +do get such a one, I also hope you will be able to find some one who will +cook his meals properly. I find that I cannot do that in Thorbury, and I +am going to try to get one in the city. I am now writing an advertisement +which I shall put into several of the papers, and day after to-morrow I +shall go down to see the people who answer." + +"Oh, that will be fun," cried Dora; "I wish I could go with you." + +"And why not?" + +"Why not, indeed?" replied the young lady, and the matter was +immediately arranged. + +"And while we are talking about servants," said Dora, whose ebullient +mind now found a chance to bring in the subject which was most prominent +within it, "I should think that the new people at Cobhurst would find it +troublesome to get the right sort of service." + +"Perhaps so," replied Mrs. Tolbridge, "although I have a fancy they are +going to have a very independent household, at least for a time. It is a +great pity that the young girl was taken sick just as she entered into +her new home." + +"Sick!" exclaimed Dora; "I never heard of that." + +"Oh, it wasn't anything serious," said the other, her thoughts turning +to the advertisement, which she wished to get into the post-office +before dinner, "and I have no doubt she is quite well now, but still it +was a pity." + +"Indeed it was!" exclaimed Dora, in tones of the most earnest sympathy +and commiseration. "It was the greatest kind of a pity, and I think I +really ought to call on her very soon." And in this mood she went home +to dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK + + +Very early that afternoon Miss Dora Bannister was driven to Cobhurst to +call upon the young lady who had been taken sick, and who ought not to be +neglected by the ladies of Thorbury. Dora had asked her stepmother to +accompany her, but as that good lady seldom made calls, and disliked long +drives, and could not see why it was at all necessary for her to go, Dora +went alone. + +When the open carriage with its pair of handsome grays had bumped over +the rough entrance to the Cobhurst estate, and had drawn up to the front +of the house, Miss Dora skipped lightly out, and rang the door-bell. She +rang twice, and as no one came, and as the front door was wide open, she +stepped inside to see if she could find any one. She had never been in +that great wide hall before, and she was delighted with it, although it +appeared to be in some disorder. Two boxes and a trunk were still +standing where they had been placed when they were brought from the +station. She looked through the open door of the parlor, but there was no +one there, and then she knocked on the door of a closed room. + +No answer came, and she went to the back door of the long hall and looked +out, but not a soul could she see. This was discouraging, but she was not +a girl who would willingly turn back, after having set out on an errand +of mercy. There was a door which seemed to lead to the basement, and on +this she knocked, but to no purpose. + +"This is an awfully funny house," she said to herself. "If I could see +any stairs, I might go up a little way and call. Surely there must be +somebody alive somewhere." Then the thought suddenly came into her mind +that perhaps want of life in the particular person she had come to see +might be the reason of this dreadful stillness and desertion, and without +a moment's hesitation she stepped out of the back door into the open air. +She could not stay in that house another second until she knew. Surely +there must be some one on the place who could tell her what had happened. + +Approaching the gardener's house, she met Phoebe just coming out +of the door. + +"Bless my soul!" exclaimed the woman of color. "Is that you, Miss Dora? +Mike hollered to me that a kirridge had come, and I was a-hurryin' up to +the house to see who it was." + +"I came to call on Miss Haverley," said Dora. "How is she, Phoebe, and +can I see her?" + +"Oh, she's well enough, and you can see her if you can find her; but to +save my soul, Miss Dora, I couldn't tell you where she is at this minute. +You never did in all your life see anybody like that Miss Miriam is. Why, +true as I speak, the very sparrers in the trees isn't as wild as she is. +From sunrise this morning she has been on the steady go. You'd think, to +see her, that the hens and the cows and the colts and even the old apple +trees was all silver and gold and diamonds in her eyes, she takes on so +about 'em. I can't keep up with her, I can't. The last time I see her, +she was goin' into the barn, and I reckon she's thar yit, huntin' hens' +nests. If you like, I'll go look for her, Miss Dora." + +Phoebe had often worked for the Bannister family, and Dora knew her to be +one of the slowest movers among mankind; besides, the idea of calling +upon a young lady who was engaged in looking for hens' nests in a barn +was an exceedingly attractive one. It had not been long since Dora had +taken much delight in that sort of thing herself. + +"You needn't trouble yourself, Phoebe," she said; "I will walk over to +the barn. I would a great deal rather do that than wait in the house. If +I don't see her there, I will come back and leave our cards." + +"You might as well do that," said Phoebe, laughing, "for if she isn't +thar, she's as like as not at the other end of the farm in the field +where the colts is." + +The Cobhurst barn was an unusual, and, indeed, a remarkable structure. It +was not as old as the house, although it had been built many years ago by +Mathias Butterwood, in a fashion to suit his own ideas of what a barn +should be. + +It was an enormous structure, a great deal larger than the house, and +built of stone. It stood against a high bluff, and there was an entrance +on the level to the vast lower story, planned to accommodate Mr. +Butterwood's herd of fine cattle. A little higher up, a wide causeway, +supported by an arch, led into the second story, devoted to horses and +all kinds of vehicles, and still higher, almost on a level with the +house, there was a road, walled on each side, by which the loaded +haywagons could be driven in upon the great third floor of the barn. + +When Dora Bannister reached this barn, having followed a path which led +to the lower story, she looked in at an open door, and received the +impression of vast extent, emptiness, and the scent of hay. She entered, +looking about from side to side. At the opposite end of the great room, +was an open door through which the sun shone, and as she approached it, +she heard a voice and the cracking of cornstalks outside. + +Standing in the doorway, she looked out, and saw a large barnyard, the +ground near the door covered with fresh straw which seemed to have been +recently strewn there. The yard beyond was a neglected and bad-looking +expanse, into which no young lady would be likely to penetrate, and from +which Dora would have turned away instantly, had she not seen, crossing +it, a young man and a horse. + +The young man was leading the horse by its forelock, and was walking +in a sidewise fashion, with his back toward Dora. The horse, a +rough-looking creature, seemed reluctant to approach the barn, and its +leader frequently spoke to it encouragingly, and patted its neck, as +he moved on. + +This young man was tall and broad-shouldered. He wore a light soft hat, +which well suited his somewhat curling brown hair. A corduroy suit and +high top boots, in which he strode fearlessly through the debris and +dirt of the yard, gave him, in Dora's eyes, a manly air, and she longed +for him to turn his face toward her, that she might speak to him, and +ask him where she would be apt to find his sister--for of course this +must be Mr. Haverley. + +But he did not turn; instead of that he now backed himself toward the +stable door, pulling the horse after him. Dora was pleased to stand and +look at him; his movements struck her as athletic and graceful. He was +now so near that she felt she ought to make her presence known. She +stepped out upon the fresh straw, intending to move a little out of his +way and then accost him, but he spoke first. + +"Good," he said; "don't you want to take hold of this mare by the +forelock, as I am doing, and keep her here until I get a halter?" And as +he spoke he turned toward Miss Bannister. + +His face was a handsome one, fully equal in quality to his height, his +shoulders, and his grace of movement. His blue eyes opened wide at the +sight of the young lady in gray hat and ostrich plumes, fashionable +driving costume edged with fur, for the spring air was yet cool, and +bright silk parasol, for the spring sun was beginning to be warm. With +almost a stammer, he said:-- + +"I beg your pardon, I thought it was my sister I heard behind me." + +"Oh, it doesn't matter in the least," said Dora, with a charming smile; +"I am Miss Bannister. I live in Thorbury, and I came to call on your +sister. Phoebe told me she thought she was out here, and so I came to +look for her myself. A barn is so charming to me, especially a great one +like this, that I would rather make a call in it than in the house." + +"I will go and look for her," said Ralph. "She cannot be far away." And +then he glanced at the horse, as if he were in doubt what to do with it +at this juncture. + +"Oh, let me hold your horse," cried Dora, putting down the parasol by the +side of the barn and approaching; "I mean while you go and get its +halter. I am ever so fond of horses, and like to hold them and feed them +and pet them. Is this one gentle?" + +"I don't know much about her," said Ralph, laughing, "for we have just +taken possession of the place, and are only beginning to find out what +animals we own, and what they are like. This old mare seems gentle +enough, though rather obstinate. I have just brought her in out of the +fields, where she has been grazing ever since the season opened." + +"She looks like a very good horse, indeed," said Dora, patting the +tangled hair on the creature's neck. + +"I brought her in," said Ralph, "thinking I might rub her down, and get +her into proper trim for use. My sister is much disappointed to find that +out of our four horses, two are unbroken colts, and one is in constant +use by the man. I think if I can give her a drive, even if it is behind a +jogging old mare, it will set up her spirits again." + +"You must let me hold her," said Dora, "while you get the halter, and +then you can tie her, while we go and look for your sister. Don't +think of such a thing as letting her go, after all your trouble in +catching her." + +"If I could get her into these stables," said Ralph, "I might shut her +in, but I don't think that I shall be able to pull her through that +doorway in this fashion." + +Without further ado, Miss Dora put out her right hand, in its neatly +fitting kid glove, and took hold of the mare's forelock, just above +Ralph's hand. The young man demurred an instant, and then, laughing, ran +into the stable to find a halter. His ownership of everything was so +fresh that he forgot that the lower part of the barn was occupied by the +cow stables--which the old mare did not wish to enter, or even approach. +He hurriedly rummaged here and there among the stalls, finding nothing +but some chains and rope's ends fastened to the mangers, but in his hasty +search he could not help thinking how extremely ingenuous and neighborly +was that handsome girl outside. + +Dora held firmly the forelock of the mare, and patted the good animal's +head with the other hand; but, strange to say, the animal did not like +being held by the young lady, and gradually she backed, first toward the +side of the barn, and then out toward the open yard. Dora attempted to +restrain her, but in spite of all her efforts was obliged to follow the +retrogressive animal. + +"It's my gloves she doesn't like," she said to herself; "I know some +horses can't bear the smell of kid, but I can't take them off now, and I +will not let go. I wish he would hurry with the halter." + +Little by little poor Dora was pulled forward, until she reached a spot +which was at the very end of the clean straw, and yet not very far from +the wall of the barn. Here she vigorously endeavored to make a stand, +for if she went another step forward her dainty boots would sink into +mud and dirt. + +"Whoa!" she called out to the mare; "whoa, now!" + +At the sound of these words, plainly uttered in trouble, Ralph, who +happened to be in a stall next to the barn wall looking over some ropes, +glanced through a little window about four feet from the ground, and saw +Miss Bannister very close to him, tottering on the edge of the straw, and +just about to let go of the mare, or step into the mire. Before he could +shape words to tell her to release her dangerous hold, or make up his +mind to rush around to the door to go to her assistance, she saw him, and +throwing out her left hand in his direction, she exclaimed:-- + +"Oh, hold me, please." + +Instantly Ralph put out his long arm, and caught her by the hand. + +"Thank you," said Miss Dora. "In another moment she would have pulled me +into the dirt. Perhaps now I can make her walk up on the clean straw. +Come, come," she continued persuasively to the mare, which, however, +obstinately declined to advance. + +"Let go of her, I beg of you, Miss Bannister," cried Ralph. "It will hurt +you to be pulled on two sides in this way." + +Dora was a strong young girl, and so far the pulling had not hurt her at +all. In fact, she liked it, at least on one side. + +"Oh, I couldn't think of letting her go," she replied, "after all the +trouble you have had in catching her. The gate is open, and in a minute +she would be out in the field again. If she will only make a few steps +forward, I am sure I can hold her until you come out. If you would draw +me in a little bit, Mr. Haverley, perhaps she would follow." + +Ralph did not in the least object to hold the smoothly gloved little hand +in his own, but he was really afraid that the girl would be hurt, if she +persisted in this attempt to make a halter of herself. If he released his +hold, he was sure she would be jerked face forward into the mire, or at +least be obliged to step into it; and as for the mare, it was plain to be +seen that she did not intend to come any nearer the shed. He therefore +doubled his entreaties that she would let the beast go, as it made no +difference whether she ran into the fields or not. He could easily catch +her again, or the man could. + +"I don't want to let her go," said Dora. "Your sister would have a pretty +opinion of me when she is ready to take her drive, and finds that I have +let her horse run away; and, besides, I don't like to give up things. Do +you like to give up things? I am sure you don't, for I saw you bringing +this horse into the yard, and you were very determined about it. If I let +her go, all your determination and trouble will have been for nothing. I +should not like that. Come, come, you obstinate creature, just two steps +forward. I have some lumps of sugar in my pocket which I keep to give to +our horses, but of course I can't get it with both my hands occupied. I +wish I had thought of the sugar. By the way, the sugar is not in my +pocket; after all, it is in this little bag on my belt; I don't suppose +you could reach it." + +Ralph stretched out his other hand, but he could not reach the little +leather bag with its silver clasp. If he could have jumped out of the +window, he would have done so without hesitation, but the aperture was +not large enough. He could not help being amused by the dilemma in which +he was placed by this young lady's inflexibility. He did not know a girl, +his sister not excepted, whom, under the circumstances, he would not have +left to the consequences of what he would have called her obstinacy. But +there was something about Dora--some sort of a lump of sugar--which +prevented him from letting go of her hand. + +"I never saw a horse," said she, "nor, indeed, any sort of a living +thing, which was so unwilling to come to me. You are very good to hold me +so strongly, and I am sure I don't mind waiting a little longer, until +some one comes by." + +"There is no one to come by," exclaimed Ralph, "and I most earnestly +beg of you--" + +At this moment the horse began to back; Miss Dora's fingers nervously +clasped themselves about Ralph's hand, which pressed hers more closely +and vigorously than before. There was a strong pull, a little jerk, and +the forelock of the mare slipped out of Miss Dora's hand. + +"There!" she cried; "that is exactly what I knew would happen. The wicked +creature has galloped out of the gate." + +The young lady now made a step or two nearer the barn, Ralph still +holding her hand, as if to assist her to a better footing. + +She did not need the assistance at all, but she looked up gratefully, as +Ralph loosened his grasp, and she gently withdrew her hand. + +"Thank you ever so much," she said. "If it had not been for you, I do not +know where I should have been pulled to; but it is too bad that the horse +got off, after all." + +"Don't mention it," said Ralph. "I'll have her again in no time," and +then he ran outside to join her. + +"Now, sir," said she, and giving him no time to make any proposition, "I +should like very much to find your sister, and see her, for at least a +few moments before I go. Do you think she is anywhere in this glorious +old barn? Phoebe told me she was." + +"Is this a girl or a woman?" thought Ralph to himself. The charming and +fashionable costume would have settled this question in the mind of a +lady, but Ralph felt a little puzzled. But be the case what it might, it +would be charming to go with her through the barn or anywhere else. As +they walked over the lower floor of the edifice toward the stairway in +the corner, Dora remarked:-- + +"How happy your cows ought to be, Mr. Haverley, to have such a wide, cool +place as this to live in. What kind of cows have you?" + +"Indeed, I don't know," said Ralph, laughing. "I haven't had time to make +their acquaintance. I have seen them, only from a distance. They are but +a very small herd, and I am sure there are no fancy breeds among them." + +"Do you know," said Dora, as they went up the broad steps, sprinkled with +straw and hayseed, "that what are called common cows are often really +better than Alderneys, or Ayrshires, and those sorts? And this is the +second story! How splendid and vast! What do you have here?" + +"On the right are the horse stables," said Ralph, "and in those stalls +there should be a row of prancing chargers and ambling steeds; and on the +great empty floor, which you see over here, there should be the +carriages,--the coupe, the family carriage, the light wagon, the pony +phaeton, the top buggy, and all the other vehicles which people in the +country need. But, alas! you only see that old hay-wagon, which I am sure +would fall to pieces if horses attempted to pull it, and that affair +with two big wheels and a top. I think they call it a gig, and I believe +old Mr. Butterwood used to drive about in it." + +"Indeed he did," said Dora. "I remember seeing him when I was a little +girl. It must be very comfortable. I should think your sister and you +would enjoy driving in that. In a gig, you know, you can go +anywhere--into wood-roads, and all sorts of places where you couldn't +turn around with anything with four wheels. And how nice it is that it +has a top. I've heard it said that Mr. Butterwood would always have +everything comfortable for himself. Perhaps your sister is in some of +these smaller rooms. What are they?" + +"Oh, harness rooms, and I know not what," answered Ralph, and then he +called out:-- + +"Miriam!" His voice was of a full, rich tone, and it was echoed from the +bare walls and floors. + +"If my sister is in the barn at all," said Ralph, "I think she must be on +the floor above this, for there is the hay, and the hens' nests, if there +are any--" + +"Oh, let us go up there," said Dora; "that is just where we ought to +find her." + +There was not the least affectation in Dora's delight, as she stood on +the wide upper floor of the barn. Its great haymows rose on either side, +not piled to the roof as before, but with enough hay left over from +former years to fill the air with that delightful scent of mingled +cleanliness and sweetness which belongs to haylofts. At the back was a +wide open door with a bar across it, out of which she saw a +far-stretching landscape, rich with varied colors of spring, and through +a small side door at the other end of the floor, which there was level +with the ground, came a hen, clucking to a brood of black-eyed, downy +little chicks, which she was bringing in for the night to the spacious +home she had chosen for them. + +Whether or not Dora would have enjoyed all this as much had she been +alone is a point not necessary to settle, but she was a true country +girl, and had loved chickens, barns, and hay from her babyhood up. She +stepped quickly to the open door, and she and Ralph leaned upon the bar +and looked out upon the beautiful scene. + +"How charming it will be," she said, "for your sister to come here and +sit with her reading or sewing. She can look out and see you, almost +wherever you happen to be on your farm." + +"I don't believe Miriam will be content to sit still and watch anybody," +replied Ralph. "I wonder where she can be;" and twice he called her, once +directing his voice up toward the haymows and once out into the open air. +Dora still leaned on the bar and looked out. + +"It would be nice if we could see her walking somewhere in the fields," +she said, and she and Ralph both swept the landscape with their eyes, but +they saw nothing like a moving girl in shade or sunshine. + +Miss Bannister was not in the least embarrassed, as she stood here with +this young man whom she had met such a little time before. She did not +altogether feel that she was alone with him. The thought that any moment +the young man's sister might make one of the party, produced a sensation +not wholly unlike that of knowing she was already there. + +The view of the far-off hills with the shadows across their sides and +their forest-covered tops glistening in the sunshine was very +attractive, and there was a blossomy perfume in the outside air which +mingled charmingly with the hay-scents from within; but Dora felt that +it would not do to protract her pleasure in these things, especially as +she noticed signs of a slight uneasiness on the face of her companion. +Probably he wanted to go and look for his sister, so they walked slowly +over the floor of the great hayloft, and out of the little door where +the hen and chickens had come in, and Ralph accompanied the young lady +to her carriage. + +"I am sure I shall find Thomas and the horses fast asleep," said she, +"for I have made a long call, or, at least, have tried to make one, and +you must tell your sister that my stay proves how much I wanted to see +her. I hope she will call on me the first time she comes to Thorbury." + +"Oh, I shall drive her over on purpose," said Ralph, and, with a smile, +Miss Bannister declared that would be charming. + +When the carriage had rolled upon the smooth road outside of Cobhurst, +Miss Dora drew off her left glove and looked at her wrist. "Dear me!" +said she to herself, "I thought he would have squeezed those buttons +entirely through my skin, but I wouldn't have said a word for anything. I +wonder what sort of a girl his sister is. If she resembles him, I know I +shall like her." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED + + +A few days after Miss Bannister's call at Cobhurst, it was returned by +Ralph and Miriam, who drove to Thorbury with the brown mare and the gig. +To their disappointment, they found that the young lady was not at home, +and the communicative maid informed them that she had gone to the city to +help Mrs. Tolbridge to get a new cook. + +They went home by the way of the Witton house, and there they found +Miss Panney at home. The old lady was very much interested in Miriam, +whom she had not before seen out of bed. She scrutinized the girl from +hat to boots. + +"What do you want me to call you, my dear?" she asked. "Don't you +honestly think you are too young to be called Miss Haverley?" + +"I think it would be very well if you were to call me Miriam," said the +other, who was of the opinion that Miss Panney was old enough to call any +woman by her Christian name. + +The conversation was maintained almost entirely by the old lady and +Ralph, for Miriam was silent and very solemn. Once she broke in with a +question:-- + +"What kind of a person is Miss Bannister?" she asked. Miss Panney gave a +short laugh. + +"Oh, she is a charming person," she answered, "pretty, good-humored, +well educated, excellent taste in dress and almost everything, and very +lively and pleasant to talk to. I am very fond of her." + +"I am afraid," said Miriam, "that she is too old and too fine for me," +and turning to a photograph album she began to study the family +portraits. + +"Your sister's ideas are rather girlish as yet," said Miss Panney, "but +housekeeping at Cobhurst will change all that;" and then she went on with +her remarks concerning the Haverley and Butterwood families, a subject +upon which Ralph was not nearly so well informed as she was. + +When the brother and sister had driven away, Miss Panney reflected that +the visit had given her two pieces of information. One was that the +Haverley girl was a good deal younger than she had thought her, and the +other was that Mrs. Tolbridge was really trying to get a new cook. The +first point she did not consider with satisfaction. + +"It is a pity," she thought, "that Dora and his sister are not likely to +be friends. That would help wonderfully. This schoolgirl, probably +jealous of the superiority of grown-up young ladies, may be very much in +the way. I am sorry the case is not different." + +In regard to the other point the old lady was very well satisfied, and +determined to go soon to see what success Mrs. Tolbridge had had. + +About the middle of the next forenoon, Miss Panney tied her horse in +front of the Tolbridge house and entered unceremoniously, as she was in +the habit of doing. She found the doctor's wife standing by the +back-parlor window looking out on the garden. When the old lady had +seated herself she immediately proceeded to business. + +"Well, Kitty," said she, "what sort of a time did you have yesterday?" + +"A very discouraging and disagreeable one," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "I might +just as well have stayed at home." + +"You don't mean to say," asked Miss Panney, "that nobody answered your +advertisement?" + +"When I reached the rooms of the Non-Resident Club, where the applicants +were to call--" + +"That's the first time," interrupted Miss Panney, "that I ever heard that +that Club was of the slightest use." + +"It wasn't of any use this time," said the other; "for although I found +several women there who came before the hour appointed, and at least a +dozen came in the course of the morning, not one of them would do at +all. I was just now looking out at our asparagus bed, and wondering if +any of those beautiful heads would ever be cooked properly. The woman in +our kitchen knows that she is to depart, and she is in a terribly bad +temper, and this she puts into her cooking. The doctor is almost out of +temper himself. He says that he has pretty good teeth, but that he +cannot bite spite." + +Miss Panney now appeared to be getting out of temper. + +"I must say, Kitty," she said, in a tone of irritation, "that I do not +understand how it was that out of the score or more of applicants, you +could not find a better cook than the good-for-nothing creature you have +now. What was the matter with them?" + +"Everything, it seemed to me," answered Mrs. Tolbridge. "Now here +is Dora. She was with me yesterday, and you can ask her about the +women we saw." + +Miss Panney attached no value whatever to the opinions, in regard to +domestic service, of the young lady who had just entered the room, and +she asked her no questions. Miss Bannister, however, did not seem in the +least slighted, and sat down to join the chat. + +"I suppose," said Miss Panney, sarcastically, "that you tried to find +that woman that the doctor used to say he wanted: a woman who had +committed some great crime, who could find no relief from her thoughts +but in constant work, work, work." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. + +"No, I did not look for her; nor did I try to find the person who was of +a chilly disposition and very susceptible to draughts. We used to want +one of that sort, but she should be a waitress. But, seriously, there +were objections to every one of them. Religion was a great obstacle. The +churches of Thorbury are not designed for the consciences of city +servants. There was no Lutheran Church for the Swedes; and the fact that +the Catholic Church was a mile from our house, with no street-cars, +settled the question for most of them. The truth is, none of them wanted +to come into the country, unless they could get near Newport or some +other suitable summer resort." + +"But there was that funny old body in a shawl," said Dora, "who made no +objections to churches, or anything else in fact, as soon as she found +out your husband wasn't in trade." + +"True," replied Mrs. Tolbridge; "she didn't object, but she was +objectionable." + +Miss Panney was beginning to fasten her wrap about her. She had heard +quite enough, but still she deigned to snap out:-- + +"What was the matter with her?" + +"Oh, she was entirely out of the question," said the lady of the house. +"In the first place, she was the widow of a French chef, or somebody of +that sort, and has a wonderful opinion of her abilities. She understands +all kinds of cooking,--plain or fancy." + +"And even butter," said Dora; "she said she knew all about that." + +"Yes; and she understood how butcher's meat should be cut, and the +choosing of poultry, and I know not what else besides." + +"And only asked," cried Dora, laughing, "if your husband was in trade; +and when she heard that he was a professional man, was perfectly +willing to come." + +Miss Panney turned toward Mrs. Tolbridge, sat up very straight in her +chair, and glared. + +"Was not this the very woman you were looking for? Why didn't you +take her?" + +"Take her!" repeated Mrs. Tolbridge, with some irritation. "What could I +do with a woman like that? She would want enormous wages. She would have +to have kitchen maids, and I know not whom, besides, to wait on her; and +as for our plain style of living, she could not be expected to stand +that. She would be entirely out of place in a house like this." + +"Her looks were enough to settle her case," said Dora. "You never saw +such an old witch; she would frighten the horses." + +"Kitty Tolbridge," said Miss Panney, severely, "did you ask that woman if +she wanted high wages, if she required kitchen maids, if she would be +satisfied to cook for your family?" + +"No, I didn't," said the other; "I knew it was of no use. It was plain to +see that she would not do at all." + +"Did you get her address?" + +"Yes," said Dora; "she gave me a card as we were going out, and insisted +on my taking it. It is in my bag at home." + +Miss Panney was silent for a moment, and was evidently endeavoring to +cool her feelings so as to speak without indignation. + +"Kitty Tolbridge," she said presently, "I think you have deliberately +turned your back on one of the greatest opportunities ever offered to a +woman with a valuable husband. There are husbands who have no value, and +who might as well be hurried to their graves by indigestion as in any +other way, but the doctor is not one of these. Now, whatever you know of +that woman proves her to be the very person who should be in your kitchen +at this moment; and whatever you have said against her is all the result +of your imagination. If I were in your place, I would take the next +train for the city; and before I closed my eyes this night, I would know +whether or not such a prize as that were in my reach. I say prize because +I never heard of such a chance being offered to a doctor's wife in a +country town. Now what are you going to do about it, Kitty? If your +regard for your husband's physical condition is not sufficient to make +you look on this matter as I do, think of his soul. If you don't believe +that true religion and good cooking go hand in hand, wait a year and then +see what sort of a husband you will have." + +Mrs. Tolbridge felt that she ought to resent this speech, that she ought +to be, at least, a little angry; but when she was a small girl, Miss +Panney was an old woman who sometimes used to scold her. She had not +minded the scoldings very much then, and she could not bring herself to +mind this scolding very much now. Occasionally she had scolded Miss +Panney, and the old lady had never been angry. + +"I shall not go to the city," she said, with a smile; "but I will write, +and ask all the questions. Then our consciences will be easier." + +Miss Panney rose to her feet. + +"Do it, I beg of you," she said, "and do it this morning. And now, Dora, +if you walked here, I will drive you home in my phaeton, for you ought to +send that address to Mrs. Tolbridge without delay." + +As the old roan jogged away from the doctor's house, Miss Panney remarked +to her companion, "I needn't have hurried you off so soon, Dora, for it +is three hours before the next mail will leave; but I did want Mrs. +Tolbridge to sit down at once and write that letter without being +interrupted by anything which you might have come to tell her. Of course, +the sooner you send her the address, the better." + +"The boy shall take it to her as soon as I get home," said Dora. + +She very much disliked scoldings, and had not now a word to say against +the old body who would frighten the horses. Desirous of turning the +conversation in another direction without seeming to force it, "It seems +to me," she said, "that Mr. and Miss Haverley ought to have somebody +better to cook for them than old Phoebe. I have always looked upon her as +a sort of a charwoman, working about from house to house, doing anything +that people hired her to do." + +"That's just what those Haverleys want," said Miss Panney. "At present, +everything is charwork at their place, and as to their food, I don't +suppose they think much about it, so that they get enough. At their age +they can eat anything." + +"How old is Miss Haverley?" asked Dora. + +"Miss Haverley!" repeated Miss Panney, "she's nothing but a girl, with +her hair down her back and her skirts a foot from the ground. I call +her a child." + +A shadow came over the soul of Miss Bannister. + +Would it be possible, she thought, to maintain, with a girl who did not +yet put up her hair or wear long skirts, the intimacy she had hoped to +maintain with Mr. Haverley's sister? + +Very much the same idea was in the mind of Miss Panney, but she thought +it well to speak encouragingly. "I wish, for her brother's sake, the girl +were older," said she: "but housekeeping will help to mature her much +more quickly than if she had remained at school. And as for school," she +added, "it strikes me it would be a good thing for her to go back +there--after awhile." + +Dora thought this a good opinion, but before she could say anything on +the subject, she lifted her eyes, and beheld Ralph Haverley walking down +the street toward them. He was striding along at a fine pace, and looked +as if he enjoyed it. + +"I declare," ejaculated Miss Bannister, "here he is himself. We shall +meet him." + +"He? who?" and Miss Panney looked from side to side of the road, and the +moment she saw the young man, she smiled. + +It pleased her that Dora should speak of him as "he," showing that the +brother was in her mind when they had been talking of the sister. + +Miss Panney drew up to the sidewalk, and Ralph stopped. + +He was greatly pleased with the cordial greeting he received from +the two ladies. These Thorbury people were certainly very sociable +and kind-hearted. The sunlight was on Dora's soul now, and it +sparkled in her eyes. + +"It was my other hand that I gave you when I met you before," she said, +with a charming smile. + +"Yes," said Ralph, also with a smile, "and I think I held it an +uncommonly long time." + +"Indeed you did," said Dora; and they both laughed. + +Miss Panney listened in surprise. + +"You two seem to know each other better than I supposed," she said. "When +did you become acquainted?" + +"We have met but once before," replied Dora, "but that was rather a +peculiar meeting." And then she told the story of her call at Cobhurst, +and of the mare's forelock, and the old lady was delighted with the +narration. She had never planned a match which had begun so auspiciously. +These young people must be truly congenial, for already a spirit of +comradeship seemed to have sprung up between them. But of course that +sort of thing could not be kept up to the desirable point without the +assistance of the sister. In some way or other, that girl must be +managed. Miss Panney determined to give her mind to it. + +With Ralph standing close by the side of the phaeton, the reins lying +loose on the back of the drowsy roan, and Dora leaning forward from her +seat, so as to speak better with the young man, the interview was one of +considerable length, and no one seemed to think it necessary that it +should be brought to a close. Ralph had come to attend to some business +in the town, and had preferred to walk rather than drive the brown mare. + +"Did you ever catch that delightfully obstinate creature?" cried Dora. +"And did you give your sister a drive in the gig?" + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph, "I easily caught her again, and I curried and +polished her up myself, and trimmed her mane and tail and fetlocks, and +since she has been having good meals of oats, you can hardly imagine +what a sleek-looking beast she has become. We drove her into Thorbury +when Miriam returned your call. I am sorry you were not at home, so that +you might have seen what a change had come over Mrs. Browning." + +Dora looked inquiringly. + +"That is the name that Miriam has given to the mare." + +Dora laughed. + +"If Mrs. Browning is one of your sister's favorite poets," she said, +"that will be a bond between us, for I like her poems better than I do +her husband's, at least I understand them better. I wonder if your sister +will ever ask me to take a drive with her in the gig? I could show her so +many pretty places." + +"Indeed she will," said Ralph; "but you mustn't think we are going to +confine ourselves to that sedate conveyance and the old mare. The colts +are old enough to be broken, and when they are ready to drive we shall +have a spanking team." + +"That will be splendid," exclaimed Dora. "I cannot imagine anything more +inspiriting than driving with a pair of freshly broken horses." + +Miss Panney gave a little sniff. + +"That sort of thing," she said, "sometimes exalts one's spirit so high +that it is never again burdened by the body; but all horses have to be +broken, and people continue to live." + +She smiled as she thought that the pair of young colts which she had +taken in hand seemed to give promise of driving together most +beautifully. But it would not do to stop here all the morning, and as +there was no sign that Dora would tire of asking questions or Ralph of +answering them, the old lady gathered up the reins. + +"You mustn't be surprised, Mr. Haverley," she said, "if the ladies of +Thorbury come a good deal to Cobhurst. We have more time than the +gentlemen, and we all want to get well acquainted with your sister, and +help her in every way that we can. Miss Bannister is going to drive over +very soon and stop for me on the way, so that we shall call on her +together." + +When the young man had bowed and departed, and the old roan was +jogging on, Dora leaned back in the phaeton and said to herself, that, +without knowing it, Miss Panney was an angel. When they should go +together to Cobhurst, the old lady would be sure to spend her time +talking to the girl. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON + + +Two days after her lecture to Mrs. Tolbridge, Miss Panney was again in +Thorbury, and, having finished the shopping which brought her there, she +determined to go to see the doctor's wife, and find out if that lady had +acted on the advice given her. She had known Mrs. Tolbridge nearly all +that lady's life, and had always suspected in her a tendency to neglect +advice which she did not like, after the adviser was out of the way. She +did not wish to be over-inquisitive, but she intended, in some quiet way, +to find out whether or not the letter about which she had spoken so +strongly had been written. If it had not, she would take time to make up +her mind what she should do. Kitty Tolbridge and she had scolded each +other often enough, and had had many differences, but they had never yet +seriously quarrelled. Miss Panney did not intend to quarrel now, but if +she found things as she feared they were, she intended to interfere in a +way that might make Kitty uncomfortable, and perhaps produce the same +effect on herself and the doctor; but let that be as it might, she +assured herself there were some things that ought to be done, no matter +who felt badly about it. + +She found the doctor's wife in a state of annoyance and disquiet, and was +greatly surprised to be told that this condition had been caused by a +note which had just been brought to her from her husband, stating that he +had been called away to a distant patient, and would not be able to come +home to luncheon. + +"My dear Kitty!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "I should have thought you were +thoroughly used to that sort of thing. I supposed a country doctor would +miss his mid-day meal about half the time." + +"And so he does," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "but I was particularly anxious +that he should lunch at home to-day, and he promised me that he would." + +"Well," said the old lady, "you will have to bear up under it as well +as you can, and I hope they will give him something to eat wherever he +is going." + +Mrs. Tolbridge seemed occupied, and did not answer. + +"Miss Panney," she said suddenly, "will you stay and take lunch with me? +I should like it ever so much." + +"Are you going to have strawberries?" asked Miss Panney. + +Mrs. Tolbridge hesitated a little, and then replied, "Yes, we shall +have them." + +"Very well, then, I'll stay. The Witton strawberries are small and sour +this year; and I haven't tasted a good one yet." + +During the half hour which intervened before luncheon was announced, Miss +Panney discovered nothing regarding the matter which brought her there. +She would ask no questions, for it was Kitty Tolbridge's duty to +introduce the subject, and she would give her a chance; but if she did +not do it in a reasonable time, Miss Panney would not only ask questions, +but state her opinion. + +When she sat down at the pretty round table, arranged for two persons, +Miss Panney was surprised at the scanty supply of eatables. There was the +tea-tray, bread and butter, and some radishes. Her soul rose in anger. + +"Slops and fruit," she said to herself. "She isn't worthy to have any +sort of a husband, much less such a one as she has." + +There was a vase of flowers in the centre of the table; but although Miss +Panney liked flowers, at meal-times she preferred good honest food. + +"Shall I give you a cup of tea?" asked her hostess. + +The old lady did not care for tea, but as she considered that she could +not eat strawberries on an empty stomach, she took some, and was just +about to cast a critical eye on the bread, when a maid entered, bearing a +dish containing two little square pieces of fish, covered with a greenish +white sauce, and decorated with bits of water-cress. + +As soon as Miss Panney's eyes fell upon this dish, she understood the +situation--Mrs. Tolbridge had actually fallen back upon Kipper. Kipper +was a caterer in Thorbury, and a good one. He was patronized by the +citizens on extraordinary festive occasions, but depended for his custom +principally upon certain families who came to the village for a few +months in the summer, and who did not care to trouble themselves with +much domestic machinery. + +"Kipper, indeed," thought the old lady; "that is the last peg. A +caterer's tid-bit for a hard-working man. If she would have her fish +cooked properly in her own house, she could give him six times as much +for half the money. And positively," she continued, in inward speech, as +the maid presented the bread and butter, "Kipper's biscuit! I suppose she +is going to let him provide her with everything, just as he does for +those rich people on Maple Avenue." + +The fish was very good, and Miss Panney ate every morsel of it, but made +no remark concerning it. Instead of speaking of food, she talked of the +doings of the Methodist congregation in Thorbury, who were planning to +build a new church, far more expensive than she believed they could +afford. She was engaged in berating Mr. Hampton, the minister, who, she +declared, was actually encouraging his flock in their proposed +extravagance, when the maid gave her a clean plate, and handed her a dish +of sweetbread, tastefully garnished with clover blossoms and leaves. Miss +Panney stopped talking, gazed at the dish for a minute, and then helped +herself to a goodly portion of its contents. + +"Feathers," she said to herself; "no more than froth and feathers to a +man who has been working hard half a day, and as to the extravagance of +such flimsy victuals--" She could keep quiet no longer, she was obliged +to speak out, and she burst into a tirade against people who called +themselves pious, and yet, wilfully shutting their eyes, were about to +plunge into wicked wastefulness. She ate as she talked, however, and she +had brought up John Wesley, and was about to give her notion of what he +would have had to say about a fancy church for a Thorbury congregation, +when the plates were again changed, and a dainty dish of sirloin steak, +with mushrooms, and thin slices of delicately browned potatoes, was put +before her. + +"Well!" inwardly ejaculated the old lady, "something substantial at last. +But what money this meal must have cost!" + +As she cut into the thick, juicy piece of steak, which had been broiled +until it was cooked enough, and not a minute more, Miss Panney's mind +dropped from the consideration of congregational finances into that of +domestic calculation. She knew Kipper's charges; she knew everybody's +charges. + +"That dish of fish," she said to herself, "was not less than sixty cents; +the sweetbreads cost a dollar, if they cost a cent; this sirloin, with +mushrooms, was seventy-five cents; that, with the French biscuit, is two +dollars and a half for a family lunch for two people." + +Miss Panney did not let her steak get cold, for she could talk and eat at +the same time, and the founder of Methodism never delivered so scorching +a tirade against pomp and show in professors of religion as she gave +forth in his name. + +Mrs. Tolbridge had been very quiet during the course of the meal, but +she was now constrained to declare that she had nothing to do with the +plans for the new Methodist church, and, in fact, she knew very little +about them. + +"Some things concern all of us," retorted Miss Panney. "Suppose Bishop +White, when he was ordained and came back to this country, had found a +little village--" + +Her remarks were stopped by a dish of salad. The young and tender leaves +of lettuce were half concealed by a mayonnaise dressing. + +"This makes three dollars," thought Miss Panney, as she helped herself, +"for Kipper never makes any difference, even if you send your own lettuce +to be dressed." And then she went on talking about Bishop White, and what +he would have thought of a little cathedral in every country town. + +"But the Methodists do not have cathedrals," said Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"Which makes it all the worse when they try to build their +meeting-houses to look like them," replied the old lady. + +It was a long time since Miss Panney had tasted any mayonnaise dressing +as good as this. But she remembered that the strawberries were to come, +and did not help herself again to salad. + +"If one of the old Methodist circuit-riders," she said, "after toiling +over miles of weary road in the rain or scorching sun, and preaching +sometimes in a log meeting-house, sometimes in a barn, and often in a +private house, should suddenly come upon--" + +The imaginary progress of the circuit-rider was brought to a stop by the +arrival of the last course of the luncheon. From a pretty glass dish +uprose a wondrous structure. Within an encircling wall of delicate, +candied tracery was heaped a little mound of creamy frost, the sides of +great strawberries showing here and there among the veins and specks of +crimson juice. + +Miss Panney raised her eyes from this creation to the face of her +hostess. + +"Kitty," said she, "is this the doctor's birthday?" + +"No," answered Mrs. Tolbridge, with a smile; "he was born in January." + +"Yours then, perhaps?" + +Mrs. Tolbridge shook her head. + +"A dollar and a half," thought the old lady, "and perhaps more. Five +dollars at the very least for the meal. If the doctor makes that much +between meals, day in and day out, she ought to be thankful." + +The dainty concoction to which the blazing-eyed old lady now applied +herself was something she had never before tasted, and she became of the +opinion that Kipper would not get up a dish of that sort, and so much of +it, for less than two dollars. + +"There was a Methodist preacher," she said, spoonful after spoonful of +the cold and fruity concoction melting in her mouth as she spoke, "a +regular apostle of the poor, named Lorenzo Dow. How I would like to have +him here. He was a man who would let people know in trumpet tones, by day +and by night, what he thought of wicked, wasteful prodigality, no matter +how pleasant it might be, how easy it might be, or how proper in people +who could afford it. Is there to be anything more, Kitty Tolbridge?" + +The doctor's wife could not restrain a little laugh. + +"No," she said, "there is to be nothing more, unless you will take a +little tea." + +Miss Panney pushed back her chair and looked at her hostess. "Tea after a +meal like that! I should think not. If you had had champagne during the +luncheon, and coffee afterwards, I shouldn't have been surprised." + +"I did not order coffee," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "because we don't take it +in the middle of the day, but--" + +"You ordered quite enough," said her visitor, severely; "and I will say +this for Kipper, that he never got up a better meal, although--" + +"Kipper!" interrupted Mrs. Tolbridge. "Kipper had nothing to do with this +luncheon. It was prepared by my new cook. It is the first meal she has +given us, and I am so sorry the doctor could not be here to eat it." + +Miss Panney rose from her chair, and gazed earnestly at Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"What cook?" she asked, in her deepest tones. + +"Jane La Fleur," was the reply; "the woman you urged me to write to. I +sent the letter that afternoon. Yesterday she came to see me, and I +engaged her. And while we were at breakfast this morning, she arrived +with her boxes, and went to work." + +"And she cooked that meal? She herself made all those things?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "she even churned the butter and made the +biscuit. She says she is going to do a great deal better than this when +she gets things in order." + +"Better than this!" ejaculated Miss Panney. "Do you mean to say, Kitty +Tolbridge, that this sort of thing is going to happen three times a day? +What have you done? What sort of a creature is she? Tell me all about it +this very minute." + +Mrs. Tolbridge led the way to the parlor, and the two sat down. + +"Now," said the doctor's wife, "suppose you finish what you were saying +about the Methodist church, then--" + +Miss Panney stamped her foot. + +"Don't mention them!" she cried. "Let them build tower on tower, spire on +spire, crypts, picture galleries, altars, confessionals, if they like. +Tell me about your new cook." + +"It will take a long time to tell you all about her, at least all she +told me," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "for she talked to me more than an hour +this morning, working away all the time. Her name is Jane La Fleur, but +she does not wish any one to call her Jane. She would like the family to +use her last name, and the servants can do the same, or call her 'madam.' +She is the widow of two chefs, one a Florentine, named Tolati, and the +other a Frenchman, La Fleur. She acted as 'second' to each of these, and +in that way has thoroughly learned the art of Italian cooking, as well as +the French methods. She herself is English, and she has told me about +some of the great families she and her husbands lived with." + +"Kitty," said Miss Panney, "I should think she was trying to impose upon +you with a made-up story; but after that luncheon I will believe anything +she says about her opportunities. How in the world did you get such a +woman to come to you?" + +"Oh, the whole business of engaging her was very simple," answered +Mrs. Tolbridge. "Her last husband left her some money, and she came to +this country on a visit to relatives, but she loved her art so much, +she said--" + +"Did she call it art?" asked Miss Panney. + +"Yes, she did--that she felt she must cook, and she lived for some time +with a family named Drane, in Pennsylvania, with whom the doctor used +to be acquainted. She had a letter from them which fully satisfied me. +On her part she said she would be content with the salary I paid my +last cook." + +"Did she call it salary?" exclaimed the old lady. + +"That was the word she used," answered Mrs. Tolbridge, "and as I said +before, the only question she asked was whether or not my husband was +in trade." + +"What did that matter?" asked the other. + +"It seemed to matter a great deal. She said she had never yet lived with +a tradesman, and never intended to. She was with Mrs. Drane, the widow of +a college professor, for several months, and when the family found they +could no longer afford to keep a servant who could do nothing but cook, +La Fleur returned to her relatives, and looked for another position; but +not until I came, she said, had any one applied who was not in trade." + +"She must be an odd creature," said Miss Panney. + +"She is odder than odd," was the answer. At this moment the maid came in +and told Mrs. Tolbridge that the madam cook wanted to see her. The lady +of the house excused herself, and in a few minutes returned, smiling. + +"She wished to tell me," said she, "before my visitor left, that the +name of the 'sweet' which she gave us at luncheon is _la promesse_, being +merely a promise of what she is going to do, when she gets about her +everything she wants." + +"Kitty Tolbridge," said Miss Panney, solemnly, "whatever happens, don't +mind that woman's oddity. Keep your mind on her cooking, and don't +consider anything else. She is an angel, and she belongs to the very +smallest class of angels that visit human beings. You may find, by the +dozen, philanthropists, kind friends, helpers and counsellors, the most +loving and generous; but a cook like that in a Thorbury family is as rare +as--as--as--I can't think of anything so rare. I came here, Kitty, to +find out if you had written to that woman, and now to discover that the +whole matter has been settled in two days, and that the doors of Paradise +have been opened to Dr. Tolbridge--for you know, Kitty, that the Garden +of Eden was truly Paradise until they began to eat the wrong things--I +feel as if I had been assisting at a miracle." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE + + +It was toward the end of June that Miss Dora Bannister returned from a +fortnight's visit to some friends at the seashore, and she had been home +a very little while, when she became convinced that her most important +duty was to go to see that young girl at Cobhurst. It seemed very +strange that so long a time had passed since the arrival of the +Haverleys into the neighborhood, and she had never yet seen his sister. +In Miss Bannister's mind there was a central point, about which +clustered everything connected with Cobhurst: that point was a young +man, and the house was his house, and the fields were his fields, and +the girl was his sister. + +It so happened, the very next day, that Herbert Bannister found it +necessary to visit a lady client, who lived about four miles beyond +Cobhurst, and when Dora heard this she was delighted. Her brother should +take her as far as Cobhurst with him; they should start early enough to +give him time to stop and call on Ralph Haverley, which he most certainly +ought to do, and then he could go on and attend to his business, leaving +her at Cobhurst. Even if neither the brother nor the sister were at home, +she would not mind being left at that charming old place. She would take +a book with her, for there were so many shady spots where she could sit +and read until Herbert came back. + +Herbert Bannister, whose mind was devoted to business and the happiness +of his sister, was well pleased with this arrangement, and about three +o'clock in the afternoon the buggy containing the two stopped in front of +the Cobhurst portico. + +The front door was open, and they could see through the hall and the open +back door into the garden beyond. + +Dora laughed as she said, "This is just what happened when I came here +before,--everything wide open, as though there were no flies nor dogs nor +strangers." + +Herbert got out and rang the bell: he rang it twice, but no one came. +Dora beckoned him to her. + +"It is of no use," she said; "that also happened when I came before. +They don't live in the house, at least in the daytime. But Herbert, +there is a man." + +At this moment, the negro Mike was seen at a little distance, hurrying +along with a tin pitcher in his hand. Herbert advanced, and called to +him, and Mike, with his pitcher, approached. + +"The boss," he said, in response to their inquiries, "is down in the big +meadow, helpin' me get in the hay. We tried to git extry help, but +everybody's busy this time o' year, an' he an' me has got to step along +pretty sharp to git that hay in before it rains. No, Miss, I dunno where +the young lady is. She was down in the hay-field this mornin', rakin', +but I 'spects she is doin' some sort of housework jes' now, or perhaps +she's in the garden. I'd go an' look her up, but beggin' your pardon, I +ain't got one minute to spare, the boss is waitin' for me now," and, +touching his shabby old hat, Mike departed. + +"What shall we do?" asked Herbert, standing by the buggy. + +"I think," said Dora, slowly and decisively, as if she had fully +considered the matter, "that you may as well go on, for I don't suppose +it would do to disturb Mr. Haverley now. I know that when people are +making hay, they can't stop for anything." + +"You are right," said her brother, with a smile; "hay-making the is like +drawing will of a rich man on his death-bed; it must be done promptly, +if it is done at all. I shall go on, of course, and you will go with +me?" + +"No, indeed," said Dora, preparing to get down from the buggy; "I would +not want to wait for you in that tiresome old horse-hair parlor of the +Dudleys. I should ever so much rather sit here, by myself, until you come +back. But of course I shall see her before long. Isn't it funny, Herbert? +I had to look for her when I came here before, and I suppose I shall +always have to look for her whenever I come." + +Her brother admitted that it was funny, and accepting her arrangement, +he drove away. Dora rang the bell, and stepped into the hall. "I will +wait here a little while," she said to herself, "then I will go to +Phoebe's house, and ask her where she is. If she does not know, I do not +in the least mind walking over to the hay-field, and calling to Mr. +Haverley. It would not take him three minutes to come and tell me where I +would better go to look for his sister." + +At this Miss Bannister smiled a little. She would be really glad to know +if Mr. Haverley would be willing to leave that important hay, and make +everything wait until he came to speak to her. As she stood, she looked +about her; on a table by the wall lay a straw hat trimmed with flowers, +and a pair of long gloves, a good deal soiled and worn. Dora's eyes +passed carelessly over these, and rested on another pair of gloves, +larger and heavier. + +"He hasn't driven much, yet," she said to herself, "for they look almost +new. I wonder when he will break his colts. Then, I suppose, he will +drive a good deal." + +Dora was a girl who noticed things, and turning to the other side of the +hall, she saw a larger table, and on it lay a powder-horn and a +shot-flask, while in the angle of the table and the wall there stood a +double-barrelled fowling-piece. This sight made her eyes sparkle; he must +like to hunt and shoot. That pleased her very much. Herbert never cared +for those things, but she thought a young man should be fond of guns and +dogs and horses, and although she had never thought of it before, she +now considered it a manly thing to be able to go out into the hay-field +and work, if it happened to be necessary. + +She went to the back door, and stood, looking out. There was nobody +stirring about Phoebe's house, and she asked herself if it would be worth +while to go over to it. Perhaps it might be as well to stroll toward the +hay-field. She knew where the great meadow was, because she had looked +over it when she had stood at the wide barn window with Mr. Haverley. He +had pointed out a good many things to her, and she remembered them all. + +But she did not go to the hay-field. Just as she was about to step out +upon the back porch, she heard a door open behind her, and turning, saw, +emerging from the closed apartment which contained the staircase, a +strange figure. The head was that of a young girl about fourteen, with +large, astonished blue eyes, and light brown hair hanging in a long plait +down her back, while her form was attired in a plum-colored silk gown, +very much worn, torn in some places, with several great stains in the +front of the skirt, and a long and tattered train. The shoulders were +ever so much too wide, the waist was ever so much too big, and the long +sleeves were turned back and rolled up. In her hand the figure held a +large glass bottle, from the mouth of which hung a short rubber tube, +ending in a bulbous mouth-piece. + +Dora could not suppress a start and an expression of surprise, but she +knew this must be Miriam Haverley, and advanced toward her. In a moment +she had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to introduce herself +and explain the situation. Miriam took the bottle in her left hand, and +held out her right to Dora. + +"I have been expecting you would call," she said, "but I had no idea you +were here now. The door-bell is in the basement, and I have been +upstairs, trying to get dough off my hands. I have been making bread, and +I had no idea it was so troublesome to get your hands clean afterwards; +but I expect my dough is stickier than it ought to be, and after that I +was busy getting myself ready to go out and feed a calf. Will you walk +into the parlor?" + +"Oh, no," cried Dora, "let me go with you to feed the calf; I shall like +that ever so much better." + +"It can wait just as well as not," said Miriam; "we can sit in the hall, +if you like," and she moved toward an old-fashioned sofa which stood +against the wall; as she did so, she stepped on the front of her +voluminous silk gown, and came near falling. + +"The horrid old thing!" she exclaimed; "I am always tripping over it," +and as she glanced at Dora the two girls broke into a laugh. "I expect +you think I look like a perfect guy," she said, as they seated +themselves, "and so I do, but you see the calf is not much more than a +week old, and its mother has entirely deserted it, and kicks and horns at +it if it comes near her. It got to be so weak it could scarcely stand up, +and I have adopted it, and feed it out of this bottle. The first time I +did it I nearly ruined the dress I had on, and so I went to the garret +and got this old gown, which covers me up very well, though it looks +dreadfully, and is awfully awkward." + +"To whom did it belong?" asked Dora. "It is made in such a queer +way,--not like really old-fashioned things." + +"I am sure I don't know to whom it belonged," said Miriam. "There are +all sorts of things in our garret,--except things that are good for some +particular purpose,--and this old gown was the best I could find to +cover me up. It looks funny, but then the whole of it is +funny,--calf-feeding and all." + +"Why do you have to make your own bread?" asked Dora. "Don't +Phoebe do that?" + +"Oh, Phoebe isn't here now. She went away nearly a week ago, and I do all +the work. I went to Thorbury and engaged a woman to come here; but, as +that was three days ago and she has not come yet, I think she must have +changed her mind." + +"But why did Phoebe leave you?" exclaimed Miss Bannister. "She ought to +be ashamed of herself, to leave you without any one to help you." + +"Well," replied Miriam "she said she wasn't regularly employed, anyway, +and there were plenty of cooks in the town that I could get, and that she +was obliged to go. You see, the colored church in Thorbury has just got a +new minister, and he has to board somewhere; and as soon as Phoebe heard +that, she made up her mind to take a house and board him; and she did it +before anybody else could get the chance. Mike, her husband, who works +for us, talked to her and we talked to her, but it wasn't of any use. I +think she considers it one of the greatest honors in the world to board a +minister. Mike does not believe in that sort of business, but he says +that Phoebe has always been in the habit of doing what she wants to, and +he is getting used to it." + +"But it is impossible for you to do all the work," said Dora. + +"Oh, well," replied Miriam, "some of it doesn't get done, and some of it +I am helped with. Mike does ever so much; he makes the fires, and carries +the heavy things, and sometimes even cooks. My brother Ralph helps, too, +when there is anything he can do, which is not often; but just now they +are so busy with their hay that it is harder upon me than it was before. +We have had soda biscuit and all that sort of thing, but I saw that Ralph +was getting tired of them; and to-day I thought I would try and make some +real bread,--though how it is going to turn out, I don't know." + +"Come, let us go out and feed the calf," said Dora; "I really want to see +how you do it. I have come to make you a good long call, you must know;" +and then she explained how her brother had left her, while he went on to +attend to his business. + +At this Miriam was much relieved. She had been thinking that perhaps she +would better go upstairs and take off that ridiculous silk dress, and +entertain her visitor properly during the rest of her call; but if Miss +Bannister was going to stay a good while, and if there was no coachman +outside to see her and her train, there was no reason why she should not +go and feed the calf, and then come back and put herself into the proper +trim for the reception of visitors. It seemed strange to her, but she was +positively sure that she would not have felt so much at ease with this +handsomely dressed young lady, if she herself had been attired in her +best clothes; but now they had met without its being possible for either +Miss Bannister or herself to make any comparisons of attire. The old, +draggled silk gown did not count one way or the other. It was simply a +covering to keep one's clothes clean when one fed a calf. When they +should return to the house, and she took off her old gown, she and her +visitor would be better acquainted, and their comparative opinions of +each other would not depend so much on clothes. Miriam was accustomed to +making philosophical reflections concerning her relations with the rest +of the world; and in regard to these relations she was at times very +sensitive. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TWO GIRLS AND A CALF + + +Having gone to the kitchen to fill the bottle with milk, which she had +set to warm, Miriam accompanied her guest to the barn. As she walked by +the side of Dora, with the bottle in one hand and the other holding up +her voluminous silk robe, it was well for her peace of mind that no +stately coachman sat upon a box and looked at her. + +In a corner of the lower floor of the barn they found the calf, +lying upon a bed of hay, and covered by a large piece of mosquito +netting, which Miriam had fastened above and around him. Dora +laughed as she saw this. + +"It isn't every calf," she said, "that sleeps so luxuriously." + +"The flies worried the poor thing dreadfully," said Miriam, "but I take +it off when I feed it." + +She proceeded to remove the netting, but she had scarcely done so, when +she gave an exclamation that was almost a scream. + +"Oh, dear, oh, dear!" she cried; "I believe it is dead," and down she sat +upon the floor close to the calf, which lay motionless, with its head and +neck extended. Down also sat Dora. She did not need to consider the +hay-strewn floor and her clothes; for although she wore a very tasteful +and becoming costume, it was one she had selected with reference to barn +explorations, field strolls, and anything rural and dusty which any one +else might be doing, or might propose. No one could tell what dusty and +delightful occupation might turn up during an afternoon at Cobhurst. + +"Its eye does look as if it were dead," she exclaimed. "What a pity!" + +"Oh, you can't tell by that eye," said Miriam, over whose cheeks a few +tears were now running. "Dr. Tolbridge says it has infantile ophthalmia +in that eye, but that as soon as it gets strong enough, he can cure it. +We must turn up its other eye." + +She took the little creature's head in her lap, with the practicable eye +uppermost. This slowly rolled in its socket, as she bent over it. + +"There is life in it yet," she cried; "give me the bottle." The calf +slowly rolled its eye to the position from which it had just moved, and +declined to consider food. + +"Oh, it must drink; we must make it drink," said Miriam. "If I open its +mouth, will you put in the end of that tube? If it gets a taste of the +milk, it may want more. We must not let it die. But you must be careful," +she continued. "That bottle leaks all round the cork. Spread part of my +skirt over you." + +Dora followed this advice, for she had not considered a milk-stained lap +among the contingent circumstances of the afternoon. Holding the bottle +over the listless animal, she managed to get some drops on its tongue. + +"Now," said Miriam, "we will put that in its mouth, and shut its +jaws, and perhaps it may begin to suck. It will be perfectly dreadful +if it dies." + +The two girls sat close together, their eyes fixed upon the apparently +lifeless head of the bovine infant. + +"See!" cried Miriam, presently, "its throat moves; I believe it is +sucking the milk." + +Dora leaned over and gazed. It was indeed true; the calf was beginning to +take an interest in food. The interest increased; the girls could see the +milk slowly diminishing in the bottle. Before long the creature gave its +head a little wobble. Miriam was delighted. + +"That is the way it always does, when its appetite is good. We must let +it drink every drop, if it will." + +There they sat on the hard, hay-strewn floor, one entirely, and the other +almost entirely covered with purple silk, their eyes fixed upon the +bottle and the feeding calf. After a time the latter declined to take any +more milk, and raised its head from Miriam's lap. + +"There," she cried; "see, it can hold up its own head. I expect it was +only faint from want of food. After this I will feed it oftener. It was +the bread-making that made me forget it this time." + +"Let us wait a minute," said Dora, who was now taking an earnest and +womanly interest in the welfare of this weakling. "Perhaps after a while +it may want some more." And so they continued to sit. Every motion of the +calf's head, and every effort it made to bend its legs, or change its +position, sent sparkles of delight into Miriam's eyes, and brightened +Dora's beautiful face with sympathetic smiles. + +Dora had taken up the bottle, and was about to give the calf an +opportunity to continue its repast, when suddenly she stopped and sat +motionless. Outside the barn, approaching footsteps could be plainly +heard. They were heavy, apparently those of a man. Dora dropped the +bottle, letting it roll unheeded upon the floor; then pushing Miriam's +skirt from her lap, she sprang to her feet, and stepped backwards and +away from the little group so quickly, that she nearly stumbled over some +inequalities in the floor. Miriam looked up in astonishment. + +"You needn't be frightened," she said. "How red you are! I suppose it is +only Ralph." + +"I was afraid it was," said Dora, in a low voice, as she shook out her +skirts. "I wouldn't have had him see me that way for anything." + +Now Miriam was angry. There was nothing to be ashamed of, that she could +see, and it was certainly very rude in Miss Bannister to drop her +bottle, and nearly push her over in her haste to get away from her and +her poor calf. + +The person who had been approaching the barn now entered, but it was +not Ralph Haverley. It was a shorter and a stouter young man, with +side whiskers. + +"Why, Herbert!" exclaimed Dora, in a tone of surprise and disappointment, +"have you got back already?" + +Her brother smiled. "I haven't got back," he said, "for I haven't been +anywhere yet. I had not gone a mile before one of the springs of the +buggy broke, and it keeled over so far that I came near tumbling out. It +happened at a place where there were no houses near, so I drew the buggy +to the roadside, took out the horse, and led him back. I heard voices in +here, and I came in. I must go and look for Mr. Haverley, and ask him to +lend me a vehicle in which we may return home." + +Dora stood annoyed; she did not want to return home; at least, not so +soon. She had calculated on Herbert making a long stay with Mrs. Dudley. + +"I suppose so," she replied, in an injured tone; "but before we say +anything else, Herbert, let me introduce you to Miss Haverley." + +She turned, but in the corner to which she directed her eyes, she saw +only a calf; there was no young person in silk attire. The moment that +Miriam perceived that the man who came in was not her brother, but the +brother of some one else, her face had crimsoned, she had pushed away the +unfortunate calf, and, springing to her feet, had darted into the shadows +of an adjoining stall. From this, before Dora had recovered from her +surprise at not seeing her, Miriam emerged in the costume of a neatly +dressed school-girl, with her skirts just reaching to the tops of her +boots. It had been an easy matter to slip off that expansive silk gown. +She advanced with the air of defensive gravity with which she generally +greeted strangers, and made the acquaintance of Mr. Bannister. + +"I am sure," she said, when she had heard what had happened, "that my +brother will be very glad to lend you the gig. That is the only thing we +have at present which runs properly." + +"A gig will do very well, indeed," said Mr. Bannister. "We could not want +anything better than that; although," he continued, "I am not sure that +my harness will suit a two-wheeled vehicle." + +"Oh, we have gig harness," said Miriam, "and we will lend you a horse, +too, if you like." + +Dora now thought it was time to say something. She was irritated because +Herbert had returned so soon, and because he was going to take her away +before she was ready to go; and although she would have been delighted to +have a drive in the Cobhurst gig, provided the proper person drove her, +she did not at all wish to return to Thorbury in that ridiculous old +vehicle with Herbert. In the one case, she could imagine a delightful +excursion in she knew not what romantic by-roads and shaded lanes; but in +the other, she saw only the jogging old gig, and all the neighbors asking +what had happened to them. + +"I think," she said, "it will be well to see Mr. Haverley as soon as +possible. Perhaps he knows of a blacksmith's shop, where the buggy can +be mended." + +Herbert smiled. "Repairs of that sort," he said, "require a good deal of +time. If we waited for the buggy to be put in travelling condition, we +would certainly have to stay here all night, and probably the greater +part of tomorrow." + +In the sudden emotions which had caused her to act almost exactly as Dora +had acted, Miriam had entirely forgotten her resentment toward her +companion. + +"Why can't you stay?" she asked. "We have plenty of room, you know." + +The man of business shook his head. + +"Thank you very much," he replied, "but I must be in my office this +evening. I think I shall be obliged to borrow your gig. I will walk over +to the field--" + +"Oh, you need not take the trouble to do that," said Miriam. "They are +way over there at the end of the meadow beyond the hill. The gig is here +in the barn, and I can lend it to you just as well as he can." + +"You are very kind," said Herbert, "and I will accept your amendment. It +will be the better plan, because if I saw your brother, I should +certainly interfere with his work. He might insist upon coming to help +me, which is not at all necessary. Where can I find the gig, Miss +Haverley?" + +Miriam led her visitors to the second floor. + +"There it is," she said, "but of course you must have the harness +belonging to it, for your buggy harness will not hold up the shafts +properly. It is in the harness room, but I do not know which it is. There +is a lot of harness there, but it is mostly old and worn out." + +"I will go and look," said Herbert. "I think it is only part of it that I +shall need." + +During this conversation Dora had said nothing. Now as she stood by the +old gig, toppling forward with its shafts resting upon the floor, she +thought she had never seen such a horrible, antediluvian old trap in her +life. Nothing could add so much to her disappointment in going so soon, +as going in that thing. If there had been anything to say which might +prevent her brother from carrying out his intention, she would have said +it, but so far there had been nothing. + +She followed the others into the harness room, and as her eyes glanced +around the walls, they rested upon a saddle hanging on its peg. Instantly +she thought of something to say. + +"Herbert," she remarked, not too earnestly, "I think we shall be putting +our friends to a great inconvenience by borrowing the gig. You will never +be able to find the right harness and put it on so that there will not be +an accident on the road, and Mr. Haverley or the man will have to be +sent for. And, besides, there will be the trouble of getting the gig back +again. Now, don't you think it will be a great deal better for you to put +that saddle on the horse, and ride him home, and then send the carriage +for me? That would be very simple, and no trouble at all." + +Mr. Bannister turned his admiring eyes upon his sister. + +"I declare, Dora," he said, "that is a good practical suggestion. If Miss +Haverley will allow me, I will borrow the saddle and the bridle and ride +home; I shall like that." + +"Of course you are welcome to the saddle, if you wish it," said Miriam; +"but you need not send for your sister. Why can't she stay with me +to-night? I think it would be splendid to have a girl spend the night +with me. Perhaps I oughtn't to call you a girl, Miss Bannister." + +Dora's eyes sparkled. "But I am a girl, just as you are," she exclaimed, +"and I should be delighted to stay. You are very good to propose it. +Herbert is an awfully slow rider (I believe he always walks his horse), +and I am sure it would be after dark before the carriage would get here." + +"Do let her stay," cried Miriam, seizing Dora's arm, as if they had been +old friends; "I shall be so glad to have her." + +Mr. Bannister laughed. + +"It is not for me to say what Dora shall do," he replied. "You two must +decide that, and if I go home to report our safety, it will be all +right. It is now too late for me to go to Mrs. Dudley's, especially as I +ride so slowly; but I will drive there to-morrow, and stop for Dora on +my return." + +"Settled!" cried Miriam; and Dora gazed at her with radiant face. It was +delightful to be able to bestow such pleasure. + +In two minutes Mr. Bannister had brought in his horse. In the next minute +all three of the party were busy unbuckling his harness; in ten minutes +more it had been taken off, the saddle and bridle substituted, and Mr. +Bannister was riding to Thorbury. + +Dora of the sparkling eyes drew close to Miriam. + +"Would you mind my kissing you?" she asked. + +There was nothing in the warm young soul of the other girl which in the +least objected to this token of a new-born friendship. + +As Dora and Miriam, each with an arm around the waist of the other, +walked out of the barn and passed the lower story, the calf, who had been +the main instrument in bringing about the cordial relations between the +two, raised his head and gazed at them with his good eye. Then perceiving +that they had forgotten him, and were going away without even arranging +his mosquito net for the night, he slowly turned his clouded visual organ +in their direction, and composed himself to rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY + + +As the two girls entered the house, Miriam clapped her hands. + +"What a surprise this will be for Ralph!" she exclaimed. "He hasn't the +slightest idea that you are here, or that anybody is going to spend the +night with us. If Mike said anything about you and your brother,--which I +doubt, for he is awfully anxious to get in that hay,--Ralph thought, of +course, that you were both gone long ago." + +The situation suited Dora's fancy admirably. + +"Let us make it a regular surprise," she said. "I am going to help you to +get supper, and to do whatever you have to do. Suppose you don't tell +your brother that I am here, and let him find it out by degrees. Don't +you think that will be fun?" + +"Indeed it will," cried the other; "and if you don't mind helping a +little about the cooking, I think that will be fun too. Perhaps you can +tell me some things I don't know." + +"Let us begin," exclaimed Dora, "for everything ought to be ready before +he comes in. Can you lend me a big apron?" + +"I have only one," said Miriam, "and it is not very big; I intended to +make some more, but I haven't had time. But you needn't do anything, you +know. You can just give me advice and keep me company." + +"Oh, I want to do things. I want to work," cried Dora; "it would be cruel +to keep me from the fun of helping you get supper. Haven't you something +I can slip on instead of this dress? It is not very fine, but I don't +want to spatter or burn it." + +"None of my clothes are long enough for you," said Miriam; "but perhaps I +might find something in the garret. There are all sorts of clothes up +there. If you choose, we can go up and look." + +In the next minute the two girls were in the great garret, kneeling in +front of a trunk, in which Miriam had found the silk robe, which now lay +tumbled up in a corner of a stall in the cow-stable. Article after +article of female attire was drawn out and tossed on the floor. Dora was +delighted; she was fond of old-fashioned things, and here were clothes of +various eras. Some colonial, perhaps, and none that had been worn since +these two girls had come into the world. There was a calico dress with +large pink figures in it which caught Dora's eye; she sprang to her feet, +shook it out, and held it up before her. + +"This will do," she said. "The length is all right, and it does not +matter about the rest of the fit." + +"Of course not," said Miriam; "and now let us go down. We need not wait +to put the rest of the things back." + +As Dora was about to go, her eyes fell on an old-fashioned pink +sunbonnet. + +"If you don't mind," she said, "I will take that, too. I shall be +awfully awkward, and I don't want to get cinders or flour in my hair." + +When Dora had arrayed herself in the calico dress with pink flowers, she +stood for a moment before the large mirror in Miriam's room. The dress +was very short as to waist, and very perpendicular as to skirt, and the +sleeves were puffy at the elbows and tight about the wrists, but pink was +a color that became her, the quaint cut of the gown was well suited to +her blooming face, and altogether she was pleased with the picture in the +glass. As for the sunbonnet, that was simply hideous, but it could be +taken off when she chose, and the wearing of it would help her very much +in making herself known to Mr. Ralph Haverley. + +For half an hour the girls worked bravely in the kitchen. Dora had some +knowledge of the principles of cookery, though her practice had been +small, and Miriam possessed an undaunted courage in culinary enterprises. +However, they planned nothing difficult, and got on very well. Dora made +up some of Miriam's dough into little rolls. + +"I wish I could make these as the Tolbridges' new cook makes them. They +say that every morning she sends in a plate of breakfast rolls, each one +a different shape, and some of them ever so pretty." + +"I don't suppose they taste any better for that," remarked Miriam. + +"Perhaps not," said the other, "but I like to see things to eat look +pretty." And she did her best to shape the little rolls into such +forms that they might please the eye of Mr. Ralph as well as satisfy +his palate. + +Miriam went up to the dining-room to arrange the table. While doing this +she saw Ralph approaching from the barn. In the kitchen, below, Dora, +glancing out of the window, also saw him coming, and pulling her +sunbonnet well forward, she applied herself more earnestly to her work. +Ralph came in, tired and warm, and threw himself down on a long +horse-hair sofa in the hall. + +"Heigh ho, Miriam," he cried; "hay-making is a jolly thing, all the world +over, but I have had enough of it for to-day. How are you getting on, +little one? Don't put yourself to too much trouble about my supper. Only +give me enough of whatever you have; that is all I ask." + +"Ralph," said Miriam, standing gravely by him, "I did not have to get +supper all by myself; there is a new girl in the kitchen." + +"Good," cried Ralph; "I am very glad to hear that. When did she come?" + +"This afternoon," said Miriam, "and she is cooking supper now. But, +Ralph," she continued, "there is hardly any wood in the kitchen. We +have--she has used up nearly all that was brought in this morning." + +"Well," said Ralph, "there is plenty of it cut, in the woodhouse." + +"But, Ralph," said Miriam, "I don't like to ask her to go after the wood, +herself, and some is needed now." + +"Mike is just as busy as he can be down at the barn," said her brother, +"and I cannot call him now. If you show her the woodhouse, she can get +what she wants with very little trouble, and Mike will bring in a lot of +it to-night." + +"But, Ralph," persisted his sister, "I don't want to ask her to stop her +cooking and go out and get wood. It does not look like good management, +for one thing, and for other reasons I do not want to do it. Don't you +think you could bring her some wood? Just a little basketful of short +sticks will do." + +Ralph sat up and knitted his brows. "Miriam," said he, "if your new cook +is the right sort of a woman, she ought to be able to help herself in +emergencies of this kind, with the woodhouse not a dozen yards from the +kitchen. But as she is a stranger to the place, and I don't want to +discourage anybody who comes to help you, I will get some wood for her, +but I must say that it does not look very well for the lord of the manor +to be carrying fuel to the cook." + +"It isn't the lord of the manor," cried Miriam; "it is the head +hay-maker, and when you dress yourself for supper, she will never think +of you as the man who brought in the wood." + +Dora, from the kitchen window, saw Ralph go out to the woodhouse, and she +saw him returning with an arm-load of small sticks. Then she turned her +back to the kitchen door, and bent her head over a beefsteak she was +preparing for the gridiron. + +Ralph came in with the wood, and put it down by the side of the great +stove. As he glanced at the slight form in the pink gown, it struck him +that this woman would not be equal to the hard work which would be +sometimes necessary here. + +"I suppose this wood will be as much as you will want for the present," +he said, as he turned toward the door, "and the man will fill this box +to-night, but if you need any more before he does so, there is the +woodhouse just across the yard, where you can easily get a few sticks." + +Dora half turned herself in the direction of the woodhouse, and murmured, +"Yes, sir." + +"Miriam," said Ralph, as he went into the dining-room, where his sister +was putting the knives and forks upon the supper table, "do you think +that woman is strong enough to wash, iron, and do all the things that +Phoebe used to do when she was here? How old is she?" + +"I don't know, exactly," answered Miriam, going to a cupboard for some +glasses; "and as to rough work, I can't tell what she can do, until +she tries." + +When Ralph had made his toilet and come downstairs, attired in a very +becoming summer suit, his sister complimented him. + +"Hay-making makes you ever so much handsomer," she said; "you look as if +you had been on a yachting cruise. There is one thing I forgot to say to +you, but I do not suppose it will make any difference, as we are real +country people now: our new cook is accustomed to eating at the table +with the family." + +Ralph's face flushed. "Upon my word!" he exclaimed, staring at his +sister. "Well," he continued, "I don't care what she is accustomed to, +but she cannot eat at our table. I may carry wood for cooks, but I do +not eat with them." + +"But, Ralph," said Miriam, "you ought to consider the circumstances. She +is not a common Irishwoman, or German. She is an American, and has always +taken her meals with the family in which she lived. I could not ask her +to eat in the kitchen. You know, Mike takes his meals there since Phoebe +has gone. Indeed, Ralph, I cannot expect her to do a thing that she has +never done in her life, before. Do you really think you would mind it? +You work with Mike in the field, and you don't mind that, and this girl +is very respectable, I assure you." + +Ralph stood silent. He had supposed his sister, young as she was, knew +more of the world than to make an arrangement with a servant which would +put her, in many respects, on an equality with themselves. He was very +much annoyed, but he would not be angry with Miriam, if he could help it, +nor would he put her in the embarrassing position of revoking the +agreement with this American woman, probably a farmer's daughter, and, in +her own opinion, as good as anybody. But, although he might yield at +present, he determined to take the important matter of engaging domestic +servants into his own hands. His sister had not yet the necessary +judgment for that sort of thing. + +"Miriam," said he, "for how long have you engaged this woman?" + +"Nothing at all has been said about time," she answered. + +"Very well, then," said he, "she can come to the table to-night and +to-morrow morning, for, I suppose, if I object, she will go off and leave +you again without anybody, but to-morrow she must be told that she cannot +eat with us; and if she does not like that, she must leave, and I will go +to the city and get you a proper servant. The hay is in now, and there is +no more important work to which I could give a day. Now do not be angry, +little one, because I object to your domestic arrangements. We all have +to make mistakes, you know, when we begin." + +"Thank you, Ralph," said Miriam. "I really am ever so much obliged to +you," and going up to her brother, she lifted her face to his. Ralph +stooped to kiss her, but suddenly stopped. + +"Who, in the name of common sense, is that!" he exclaimed. The sound of +wheels was plainly heard upon the driveway, and turning, they saw a buggy +stop at the door. + +"It is Dr. Tolbridge!" cried Miriam. + +Through the open front door Ralph saw that it was the doctor, preparing +to alight. + +"Miriam," said he, quickly, "we must ask the doctor to stay to supper, +and if he does, that cook must not come to the table. It will not do at +all, as you can see for yourself. We cannot ask our friends and neighbors +to sit down with servants." + +"I will see," said Miriam. "I think that can be made all right," and they +both went to the door to meet their visitor. + +The doctor shook hands with them most cordially. + +"Glad to see you both so ruddy; Cobhurst air must agree with you. And +now, before we say anything else, let me ask you a question: Have you had +your supper?" + +"No," answered Ralph, "and I hope you have not." + +"Your hopes are realized. I have not, and if you do not mind letting me +sup with you, I will do it." + +The brother and sister, who both liked the hearty doctor, assured him +that they would be delighted to have him stay. + +"The reason of my extending an invitation to myself is this: I have been +making a visit in the country, where I was detained much longer than I +expected, and as I drove homeward, I said to myself, 'Good sir, you are +hungry, and where are you going to get your evening meal? You cannot +reach home until long after the dinner hour, and moreover you have a +patient beyond Cobhurst, whom you ought to see this evening. It would be +a great pity to drive all the way to Thorbury, and then back again, +to-night. Now there are those young Cobhurst people, who, you know, have +supper at the end of the day, instead of dinner, like the regular farmers +that they are, and as you want to see them, anyway, and find out how they +are getting on, it will be well to stop there, and ten to one, you will +find that they have not yet sat down to the table.'" + +"A most excellent conclusion," said Ralph, "and I will call Mike, and +have him take your horse." + +Having left the doctor in the charge of her brother, Miriam hurried +downstairs to apprise Dora of the state of affairs. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but we will have to give up the trick we were +going to play on Ralph, for Dr. Tolbridge has come, and will stay to +supper, and so, while you go upstairs and put on your own dress, I will +finish getting these things ready. I will see Ralph before we sit down, +and tell him all about it." + +Dora made no movement toward the stairs. + +"I knew it was the doctor," she said, "for I went out and looked around +the corner of the house, and saw his horse. But I do not see why we +should give up our trick. Let us play it on the doctor as well as on +your brother." + +Miriam stood silent a few moments. + +"I do not know how that would do," she said. "That is a very different +thing. And besides, I do not believe Ralph would let you come to the +table. You ought to have seen how angry he was when I told him the new +cook must eat with us." + +"Oh, that was splendid!" cried Dora. "I will not come to the table. That +will make it all the funnier when we tell him. I can eat my supper +anywhere, and I will go upstairs and wait on you, which will be better +sport than sitting down at the table with you." + +"But I do not like that," said Miriam. "I will not have you go without +your supper until we have finished." + +"My dear Miriam!" exclaimed Dora, "what is a supper in comparison with +such a jolly bit of fun as this? Let me go on as the new cook. And now +we must hurry and get these things on the table. It will make things a +great deal easier for me, if they can eat before it is time to light +the lamps." + +When Miriam went to call the gentlemen to supper, the doctor said to +her:-- + +"Your brother has told me that you have a new servant, and that she is so +preposterous as to wish to take her meals with you, but that he does not +intend to allow it. Now, I say to you, as I said to him, that if she +expected to sit at the table before I came, she must do it now. I am used +to that sort of thing, and do not mind it a bit. In the families of the +farmers about here, with whom I often take a meal, it is the custom for +the daughter of the family to cook, to wait on the table, and then sit +down with whomever may be there, kings or cobblers. I beg that you will +not let my coming make trouble in your household." + +Miriam looked at her brother. + +"All right," said Ralph, with a smile, "if the doctor does not mind, I +shall not. And now, do let us have something to eat." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DORA'S NEW MIND + + +When Ralph Haverley made up his mind to agree to anything, he did it with +his whole soul, and if he had had any previous prejudices against it, he +dismissed them; so as he sat at supper with the doctor and his sister he +was very much amused at being waited upon by a woman in a pink sunbonnet. +That she should wear such a head-covering in the house was funny enough +in itself, but the rest of her dress was also extremely odd, and she kept +the front of her dark projecting bonnet turned downward or away, as if +she had never served gentlemen before, and was very much overpowered by +bashfulness. But for all that she waited very well, and with a light +quickness of movement unusual in a servant. + +"I am afraid, doctor," said Miriam, when the pink figure had gone +downstairs to replenish the plate of rolls, "that you will miss your +dinner. I have heard that you have a most wonderful cook." + +"She is indeed a mistress of her art," replied the doctor; "but you do +very well here, I am sure. That new cook of yours beats Phoebe utterly. I +know Phoebe's cooking." + +"But you must not give her all the credit," exclaimed Miriam; "I made +that bread, although she shaped it into rolls. And I helped with the +beefsteak, the potatoes, and the coffee." + +"Which latter," said Ralph, "is as strong as if six or seven women had +made it, although it is very good." + +The meal went on until the two hungry men were satisfied, Miriam being so +absorbed in Dora's skilful management of herself that she scarcely +thought about eating. There was a place for the woman in pink, if she +chose to take it, but she evidently did not wish to sit down. Whenever +she was not occupied in waiting upon those at the table, she bethought +herself of some errand in the kitchen. + +"Well," said Ralph, "those rolls are made up so prettily, and look so +tempting, that I wish I had not finished my supper." + +"You are right," said the doctor, "they are aesthetic enough for La +Fleur," and then pushing back his chair a little, he looked steadfastly, +with a slight smile on his face, at the figure, with bowed sunbonnet, +which was standing on the other side of the table. + +"Well, young woman," he said, "how is your mind by this time?" + +For a moment there was silence, and then from out of the sunbonnet there +came, clearly and distinctly, the words:-- + +"That is very well. How is your kitten?" + +At this interchange of remarks, Ralph sat up straight in his chair, +amazement in his countenance, while Miriam, ready to burst into a roar of +laughter, waited convulsively to see what would happen next. Turning +suddenly toward Ralph, Dora tore off her sunbonnet and dashed it to the +floor. Standing there with her dishevelled hair, her flushed cheeks, her +sparkling eyes and her quaint gown, Ralph thought her the most beautiful +creature he had ever gazed upon. + +"How do you do, Mr. Haverley?" said Dora, advancing and extending her +hand; "I know you are not willing to eat with cooks, but I do not believe +you will object to shaking hands with one, now and then." + +Ralph arose, and took her hand, but she gave him no opportunity to +say anything. + +"Your sister and I got up this little bit of deception for you, Mr. +Haverley," she continued, "and we intended to carry it on a good deal +further, but that gentleman has spoiled it all, and I want you to know +that I stopped here to see your sister, and finding she had not a soul to +help her, I would not leave her in such a plight, and we had a royal good +time, getting the supper, and were going to do ever so many more +things--I should like to know, doctor, how you knew me. I am sure I did +not look a bit like myself." + +"You did not look like yourself, but you walked like yourself," replied +Dr. Tolbridge. "I watched you when you first tried to toddle alone, and I +have seen you nearly every day since, and I know your way of stepping +about as well as I know anything. But I must really apologize for having +spoiled the fun. I discovered you, Dora, before we had half finished +supper, but I thought the trick was being played on me alone. I had no +idea that Mr. Haverley thought you were the new cook." + +"I certainly did think so," cried Ralph, "and what is more, I intended to +discharge you to-morrow morning." + +There was a lively time for a few minutes, after which Dora explained +what had been said about her mind and a kitten. + +"He was just twitting me with having once changed my mind--every one +does that," she said; "and then I gave him a kitten. That is all. And +now, before I change my dress, I will go and get some wood for the +kitchen fire. I think you said, Mr. Haverley, that the woodhouse was not +far away." + +"Wood!" cried Ralph; "don't you think of it!" + +Miriam burst into a laugh. + +"Oh, you ought to have heard the lord of the manor declare that he would +not carry fuel for the cook," she cried. + +Ralph joined in the laugh that rose against him, but insisted that Dora +should not change her dress. + +"You could not wear anything more becoming," he said, "and you do not +know how much I want to treat the new cook as one of the family." + +"I will wear whatever the lord of the manor chooses," said Dora, +demurely, and was about to make reference to his concluding remark, but +checked herself. + +When the two girls joined the gentlemen on the porch, which they did with +much promptness, having delegated the greater part of their household +duties to Mike, who could take a hand at almost any kind of work, Dr. +Tolbridge announced that he must proceed to visit his patient. + +"Are you coming back this way, doctor?" asked Dora. "Because if you are, +would it be too much trouble for you to look for our buggy on the side of +the road, and to bring back the cushions and the whip with you? Herbert +may think that in this part of the country the people are so honest that +they would not steal anything out of a deserted buggy, but I do not +believe it is safe to put too much trust in people." + +"A fine, practicable mind," said the doctor; "cuts clean and sharp. I +will bring the cushions and the whip, if they have not been stolen before +I reach them. And now I will go to the barn and get my horse. We need +not disturb the industrious Mike." + +"If you are going to the barn, doctor," cried Miriam, seizing her hat, "I +will go with you and put the mosquito net over my calf, which I entirely +forgot to do. Perhaps, if it is light enough, you will look at its eye." + +The doctor laughed, and the two went off together, leaving Dora and Ralph +on the piazza. + +Dora could not help thinking of herself as a very lucky girl. When she +had started that afternoon to make a little visit at Cobhurst, she had +had no imaginable reason to suppose that in the course of a very few +hours she would be sitting alone with Mr. Haverley in the early +moonlight, without even his sister with them. She had expected to see +Ralph and to have a chat with him, but she had counted on Miriam's +presence as a matter of course; so this tête-à-tête in the quiet beauty +of the night was as delightful as it was unanticipated. More than that, +it was an opportunity that ought not to be disregarded. + +The new mind of Miss Dora Bannister was clear and quick in its +perceptions, and prompt and independent in action. It not only showed +what she wanted, but indicated pretty clearly how she might get it. Since +she had been making use of this fresh intellect, she had been impressed +very strongly by the belief that in the matter of matrimonial alliance, a +girl should not neglect her interest by depending too much upon the +option of other people. Her own right of option she looked upon as a +sacred right, and one that it was her duty to herself to exercise, and +that promptly. She had just come from the seaside, where she had met some +earnest young men, one or two of whom she expected to see shortly at +Thorbury. Also Mr. Ames, their young rector, was a very persevering +person, and a great friend of her brother. + +Of course it behooved her to act with tact, but for all that she must be +prompt. It was easy to see that Ralph Haverley could not be expected to +go very soon into the society of Thorbury, to visit ladies there, and as +she wanted him to learn to know her as rapidly as possible, she resolved +to give him every opportunity. + +Miriam was gone a long time, because when she reached the barn, the calf +was not to be found where she had left it, and she had been obliged to go +for Mike and a lantern. After anxious search the little fellow had been +found reclining under an apple tree, having gained sufficient strength +from the ministrations of its fair attendants to go through the open +stable door and to find out what sort of a world it had been born into. +It required time to get the truant back, secure it in its stall, and make +all the arrangements for its comfort which Miriam thought necessary. +Therefore, before she returned to the piazza, Miss Bannister and Ralph +had had a long conversation, in which the latter had learned a great deal +about the disposition and tastes of his fair companion, and had been much +interested in what he learned. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GOOD-NIGHT + + +When the three young people had been sitting for half an hour on the wide +piazza of Cobhurst, enjoying the moonlight effects and waiting for the +return of Dr. Tolbridge, Miriam, who was reclining in a steamer chair, +ceased making remarks, but very soon after she became silent she was +heard again, not speaking, however, but breathing audibly and with great +regularity. Ralph and Dora turned toward her and smiled. + +"Poor little thing," said the latter in a low voice; "she must be +tired out." + +"Yes," said Ralph, also speaking in an undertone, "she was up very early +this morning, and has been at some sort of work ever since. I do not +intend that this shall happen again. You must excuse her, Miss +Bannister,--she is a girl yet, you know." + +"And a sweet one, too," said Dora, "with a perfect right to go to sleep +if she chooses. I should be ashamed of myself if I felt in the least +degree offended. Do not let us disturb her until the doctor comes; the +nap will do her good." + +"Suppose, then," said Ralph, "that we take a little turn in the +moonlight. Then we need not trouble ourselves to lower our voices." + +"That will be very well," said Dora, "but I am afraid she may take cold, +although the night air is so soft. I think I saw a lap robe on a table +in the hall; I will spread that over her." + +Ralph whispered that he would get the robe, but motioning him back, and +having tiptoed into the hall and back again, Dora laid the light covering +over the sleeping girl so gently that the regular breathing was not in +the least interrupted. Then they both went quietly down the steps, and +out upon the lawn. + +"She is such a dear girl," said Dora, as they slowly moved away, "and +although we only met to-day, I am really growing very fond of her, and I +like her the better because there is still so much of the child left in +her. Do not you like her the better for that, Mr. Haverley?" + +Ralph did agree most heartily, and it made him happy to agree on any +subject with a girl who was even more beautiful by moonlight than by +day; who was so kind, and tended to his sister, and whose generous +disposition could overlook little breaches of etiquette when there was +reason to do so. + +As they walked backward and forward, not very far away from the piazza, +and sometimes stopping to admire bits of the silver-tinted landscape, +Dora, with most interesting deftness, gave Ralph further opportunity of +knowing her. With his sister as a suggesting subject, she talked about +herself; she told him how she, too, had lost her parents early in life, +and had been obliged to be a very independent girl, for her stepmother, +although just as good as she could be, was not a person on whom she could +rely very much. As for her brother, the dearest man on earth, she had +always felt that she was more capable of taking care of him, at least in +all matters in home life, than he of her. + +"But I have been very happy," she went on to say, "for I am so fond of +country life, and everything that belongs to it, that the more I have to +do with it, the better I like it, and I really begrudge the time that I +spend in the city. You do not know with what pleasure I look forward to +helping Miriam get breakfast to-morrow morning. I consider it a positive +lark. By the way, Mr. Haverley, do you like rolled omelets?" + +Ralph declared that he liked everything that was good, and had no doubt +that rolled omelets were delicious. + +"Then I shall make some," said Dora, "for I know how to do it. And I +think you said, Mr. Haverley, that the coffee to-night was too strong." + +"A little so, perhaps," said Ralph, "but it was excellent." + +"Oh, it shall be better in the morning. I am sure it will be well for one +of us to do one thing, and the other another. I will make the coffee." + +"You are wonderfully kind to do anything at all," said Ralph, and as he +spoke he heard the clock in the house strike ten. It was agreeable in the +highest degree to walk in the moonlight with this charming girl, but he +felt that it was getting late; it was long past Miriam's bedtime, and he +wondered why the doctor did not come. + +Dora perceived the perturbations of his mind; she knew that he thought it +was time for the little party to break up, but did not like to suggest +it. She knew that the natural and proper thing for her to do was to wake +up Miriam, and that the two should bid Ralph good-night, and leave him to +sit up and wait for the doctor as long as he felt himself called upon to +do so, but she was perfectly contented with the present circumstances, +and did not wish to change them just yet. It was a pleasure to her to +walk by this tall, broad-shouldered young fellow, who was so handsome and +so strong, and in so many ways the sort of man she liked, and to let him +know, not so much by her words, as by the incited action of his own +intelligence, that she was fond of the things he was fond of, and that +she loved the life he led. + +As they still walked and talked, the thought came to Dora, and it was a +very pleasing one, that she might act another part with this young +gentleman; she had played the cook, now for a while she could play the +mistress, and she knew she could do it so gently and so wisely that he +would like it without perceiving it. She turned away her face for a +moment; she felt that her pleasure in acting the part of mistress of +Cobhurst, even for a little time, was flushing it. + +"Suppose," she said, "we walk down to the road, and if we see or hear the +doctor coming, we can wait there and save him the trouble of driving in." + +They went out of the Cobhurst gateway, but along the moonlighted highway +they saw no approaching spot, nor could they hear the sounds of wheels. + +"I really think, Mr. Haverley," said Dora, turning toward the house, +"that I ought to go and arouse Miriam, and then we will retire. It is a +positive shame to keep her out of her bed any longer." + +This suggestion much relieved Ralph, and they walked rapidly to the +porch, but when they reached it they found an empty steamer chair and no +Miriam anywhere. They looked at each other in much surprise, and +entering the house they looked in several of the rooms on the lower +floor. Ralph was about to call out for his sister, but Dora quickly +touched him on the arm. + +"Hush," she said, smiling, "do not call her. Do you see that lap robe on +the table? I will tell you exactly what has happened; while we were down +at the road she awoke, at least enough to know that she ought to go to +bed, and I really believe that she was not sufficiently awake to remember +that I am here, and that she simply got up, brought the robe in with her, +and went to her room. Isn't it funny?" + +Ralph was quite sure that Dora's deductions were correct, for when Miriam +happened to drop asleep in a chair in the evening, it was her habit, when +aroused, to get up and go to bed, too sleepy to think about anything +else; but he did not think it was funny now. He was mortified that Miss +Bannister should have been treated with such apparent disrespect, and he +began to apologize for his sister. + +"Now, please stop, Mr. Haverley," interrupted Dora. "I am so glad to have +her act so freely and unconventionally with me, as if we had always been +friends. It makes me feel almost as if we had known each other always, +and it does not make the slightest difference to me. Miriam wanted to +give me another room, but I implored her to let me sleep with her in that +splendid high-posted bedstead, and so all that I have to do is to slip up +to her room, and, if I can possibly help it, I shall not waken her. In +the morning I do not believe she will remember a thing about having gone +to bed without me. So good-night, Mr. Haverley. I am going to be up very +early, and you shall see what a breakfast the new cook will give you. I +will light this candle, for no doubt poor Miriam has put out her lamp, if +she did not depend entirely on the moonlight. By the way, Mr. Haverley," +she said, turning toward him, "is there anything I can do to help you in +shutting up the house? You know I am maid of all work as well as cook. +Perhaps I should go down and see if the kitchen fire is safe." + +"Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Ralph; "I attend to all those things,--at least, +when we have no servant." + +"But doesn't Miriam help you?" asked Dora, taking up the candle which she +had lighted. + +"No," said he; "Miriam generally bids me good-night and goes upstairs an +hour before I do." + +"Very well," said Dora; "I will say only one more thing, and that is that +if I were the lord of the manor, who had been working in the hay-field +all day, I would not sit up very long, waiting for a wandering doctor." + +Ralph laughed, and as she approached the door of the stairway, he opened +it for her. + +"Suppose," she said, stopping for a moment in the doorway, and shielding +the flame of the candle from a current of air with a little hand that +was so beautifully lighted that for a moment it attracted Ralph's eyes +from its owner's face, "you wait here for a minute, and I will go up and +see if she is really safe in her own room. I am sure you will be better +satisfied if you know that." + +Ralph looked his thanks, and softly, but quickly, she went up the stairs. +At a little landing she stopped. + +"Do you know," she whispered, looking back, with the candle throwing her +head and hair into the prettiest lights and shadows, "I think this +stairway is lovely;" and then she went on and disappeared. + +In a few minutes she leaned over the upper part of the banisters and +softly spoke to him. + +"She is sleeping as sweetly and as quietly as the dearest of angels. I do +not believe I shall disturb her in the least. Good-night, Mr. Haverley." +And with her face thrown into a new light,--this time by the hall lamp +below,--she smiled ever so sweetly, and then drew back her head. In half +a minute it reappeared. She was right; he was still looking up. + +"I forgot to say," she whispered, "that all the windows in Miriam's room +are open. Do you think she was too sleepy to notice that, or is she +accustomed to so much night air?" + +"I really do not know," said Ralph, in reply. + +"Very well, then," said Dora; "I will attend to all that in my own way. +Good-night again, Mr. Haverley;" and with a little nod and a smile, she +withdrew her face from his view. + +If she had come back within the next minute, she would have found him +still looking up. She felt quite sure of this, but she could think of no +good reason for another reappearance. + +Ralph lighted a pipe and sat down on the piazza. He looked steadily in +front of him, but he saw no grass, no trees, no moonlighted landscape, no +sky of summer night. He saw only the face of a young girl, leaning over +and looking down at him from the top of a stairway. It was the face of a +girl who was so gentle, so thoughtful for others, so quick to perceive, +so quick to do; who was so fond of his sister, and so beautiful. He sat +and thought of the wondrous good fortune that had brought this girl +beneath his roof, and had given him these charming hours with her. + +And when his pipe was out, he arose, declared to himself that, no matter +what the doctor might think of it, he would not wait another minute for +him, and went to bed,--his mind very busy with the anticipation of the +charming hours which were to come on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER + + +When Dr. Tolbridge returned from the visit to the patient who lived +beyond Cobhurst, he did not drive into the latter place, for seeing +Mike by the gate near the barn, he gave the cushions and whip to him +and went on. + +As it was yet early in the evening, and bright moonlight, he concluded +to go around by the Wittons'. It was not far out of his way, and he +wanted to see Miss Panney. What he wanted to say to the old lady was not +exactly evident to his own mind, but in a general way he wished her to +know that Dora was at Cobhurst. + +Dora was a great favorite with the doctor. He had known her all her life, +and considered that he knew, not only her good points, of which there +were many, but also those that were not altogether desirable, and, of +which, he believed, there were few. One of the latter was her disposition +to sometimes do as she pleased, without reference to tradition or +ordinary custom. He had seen her acting the part of cook, disguised by a +pink sunbonnet and an old-fashioned calico gown. And what pranks she and +the Haverleys--two estimable young people, but also lively and +independent--might play, no one could tell. The duration of Dora's visit +would depend on her brother Herbert, and he was a man of business, whose +time was not at all at his own disposal, and so, the doctor thought, it +would not be a bad thing if Miss Panney would call at Cobhurst the next +day, and see what those three youngsters were about. + +The Wittons had gone to bed, but Miss Panney was in the parlor, reading. +"Early to bed and early to rise," was not one of her rules. + +"Well, really!" she exclaimed, as she rose to greet her visitor, "this is +amazing. How many years has it been since you came to see me without +being sent for?" + +"I do not keep account of years," said the doctor, "and if I choose to +stop in and have a chat with you, I shall do it without reference to +precedent. This is a purely social call, and I shall not even ask you +how you are." + +"I beg you will not," said the old lady, "and that will give me a good +reason for sending for you when you ought to be informed on that point." + +"This is not my first social call this evening," said he. "I took supper +at Cobhurst, where Dora Bannister waited on the table." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed Miss Panney, and then the doctor told his +tale. As the old lady listened, her spirits rose higher and higher. What +extraordinary good luck! She had never planned a match that moved with +such smoothness, such celerity, such astonishing directness as this. She +did not look upon Dora's disregard of tradition and ordinary custom as an +undesirable point in her character. She liked that sort of thing. It was +one of the points in her own character. + +"I wish I could have seen her!" she exclaimed. "She must have been +charming." + +"Don't you think there is danger that she may be too charming?" the +doctor asked. + +"No, I don't," promptly answered Miss Panney. + +The doctor looked at her in some surprise. + +"We should remember," said he, "that Dora is a girl of wealth; that +one-third of the Bannister estate belongs to her, besides the sixty +thousand dollars that came to her from her mother." + +"That does not hurt her," said Miss Panney. + +"And Ralph Haverley was a poor young man when he came here, and Cobhurst +will probably make him a good deal poorer." + +"I do not doubt it," said Miss Panney. + +"Do you believe," said the doctor, after a moment's pause, "that it is +wise or right in a girl like Dora Bannister, accustomed to fine living, +good society, and an atmosphere of opulence, to allow a poor man like +Ralph Haverley to fall in love with her? And he will do it, just as sure +as the world turns round." + +"Well, let him do it," replied the old lady. "I did not intend to give my +opinion on this subject, because, as you know, I am not fond of obtruding +my ideas into other people's affairs, but I will say, now, that Dora +Bannister will have to travel a long distance before she finds a better +man for a husband than Ralph Haverley, or a better estate on which to +spend her money than Cobhurst. I believe that money that is made in a +neighborhood like this ought to be spent here, and Thomas Bannister's +money could not be better spent than in making Cobhurst the fine estate +it used to be. I do not believe in a girl like Dora going off and +marrying some city fellow, and perhaps spending the rest of her life at +the watering-places and Paris. I want her here; don't you?" + +"I certainly do, but you forget Mr. Ames." + +"I do, and I intend to forget him," she replied, "and so does Dora." + +The doctor shook his head. "I do not like it," he said; "young Haverley +may be all very well,--I have a high opinion of him, already, but he is +not the man for Dora. If he had any money at all, it would be different, +but he has not. Now she would not be content to live at Cobhurst as it +is, and he ought not to be content to have her do everything to make it +what she would have it." + +"Doctor," said Miss Panney, "if there is anything about all this in your +medicine books, perhaps you know more than I do, and you can go on and +talk; but you know there is not, and you know, too, that I was a very +sensible middle-aged woman when you were toddling around in frocks and +running against people. I believe you are trying to run against somebody +now. Who is it?" + +"Well," said the doctor, "if it is anybody, it is young Haverley." + +Miss Panney smiled. "You may think so," she said, "but I want you to know +that you are also running against me, and I say to you, confidentially, +and with as much trust in you as I used to have that you would not tell +who it was who spread your bread with forbidden jam, that I have planned +a match between these two; and if they marry, I intend to make pecuniary +matters more nearly even between them, than they are now." + +The doctor looked at her earnestly. + +"Do you suppose," said he, "that he would take money from you?" + +"What I should do for him," she answered, "could not be prevented by him +or any one else." + +"But there is no reason," urged the other. + +The old lady smiled, took off her glasses, wiped them with her +handkerchief, and put them on again. + +"There is so little in medicine books," she said. "His grandfather was +my cousin." + +"The one--?" asked the startled doctor. + +"Yes, that very one," she answered quickly; "but he does not know it, +and now we will drop the subject. I will try to get to Cobhurst +to-morrow before Dora leaves, and I will see if I cannot help matters +along a little." + +The doctor laughed. "I was going to ask you to interfere with matters." + +"Well, don't," she said. "And now tell me about your cook. Is she as +good as ever?" + +"As good?" said the doctor. "She is better. The more she learns about our +tastes, the more perfectly she gratifies them. Mrs. Tolbridge and I look +upon her as a household blessing, for she gives us three perfect meals a +day, and would give us more if we wanted them; the butcher reverences +her, for she knows more about meat and how to cut it than he does. Our +man and our maid either tremble at her nod or regard her with the deepest +affection, for I am told that they spend a great deal of their time +helping her, when they should be attending to their own duties. She has, +in fact, become so necessary to our domestic felicity, and I may say, to +our health, that I do not know what will become of us if we lose her." + +"Is there any chance of that?" eagerly asked the old lady. + +"I fear there is," was the answer. + +Miss Panney sprang to her feet, her eyes flashing. + +"Now look here, Dr. Tolbridge," she said, "don't tell me that that woman +is going to leave you because she wants higher wages and you will not pay +them. I beg you to remember that I got you that woman. I saw she was what +you needed, and I worked matters so that she came to you. She has proved +to be everything that I expected. You are looking better now than I have +seen you look for five years. You have been eating food that you like, +and food that agrees with you, and a chance to do that comes to very few +people in your circumstances. There is no way in which you could spend +your money better than--" + +The doctor raised his hand deprecatingly. + +"There is no question of money," he said. "She has not asked for higher +wages, and if she had, I should pay anything in reason. The trouble is +more serious. You may remember that when she first came to this country, +she lived with the Dranes, and she left them because they could no longer +afford to employ her. She has the greatest regard for that family, and +has lately heard that they are becoming poorer and poorer. There are only +two of them,--mother and daughter,--and on account of some sort of unwise +investment they are getting into a pretty bad way. I used to know Captain +Drane, and was slightly acquainted with his family. I heard of their +misfortune through a friend in Pennsylvania, and as I knew that La Fleur +took such an interest in the family, I mentioned it to her. The result +was disastrous; she has been in a doleful mood ever since, and yesterday +assured Mrs. Tolbridge that if it should prove that Mrs. Drane and her +daughter, who had been so good to her, had become so poor that they +could not afford to employ a servant, she must leave us and go to them. +She would ask no wages and would take no denial. She would stay with them +and serve them for the love she bore them, as long as they needed her. I +know she is in earnest, for she immediately wrote to Mrs. Drane, and +asked me to put the letter in the post-office; and, by the way, she +writes a great deal better hand than I do." + +Miss Panney, who had reseated herself, gazed earnestly at the floor. + +"Doctor," she said, "this is very serious. I have not yet met La Fleur, +but I very much want to. I am convinced that she is a woman of character, +and when she says she intends to do a thing, she will do it. That is, +unless somebody else of character, and of pretty strong character too, +gets in her way. I do not know what advice to give you just now, but she +must not leave you. That must be considered as settled. I am coming to +your house to-morrow afternoon, and please ask Mrs. Tolbridge to be at +home. We shall then see what is to be done." + +"There is nothing to be done," said the doctor, rising. "We cannot +improve the circumstances of the Dranes, and we cannot prevent La Fleur +from going to them if her feelings prompt her to do it." + +"Stuff!" said the old lady. "There is always something to be done. The +trouble is, there is not always some one to do it; but, fortunately for +some of my friends, I am alive yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" + + +It was about ten o'clock the next morning when Miss Panney drove over to +Cobhurst in her phaeton. She did not go up to the house, but tied her +roan mare behind a clump of locust trees and bushes, where the animal +might stand in peace and shade. Then she walked around the house, and +hearing the clatter of crockery in the basement, she looked down through +a kitchen window, and saw Mike washing the breakfast dishes. + +Going on toward the back of the house, she heard voices and laughter over +in the garden. Behind a tangled mass of raspberries, she saw a pink +sunbonnet and a straw hat with daisies in it. She knew, then, that Dora +and Miriam were picking berries, and then her eyes and ears began to +search for Ralph. + +She went up on the back piazza and looked over toward the barn, which +appeared to be closed, and around and about the house, but saw nothing +of the young man. But she would wait; it was scarcely likely that he was +at work in the fields by himself. He would probably appear soon, and, if +possible, she wanted to speak to him before she saw any one else. She +went into the house, and took a seat in the hall, where, through a +narrow window by the side of the door, she had a good view of the garden +and the grounds at the back, and could also command the front entrance +of the house. + +Miss Panney had been seated but a very few minutes when the two girls +emerged from the bosky intricacies of the garden. + +"Upon my word!" exclaimed the old lady, "she has got on Judith Pacewalk's +teaberry gown. I could never forget that!" + +At this moment there was a clatter of hoofs and a rattle of wheels, and a +brown horse, drawing a very loose-jointed wagon, with Ralph Haverley, in +a broad hat and light tennis jacket, driving, dashed up to the back door +and stopped with a jerk. + +"Back so soon!" cried Miriam. "See what a lot of raspberries we have +picked. I will take them into the house, and then come out and get the +things you have brought." + +As Miriam went around toward the kitchen, Ralph sprang to the ground, and +Dora approached him. Miss Panney could see her face under the sunbonnet. +It was suffused with the light of a smiling, beaming welcome. + +"You did go quickly, didn't you?" she said. "You must be a good driver." + +"I didn't want to lose any time," answered Ralph, "and I made Mrs. +Browning step along lively. As it was, I was afraid that your brother +might arrive before I got back and that I might find you were gone." + +"It was a pity," said Dora, "that you troubled yourself to hurry back. +You may have wanted to do other things in Thorbury, and if Herbert missed +seeing you to-day he would have plenty of other opportunities." + +Ralph laughed. "I should like to meet your brother," he said, "but I am +bound to say that I was thinking more of the new cook. I did not want her +to leave before I got back." + +Dora raised her sunbonnet toward him. Miriam's steps were heard +approaching. + +"You might have felt sure," she said, "that she would not have gone +without seeing you again. You have been so kind and good to her that she +would not think of doing that." Then, as Miriam was very near, she +approached the wagon. "Did you get the snowflake flour, as I told you?" +she asked. "Yes, I see you did, and I am glad you listened to my advice, +and bought only a bag of it, for you know you may not like it." + +"If it is the flour you use, I know we shall like it," said Ralph; "but +still I am bound to follow your advice." + +"You would better follow me, now," said Miriam, who had taken some +parcels from the wagon, "and bring that bag into the pantry. I do not +like Mike to come into our part of the house with his boots." + +Ralph shouldered the bag, and Dora stepped up to him. + +"I will stay with the horse until you come out again," she said, not +speaking very loudly. + +Miss Panney, who had heard all that had been said, smiled, and her black +eyes twinkled. "Truly," she said to herself, "for so short an +acquaintance, this is getting on wonderfully." + +Miriam, her arms full of parcels, and her mind full of household economy, +walked rapidly by Miss Panney without seeing her at all, and, entering +the dining-room, passed through it into the pantry. But when Ralph +appeared in the open doorway, the old lady rose and confronted him, her +finger on her lip. + +"I have just popped in to make a little call on your sister," she +whispered; "but I saw she was pretty well loaded as she passed, and I did +not wish to embarrass her--I do not mind embarrassing you. Don't put down +the bag, I beg. I shall step into the drawing-room, and you can say I am +there. By the way, who is that young woman standing by the horse?" + +"It is Miss Bannister," answered Ralph, his face unreasonably flushing as +he spoke. "She is visiting Miriam and helping her." + +When Miss Panney wished to influence a person in favor of or against +another person, she was accustomed to go about the business in a very +circumspect way, and to accommodate the matter and the manner of her +remarks to the disposition of the person addressed, and to the occasion. +She wished very much to influence Ralph in favor of Miss Bannister, and +if she had had the opportunity of a conversation with him, she knew she +could have done this in a very easy and natural way. But there was no +time for conversation now, and she might not again have the chance of +seeing him alone, so she adopted a very different course, and with as +much readiness and quickness as Daniel Boone would have put a rifle-ball +into the head of an Indian the moment he saw it protrude from behind a +tree, so did Miss Panney concentrate all she had to say into one shot, +and deliver it quickly. + +"Help Miriam, eh?" she whispered; "take my advice, my boy, and keep her +to help you." And without another word she proceeded to the drawing-room, +where she seated herself in the most comfortable chair. + +Ralph stood still a minute with the bag on his shoulder. He scarcely +understood what had been said to him, but the words had been so well +aimed and sent with such force that before he reached Miriam and the +pantry his mind was illumined by the shining apparition of Dora as his +partner and helpmate. Two minutes before there had been no such +apparition. It is true that his mind had been filled with misty, +cloudlike sensations, entirely new to it, but the words of the old lady +had now condensed them into form. + +When Miriam was informed of the visitor in the drawing-room, she frowned +a little, and made up a queer face, and then, taking off her long apron, +went to perform her duty as lady of the house. + +Ralph returned to Dora, and as he looked at the girl who was patting the +neck of the brown mare, she seemed to have changed, not because she was +different from what she had been a few minutes before, but because he +looked upon her differently. As he approached, every word that she had +spoken to him that day crowded into his memory. The last thing she had +said was that she would wait until he returned to her, and here she was, +waiting. When he spoke, his manner had lost the free-heartedness of a +little while before; there was a slight diffidence in it. + +Hearing that Miss Panney was in the house, Dora turned her bonnet +downward, and she also frowned a little. + +"Why should that old person come in this very morning?" she thought. + +But in an instant the front of the bonnet was raised toward Ralph, and +upon the young face under it there was not a shadow of dissatisfaction. + +"Of course I must go in and see her," she said, and then, speaking as if +Ralph were one on whom she had always been accustomed to rely for +counsel, "do you think I need go upstairs and change my dress? If this is +good enough for you and Miriam, isn't it good enough for Miss Panney?" + +As Ralph gazed into the blue eyes that were raised to his, it was +impossible for him to think of anything for which their owner was not +good enough. This impression upon him was so strong that he said, with +blurting awkwardness, that she looked charming as she was, and needed not +the slightest change. The value of this impulsive remark was fully +appreciated by Dora, but she gave no sign of it, and simply said that if +he were suited, she was. + +They were moving toward the house when Dora suddenly laid her hand +upon his arm. + +"You have forgotten the horse, Mr. Ralph," she said. + +The touch and the name by which she called him for the first time made +the young man forget, for an instant, everything in the world, but the +girl who had touched and spoken. + +"Have you anything to tie her with? Oh, yes, there is a chain on +that post." + +As Ralph turned the horse toward the hitching-post, Dora ran before him, +and stood ready with the chain in her hand. + +"Oh, no," she said, as he motioned to take it from her, "let me hook it +on her bridle. Don't you want to let me help you at all?" + +As side by side Dora and Ralph entered the drawing-room, Miss Panney +declared in her soul that they looked like an engaged couple, coming to +ask for her blessing. And when Dora saluted her with a kiss, and, drawing +up a stool, took a seat at her feet, the old lady gave her her blessing, +though not audibly. + +As Miss Panney was in a high good humor, she wanted everybody else to be +so, and in a few minutes even the sedate Miriam was chatting freely and +pleasantly. + +"And so that graceless Phoebe has left you," said the old lady; "to board +the minister, indeed! I will see that minister, and give him a text for a +sermon. But you cannot keep up this sort of thing, my young friends; not +even with Dora's help." And she stroked the soft hair of Miss Bannister, +from which the sunbonnet had been removed. + +"I will see Mike before I go, and send him for Molly Tooney. Molly is a +good enough woman, and if I send for her, she will come to you until you +have suited yourselves with servants. And now, my dear child, where did +you find that gay dress? Upstairs in some old trunk, I suppose. Stand +over there and let me look at you. It is a good forty years since I have +seen that gown. Do you know to whom it used to belong? But of course you +do not. It was Judith Pacewalk's teaberry gown." + +"And who was Judith Pacewalk?" asked Dora; "and why was it teaberry? It +is not teaberry color." + +"No," said Miss Panney; "the color had nothing to do with it, but I must +say it has kept very well. Let me see," taking out her watch, "it is not +yet eleven o'clock, and if you young people have time enough, I will tell +you the story of that gown. What does the master say?" + +Ralph declared that they must have the story, and that time must not be +considered. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN + + +"Judith Pacewalk," said Miss Panney, "was Matthias Butterwood's cousin. +Before Matthias got rich and built this house, he lived with his Aunt +Pacewalk on her farm. That was over at Pascalville, about thirty miles +from here. He superintended the farm, and Judith and he were very good +friends, although he never showed any signs of caring anything for her +except in the way of a cousin; but she cared for him. There was no doubt +about that. I lived in Pascalville, then, and used to be a great deal at +their house, and it was as plain as daylight to me that Judith was in +love with her cousin, although she was such a quiet girl that few people +suspected it, and I know he did not. + +"The Pacewalks were poor, and always had been; and it could not be +expected that a man like Matthias Butterwood could stay long on that +little farm. He had a sharp business head, and was a money-maker, and as +soon as he was able he bought a farm of his own, and this is the farm; +but there was no house on it then, except the little one that Mike now +lives in. But Matthias had grand ideas about an estate, and in the course +of five years he built this house and the great barn, and made a fine +estate of it. + +"When this was going on, he still lived with his Aunt Pacewalk. He did +not want to go to his own house until everything was finished and ready. +Of course, everybody supposed he would take a wife there, but he never +said anything about that, and gave a sniff when the subject was +mentioned. During the summer in which Cobhurst was finished--he named the +place himself--he told his aunt that in the fall he was going there to +live, and that he wanted her and Judith to come there and make him a +visit of a month. He said he intended to have his relations visit him by +turns, and that was the sort of family he would have. Now it struck me +that if Judith went there and played her cards properly, she could stay +there as mistress. Although she was a girl very much given to keeping her +own counsel, I knew very well that she had something of the same idea. + +"As I said before, the Pacewalks were poor, and although they lived well +enough, money was scarce with them, and it was seldom that they were able +to spend any of it for clothes. But about this time Judith came to me--I +was visiting them at the time--and talked a little about herself, which +was uncommon. She said that if she went to Matthias' fine new house, and +sat at the head of his table,--and of course that would be her place +there, as it was at her mother's table,--she thought that she ought to +dress better than she did. 'I do not mean,' she said, 'that I want any +fine clothes for company; but I ought to have something neat and proper +for everyday wear, and I want you to help me to think of some way to buy +it.' So we talked the matter over, and came to the conclusion that the +best way to do was to try to gather teaberries enough to pay for the +material for a chintz gown. + +"In those days--I don't know how it is now--Pascalville was the greatest +place for teaberries. They used them as a flavor for candy, ice-cream, +puddings, cakes, and I don't know what else. They made summer drinks of +it, and it was used as a perfume for home-made hair-washes and +tooth-powder. So Judith and I and a girl named Dorcas Stone, who was a +friend of ours, went to work gathering teaberries in the woods. We worked +early and late, and got enough to trade off at the store for the ten +yards of chintz with which that gown is made. + +"As for the making of it, Judith and I did all that ourselves. Dorcas +Stone might be willing enough to go with us to pick berries, but when +she found what was to be bought with them, she drew out of the business. +She was not a girl who was particularly sharp about seeing things +herself, or keeping people from seeing through her; but she wanted to +marry Matthias Butterwood, and when she found Judith was to have a new +gown she would have nothing to do with it, which was a pity, for she was +a very fine sewer, especially as to gathers. + +"We cut the gown from some patterns we got from a magazine; I fitted it, +and we both sewed. When it was done, and Judith tried it on, it was very +pretty and becoming, and she looked better in it than in the gown she +wore when she went to a party. When we had seen that everything was all +right, Judith took off the dress, folded it up, and put it away in a +drawer. 'Now,' said she, 'I shall not wear that until I go to Cobhurst.' + +"Well, as everybody knows, houses are never finished at the time they are +expected to be, and that was the way with this house, and as Matthias +would not go into it until everything was quite ready, the moving was put +off and put off until it began to be cold weather, and then he said he +would not go into it until spring, for it would be uncomfortable to live +in the new house in the winter. + +"I was very sorry for this, for I thought that the sooner Judith got here +the better her chance would be for staying here the rest of her life. +Judith did not say much, but I am sure she was sorry too, and Matthias +seemed a little out of spirits, as if he were getting a little tired of +living with the Pacewalks, and wanted to be in his own house. I think he +began to feel more like seeing people, and I know he visited the Stones a +good deal. + +"One day when I was at the Pacewalks' and we were sitting alone, he +looked at me and my clothes, and then he said, 'I wish Judith cared more +for clothes than she does. I do not mean getting herself up for high days +and holidays, but her everyday clothes. I like a woman to wear neat and +becoming things all the time.' 'I am sure,' I said, 'Judith's clothes are +always very neat!' + +"'If you mean clean,' he said, 'I will agree to that, but when the color +is all washed out of a thing, or it is faded in streaks like that blue +gown she wears, the wearing of it day after day is bound to make a person +think that a young woman does not care how she looks to her own family, +and I do not like young women not to care how they look to their +families, especially when calico is only twelve cents a yard, and needles +and thread cost almost nothing.' 'Matthias,' said I, 'I expect you have +been to see Dorcas Stone, and are comparing her clothes with Judith's. +Now, Dorcas' father is a well-to-do man, and Judith hasn't any father, +and she does the best she can with the clothes she has.' 'It is not money +I am talking about,' he said, 'it is disposition. If a young woman wants +to look well in her own family, she will find some way to do it. At any +rate, she could let it be seen that she is not satisfied to look like a +dowdy.' And then he went away. + +"This was the first time that Matthias had ever spoken to me about +Judith, and I knew just as well as if he had told me that it was Dorcas +Stone's clothes that had got him into that way of thinking. + +"More than that, I knew he would never have taken the trouble to say that +much about Judith if he had not been taking more interest in her than he +ever had before. He was a practical, businesslike man, and I believed +then, and I believe now, that he was looking for some one to be mistress +of Cobhurst, and if Judith had suited his ideas of what such a woman +ought to be, he would have preferred her to any one else. I think that +was about as far as he was likely to go in such matters at that time, +though of course if he had gotten a loving wife, he might have become a +loving husband, for Matthias was a good fellow at bottom, though rather +hard on top. + +"When he had gone, I went straight upstairs to Judith, and said to her, +if she knew what was good for her, she would get out that teaberry gown +and put it on for supper, and wear it regularly at meals and at all times +when it would be suitable as a house gown. 'I shall do nothing of the +sort,' she said; 'I got it to wear when I go to Cobhurst, and I shall +keep it until then. If I put it on now, it will be a poor-looking thing +by spring.' I told her that was all nonsense, and she could wear that and +get another in the spring, but she shook her head and was not to be +moved. Now, I would have been glad enough to give her the stuff to make a +new gown, but I had hinted at that sort of thing before, and did not +intend to do it again, for she was a good deal prouder than she was poor. +Nor could I think of telling her what Matthias had said, for not only +was she very sensitive, and would have been hurt that he should have +talked to me in that way about her, but she would not have consented to +dress herself on purpose to please a man's fancy. + +"I could not do anything more then, but I have always been a matchmaker, +and I did not give up this match. I did everything I could to make Judith +look well in the eyes of Matthias, and I said everything I could to make +his eyes look favorably on her, but it was all of no use. Judith went to +a Christmas party, and she wore a purple silk gown that had belonged to +her mother. It was rather large for her, and a good deal heavier than +anything she had been accustomed to wear, and she got very warm in the +crowded room, and coming home in a sleigh, she caught cold, and died in +less than a month. + +"So you see, my dears, Judith Pacewalk never wore her teaberry gown, in +which, I believe, she would have been mistress of Cobhurst. When her +mother died, not long afterward, everything they owned went to Matthias +and his brother Reuben. The Pacewalk farm was sold, and all the personal +property of both brothers, including that disastrous box of bones, was +brought here, where it is yet, I suppose; and so, my good young people, I +imagine you will not wonder that I was surprised to see that pink gown +again, having helped, as I did, with every seam, pleat, and gather of it. +If you will look at it closely, you will see that there is good work on +it, for Judith and I knew how to use our needles a good deal better than +most ladies do nowadays." + +Miriam now spoke with much promptness. + +"I am ever so glad to hear that story, Miss Panney," she said, "and as +that teaberry gown should have been worn by the mistress of Cobhurst, I +intend to wear it myself, every day, as long as it lasts, and if it does +not fit me, I can alter it." + +Whether this remark, which was delivered with considerable spirit, was +occasioned by the young girl's natural pride, or whether a little +jealousy had been aroused by the evident satisfaction with which the +old lady gazed at Dora, arrayed in this significant garment, Miss +Panney could not know, but she took instant alarm. Nothing could be +more fatal to her plans than to see the sister opposed to them. She +had been delighted at the intimacy that had evidently sprung up +between her and Dora, but she knew very well that if this sedate +school-girl should resent any interference with her prerogatives, the +intimacy would be in danger. + +Miss Panney had no doubt that Dora and Ralph were on the right road, and +would do very well if left to themselves, but she scarcely believed that +the young man was yet sufficiently in love to brave the opposition of his +sister, which would be all the more wild and unreasonable because she was +yet a girl, and in a position of which she was very proud. + +For Dora and Ralph to marry, Dora and Miriam should be the best of +friends, so that both brother and sister should desire the alliance, +and in furtherance of this happy result, Miss Panney determined to +take Dora away with her. She had been at Cobhurst long enough to +produce a desirable impression upon Ralph, and if she stayed longer, +there was no knowing what might happen between her and Miriam. Dora, as +well as the other, was high-spirited and young, and it was as likely as +not that as she showed an inclination to continue to wear the teaberry +gown, there would be a storm in which matrimonial schemes would be +washed out of sight. + +"Dora," said Miss Panney, "I am now going to drive to Thorbury, and it +will be a great deal better for you to go with me than to wait for your +brother, for it may be very late in the day before he can come for you. +And more than that, it is ten to one that by this time he has forgotten +all about you, especially if his office is full of clients. So please +get yourself ready as soon as possible. And, Miriam, if you will come +over to see me some morning, and bring that teaberry gown with you, I +will alter it to fit you, and arrange it so that you can do the sewing +yourself. It is very appropriate that the little lady of the house +should wear that gown." + +Into the minds of Dora and Miss Panney there came, simultaneously, this +idea: that no matter how much or how often Miriam might wear that gown, +she would not be the first one whom it had figuratively invested with the +prerogatives of the mistress of Cobhurst. + +Miss Bannister, who well knew her brother's habits, agreed to the old +lady's suggestion, and it was well she did so, for when she got home, +Herbert declared that he had been puzzling his mind to devise a plan for +sending for his sister and the broken buggy on the same afternoon. As +for going himself, it was impossible. + +When Dora came downstairs arrayed in her proper costume, Ralph thought +her a great deal prettier than when she wore the pink chintz. Miss +Panney thought so, too, and she managed to leave them together, while +she went with Miriam to get pen and paper with which to write a note to +Molly Tooney. + +"Molly cannot read," said the old lady, "but if Mike will take that to +her, she will come to you and stay as long as you like," and then she +went on to talk about the woman until she thought that Ralph and Dora had +had about five minutes together, which she considered enough. + +"You must both come and see me," cried Miss Bannister, as, leaning from +the phaeton, she stretched out her hand to Miriam. + +"Indeed we shall do so," said Ralph, and as his sister relinquished the +hand of the visitor he took it himself. + +Miss Panney was not one of those drivers who start off with a jerk. Had +she been such a one, Miss Bannister might have been pulled against the +side of the phaeton, for the grasp was cordial. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BLARNEY FLUFF + + +About three o'clock that afternoon, La Fleur, Mrs. Tolbridge's cook, sat +in the middle of her very pleasant kitchen, composing the dinner. Had she +been the chef of a princely mansion, she could not have given the +subject more earnest nor intelligent consideration. It is true the +materials at hand were not those from which a dinner for princes would +have been prepared. But what she had was sufficient for the occasion, and +this repast for a country gentleman in moderate circumstances and his +wife was planned with conscientiousness as well as skill. From the first +she had known very well that it would be fatal to her pretensions to +prepare for the Tolbridges an expensive and luxurious meal, but she had +determined that they should never sit down to any but a good one. + +Her soup had been determined upon and was off her mind, and she had +prepared that morning, from some residuary viands, which would have been +wasted had she not used them in this way, the little entree which was to +follow. Her filet, which the butcher had that morning declared he never +separated from the contiguous portions for any one, but had very soon +afterward cut out for her, lay in the refrigerator, awaiting her pleasure +and convenience. The vegetables had been chosen, and her thoughts were +now intent upon a "sweet" which should harmonize with the other courses. + +On a chair, by the door opening into the garden, sat George, the +doctor's man, who was coachman, groom, and gardener, and who, having +picked a basket of peas, had been requested to shell them. By an open +window, Amanda, the chambermaid, was extracting the stones from a little +dish of olives. + +George was working rapidly and a little impatiently. + +"Madam," said he, "do you want all these peas shelled?" + +La Fleur turned and looked at him with a pleasant smile. + +"I want enough to surround my filet, but whether you shell enough for us +to have any, depends entirely on your good will, George." + +"Of course I'll shell as many as you want," said he, "but I've got a lot +to do this afternoon. There is the phaeton to be washed, that I don't +want the doctor to come home and find muddy yet; and I ought to have done +it this morning, madam, when I was walking about the garden with you, a +tellin' you what I had and a hearin' what I ought to have." + +"I was so glad to have you go with me, and show me everything," said La +Fleur, "because I do not yet exactly understand American gardens. It is +such a nice garden, too, and you do not know how pleased I was, after you +left me and I was coming to the house, to see that fine bed of +aubergines. When will any of them be ripe, do you think, George?" + +The man looked up in surprise. + +"There is nothing of that sort in my garden," said he. "I never +heard of them." + +"Oh, yes, you have," said La Fleur, "you call them egg-plants. You see, +I am learning your American names for things. And now, Amanda, if you +have finished the olives I'll get you to make a fine powder of those +things which I have put into the mortar. Thump and grind them well with +the pestle; they are to make the stuffing for the olives." + +"But, madam, what is to become of the sewing Mrs. Tolbridge wants me to +do? I have only hemmed two of the dozen napkins she gave me to do day +before yesterday." + +"Now, Amanda," said La Fleur, "you ought to know very well, that without +a meal on the table, napkins are of no use. You might have the meals +without napkins, but it wouldn't work the other way. And I am sure those +napkins are not to be used for a week, or perhaps several weeks, and this +dinner must be eaten to-day. So you can see for yourself--" + +At this moment there was a knock at the inner door of the kitchen. + +"Who can that be!" exclaimed La Fleur. "Come in." + +The door opened, and Miss Panney entered the kitchen. La Fleur rose from +her seat, and for a moment the two elderly women stood and looked at +each other. + +"And this is La Fleur," said Miss Panney; "Mrs. Tolbridge has been +talking about you, and I asked her to let me come in and see you. I want +to speak to you for a few minutes, and I will sit down here. Don't you +stand up." + +La Fleur liked people to come and talk to her, provided they were the +right sort of people, and came in the right way. Miss Panney's salutation +pleased her; she had a respect for people who showed a proper recognition +of differences of position. If Miss Panney had been brought into the +kitchen by Mrs. Tolbridge and in a manner introduced to La Fleur, the +latter would have regarded her as something of an equal, and would not +have respected her. Had the old lady accosted her in a supercilious +manner, La Fleur would have disliked her, even if she had supposed she +were a person to be respected. But Miss Panney had filled all the +requirements necessary for the cook's favorable opinion. In the few words +she had spoken, she had shown that she was a friend of the mistress of +the house; that she had heard interesting things of the cook, and +therefore wished to see her; that she knew this cook was a woman of +sense, who understood what was befitting to her position, and would +therefore stand when talking to a lady, and, moreover, in consequence of +the fact that this cook was superior to her class, she would waive the +privileges of her class, and request the cook to sit, while talking to +her. To have waived this privilege without first indicating that she knew +La Fleur would acknowledge her possession of it, would have been damaging +to Miss Panney. + +Upon the features of La Fleur, which were inclined to be bulbous, there +now appeared a smile, which was very different from that with which she +encouraged and soothed her conscripted assistants. It was a smile that +showed that she was pleasurably honored, and it was accompanied by a +slight bow and a downward glance. Then turning to the man and the maid, +she told them in a low voice that they might go, a permission of which +they instantly availed themselves. + +Miss Panney now sat down, and La Fleur, pushing her chair a little away +from the table, availed herself of the permission to do likewise. + +"I have eaten some of your cooking, La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "and I +liked it so much that I wished to ask you something about it. For one +thing, where did you get that recipe for that delicious ice, flavored +with raspberry?" + +The cook smiled with a new smile--one of genuine pleasure. + +"To make that ice," she answered, "one must have more than a recipe: one +must be educated. Tolati, my first husband, invented that ice, and no +chef in Europe could make it but himself. But he taught me, and I make it +for Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge. It has a quality of cream, though there is no +cream in it." + +"I never tasted anything of the kind so good," said Miss Panney, "and +I am a judge, for I have lived long and eaten meals prepared by the +best cooks." + +"French, perhaps," said La Fleur. + +"Oh, yes," was the reply, "and those of other nations. I have travelled." + +"I could see that," said La Fleur, "by your appreciation of my work. +French cooking is the best in the world, and if you have an English cook +to do it, then there is nothing more to be desired. It is like the French +china, with the English designs, which they make now. I once visited +their works, and was very proud of my countrymen." + +"The conceited old body," thought Miss Panney; but she said, "Very +true, very true. It is delightful to me to think that my friends here +have a cook who can prepare meals which are truly fit, not only to +nourish the body without doing it any harm, but to gratify the most +intelligent taste. I have noticed, La Fleur, that there is always +something about your dishes that pleases the eye as well as the palate. +When we say that cooking is thoroughly wholesome, delicious, and +artistic, we can say no more." + +"You do me proud," said La Fleur, "and I hope, madam, that you may eat +many a meal of my cooking. I want to say this, too: I could not cook for +Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge as I do, if I did not feel that they appreciate my +work. I know they do, and so I am encouraged to do my best." + +"Not only does the doctor appreciate you," said Miss Panney, "but his +health depends upon you. He is a man who is peculiarly sensitive to bad +cooking. I have known him all his life, and known him well. He was +getting in a bad way, La Fleur, when you came here, and you are already +making a new man of him." + +"I like to hear that," said La Fleur. "I have a high opinion of Dr. +Tolbridge. I know what he is and what he needs. I often sit up late at +night, thinking of things that will be good for him, and which he will +like. We all work here: every one of the household is industrious, but +the doctor and I are the only ones who must work with our brains. The +others simply work with their bodies and hands." + +Miss Panney fixed her black eyes on the bulbous-faced cook. + +"The word conceit," she thought, "is imbecile in this case." + +"I am glad you are both so well able to do it," she said aloud. "And you +like it here? The place suits you?" + +"Oh, yes, madam," replied La Fleur; "it suits me very well. It is not +what I am accustomed to, but I gave up all that of my own accord. Life in +great houses has its advantages and its pleasures, and its ambitions, +too; but I am getting on in years, and I am tired of the worry and bustle +of large households. I came to this country to visit my relatives, and to +rest and enjoy myself; but I soon found that I could not live without +cooking. You might as well expect Dr. Tolbridge to live without reading." + +"That is very true, La Fleur," said Miss Panney; "and it seems to me that +you are in the very home where you can spend the rest of your days most +profitably to others, and most happily to yourself. And yet I hear that +you are considering the possibility of not staying here." + +"Yes," answered La Fleur, "I am considering that; but it is not because I +am dissatisfied with anything here. It is altogether a different +question. I am very much attached to the family I first lived with in +this country. They are in trouble now, and I think they may need me. If +they do, I shall go to them. I have quite settled all that in my mind. I +am now waiting for an answer to a letter I have written to Mrs. Drane." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "if you leave Dr. Tolbridge, I think it +will be a great mistake; and, although I do not want to hurt your +feelings, I feel bound to say that it will be almost a crime." + +The cook's face assumed an expression of firmness. + +"All that may be," she said, "but it makes no difference. If they need +me, I shall go to them." + +"But cannot somebody else be found to go to them? You are not as +necessary there as you are here, nor so highly prized. They let you go of +their own accord." + +"No one else will go to them for nothing," said La Fleur, "and I +shall do that." + +Miss Panney sat with her brows knit. + +"If the Dranes have become poor," she said presently, "it is natural that +you should want to help them; but it may not be at all necessary that you +should go to them. In fact, by doing that, you might embarrass them very +much. There are only two of them, I believe,--mother and daughter. Do +they do anything to support themselves?" + +"Miss Cicely is trying to get a situation as teacher. If she can do that, +she can support her mother. At present they are doing nothing, and I fear +have nothing to live on. I know my going to them would not embarrass +them. I can help them in ways you do not think of." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "your feelings are highly honorable to +you, but you are not going about this business in the right way. I have +heard of the Drane family, and know what sort of people they are. They +would not have you work for them for nothing, and perhaps buy with your +own money the food you cook. What should be done is to help them to +help themselves. If Miss Drane wishes a position as teacher, one should +be got for her." + +"That is out of my line," said La Fleur, shaking her head, "out of my +line. I can cook for them, but I can't help them to be teachers." + +"But perhaps I can, and I am going to try. What you have told me +encourages me very much. To get a position as teacher for Miss Drane +ought to be easy enough. To get Dr. Tolbridge a cook who could take your +place would be impossible." + +La Fleur smiled. "I believe that," she said. + +"Now what I do is for the sake of the doctor," continued Miss Panney. "I +do not know the Dranes personally, but I have no objection to benefit +them if I can. But for the sake of a friend whom I have known all his +days, I wish to keep you in this kitchen. I am not afraid to say this to +you, because I know you are not a person who would take advantage of the +opinion in which you are held, to make demands upon the family which they +could not satisfy." + +"You need not say anything about that, madam," replied La Fleur. "Nobody +can tell me anything about my work and value which I did not know before, +and as for my salary, I fixed that myself, and there shall be no change." + +Miss Panney rose. "La Fleur," she said, "I am very glad I came here to +talk to you. I did not suppose that I should meet with such a sensible +woman, and I shall ask a favor of you; please do not take any steps in +this matter without consulting me. I am going to work immediately to see +what I can do for Miss Drane, and if I succeed it will be far better for +her and her mother than if you went to them. Don't you see that?" + +"Yes," said La Fleur, "that is reasonable enough, but I must admit that I +should like to see them." + +Miss Panney ignored the latter remark. + +"Now do not forget, La Fleur," she said, "to send me word when you get a +letter, and then I may write to Miss Drane, but I shall go to work for +her immediately. And now I will leave you to go on with your dinner. I +shall dine here to-day, and I shall enjoy the meal so much better because +I know the chef who prepared it." + +La Fleur resumed her seat and the consideration of her "sweet." + +"She is a wheedling old body," she said to herself, "but I suppose I +ought to give her something extra for that speech." + +The next morning Mrs. Tolbridge came into the kitchen. "La Fleur," said +she, "what is the name of that delicious dessert you gave us last night?" + +The cook sighed. "She will always call the 'sweet' a dessert," she +thought; and then she answered, "That was Blarney Fluff, ma'am, with +sauce Irlandaise." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. "Whatever is its name," she said, "we all thought +it was the sweetest and softest, most delightful thing of the kind we had +ever tasted. Miss Panney was particularly pleased with it." + +"I hoped she would be," said La Fleur. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" + + +"I have spoken to Mr. Ames about it," said Dr. Tolbridge to Miss Panney, +as two days later they were sitting together in his office, "and we are +both agreed that teachers in Thorbury are like the vines on the gable +ends of our church; they are needed there, but they do not flourish. You +see, so many of our people send their children away to school, that is, +when they are really old enough to learn anything." + +"I would do it too, if I had children," said the old lady; "but this is a +matter which rises above the ordinary points of view. I do not believe +that you look at it properly, for if you did you would not sit there and +talk so coolly. Do you appreciate the fact that if Miss Drane does not +soon get something to do, you will be living on soggy, half-baked bread, +greasy fried meat, water-soaked vegetables, and muddy coffee, and every +one of your higher sentiments will be merged in dyspepsia?" + +The doctor smiled. "I did not suppose it would be as bad as that," he +said; "but if what you say is true, let us skip about instantly, and do +something." + +"That is the sort of action that I am trying to goad you into," said +the old lady. + +"Oh, I will do what I can," said the doctor, "but I really think there is +nothing to be done here, and at this season. People do not want teachers +in summer, and I see no promise of a later demand of this sort in +Thorbury. We must try elsewhere." + +"Not yet," said the other. "I shall not give up Thorbury yet. It is +easier for us to work for Miss Drane here than anywhere else, because we +are here, and we are not anywhere else. Moreover, she will like to come +here, for then she will not be among strangers; so please let us exhaust +Thorbury before thinking of any other place." + +"Very good," said the doctor, leaning back in his chair, "and now let us +exhaust Thorbury as fast as we can, before a patient comes in. I am +expecting one." + +"If she comes, she can wait," said Miss Panney. "You have a case here +which is acute and alarming, and cannot be trifled with." + +"How do you know I expect a 'she'?" asked the doctor. + +"If it had been a man, he would have been here and gone," said +Miss Panney. + +Miss Panney knew as well as any one that immediate employment as a +teacher could be rarely obtained in summer, and for this reason she +wished to confine her efforts to the immediate neighborhood, where +personal persuasion and influence might be brought into action. +Moreover, she had said to herself, "If we cannot get any teaching for +the girl, we must get her something else to do, for the present. But +whatever is to be done must be done here and now, or the old woman will +be off before we know it." + +She sat for a few moments with her brows knitted in thought. Suddenly +she exclaimed, "Is it Susan Clopsey you expect? Very well, then, I will +make an exception in her favor. She is just coming in at the gate, and I +would not interfere with your practice on her for anything. She has got +money and a spinal column, and as long as they both last she is more to +be depended on than government bonds. If her troubles ever get into her +legs, and I have reason to believe they will, you can afford to hire a +little maid for your cook. Old Daniel Clopsey, her grandfather, died at +ninety-five, and he had then the same doctorable rheumatism that he had +at fifty. I have something to think over, and I will come in again when +she is gone." + +"Depart, O mercenary being!" exclaimed the doctor, "before you abase my +thoughts from sulphate of quinia to filthy lucre." + +"Lucre is never filthy until you lose it," said the old lady as she went +out on the back piazza, and closed the door behind her. + +About twenty minutes later she burst into the doctor's office. "Mercy on +us!" she exclaimed, "are you here yet, Susan Clopsey? I must see you, +doctor; but don't you go, Susan. I won't keep him more than two minutes." + +"Oh, don't mind me," cried Miss Clopsey, a parched maiden of twoscore. "I +can wait just as well as not. Where is the pain, Miss Panney? Were you +took sudden?" + +"Like the pop of a jackbox. Come, doctor, I must see you in the parlor." + +"Can I do anything?" asked Miss Clopsey, rising. "How dreadful! Shall I +go for hot water?" + +"Oh, don't be alarmed," said Miss Panney, hurrying the amazed doctor out +of the room; "it is chronic. He will be back in no time." + +Miss Clopsey, left alone in the office, sank back in her chair. + +"Chronic by jerks," she sighed; "there can be few things worse than that; +and at her age, too!" + +"What can be the matter?" asked the doctor, as the two stood in +the parlor. + +"It is an idea," said Miss Panney; "you cannot think with what violence +it seized me. Doctor, what became of that book you wrote on the +'Diagnosis of Sympathy'?" + +The doctor opened his eyes in astonishment. + +"Nothing has become of it. It has been in my desk for two years. I have +not had time even to copy it." + +"And of course your writing could not be trusted to a printer. Now what +you should do is this: employ that Drane girl to copy your manuscript. +She can do it here, and if she comes to a word she cannot make out, she +can ask you. That will keep her going until autumn, and by that time we +can get her some scholars." + +"Miss Panney," said the doctor, "are you going crazy? I cannot afford +charity on that scale." + +"Charity!" repeated the old lady, sarcastically. "A pretty word to use. +By that sort of charity you give yourself one of the greatest of +earthly blessings, in the shape of La Fleur, and you get out a book +which will certainly be a benefit to the world, and will, I believe, +bring you fame and profit. And you are frightened by the paltry sum +that will be necessary to pay the board of the girl and her mother for +perhaps two months. Now do not condemn this plan until you have had +time to consider it. Go back to your Clopsey; I am going to find Mrs. +Tolbridge and talk to her." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE + + +When Dora Bannister had gone away in Miss Panney's phaeton, Miriam walked +gravely into the house, followed by her brother. + +"Now," said she, "I must go to work in earnest." + +"Work!" exclaimed Ralph. "I think you have been working a good deal +harder than you ought to work, and certainly a good deal harder than I +intend you to work. As soon as he has had his dinner, Mike shall take the +wagon, and go after the woman Miss Panney told us of." + +"Of course I have been working," said Miriam, "but while Dora Bannister +was here, what we did was not like straightforward work; it all seemed to +mean something that was not just plain housekeeping. For one thing, the +dough I intended to bake into bread was nearly all used up in making +those rolls that Dora worked up into such pretty shapes; and now, if the +new woman comes, I shall not have another chance to try my hand at +making bread until she leaves us, for I am not going to do anything of +the sort with a servant watching me. And there are all those raspberries +we picked this morning. I am sure I do not know what to do with them, for +there are ever so many more than we shall want to eat with cream. What +was it, Ralph, that you said you liked, made of raspberries?" + +Ralph looked a little puzzled. + +"I think," he said, "it must have been something of the tart order. What +did I tell you?" + +"You did not tell me anything," said Miriam, "and I do not believe that +tarts are ever made of raspberries. Dora Bannister said she wanted to +cook something for you that you told her you liked, but as you have +forgotten what it was, I suppose it does not make much difference now." + +Ralph had said so many things to Dora that he could not remember what +remark he had made about cooked raspberries; but it delighted him to +think that, whatever it was, Dora had wished to make it for him. + +After dinner Miriam went up to her room, where upon the bed lay Judith +Pacewalk's teaberry gown. She took off her own school-girl dress, and put +on the pink gown. It was the first time she had ever worn the clothes of +a woman. When she had attired herself in the silken robe which had been +so fatal to the fortunes and life of Judith Pacewalk, it had been slipped +on in masquerade fashion, debased from its high position to a mere +protection from spilt milk. Miriam had thought of the purple silk when +Miss Panney was telling her story, and had said to herself that if the +stall in the cow-stable had been ever so much darker and dirtier, and if +the milk stains had been more and bigger, the career of that robe would +have ended all the more justly. + +The teaberry gown was too long for Miriam, and too large in every way. +She knew that for herself; but hearing Ralph's footsteps outside, she had +a longing to know what he would say on the subject, so, holding up her +skirt to keep herself from tripping, she ran downstairs and called him +into the big hall. + +"How do you like me in the teaberry gown?" she asked. + +Without a thought of any figurative significance connected with the +dress, Ralph only saw that it was as unsuitable to his sister as it had +been well suited to Dora. + +"You will have to grow a good deal bigger and older before you are able +to fill that gown, my little one," he said. + +"That is not the way I do things," said Miriam, severely. "I shall make +the gown fit me." + +Ralph was about to say that it would be a pity to cut down and alter that +picturesque piece of old-fashioned attire into an ordinary garment, and +that it would be well to keep it as a family relic, or to give it away to +some one who could wear it as it was, but Miriam's manner assured him +that she was extremely sensitive on the subject of this gown, and he +considered it wise to offer no further opinion about it. So he went about +his affairs, and Miriam, having resumed her ordinary dress, went out with +her cook-book to a bench under a tree on the lawn. She never stayed in +the house when it was possible to be out of doors. + +"I wish I could find out," she said to herself, "what Dora Bannister +intended to make for Ralph out of raspberries. Whatever it is, I know I +can make it just as well, and I want to do it all myself before the new +cook comes. It could not have been jam," she said, as she turned over +the leaves; "for Ralph does not care much for jam, and he would not have +told her he liked that. And then there is jelly; but it must take a long +time to make jelly, and I do not believe she would undertake to give him +that for dinner, made from raspberries picked this morning. Besides, I +cannot imagine Ralph saying he wanted jelly for his dinner. Well, well!" +she exclaimed aloud, as she stopped to read a recipe, "they do make +tarts out of raspberries! That must have been it, for Ralph is +desperately fond of every kind of pastry. I will go into the house this +minute, and make him some raspberry tarts. We shall have them for +supper, even if they give him the nightmare. I am not going to have him +say again that he wished the new cook, as he kept calling Dora +Bannister, had stayed a little longer." + +Alas! at dinner time Ralph had been guilty of that indiscretion. Without +exactly knowing it, he had missed in the meal a certain very pleasant +element, which had been put into the supper and breakfast by Dora's +desire to gratify his especial tastes. While he missed their visitor in +many other ways, he alluded to her premature departure only in connection +with their domestic affairs. + +But so far as Miriam was concerned, he could have done nothing worse +than this. To have heard her brother say that Dora Bannister was the most +lovely girl he had ever seen, and that he was filled with grief at losing +the delights of her society, might have been disagreeable to her, or it +might not. But to have him even in the lightest way intimate that her +housekeeping was preferable to that of his own sister nettled her +self-esteem. + +"I will show him," she said, "that he is mistaken." + +In the pleasant coolness of the great barn, Ralph stretched himself on a +pile of new-made hay to think. He was a farmer, and he intended to try +to be a good farmer, and he knew that good farmers, during working +hours, do not lie down on piles of hay to think. But notwithstanding +that, in this hay-scented solitude, looking out of the great door upon +the quiet landscape with the white clouds floating over it, he thought +of Dora. He had been thinking of her in all sorts of irregular and +disjointed ways ever since he had risen in the morning; but now he +wished to think definitely, and lay down here for that purpose. One +cannot think definitely and single-mindedly when engaged in farm work, +especially if he sometimes finds himself a little awkward at said work +and is bothered by it. + +Whenever he could do it, Ralph Haverley liked to get things clear and +straightforward in his mind. He had applied this rule to all matters of +his former business, and he now applied it to the affairs of his present +estate. But how much more important was it to apply the rules to Dora +Bannister! Nothing had ever put his mind into a condition less clear and +straightforward than the visit of that young lady. The main point to be +decided upon was: what should he do about seeing her again? He was filled +by an all-pervading desire to do that; but how should he set about it? +The simplest plan would be to go and see her; but if he did so, he knew +he ought to take his sister with him, and he had no reason to believe +that Miriam would be in any hurry to return Miss Bannister's visit. If he +had been acquainted with the brother, the case would have been different, +but that gentleman had not yet called upon him. + +Having thought some time on this subject, Ralph sat upright, and +rearranged his reflections. + +"Why is it," he said to himself, "that I am so anxious to see her again, +and to see her as soon as possible?" + +To the solution of this question, Ralph applied the full force of his +intellectual powers. The conclusion that came to him after about six +seconds of deliberation was not well defined, but it indicated that if +almost any young man had had in his house--actually living with him and +taking part in his household affairs--an unusually handsome young woman, +who, not only by her appearance, but by her gentle and thoughtful desire +to adapt herself to the tastes and circumstances of himself and his +sister, seemed to belong in the place into which she had so suddenly +dropped, that young man would naturally want to see that young woman just +as soon as he could. This would be so in any similar case, and there was +no use in trying to find out why it was so in this case. + +He rose to his feet, and at that moment he heard Miriam calling to him. + +"Ralph," she said, running into the barn, "I have been looking all over +for you. The new woman cannot come to-day." + +"I do not see why you should appear so delighted about it," said Ralph; +"I am very sorry to hear it." + +"And I am not," replied Miriam. "There are some things I want to do +before she comes, and I am very glad to have the chance. Mike brought +back word from her that if you send the wagon in the cool of the morning, +she will come over with her trunk." + +"You are a funny girl," said Ralph, "to be actually pleased at the +prospect of cooking and doing housework a little longer." And as he said +that, he congratulated himself that his sister had not had the chance of +thinking him a funny fellow for lying stretched on the hay when he ought +to have been at work. + +Miriam was now in good spirits again. She walked to the great open +window, and, leaning on the bar, looked out. + +"What a lovely air," she said, and then she turned to her brother. "It is +nice to have visitors, and to have plenty of people to do your work, but +it is a hundred times jollier for just us two to be here by ourselves. +Don't you think so, Ralph?" And, without waiting for her brother's +answer, she went on. "You see, we can do whatever we please. We can be +as free as anything--as free as cats. Here, puss, puss," she called to +the gray barn cat in the yard below. "No, she will not even look at me. +Cats are the freest creatures in the world; they will not come to you if +they do not want to. If you call your dog, he feels that he has to come +to you. Ralph, do you know I think it is the most absurd thing in the +world that in a place like this we should have no dog." + +"I have been waiting for somebody to give me one," said Ralph, taking up +a pitchfork and preparing to throw some hay into the stable below. + +"That will be the nicest way of getting one," said Miriam, as she came +and stood by him, and watched him thrust the hay into the yawning hole. +"We do not want a dog that people are willing to sell. We want one that +is the friend of the family, and which the owners are obliged to part +with because they are going to Europe, or something of that sort. Such a +dog we should prize. Don't you think so, Ralph?" + +"Yes," said he, and went on taking up forkloads of hay and thrusting them +into the hole. He was wondering if this were a good time to tell Miriam +that that very morning Dora Bannister had been talking about there being +no dog at Cobhurst, and had asked him if he would like to have one; for +if he would, she had a very handsome black setter, which had been given +to her when it was a little puppy, and of which she was very fond, but +which had now grown too big and lively to be cooped up in the yard of +their house. He had said that he would be charmed to have the dog, and +had intended to tell Miriam about it, but now a most excellent +opportunity had come to do so, he hesitated. Miriam's soul did not seem +to incline toward their late visitor, and perhaps she might not care for +a gift from her. It might be better to wait awhile. Then there came a +happy thought to Ralph; here was a good reason for going to see Dora. It +would be no more than polite to take an interest in the animal which had +been offered him, and even if he did not immediately bring it to +Cobhurst, he could go and look at it. Miriam now returned to the house, +leaving her brother pondering over the question whether or not the next +morning would be too soon to go and look at the dog. + +The sun had set, and Ralph, having finished his day's work, and having +helped his sister as much as she and Mike would let him, sat on the +piazza, gazing between the tall pillars upon the evening landscape, and +still trying to decide whether or not it would be out of the way to go +the next morning to Dora Bannister. The evening light grew less and less, +and Ralph's healthy instincts drew his mind from thoughts of Dora to +thoughts of supper. It certainly was very late for the evening meal, but +he would not worry Miriam with any signs of impatience. That would be +unkind indeed, when she was slaving away in the kitchen, while he sat +here enjoying the evening coolness. + +In a few minutes he heard his sister's step in the hall, and then a sob. +He had scarcely time to turn, when Miriam ran out, and threw herself down +on the wide seat beside him. Her face, as he could see it in the dim +light, was one of despair, and as sob after sob broke from her, tears ran +down her cheeks. Tenderly he put his arm around her and urged her to tell +him what had happened. + +"Oh, Ralph," she sobbed, "it is very hard, but I know it is true. I have +been just filled with vanity and pride, and after all I am nothing like +as good as she is, nor as good as anybody, and the best I can do is to go +back to school." + +"What is the matter?" exclaimed Ralph. "You poor little thing, how came +you to be so troubled?" + +Miriam gave a long sigh and dropped her head on her brother's shoulder. + +"Oh, Ralph," she said, "they are six inches high." + +"What are?" cried Ralph, in great amazement. + +"The tarts," she said; "the raspberry tarts I was making for you, because +you like them, and because Dora Bannister was going to make them for you, +and I determined that I could do it just as well as she could, and that I +would do it and that you would not have to miss her for anything. But it +is of no use; I cannot do things as well as she can, and those tarts are +not like tarts at all; they are like chimneys." + +"I expect they are very good indeed. Now do not drop another tear, and +let us go in and eat them." + +"No," said Miriam, "they are not good. I know what is the matter with +them. I have found out that I have no more idea of making pie crust than +I have about the nebulous part of astronomy, and that I never could +comprehend. I wanted to make the lightest, puffiest pastry that was +possible, and I used some self-raising flour, the kind that has the yeast +ground up with it, and when I put those tarts in the oven to bake, they +just rose up, and rose up, until I thought they would reach up the +chimney. They are perfectly horrid." + +Ralph sprang to his feet, and lifted his sister from her seat. "Come +along, little one," he cried, "and I shall judge for myself what sort of +a pastry-cook you are." + +"The pigs shall judge that," said Miriam, who had now dried her eyes, +"but fortunately there are other things to eat." + +The tarts, indeed, were wonderful things to look at, resembling, as +Miriam had said, a plateful of little chimneys, with a sort of swallow's +nest of jam at the top, but Ralph did not laugh at them. + +"Wait until their turn comes," said Ralph, "and I will give my opinion +about them." + +When he had finished the substantial part of the meal, he drew the plate +of tarts toward him. + +"I will show you how to eat the Cobhurst tart. You cut it down from top +to bottom: then you lay the two sections on their rounded sides: then you +get a lot more of jam, which I see you have on the side table, and you +spread the cut surfaces with it: then you put it together as it was +before, and slice it along its shorter diameter. Good?" said he; "they +are delicious." + +Miriam took a piece. "It is good enough," she said, "but it is not a +tart. If Dora Bannister had made them, they would have been real tarts." + +"It is very well I said nothing about the dog," thought Ralph; and then +he said aloud, "It is not Dora Bannister that we have to consider; it is +Molly Tooney. She is to save you from the tears and perplexities of flour +and yeast, and to make you the happy little lady of the house that you +were before the wicked Phoebe went away. But one thing I insist upon: I +want the rest of those tarts for my breakfast." + +Miriam looked at her brother with a smile that showed her storm was over. + +"You are eating those things, dear Ralph," she said, "because I made +them, and that is the only good thing about them." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS + + +In a small room at the back of Dr. Tolbridge's house there sat a young +woman by the window, writing. This was Cicely Drane; and although it was +not yet ten days since Miss Panney broached her plan of the employment of +Miss Drane as the doctor's secretary, or rather copyist, here she was, +hard at work, and she had been for two days. + +The window opened upon the garden, and in the beds were a great many +bright and interesting flowers, but paying no heed to these, Cicely gave +her whole attention to her task, which, indeed, was not an easy one. With +knitted brows she bent over the manuscript of the "Diagnosis of +Sympathy," and having deciphered a line or two, she wrote the words in a +fair hand on a broad sheet before her. Then she returned to the study of +the doctor's caligraphy, and copied a little more of it, but the +proportion of the time she gave to the deciphering of the original +manuscript to that occupied in writing the words in her own hand was +about as ten is to one. An hour had elapsed since she had begun to write +on the page, which she had not yet filled. + +Miss Cicely Drane was a small person, nearing her twenty-second year. She +had handsome gray eyes, tastefully arranged brown hair, and a vivacious +and pleasing face. Her hands were small, her feet were small, and she did +not look as if she weighed a hundred pounds, although, in fact, her +weight was considerably more than that. Her dress was a simple one, on +which a great deal of thought had been employed to make it becoming. + +For a longer time than usual she now bent over the doctor's manuscript, +endeavoring to resolve a portion of it into comprehensible words. Then +she held up the page to the light, replaced it on the table, stood up and +looked at it, and finally sat down again, her elbows on the paper, and +her tapering fingers in the little brown curls at the sides of her head. +Presently she raised her head, with a sigh. "It is of no use," she said. +"I must go and ask him what this means; that is, if he is at home." + +With the page in her hand, she went to the office door, and knocked. + +"Come in," said Dr. Tolbridge. + +Miss Drane entered; the doctor was alone, but he had his hat in his hand +and was just going out. + +"I am glad I caught you," said she, "for there is a part of this page in +which I can see no meaning." + +"What is it?" said the doctor. "Read it." + +Slowly and distinctly she read:-- + +"'The cropsticks of flamingo bicrastus quack.'" + +The doctor frowned, laid his hat on the table, and seating himself took +the paper from Cicely Drane. + +"This is strange," said he. "It does seem to be 'cropsticks of flamingo,' +but what can that mean?" + +"That is what I came to ask you," said she. "I have been puzzling over it +a good while, and I supposed, of course, you would know what it is." + +"But I do not," said the doctor. "It is often very hard for me to read my +own writing, and this was written two years ago. You can leave this sheet +with me, and this evening I will look over it and try to make something +out of it." + +Cicely Drane was methodical in her ways; she could not properly go on +with the rest of her work without this page, and so she told the doctor. + +"Oh, never mind any more work for today," said he. "It is after four +o'clock now, and you ought to go out and get a little of this pleasant +sunshine. By the way, how do you like this new business?" + +"I should like it very well," said Cicely, as she stood by the table, "if +I could get on faster with it, but I work so very, very slowly. I made a +calculation this morning, that if I work at the same rate that I have +been working since I came here, it will take me thirteen years and eleven +months to copy your manuscript." + +The doctor laughed. "If a child should walk to school," he said, "at the +same rate of speed that he takes his first toddling step on the nursery +floor, it might take him about thirteen years to get there. That is, if +his school were at the average distance. You will get on fast enough when +you become acquainted with my writing." + +She was on the point of saying that surely he had had time to get +acquainted with it, and yet he could not read it; but she considered that +she did not yet know the doctor well enough for that. + +The doctor rose and took up his hat; then he suddenly turned toward Miss +Drane and said, "La Fleur, our cook, came to speak to me this morning +about your mother. She says she thinks that you are not well lodged; that +the street is in the hottest part of the town, and that Mrs. Drane's +health will suffer if you stay there. Does your mother object to your +present quarters?" + +Cicely, who had been half way to the door, now came back and stood by +the table. + +"Mother never objects to anything," she said. "She thinks our rooms are +very neat and comfortable, and that Mrs. Brinkly is a kind landlady, +but she has complained a great deal of the heat. You know our house was +very airy." + +"I am sorry," said the doctor, "that Mrs. Brinkly's house is not likely +to prove pleasant. It is in a closely built portion of the town, but it +seemed the only place where we could find suitable accommodations for +your mother and you." + +"Oh, it is a nice place," exclaimed Cicely, "and I am sure we shall like +it, except in hot weather, such as we are having now. I have no doubt we +shall get used to it after a little while." + +"La Fleur does not think so," said the doctor. "She is very much +dissatisfied with the Brinkly establishment. I think I saw signs of +mental disturbance in our luncheon to-day." + +Cicely laughed. She was a girl who was pleasant to look at when she +laughed, for her features accommodated themselves so naturally to +mirthful expression. + +"It is almost funny," she said, "to see how fond La Fleur is of mother. +She lived with us less than a year, and yet one might suppose she had +always been a servant of the family. I think one reason for her feeling +is that mother never does anything. You know she has never been used to +do anything, and of late years she has not been well enough. La Fleur +likes all that; she thinks it is a mark of high degree. She told me once +that my mother was a lady who was born to be served, and who ought not to +be allowed to serve herself." + +"She does not seem to object to your working," remarked the doctor. + +"I am sure she does not like that, but then she considers it a thing that +cannot be helped. You know," continued Cicely, with a smile, "she is not +so particular about me, for I have some trade blood. Father's father was +a merchant." + +"So you are only a grade aristocrat," said the doctor; "but I must go. I +will talk to Mrs. Tolbridge about this affair of lodgings." + +That evening Mrs. Tolbridge and the doctor held a conference in regard to +the quarters of the Dranes. + +"I think La Fleur concerns herself entirely too much in the matter," said +the lady. "She first came to me, and then she went to you. You have done +a good deal for Mrs. Drane in giving her daughter employment, and we +cannot be expected to attend to her every need. I do not consider Mrs. +Brinkly's house a very pleasant one in hot weather, and I would be glad +to do anything I could to establish them more pleasantly, but I know of +nothing to do, at least at present; and then you say they have not +complained. From what I have seen of Mrs. Drane, I think she is a very +sensible woman, and under the circumstances probably expects some +discomforts." + +"But that is not all that is to be considered," said her husband. "La +Fleur's dissatisfaction, which is very evident, must be taken into the +question. She has a scheming mind. Before she left this morning she asked +me if I thought a little house could be gotten outside the town, for a +moderate rent. I believe she would not hesitate to take such a house, and +board and lodge the Dranes herself." + +"Doctor!" exclaimed Mrs. Tolbridge, "whatever happens, I hope we are not +going to be the slaves of a cook." + +The doctor laughed. + +"Whatever happens," he said, "we are always that. All we can do is to try +and be the slaves of a good one." + +"I am not altogether sure that that is the right way to look at it," +said Mrs. Tolbridge; and then she went on with her sewing, not caring to +expatiate on the subject. Her husband appreciated only the advantages of +La Fleur, but she knew something of her disadvantages. The work on which +she was engaged at that moment would have been done by the maid, had not +that young woman's services been so frequently required of late by the +autocrat of the kitchen. + +The doctor sat silent for a few minutes. He had a kindly feeling for Mrs. +Drane, and was willing to do all he could for her, but his thoughts were +now principally occupied with plans for the continuance of good living in +his own home. + +"I suppose it would not be practicable," he said presently, "to invite +them to stay with us during the heated term." + +Mrs. Tolbridge dropped her work into her lap. + +"That is not to be thought of for a moment," she said. "We have no +room for them, unless we give up having any more friends this summer; +and besides that, you would see La Fleur, with the other servants at +her heels, devoting herself to the gratification of every want and +notion of Mrs. Drane, and thinking no more of me than if I were a +chair in a corner." + +"We shall not have that," said the doctor, rising, and placing his hand +on his wife's head. "You may be sure we shall not have that. And now I +will go and get a bit of my handwriting, and see if you can help me +decipher it." + +He left the room, but in an instant returned. + +"A happy thought has just struck me!" he exclaimed. "I wonder if those +young Haverley people would take Mrs. Drane into their house for the rest +of the summer? It would be an excellent thing for them, for their +household needs the presence of an elderly person, and I am sure that no +one could be quieter, or more pleasant, and less troublesome, than Mrs. +Drane would be. What do you think of that idea?" + +Mrs. Tolbridge looked up approvingly. + +"It is not a bad one," she said; "but what would the daughter do? She +could not come into town every day to do your work. It is too long a walk +for her, and she could not afford a conveyance." + +"No," said the doctor, "of course she could not go back and forwards +every day, but it would not be necessary. She could take the work out +there and do it as well as here, and she could come in now and then, when +a chance offered, and ask me about the hard words, for which she could +leave blanks. Or, if I happen to be in the neighborhood, I could stop in +there and see how she was getting on. I would much rather arrange the +business in that way, than have her pop into my office at any moment to +ask me about my illegible words." + +"I should think the work could be done just as well out of the house as +in it," said the doctor's wife, who would be willing to have again the +use of the little room that she had cheerfully given up to the copyist of +her husband's book, which she, quite as earnestly as Miss Panney, desired +to be given to the world. + +"The first thing to do," said she, "is to make them acquainted. At first +the Haverleys would not be likely to favor the plan. They no doubt +consider themselves sufficient company for each other, and although a +slight addition to their income would probably be of advantage, I think +they are too young and unpractical to care much about that." + +"How would it do to have the Dranes and the Haverleys here, and give them +a first-class La Fleur dinner?" asked the doctor. + +"I do not like that," said his wife. "The intention would be too obvious. +The thing should be done more naturally." + +"Well," said the doctor, "I wish we had Miss Panney here. She has a great +capacity for rearranging and simplifying the circumstances of a +complicated case." + +Mrs. Tolbridge made no answer, but very intently examined her sewing. + +"But if we can think of no deeply ingenious plan," continued the doctor, +"we will go about it in a straightforward way. I will see Ralph Haverley, +and if I can win him over to the idea I will let him talk to his sister. +He can do it better than we can. If they utterly reject the whole scheme, +we will wait a week or so, and propose it again, just as if we had never +done it before. I have found this plan work very well with persons who, +on account of youth, or some other reason, are given to resentment of +suggestions and to quick decisions. When a rejected proposition is laid +before them a second time, the disposition to resent has lost its force, +and they are as likely to accept it as not." + +"You are right," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "for I have tried that plan +with you." + +The doctor looked at her and laughed. + +"It is astonishing," he exclaimed, "what coincidences we meet with in +this world," and with that he left the room. + +As soon as her husband had gone, Mrs. Tolbridge leaned back in her chair +and laughed quietly. + +"To think of asking Miss Panney to aid in a plan like that!" she said to +herself. "Why, when the old lady hears of it she will blaze like fury. To +send that pretty Cicely to live in the house for which she herself has +selected a mistress, will seem to her like high treason. But the +arrangement suits me perfectly, and I can only hope that Miss Panney may +not hear of it until everything is settled." + +The more Dr. Tolbridge thought of the plan to establish Mrs. and Miss +Drane, for a time, at Cobhurst, the better he liked it. Not only did he +think the arrangement would be a desirable one on the Drane side, but +also on the Haverley side. From the first, he had taken a lively interest +in Miriam, and he considered that her life of responsibility and +independence in that lonely household was as likely to warp her mind in +some directions as it was to expand it in others. Suitable companionship +would be a great advantage to her in this regard, and he fancied that +Cicely Drane would be as congenial and helpful a chum, and Mrs. Drane as +unobjectionable a matronly adviser, as could be found. If the plan suited +all concerned, it might perhaps be continued beyond the summer. He would +see Ralph as soon as possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A TRESPASS + + +Having received permission to stop work at four o'clock on a beautiful +summer afternoon, Cicely Drane put away her papers and walked rapidly +home. She found her mother on Mrs. Brinkly's front piazza, fanning +herself vigorously and watching some children, who, on the other side of +the narrow street, were feeding a tethered goat with clippings from a +newspaper. + +After a few words to explain her early return, Cicely went up to her own +room, and took from a drawer a little pocketbook, and opening it, +examined the money contained therein. Apparently satisfied with the +result, she went downstairs, wallet in hand. + +"Mother," said she, "you must find it dreadfully hot and stupid here, and +as this is a bit of a holiday, I intend we shall take a drive." + +Mrs. Drane was about to offer some sort of economic objection, but before +she could do so, Cicely was out of the little front yard, and hurrying +toward the station, where there were always vehicles to be hired. + +She engaged the man who had the best-looking horse, and in a little open +phaeton, a good deal the worse for wear, she returned to her mother. + +Andy Griffing, the driver, was a grizzled little man with twinkling eyes +and a cheery air that seemed to indicate that an afternoon drive was as +much a novelty and pleasure to him as it could possibly be to any two +ladies; which was odd, considering that for the last forty years Andy had +been almost constantly engaged in taking morning, afternoon, evening, and +night drives. + +The only direction given him by Cicely was to take them along the +prettiest country roads that he knew of, and this suited him well, for he +not only considered himself a good judge of scenery, but he knew which +roads were easiest for his horse. + +As they travelled leisurely along, the ladies enjoying the air, the +fields, the sweet summer smells, the stretches of woods, the blue and +white sky, and everything that goes to make a perfect summer afternoon. +Andy endeavored to add to their pleasure by giving them information +regarding the inhabitants of the various dwellings they passed. + +"That whitish house back there among the trees," said he, "with the green +blinds, is called the Witton place. The Wittons themselves are nuthin' +out o' the common; but there's an old lady lives there with 'em, who if +you ever meet, you'll know agin, if you see her agin. Her name's +Panney,--Miss Panney,--and she's a one-er. What she don't know about me, +I don't know, and what she won't know about you, three days after she +gits acquainted with you, you don't know. That's the kind of a person +Miss Panney is. There's a lot of very nice people, some rich and some +poor, and some queer and some not quite so queer, that lives in and +around Thorbury, and if you like it at Mrs. Brinkly's and conclude to +stay there any length of time, I don't doubt you'll git acquainted with a +good many of 'em; but take my word for it, you'll never meet anybody who +can go ahead of Miss Panney in the way of turnin' up unexpected. I once +had a sick hoss, who couldn't do much more than stand up, but I had to +drive him one day, 'cause my other one was hired out. 'Now' says I, as I +drew out the stable, 'if I can get around town this mornin' without +meetin' Miss Panney, I think old Bob can do my work, and to-morrow I'll +turn him out to grass.' And as I went around the first corner, there was +Miss Panney a drivin' her roan mare. She pulled up when she seed me, and +she calls out, 'Andy, what's the matter with that hoss?' I told her he +was a little under the weather, but I had to use him that day, 'cause my +other hoss was out. Then she got straight out of that phaeton she drives +in, and come up to my hoss, and says she, 'Andy, you ought to be ashamed +of yourself to make a hoss work when he is in a condition like that. Take +him right back to your stable, or I'll have you up before a justice.' +'Now look here, Miss Panney,' says I, 'which is the best, for a hoss to +jog a little round town when he ain't feeling quite well, or for a man to +sit idle on his front doorstep and see his family starve?' 'Now, Andy,' +says she, 'is that the case with you?' and havin' brought up the pint +myself, I was obliged to say that it was. 'Very good, then,' said she, +and she took her roan mare by the head and led it up to the curbstone. +'Now then,' said she, 'you can take your hoss out of the cab and put this +hoss in, and you can drive her till your hoss gets well, and durin' that +time I'll walk.' + +"Well, of course I didn't do that, and I took my hoss back to the stable, +and my family didn't starve nuther; but I just tell you this to show you +what sort of a woman Miss Panney is." + +"I should think she was a very estimable person," said Mrs. Drane. + +"Oh, there's nothin' the matter with her estimation," said Andy. "That's +level enough. I only told you that to show you how you can always expect +her to turn up unexpected." + +"Mrs. Brinkly spoke of Miss Panney," said Cicely; "she said that she was +the first one to come and see her about rooms for us." + +"That was certainly very kind," said Mrs. Drane, "considering that she +does not know us at all, except through Dr. Tolbridge. I remember his +speaking of her." + +"That place over there," said Andy, "you can jest see the tops of the +chimneys, that's called Cobhurst; that's where old Matthias Butterwood +used to live. It was an awful big house for one man, but he was queer. +There's nobody livin' there now but two young people, sort of temporary, +I guess, though the place belongs to 'em. I don't think they are any too +well off. They don't give us hack-drivers much custom, never havin' any +friends comin' or goin', or trunks or anything. He's got no other +business, they say, and don't know no more about farmin' than a potato +knows about preachin'. There's nothin' on the place that amounts to +anything except the barn. There's a wonderful barn there, that old +Butterwood spent nobody knows how much money on, and he a bachelor. You +can't see the barn from here, but I'll drive you where you can get a good +look at it." + +In a few minutes, he made a turn, and whipped up his horse to a better +speed, and before Mrs. Drane and her daughter could comprehend the state +of affairs, they were rolling over a not very well kept private road, and +approaching the front of a house. + +"Where are you going, driver?" exclaimed Mrs. Drane, leaning forward in +astonishment. + +Andy turned his beaming countenance upon her, and flourished his whip. + +"Oh, I'm just goin' to drive round the side of the house," he said; "at +the back there's a little knoll where we can stop, and you can see the +whole of the barn with the three ways of gittin' into it, one for each +story." At that moment they rolled past the front piazza on which were +Miriam and Ralph, gazing at them in surprise. The latter had risen when +he had heard the approaching carriage, supposing they were to have +visitors. But as the vehicle passed the door he looked at his sister in +amazement. + +"It can't be," said he, "that those people have come to visit Mike?" + +"Or Molly Tooney?" said Miriam. + +As for Mrs. Drane and Cicely, they were shocked. They had never been +in the habit of driving into private grounds for the sake of seeing +what might be there to see, and Mrs. Drane sharply ordered the +driver to stop. + +"What do you mean," said she, "by bringing us in here?" + +"Oh, that's nuthin'," said Andy, with a genial grin; "they won't mind +your comin' in to look at the barn. I've druv lots of people in here to +look at that barn, though, to be sure, not since these young people has +been livin' here, but they won't mind it an eighth of an inch." + +"I shall get out and apologize," said Mrs. Drane, "for this shameful +intrusion, and then you must drive us out of the grounds immediately. We +do not wish to stop to look at anything," and with this she stepped from +the little phaeton and walked back to the piazza. + +Stopping at the bottom of the steps, she saluted the brother and sister, +whose faces showed that they were in need of some sort of explanation of +her arrival at their domestic threshold. + +In a few words she explained how the carriage had happened to enter the +grounds, and hoped that they would consider that the impropriety was due +entirely to the driver, and not to any desire on their part to intrude +themselves on private property for the sake of sight-seeing. Ralph and +Miriam were both pleased with the words and manner of this exceedingly +pleasant-looking lady. + +"I beg that you will not consider at all that you have intruded," said +Ralph. "If there is anything on our place that you would care to look at, +I hope that you will do so." + +"It was only the barn," said Mrs. Drane, with a smile. "The man told us +it was a peculiar building, but I supposed we could see it without +entering your place. We will trespass no longer." + +Ralph went down the steps, and Miriam followed. + +"Oh, you are perfectly welcome to look at the barn as much as you wish +to," he said. "In fact, we are rather proud to find that this is anything +of a show place. If the other lady will alight, I will be pleased to have +you walk into the barn. The door of the upper floor is open, and there is +a very fine view from the back." + +Mrs. Drane smiled. + +"You are very good indeed," she said, "to treat intrusive strangers with +such kindness, but I shall be glad to have you know that we are not mere +tourists. We are, at present, residents of Thorbury. I am Mrs. Drane, and +my daughter is engaged in assisting Dr. Tolbridge in some literary work." + +"If you are friends of Dr. Tolbridge," said Ralph, "you are more than +welcome to see whatever there is to see on this place. The doctor is one +of our best friends. If you like, I will show you the barn, and perhaps +my sister will come with us." + +Miriam, who for a week or more had been beset by the very unusual desire +that she would like to see somebody and speak to somebody who did not +live at Cobhurst, willingly agreed to assist in escorting the strangers, +and Cicely having joined the group, they all walked toward the barn. + +There were no self-introductions, Ralph merely acting as cicerone, and +Miriam bringing up the rear in the character of occasional commentator. +Mrs. Drane had accepted the young gentleman's invitation because she felt +that the most polite thing to do under the circumstances was to gratify +his courteous desire to put them at their ease, and, being a lover of +fine scenery, she was well rewarded by the view from the great window. + +The pride of possession began to glow a little within Ralph as he pointed +out the features of this castle-like barn. Mrs. Drane agreed to his +proposition to descend to the second floor. But as these two were going +down the broad stairway, Cicely drew back, and suddenly turning, +addressed Miriam. + +"I have been wanting to ask a great many questions," she said, "but I +have felt ashamed to do it. I have nearly always lived in the country, +but I know hardly anything about barns and cows and stables and hay and +all that. Do the hens lay their eggs up there in your hay?" + +Miriam smiled gravely. + +"It is very hard to find out," she said, "where they do lay their eggs. +Some days we do not get any at all, though I suppose they lay them, just +the same. There is a henhouse, but they never go in there." + +Cicely moved toward the stairway, and then she stopped; she cast her +eyes toward the mass of hay in the mow above, and then she gave a little +sigh. Miriam looked at her and understood her perfectly, moreover she +pitied her. + +"How is it," said she as they went down the stairs, "that you lived in +the country, and do not know about country things?" + +"We lived in suburbs," she said. "I think suburbs are horrible; they are +neither one thing nor the other. We had a lawn and shade trees, and a +croquet ground, and a tennis court, but we bought our milk and eggs and +most of our vegetables. There isn't any real country in all that, you +know. I was never in a haymow in my life. All I know about that sort of +thing is from books." + +When, with many thanks for the courtesies offered them, Mrs. Drane and +her daughter had driven away, Miriam sat by herself on the piazza and +thought. She had a good deal of time, now, to think, for Molly Tooney was +a far more efficient servant than Phoebe had been, and although her +brother gave her as much of his time as he could, she was of necessity +left a good deal to herself. + +She began by thinking what an exceedingly gentlemanly man her brother +was; in his ordinary working clothes he had been as much at his ease with +those ladies as though he had been dressed in a city costume, which, +however, would not have been nearly so becoming to him as his loose +flannel shirt and broad straw hat. She then began to regret that her mind +worked so slowly. If it had been quicker to act, she would have asked +that young lady to come some day and go up in the haymow with her. It +would be a positive charity to give a girl with longings, such as she saw +that one had, a chance of knowing what real country life was. It would +be pleasant to show things to a girl who really wanted to know about +them. From this she began to think of Dora Bannister. Dora was a nice +girl, but Miriam could not think of her as one to whom she could show or +tell very much; Dora liked to do the showing and telling herself. + +"I truly believe," said Miriam to herself, and a slight flush came on her +face, "that if she could have done it, she would have liked to stay here +a week, and wear the teaberry gown all the time and direct +everything,--although, of course, I would never have allowed that." With +a little contraction of the brows, she went into the hall, where she +heard her brother's step. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON + + +"It bothers the head off of me," said Molly Tooney to Mike, as she sat +eating her supper in the Cobhurst kitchen, "to try to foind out what thim +two upstairs is loike, anyway, 'specially her. I've been here nigh onto +two weeks, now, and I don't know her no betther than when I fust come. +For the life of me I can't make out whether she's a gal woman or a woman +gal. Sometimes she's one and sometimes t'other. And then there's he. Why +didn't he marry and settle before he took a house to himself? And in the +two Sundays I've been here, nather of thim's been to church. If they +knowed what was becomin' to thim, they'd behave like Christians, if they +are heretics." + +Mike sat at a little table in the corner of the kitchen with his back to +Molly, eating his supper. He had enough of the Southern negro in him to +make him dislike to eat with white people or to turn his face toward +anybody while partaking of his meals. But he also had enough of a son of +Erin in him to make him willing to talk whenever he had a chance. Turning +his head a little, he asked, "Now look a here, Molly; if a man's a +heretic, how can he be a Christian?" + +"There's two kinds of heretics," said Molly, filling her great tea-cup +for the fourth time, and holding the teapot so that the last drop of the +strong decoction should trickle into the cup; "Christian heretics and +haythen heretics. You're one of the last koind yoursilf, Mike, for you +never go nigh a church, except to whitewash the walls of it. And you'll +never git no benefit to your own sowl, from Phoebe's boardin' the +minister, nather. Take my word for that, Mike." + +Mike allowed himself a sort of froggy laugh. "There's nobody gets no good +out of that, but him," said he; "but you've got it crooked about their +not goin' to church. They did go reg'lar at fust, but the gig's at the +wheelwright's gettin' new shaf's." + +"Gig, indeed!" ejaculated Molly. "No kirridge, but an auld gig! There's +not much quality about thim two. I wouldn't be here working for the likes +o' thim, if it was not for me wish to oblige Miss Panney, poor old woman +as she's gittin' to be." + +Mike shrewdly believed that it was due to Miss Panney's knowledge of +some of Molly's misdeeds, and not to any desire to please the old lady, +that the commands of the latter were law to the Irishwoman, but he would +not say so. + +"Kerridge or no kerridge," said he, "they're good 'nough quality for me, +and I reckon I knows what quality is. They hain't got much money, that's +sure, but there's lots of quality that ain't got money; and he's got +sense, and that's better than money. When he fust come here, I jes' goes +to him, and ses I, 'How's you goin' to run this farm, sir,--ramshackle or +reg'lar?' He looked at me kinder bothered, and then I 'splained. 'Well,' +said he, 'reg'lar will cost more money than I've got, and I reckon we'll +have to run it ramshackle.' That's what we did, and we're gittin' along +fust rate. He works and I work, and what we ain't got no time to do, we +let stand jes' thar till we git time to 'tend to it. That's ramshackle. +We don't spend no time on fancy fixin's, and not much money on nuthin'." + +"That's jes' what I've been thinkin' mesilf," said Molly. "I don't +see no signs of money bein' spint on this place nather for one thing +or anuther." + +"You don't always have to spend money to get craps," said Mike; "look at +our corn and pertaters. They is fust rate, and when we sends our craps to +market, there won't be much to take for 'spenses out of what we git." + +"Craps!" said Molly, with a sneer. "If you hauls your weeds to market, +it'll take more wagons than you can hire in this country, and thim's the +only craps my oi has lit on yit." + +This made Mike angry. He was, in general, a good-natured man, but he had +a high opinion of himself as a farm manager, and on this point his +feelings were very sensitive. As was usual with him when he lost his +temper, he got up without a word and went out. + +"Bedad!" said Molly, looking about her, "I wouldn't have sid that to him +if I'd seed there wasn't no kindlin' sphlit." + +As Mike walked toward his own house, he was surprised to see, entering a +little-used gateway near the barn, a horse and carriage. It was now so +dark he could not see who occupied it, and he stood wondering why it +should enter that gateway, instead of coming by the main entrance. As he +stood there, the equipage came slowly on, and presently stopped in front +of his little house. By the time he reached it, Phoebe, his wife, had +alighted, and was waiting for him. + +"Reckon you is surprised to see me," said she, and then turning to the +negro man who drove the shabby hired vehicle, she told him that he might +go over to the barn and tie his horse, for she would not be ready to go +back for some time. She then entered the house with Mike, and, a candle +having been lighted, she explained her unexpected appearance. She had met +Miss Dora Bannister, and that young lady had engaged her to go to +Cobhurst and take a note to Miss Miriam. + +"She tole me," said Phoebe, "that she had wrote two times already to Miss +Miriam, and then, havin' suspected somethin', had gone to the +pos'-office and found they was still dar. Don't your boss ever sen' to +the pos'-office, Mike?" + +"He went hisself every now an' then, till the gig was broke," said Mike, +"but I don't believe he ever got nuthin', and I reckon they thought it +was no use botherin' about sendin' me, special, in the wagon." + +"Well, they're uncommon queer folks," said Phoebe. "I reckon they've got +nobody to write to, or git letters from. Anyway, Miss Dora wanted her +letter to git here, and so she says to me that if I'd take it, she'd pay +the hire of a hack, and so, as I wanted to see you anyway, Mike, I 'greed +quick enough." + +Before delivering the letter with which she had been entrusted, Phoebe +proceeded to attend to some personal business, which was to ask her +husband to lend her five dollars. + +"Bless my soul," said Mike, "I ain't got no five dollars. I ain't asked +for no wages yit, and don't expect to, till the craps is sold." + +"I can't wait for that!" exclaimed Phoebe; "I's got to have money to +carry on the house." + +"Whar's the money the preacher pays you?" asked her husband. + +"Dat's a comin'," said Phoebe, "dat's a comin' all right. Thar's to be a +special c'lection next Sunday mornin', and the money's goin' to pay the +minister's board. I'm to git every cent what's owin' to me, and I reckon +it'll take it all." + +"He ain't paid you nuthin' yit, thin?" + +"Not yit; there was another special c'lection had to be tuk up fust, but +the next one's for me. Can't you go ask your boss for five dollars?" + +"Oh, yes," said Mike, "he'll give it to me if I ask him. Look here, +Phoebe, we might's well git all the good we kin out of five dollars, and +I reckon I'll come to chu'ch next Sunday, and put the five dollars in the +c'lection. I'll git the credit of givin' a big lot of money, and that'll +set me up a long time wid the congregation, and you git the five dollars +all the same." + +"Mike," said Phoebe, solemnly, "don't you go and do dat; mind, I tell +you, don't you do dat. You give me them five dollars, and jes' let that +c'lection alone. No use you wearin' youself out a walkin' to chu'ch, and +all the feedin' and milkin' to do besides." + +Mike laughed. "I reckon you think five dollars in th' pahm of th' hand is +better than a whole c'lection in the bush. I'll see th' boss before you +go, and if he's got the money, he'll let me have it." + +Satisfied on this point, Phoebe now declared that she must go and deliver +her letter; but she first inquired how her husband was getting on, and +how he was treated by Molly Tooney. + +"I ain't got no use for that woman;" and he proceeded to tell his wife of +the insult that had been passed on his crops. + +"That's brazen impidence," said Phoebe, "and jes' like her. But look +here, Mike, don't you quarrel with the cook. No matter what happens, +don't you quarrel with the cook." + +"I ain't goin' to quarrel with nobody," said Mike; "but if that Molly +'spects me to grease her wagon wheels for her, she's got hold of the +wrong man. If she likes green wood for the kitchen fire, and fotchin' it +mos' times for herself, that's her business, not mine." + +"If you do that, Mike, she'll leave," said Phoebe. + +Mike gave himself a general shrug. + +"She can't leave," said he, "till Miss Panney tells her she kin." + +Phoebe laughed and rose. + +"Reckon I'll go in and see Miss Miriam," she said, "and while I'm doin' +that you'd better ask the boss about the money." + +Having delivered the letter, and having, with much suavity, inquired into +the health and general condition of the Cobhurst family since she had +walked off and left it to its own resources, and having given Miriam +various points of information in regard to the Bannister and the +Tolbridge families, Phoebe gracefully took leave of the young mistress of +the house and proceeded to call upon the cook. + +"Hi, Phoebe!" cried Molly, who was engaged in washing dishes, "how did +you git here at this time o' night?" + +"I'd have you know," said the visitor, with lofty dignity, "that my name +is Mrs. Robinson, and if you want to know how I got here, I came in a +kerridge." + +"I didn't hear no kirridge drive up," said Molly. + +"Humph!" said Mrs. Robinson, "I reckon I know which gate is proper for my +kerridge to come in, and which gate is proper for the Bannister coachman +to drive in. I suppose there is cooks that would drive up to the front +door if the governor's kerridge was standin' there." + +Molly looked at the colored woman, with a grin. + +"You're on your high hoss, Mrs. Robinson," said she. "That's what comes +o' boardin' the minister. That's lofty business, Mrs. Robinson, an' I +expect you're afther gittin' rich. Is it the gilt-edged butter you give +him for his ash-cakes?" + +"A pusson that's pious," said Phoebe, "don't want to get rich onter a +minister of the gospel--" + +"Which would be wearin' on their hopes if they did," interrupted Molly. + +"But I can tell you this," continued Phoebe, more sharply, "that it isn't +as if I was a Catholic and boardin' a priest, and had to go on Wednesdays +and confess back to him all the money he paid me on Tuesdays." + +Molly laughed aloud. "We don't confess money, Mrs. Robinson, we confess +sins; but perhaps you think money is a sin, and if that's so, this house +is the innocentest place I ever lived in. Sit down, Mrs. Robinson, and be +friendly. I want to ax you a question. Has thim two, upstairs, got any +money? What made you pop off so sudden? Didn't they pay your wages?" + +Phoebe seated herself on the edge of a chair, and sat up very straight. +She felt that the answer to this question was a very important one. She +herself cared nothing for the Haverleys, but Mike lived with them, and +was their head man, and it was not consistent with her position among +the members of the congregation and in the various societies to which she +belonged, that her husband should be in the employ of poor and +consequently unrespected people. + +"My wages was paid, every cent," she said, "and as to their money, I can +tell you one thing, that I heard him say to his sister with my own ears, +that he was goin' to build a town on them meaders, with streets and +chu'ches, and stores on the corners of the block, and a libr'y and a +bank, and she said she wouldn't object if he left the trees standin' +between the house and the meaders, so that they could see the steeples +and nothin' else. And more than that, I can tell you," said Phoebe, +warming as she spoke, "the Bannister family isn't and never was intimate +with needy and no-count families, and nobody could be more sociable and +friendly with this family than Miss Dora is, writin' to her four or five +times a week, and as I said to Mike, not ten minutes ago, if Mr. Haverley +and Miss Dora should git married, her money and his money would make this +the finest place in the county, and I tol' him to mind an' play his cards +well and stay here as butler or coachman--I didn't care which; and he +said he would like coachman best, as he was used to hosses." + +Now, considering that the patience of her own coachman must be pretty +nearly worn out, and believing that what she had said would inure to her +own reputation, and probably to Mike's benefit as well, and that its +force might be impaired by any further discussion of the subject, Phoebe +arose and took a dignified leave. + +Molly stood some moments in reflection. + +"Bedad," she said aloud, "to-morrer I'll clane thim lamp-chimbleys and +swape the bidrooms." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE DOCTOR'S MISSION + + +The letter which Phoebe brought was a long and cordial one, in which Dora +begged that Miriam would come and make her a visit of a few days. She +said, moreover, that her brother was intending to call on Mr. Haverley +and urge him to come to their house as frequently as he could during his +sister's visit. Dora said that she would enjoy having Miriam with her so +very, very much; and although the life at the dear old farm must be +always charming, she believed that Miriam would like a little change, and +she would do everything that she could to make the days pass pleasantly. + +There could not have been a more cordial invitation, but its acceptance +was considered soberly and without enthusiasm. + +During the past fortnight, there had been no intercourse between the +Bannister and Haverley families. Dora, it is true, had written, but her +letters had not been called for, and Ralph had not been to her house to +inquire about the dog. The reason for this was that, turning over the +matter in his mind for a day or two, he thought it well to mention it to +Miriam in a casual way, for he perceived that it would be very unwise +for him to go to Dora's house without informing his sister and giving her +his reasons for the visit. To his surprise, Miriam strenuously opposed +his going to the Bannister house on any pretence until Mr. Bannister had +called upon him, and showed so much earnest feeling on the subject that +he relinquished his intention. He could see for himself that it would not +be the proper thing to do; and so he waited, with more impatience on +rainy days than others, for Mr. Herbert Bannister to call upon him. + +On nearly every morning of the two weeks, Dora asked her brother at +breakfast time if he were going that day to call at Cobhurst; and every +time she asked him, Herbert answered that he would go that day, if he +possibly could; but on each evening he informed her that at the hour he +had intended to start for Cobhurst a client or clients had come into the +office, or a client or clients had been in the office and had remained +there. A very busy man was Mr. Bannister. + +Miriam's opinion on the subject had been varied. She frequently felt in +her lonely moments that it would be a joy to see Dora Bannister drive in +at the gate. + +"If only," thought Miriam, with a sigh, "she would content herself to be +a visitor to me, just as I would be to her, and not go about contriving +things she thinks Ralph would like,--as if it were necessary that any +one should come here and do that! As for going to her house, that would +leave poor Ralph here all by himself, or else he would be there a good +deal, and--" + +Here a happy thought struck Miriam. + +"I can't go, anyway," she said aloud, "for the gig is broken;" and, her +brother coming in at that moment, she informed him, with an air of much +relief, how the matter had settled itself. + +"But I don't like matters to settle themselves in that way," said Ralph. +"The gig should certainly be in order by this time. I will go myself and +see the man about it, and if the new shafts are not finished, I can hire +a carriage for you. There is no need of your giving up a pleasant visit +for the want of means of conveyance." + +"But even if the gig were all ready for us to use, you know that you +could not go until Mr. Bannister has called," said the cruel-minded +sister. + +Ralph was of the opinion that there were certain features of social +etiquette which ought to be ruthlessly trodden upon, but he could think +of nothing suitable to say in regard to the point so frequently brought +up by Miriam, and, walking somewhat moodily to the front door, he saw Dr. +Tolbridge approaching in his buggy. + +The good doctor had come out of his way, and on a very busy morning, to +lay before the Haverleys his project concerning Mrs. Drane and her +daughter. Having but little time, he went straight to the point, and +surprised Miriam and Ralph as much as if he had proposed to them to open +a summer hotel. But, without regard to the impression he had made, he +boldly proceeded in the statement of his case. + +"You couldn't find pleasanter ladies than Mrs. Drane and her daughter," +he said. "The latter is copying some manuscript for me, which she could +do just as well here as at my house--" + +"Are you talking about the two ladies who were here yesterday afternoon?" +interrupted Miriam. + +"Here, yesterday afternoon!" cried the doctor, and now it was his turn to +be surprised. + +When he had heard the story of the trespass on private grounds, the +doctor laughed heartily. + +"Well," said he, "Mistress Fate has been ahead of me. The good lady is in +the habit of doing that sort of thing. And now that you know the parties +in question, what have you to say?" + +Miriam's blood began to glow a little, and as she gazed out of the open +door without looking at anything, her eyes grew very bright. In her +loneliness, she had been wishing that Dora Bannister would drive in at +the gate, and here was a chance to have a very different sort of a girl +drive in--a girl to whom she had taken a great fancy, although she had +seen her for so short a time. + +"Would they want to stay long?" she asked, without turning her head. + +The doctor saw his opportunity and embraced it. + +"That would be your affair entirely," he said. "If they came for only a +week, it would be to you no more than a visit from friends, and to +breathe this pure country air, for even that time, would be a great +pleasure and advantage to them both." + +Miriam turned her bright eyes on her brother. + +"What do you say, Ralph?" she asked. + +The lord of Cobhurst, who had allowed his sister to tell of the visit of +the Dranes, had been thinking what a wonderful piece of good luck it +would have been, if, instead of these strangers, Dora Bannister and her +family had desired to find quarters in a pleasant country house for a few +summer weeks. He did not know her family, nor did he allow himself to +consider the point that said family was accustomed to an expensive style +of living and accommodation, entirely unlike anything to be found on a +ramshackle farm. He only thought how delightful it would be if it were +Dora who wanted to come to Cobhurst. + +As Ralph looked upon the animated face of his sister, it was easy enough +to see that the case as presented by the doctor interested her very much, +and that she was awaiting his answer with an eagerness that somewhat +surprised him. + +"And you, little one, would you like to have these ladies come to us?" + +"Yes, I would," said Miriam, and then she stopped. There was much more +she could have said, which crowded itself into her mind so fast that she +could scarcely help saying it, but it would have been contrary to the +inborn spirit of the girl to admit that she ever felt lonely in this dear +home, or that, with a brother like Ralph, she ever craved the +companionship of a girl. But it was not necessary to say any more. + +"If you want them, they shall come," said Ralph, and if it had been the +Tolbridges or Miss Panney whose society his sister desired, his assent +would have been given just as freely. + +In fifteen minutes everything was settled and the doctor was driving +away. He was in good spirits over the results of his mission, for that +morning La Fleur had waylaid him as he went out and again had spoken to +him about the possibility of hiring a little house in the suburbs. + +"I am sure this arrangement will suit our good cook," he thought; "but as +for its continuance, we must let time and circumstances settle that." + +The doctor reached home about eleven o'clock. + +"What do you think it would be better to do," he said to his wife, when +he had made his report, "to stop at Mrs. Drane's as I go out this +afternoon, or to tell Cicely about our Cobhurst scheme, and let her tell +her mother?" + +"The thing to do," said Mrs. Tolbridge, closing her desk, at which she +was writing, "is for me to go and see Mrs. Drane immediately, and for you +to send Cicely home and give her a lot of work to do at Cobhurst. They +should go there this afternoon." + +"Yes," said the doctor; "of course, the sooner the better; but it has +struck me perhaps it might be well to mention the matter to Miss Panney +before the Dranes actually leave Mrs. Brinkly. You know she was very +active in procuring that place for them." + +Mrs. Tolbridge looked at her husband, gave a little sigh, and then +smiled. + +"What is your opinion of a bird," she asked, "who, flying to the shelter +of the woods, thinks it would be a good idea to stop for a moment and +look down the gun-barrel of a sportsman, to see what is there?" + +The doctor looked at her for a moment and then, catching her point, gave +her a hearty laugh for answer, and walking to his table, took up a sheet +of manuscript and carried it to the room where Miss Drane was working. + +"The passage which so puzzled you," he said, "has been deciphered by Mrs. +Tolbridge and myself, and reads thus: 'The philosophy of physiological +contrasts grows.'" + +"Why, yes," said Cicely, looking at the paper; "now that you tell me +what it is, it is as plain as can be. I will write it in the blank space +that I have left, and here are some more words that I would like to ask +you about." + +"Not now, not now," said the doctor. "I want you to stop work and run +home. As soon as I can I will talk with you about what you have written, +and give you some more of the manuscript. But no more work for to-day. +You must hurry to your mother. You will find Mrs. Tolbridge there, +talking to her about a change of quarters." + +"Another holiday!" exclaimed Cicely, in surprise. + +She was a girl who worked earnestly and conscientiously with the +intention of earning every cent of the money which was paid to her, and +these successive intermissions of work seemed to her unbusiness-like. But +she made no objections, and, putting away her papers, with a sigh, for +she had a list of points about which she was ready and anxious to consult +the doctor,--she went to join the consultation, which she presumed +concerned their removal from one street in Thorbury to another. But when +she discovered the heavenly prospect which had opened before her mother +and herself, her mind bounded from all thoughts of the manuscript of the +"Diagnosis of Sympathy," as if it had been a lark mounting to the sky. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE + + +About noon on the next day, Mrs. Tolbridge sat down at her desk to +finish the writing of the letter which had been so abruptly broken off +the day before. She had been very busy that afternoon and a part of this +morning, assisting Mrs. Drane and her daughter in their removal from a +hot street in a little town to the broad freedom and fine air of a +spacious country home. + +And this change had given so much pleasure to all parties concerned that +it was natural that so good a woman as Mrs. Tolbridge should feel a glow +of satisfaction in thinking of the part she had taken in it. + +She was satisfied in more ways than one: it was agreeable to her to +assist in giving pleasure to others, but besides this, she had a little +satisfaction which was peculiarly her own; she was pleased that that very +pretty and attractive Cicely would now work for the doctor, instead of +working so much with him. Of course she was willing to give up the little +room if it were needed, but it was a great deal pleasanter not to have +it needed. + +"It is so seldom," she thought, as she lifted the lid of her desk, "that +things can be arranged so as to please everybody." + +At this moment she glanced through the open window and saw Miss Panney at +the front gate. Closing her desk, Mrs. Tolbridge pushed back her chair, +her glow of satisfaction changing into a little chill. + +"Is the doctor at home?" she inquired of the servant who was passing the +door, and on receiving the negative reply, the chilly feeling increased. + +Miss Panney was in a radiant humor. She seated herself in her favorite +rocking-chair; she laid her fan on the table near her and her reticule by +it, and she pushed back from her shoulders a little India shawl. + +"I am treating myself," she said, "to a regular gala day; in the first +place, I intend to stay here to luncheon. People who have a La Fleur must +expect to see their friends at their table much oftener than if they had +a Biddy in the kitchen. That is one of the penalties of good fortune. I +have my cap in my bag, and as soon as I have cooled a little I will take +off my bonnet and shawl. This afternoon I am going to see the Bannisters, +and after that I intend to call on Mrs. Drane and her daughter. I put off +that until the last in order that Miss Drane may be at home. I ought to +have called on them before, considering that I did so much in getting +them established in Thorbury,--I am sure Mrs. Brinkly would not have +taken them if I had not talked her into it,--but one thing and another +has prevented my going there. But I have seen Miss Drane; I came to town +yesterday in the Witton carriage, and saw her in the street. She is +certainly a pretty little thing, and dresses with much taste. We all +thought her face was very sweet and attractive. We had a good look at +her, for she was waiting for our carriage to pass, in order to cross the +street. I told Jim, the driver, to go slowly, for I like to have a good +look at people before I know them. And by the way, Kitty, an idea comes +into my head," and as she said this, the old lady's eyes twinkled, and a +little smile stole over the lower part of her wrinkled face. "Perhaps you +may not like the doctor to have such an extremely pretty secretary. +Perhaps you may have preferred her to have a stubby nose and a freckled +face. How is that, Kitty?" + +"Nonsense," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "It makes no manner of difference what +sort of a face a secretary has; her handwriting is much more important." + +"Oh," said Miss Panney, "I am glad to hear that. And how does she get +on?" + +"Very well indeed," was the answer; "the doctor seems satisfied with +her work." + +"That is nice," said Miss Panney, "and how do they like it at Mrs. +Brinkly's? I saw their rooms, which are neatly furnished, and Mrs. +Brinkly keeps a very good table. I have taken many a meal at her house." + +Had there been a column of mercury at Mrs. Tolbridge's back, it would +have gone down several degrees, as she prepared to answer Miss Panney's +question. She did not exactly hesitate, but she was so slow in beginning +to speak, that Miss Panney, who was untying her bonnet-strings, had time +to add, reflectively, "Yes, they are sure to find her a good landlady." + +"The Dranes are not with Mrs. Brinkly now," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "They +left yesterday afternoon, although some of their things were not sent +away until this morning." + +The old lady's hands dropped from her bonnet-strings to her lap. + +"Left Mrs. Brinkly!" she exclaimed. "And where have they gone?" + +"To Cobhurst, where they will board for a while, during the hot weather. +They found it very close and uncomfortable in that part of the town, with +the mercury in the eighties." + +Miss Panney sat up tall and straight. Her eyes grew bigger and blacker as +with her mental vision she glared upon the situation. Presently she +spoke, and her voice sounded as if she were in a great empty cask, with +her mouth at the bunghole. + +"Who did this?" she asked. + +Mrs. Tolbridge was glad to talk; it suited her much better at this time +to do the talking than for her companion to do it, and she proceeded +quite volubly. + +"Oh, we all thought the change would be an excellent thing for them, +especially for Mrs. Drane, who is not strong; and as they had seen +Cobhurst and were charmed with the place, and as the Haverleys were quite +willing to take them for a little while, it seemed an excellent thing all +round. It was, however, our cook, La Fleur, who was the chief mover in +the matter. She was very much opposed to their staying with Mrs. +Brinkly,--you see she had lived with them and has quite an affection for +them,--and actually went so far as to talk of taking a house in the +country and boarding them herself. And you know, Miss Panney, how bad it +would be for the doctor to lose La Fleur." + +"Did the doctor have anything to do with this?" asked Miss Panney. + +Now Mrs. Tolbridge did hesitate a little. + +"Yes," she said, "he spoke to the Haverleys about it; he thought it would +be an excellent thing for them." + +Miss Panney rose, with her face as hard as granite. She drew her shawl +about her shoulders, and took up her fan and bag. Mrs. Tolbridge also +rose, much troubled. + +"You must not imagine for a minute, Miss Panney," she said, "that the +doctor had the slightest idea that this removal would annoy you. In fact, +he spoke about consulting you in regard to it, and had he seen you before +the affair was settled, I am sure he would have done so. And you must not +think, either, that the doctor urged the Haverleys to take these ladies, +simply because he wished to keep La Fleur. He values her most highly, but +he thought of others than himself. He spoke particularly of the admirable +influence Mrs. Drane would have on Miriam." + +The old lady turned her flashing eyes on Mrs. Tolbridge, and, slightly +lowering her head, she almost screamed these words: "Blow to the top of +the sky Mrs. Drane's influence on Miriam! That is not what I care for." + +Then she turned and walked out of the parlor, followed by Mrs. Tolbridge. +At the front door she stopped and turned her wrathful and inexorable +countenance upon the doctor's wife; then she deliberately shook her +skirts, stamped her feet, and went out of the door. + +When Dr. Tolbridge heard what had happened, he was sorely troubled. "I +must go to see her," he said. "I cannot allow her to remain in that state +of mind. I think I can explain the affair and make her look at it more as +we do, although, I must admit, now that I recall some things she recently +said to me, that she may have some grave objections to Cicely's residence +at Cobhurst. But I shall see her, and I think I can pacify her." + +Mrs. Tolbridge was not so hopeful as her husband; he had not seen Miss +Panney at the front door. But she could not bring herself to regret the +advice she had given him when he proposed consulting Miss Panney in +regard to the Dranes' removal. + +"I shall never object to La Fleur," she said to herself. "I will bear all +her impositions and queernesses for the sake of his health and pleasure, +but I cannot give up my little room to Cicely Drane." + +And that very hour she caused to be replaced in the said room the desk +and other appurtenances which had been taken out when the room had been +arranged for the secretary. + +These changes had hardly been made, when Dora Bannister called. + +"Miss Panney was at our house to-day," said the girl, "and I cannot +imagine what was the matter with her. I never saw anybody in such a +state of mind." + +"What did she say?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"She said very little, and that was one of the strangest things about +her. But she sat and stared and stared and stared at me, as if I were +some sort of curiosity on exhibition, and did not answer anything I said +to her. I was awfully nervous, though I knew from the few words she had +said that she was not angry with me; but she kept on staring and staring +and staring, and then she suddenly leaned forward and put her arms around +me and kissed me. Then she sat back in her chair again, slapped her two +hands upon her knees, and said, speaking to herself, 'It shall be done. I +am a fool to have a doubt about it.' And then she went without another +word. Now was not that simply amazing? Did she come here, and did she act +in that way?" + +"She was here," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "but she did not do anything so +funny as that." + +"Well, I suppose I shall find out some day what she means," said Dora. +"And now, Mrs. Tolbridge, I did not come altogether to see you this +afternoon. I hope Miss Drane has not gone home yet, for I thought it +would be nice to meet her here. Mother and I are going to call on them, +but I do not know when that will be; and I have heard so much about the +doctor's secretary that I am perishing to see her. They say she is very +pretty and bright. I wanted mother to go there to-day, but we have had a +long drive this morning, and to-morrow she and I and Herbert are going +to call at Cobhurst; and you know mother will never consent to crowd +things. And so I thought I would come here this afternoon by myself. It +won't be like a call, you know." + +"Miss Drane is not here," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "but if you want to see +her, you can do it to-morrow, if you go to Cobhurst. She and her mother +are now living there, boarding with the Haverleys." + +"Living at Cobhurst!" exclaimed Dora; and as she uttered these words, the +girl turned pale. + +"Heavens!" mentally ejaculated the doctor's wife. "I do nothing this day +but explode bombshells." + +In a moment Dora recovered nearly all her color, and laughed. + +"It is so funny," she said, "that all sorts of things happen in this town +without our knowing it. Is she still going to be the doctor's secretary?" + +"Yes, she can do her work out there as well as here." + +Dora looked out of the window as if she saw something in the garden, and +Mrs. Tolbridge charitably took her out to show her some new dahlias. + +Early the next morning, Dr. Tolbridge drove into the Witton yard. No +matter who waited for him, he would not delay this visit. When he asked +for Miss Panney, he had a strong idea that the old lady would refuse to +see him. But in an astonishingly short space of time, she marched into +the parlor, every war-flag flying, and closed the door behind her. + +Without shaking hands or offering the visitor any sort of salutation, she +seated herself in a chair in the middle of the room. "Now," said she, +"don't lose any time in saying what you have got to say." + +Not encouraged by this reception, the doctor could not instantly arrange +what he had to say. But he shortly got his ideas into order, and +proceeded to lay the case in its most favorable light before the old +lady, dwelling particularly on the reasons why she had not been consulted +in the affair. + +Miss Panney heard him to the end without a change in the rigidity of her +face and attitude. "Very well, then," she said, when he had finished, "I +see exactly what you have done. You have thrown me aside for a cook." + +"Not at all!" exclaimed the doctor. "I had no idea of throwing you aside. +In fact, Miss Panney, I never thought of you in the matter at all." + +"Exactly, exactly," said the old lady, with emphatic sharpness; "you +never thought of me at all. That is the sum and substance of what you +have done. I gave you my confidence. I told you my intentions, my hopes, +the plan which was to crown and finish the work of my life. I told you I +would make the grandson of the only man I ever loved my heir, and I would +do this, because I wished him to marry the daughter of the man who was my +best friend on earth. The marriage of these two and the union of the +estate of Cobhurst with the wealth of the Bannisters was a project which, +as I told you, had grown dear to my heart, and for which I was thinking +and dreaming and working. All this you knew, and without a word to me, +and if you speak the truth, all for the sake of your wretched stomach, +you clap into Cobhurst a girl who will be engaged to Ralph Haverley in +less than a month." + +The doctor moved impatiently in his chair. + +"Nonsense, Miss Panney. Cicely Drane will not harm your plans. She is a +sensible, industrious girl, who attends to her own business, and--" + +"Precisely," said Miss Panney; "and her own business will be to settle +for life at Cobhurst. She may not be courting young Haverley to-day, +but she will begin to-morrow. She will do it, and what is more, she +would be a fool if she did not. It does not matter what sort of a girl +she is;" and now Miss Panney began to speak louder, and stood up; "it +does not matter if she had five legs and two heads; you have no right +to thrust any intruder into a household which I had taken into my +charge, and for which I had my plans, all of which you knew. You are a +false friend, Dr. Tolbridge, and at your doorstep I have shaken the +dust from my skirts and my feet." And with a quick step and a high +head, she marched out of the room. + +The doctor took a little book out of his pocket, and on a blank leaf +wrote the following:-- + +Rx. + Potass. Bromid. 3iij + Tr. Dig. Natis. m. xxx + Tr. Lavand. Comp. ad 3iij +M.S. teaspoonful every three hours. +H. D. + +Having sent this to Miss Panney by a servant, he went his way. Driving +along, his conscience stung him a little when he thought of the fable his +wife had told him; but the moral of the fable had made but little +impression upon him, and as an antidote to the sting he applied his +conviction that matchmaking was a bad business, and that in love affairs, +as well as in many diseases, the very best thing to do was to let nature +take its course. + +When Miss Panney read the paper which had been sent to her, her eyes +flashed, and then she laughed. + +"The wretch!" she exclaimed; "it is just like him." And in the afternoon +she sent to her apothecary in Thorbury for the medicine prescribed. "If +it cools me down," she said to herself, "I shall be able to work better." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +DORA COMES AND SEES + + +The call by the Bannisters at Cobhurst was made as planned. Had storm or +sudden war prevented Mrs. Bannister and Herbert from going, Dora would +have gone by herself. She did not appear to be in her usual state of +health that day, and Mrs. Bannister, noticing this, and attributing it to +Dora's great fondness for fruit at this season and neglect of more solid +food, had suggested that perhaps it might be well for her not to take a +long drive that afternoon. But this remark was added to the thousand +suggestions made by the elder lady and not accepted by the younger. + +Miriam was in the great hall when the Bannister family drove up, and she +greeted her visitors with a well-poised affability which rather surprised +Mrs. Bannister. Dora instantly noticed that she was better dressed than +she had yet seen her. + +When they were seated in the parlor, Mrs. Bannister announced that their +call was intended to include Mrs. Drane and her daughter, and Herbert +hoped that this time he would be able to see Mr. Haverley. + +Mrs. Drane was sent for, but Miriam did not know where her brother and +Miss Drane should be looked for. She had seen them walk by the back +piazza, but did not notice in what direction they had gone. At this +moment there ran through Dora a sensation similar to that occasioned by a +mild galvanic shock, but as she was looking out of the open door, the +rest of the company saw no signs of this. + +"Excuse me," said Mrs. Bannister, in a low voice, and speaking rather +rapidly, "but I thought that Miss Drane was working for Dr. Tolbridge, +copying, or something of that kind." + +"She is," answered Miriam, "but she has her regular hours, and stops at +five o'clock, just as she did when she was in the doctor's house." + +When Mrs. Drane had appeared and the visitors had been presented, Miriam +said that she would go herself and look for Ralph and Miss Drane. She +thought now that it was very likely they were in the orchard. + +"Let me go with, you," exclaimed Dora, springing to her feet, and in a +moment she and Miriam had left the house. + +"I heard her say," said Miriam, "that she wanted some summer apples, +fresh from the tree, and that is the reason why I suppose they are in the +orchard. You never knew anybody so wild about country things as Miss +Drane is. And she knows so little about them too." + +"Do you like her?" asked Dora. + +"Ever so much. I think she is as nice as can be. She is a good deal older +than I am, but sometimes it seems as if it were the other way. I suppose +one reason is that she wants to know so much, and I think I must like to +tell people things--nice people, I mean." + +Dora's mind was in a state of lively receptivity, and it received an +impression from Miriam's words that might be of use hereafter. But now +they had reached the orchard, and there, standing on a low branch of a +tree, was Ralph, and below was Miss Drane. Her laughing face was turned +upward, and she was holding her straw hat to catch an apple, but it was +plain that she was not skilled in that sort of exercise, and when the +apple dropped, it barely touched the rim of the hat and rolled upon the +ground, and then they both laughed as if they had known each other for +twenty years. + +"What a little thing," said Miss Bannister. + +"She is small," answered Miriam, "but isn't she pretty and graceful? And +her clothes fit her so beautifully. I am sure you will like her." + +Ralph came down from the tree, the straw hat was replaced on the head of +Miss Drane, and then came introduction and greeting. Never before had +Dora Bannister found it so hard to meet any one as she found it to meet +these two. She was only eighteen, and had had no experience in comporting +herself in an ordinary way when her every impulse prompted her to do or +say something quite extraordinary. But she was a girl who could control +herself, and she now controlled herself so well, that had Miss Panney or +Mrs. Tolbridge been there they would instantly have suspected what was +meant by so much self-control. She greeted Miss Drane with much suavity, +and asked her if she liked apples. + +As the party started for the house, Dora, who was a quick walker, was not +so quick as usual, and Ralph naturally slackened his pace a little. In a +few moments Miriam and Miss Drane were hurrying toward the house, +considerably in advance of the others. + +"It is so nice," said Dora, "for your sister to have ladies in the house +with her. I have been wanting to see her ever so much, and was afraid +something was the matter with her, especially as you did not come for +your dog." + +As Ralph was explaining his apparent ungraciousness, Dora's soul was +roughly shaken. She was angry with him and wanted to show it, but she saw +clearly that this would be unsafe. Her hold upon him was very slight, and +a few unwise words now might make him no more than a mere acquaintance. +She did not wish to say words that would do that, but if she held him by +a cord ever so slender, she would obey the promptings of her soul and +endeavor to draw him a little toward her. She would take the risks of +that, for if he drifted away from her, the cord would be as likely to +break as if she drew upon it. + +"Oh yes," she said, "I knew all the time why you and Miriam did not come +to make a regular society call, but I did suppose that you would drop in +to see about Congo. As soon as I got home, after I promised him to you, I +began to educate him to cease to care for me, and to care for you. If you +had been there, all this would have been easy enough, but as it was, I +had to get Herbert or the coachman to take him out walking at the times I +used to take him, and when he was tied up I kept away from his little +house altogether, so that he should become accustomed to do without me. I +stopped feeding him, and made Herbert do that whenever he had time, and I +insisted that he should wear a big straw hat, which he does not like, but +which is a good deal like the one you wear, and which I thought might +have an influence on the mind of Congo." + +This touched Ralph, and he did not wish that Miss Bannister should +suppose that he thought so little of a gift of which she thought so much. +And in order to entirely remove any suspicion of ungratefulness, he +endeavored to make her understand that he had wished very much to go to +see the dog, but wished much more to go to see her. + +"I hate a great many of these social rules," he said, "and although I did +not know any of the rest of your family, I knew you, and felt very much +inclined to call on you and let the customs take care of themselves." + +"I wish you had!" exclaimed Dora; "I like to see people brave enough to +trample on customs." + +Her spirits were rising, and she walked still slower. This tête-à-tête +was very delightful to Ralph, but he had no desire to trample on all +social customs, and his feelings of courteous hospitality urged him to go +as rapidly as possible to greet the special visitor who was waiting for +him; but to desert that gentleman's sister, or make her walk quickly when +she did not wish to, was equally opposed to his ideas of courtesy, and so +it happened that Dora and Ralph entered the parlor so much later than the +others that a decided impression was made on the minds of Mrs. and Miss +Drane. And this was what Dora wished. She felt that it would be a very +good thing in this case to assert some sort of a preëmption claim. It +could do no harm, and might be of great service. + +After the manner of the country gentlemen who in mixed society are apt to +prefer their own sex for purposes of converse, Herbert Bannister +monopolized Ralph. His sister talked with Cicely Drane, and in spite of +her natural courage and the reasons for self-confidence which she had +just received, Dora's spirits steadily fell as she conversed with this +merry, attractive girl, who knew so well how to make herself +entertaining, even to other girls, and who was actually living in Ralph +Haverley's house. + +Dora made the visit shorter than it otherwise would have been. She had +come, she had seen, and she wanted to go home and think about the rest of +the business. The drive home was, in a degree, pleasant because Herbert +had a great deal to say about Mr. Haverley, whom he had found most +agreeable, and because Mrs. Bannister spoke in praise of Ralph's manly +beauty, but it would depend upon future circumstances whether or not +remarks of this kind could be considered entirely satisfactory. + +That evening, in her own room, in a loose dressing-gown, and with her +hair hanging over her shoulders, Dora devoted herself to an earnest +consideration of her relations with Ralph Haverley. At first sight it +seemed odd that there should be any relations at all, for she had known +him but a short time, and he had made few or no advances toward her--not +half so many or such pronounced ones as other men had made, during her +few visits to fashionable resorts. But she settled this part of the +question very promptly. + +"I like him better than anybody I have ever seen," she said to herself. +"In fact, I love him, and now--" and then she went on to consider the +rest of the matter, which was not so easy to settle. + +Cicely Drane was terribly hard to settle. There was that girl,--all the +more dangerous because, being charming and little, a man would be more +apt to treat her as a good comrade than if she were charming and +tall,--who was with him all the time. And how she would be with him, +Dora's imagination readily perceived, because she knew how she herself +would be with him under the circumstances. Before breakfast in the dewy +grass, gathering apples; during work hours, talking through the open +window as he chanced to pass; after five o'clock, walks in the orchard, +walks over the farm, in the woods everywhere, and always those two +together, because there were four of them. How much worse it was that +there were four of them! And the evenings, moonlight, starlight; on the +piazza; good-night on the stairs--it was maddening to think of. + +But, nevertheless, she thought of it hour after hour, with no other +result than to become more and more convinced that she was truly in love +with a man who had never given any sign that he loved her, and that there +was every reason to believe that when he gave a sign that he loved, it +would be to another woman, and not to her. + +She rose and looked out of the window. A piece of the moon, far gone in +the third quarter, was rising above a mass of evergreens. She had a +courageous young soul, and the waning brightness of the lovers' orb did +not affect her as a disheartening sign. + +"It is not right," she said to herself. "I will not do it. I will not +hang like an apple on a tree for any one to pick who chooses, or if +nobody chooses, to drop down to the chickens and pigs. A woman has as +much right to try to do the best for herself as a man has to try to do +the best for himself. I can't really trample on customs as a man can, but +I can do it in my mind, and I do it now. I love him, and I will get him +if I can." + +With this Dora sat down, and left the bit of moon to shed what +luminousness it could over the landscape. + +Her resolution shed a certain luminousness over Dora's soul. To +determine to do a thing is nearly always inspiriting. + +"Yes," she thought, "I will do what I can. He has promised to come very +soon, and he shall not have Congo the first time he comes. He shall come, +and I shall go, and I shall be great friends with Miriam. There will be +nothing false in that, for I like her ever so much, and I shall remember +to think more of what she likes. No one shall see me break down any +customs of society,--especially, he shall not,--but out of my mind they +are swept and utterly gone." + +Having thus shaped her course, Dora thought she would go to bed. But +suddenly an idea struck her, and she stood and pondered. + +"I believe," she said, speaking aloud in her earnestness, "I believe +that that is what Miss Panney meant. She has spoken so well of him to +me; she has heard about that girl, and she said, yes, she certainly did +say, 'It shall be done.' She wants it, I truly believe; she wants me to +marry him." + +For a few minutes she stood gazing at her ring, and then she said,-- + +"I will go to her; I will tell her everything. It will be a great thing +to have Miss Panney on my side. She does not care for customs, and she +will never breathe a word to a soul." + +Dr. Tolbridge was not mistaken in his estimate of the sort of mind Dora +Bannister would have when she should shed her old one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +"IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" + + +The Haverleys could not expect that the people of Thorbury would feel any +general and urgent desire to recognize them as neighbors. They did not +live in the town, and moreover newcomers, even to the town itself, were +usually looked upon as "summer people," until they had proved that they +were to be permanent residents, and the leading families of Thorbury made +it a rule not to call on summer people. + +But the example of the Tolbridges and Bannisters had a certain effect on +Thorbury society, and people now began to drive out to Cobhurst; not very +many of them, but some of them representative people. Mr. Ames, the +rector of Grace Church, came early because the Haverleys had been to his +church several times, and Mr. Torry, the Presbyterian minister, came +afterwards because the Haverleys had stopped going to Grace Church, and +he did not know that it was on account of the gig shafts. + +Mr. Hampton, the Methodist, who was a pedestrian, walked out to Cobhurst +one day, but as neither the brother or sister could be found, he +good-humoredly resolved to postpone a future call until cooler weather. + +Lately, when a lady had called, it happened that there had been no one to +receive her but Mrs. Drane; and although there could be no doubt that +that lady performed the duties of hostess most admirably, Miriam +resolved that that thing should never happen again. She did not wish the +people to think that there was a regent in rule at Cobhurst, and she now +determined to make it a point to be within call during ordinary visiting +hours. Or, if she felt strongly moved to a late afternoon ramble, she +would invite the other ladies to accompany her. She still wore her hair +down her back, and her dresses did not quite touch the tops of her boots, +and it was therefore necessary to be careful in regard to her +prerogatives as mistress of the house. + +Early one afternoon, much sooner than there was reason to expect +visitors, a carriage came in at the Cobhurst gate, driven by our friend +Andy Griffing. Miriam happened to be at a front window, and regarded +with some surprise the shabby equipage. It came with a flourish to the +front of the house, and stopped. But instead of alighting, its occupant +seemed to be expostulating with the driver. Andy shook his head a great +deal, but finally drove round at the back, when an elderly woman got +out, and came to the hall door. Miriam, who supposed, of course, that +she would be wanted, was there to meet her, and there was no necessity +for ringing or knocking. + +"My name," said the visitor, "is La Fleur, if you please. I came to see +Mrs. Drane and Miss Drane, if you please. Thank you very much, I will +come in. I will wait here, or, if you will be so good as to tell me where +I can find Mrs. Drane, I will go to her. I used to live with her: I was +her cook." + +Miriam had been gazing with much interest on the puffy face and +shawl-enwrapped body of the old woman who addressed her with a smiling +obsequiousness to which she was not at all accustomed. + +The thought struck her that with servants like this woman, it would be +easy to feel herself a mistress. She had heard from the Dranes a great +deal about their famous cook, and she was glad of the opportunity to look +upon this learned professor of kitchen lore. + +"What would she have said to my tall raspberry tarts?" involuntarily +thought the girl. + +But it was when La Fleur had gone to Mrs. Drane's room, and Cicely, +wildly delighted when informed who had come to see them, had run to meet +the dear old woman, that Miriam pondered most seriously upon this visit +from a cook. She had not known anything of the ties between families and +old family servants. At school, servants had been no more than machines; +she was nothing to them, and they were nothing to her; and now she felt +that the ignorance of these ties was one of the deprivations of her life. +That old woman upstairs had not lived very long with the Dranes, and yet +she regarded them with a positive affection. Miriam knew this from what +she had heard. If they were in trouble, and needed her, she would come to +them and serve them wherever they were. This she had told them often. How +different was such a woman from Phoebe or Molly Tooney! How happy would +she be if there had been such a one in her mother's family, and were she +with her now! + +"But I have only Ralph," thought Miriam; "no one else in the world." +Ralph was good,--no human being could be better; but he was only one +person, and knew nothing of many things she wanted to know, and could not +help her in many ways in which she needed to be helped. + +With a feeling that from certain points of view she was rather solitary +and somewhat forsaken, she went to look for her brother. It would be +better to talk to what she had than to think about what she had not. + +As she walked toward the barn and pasture fields, Ralph came up from the +cornfield by the woods on the other side of the house. As he went in he +met Mrs. Drane and La Fleur, who had just come downstairs. Cicely had +already retired to her work. At the sight of the gentleman, who, she was +informed, was the master of the house, La Fleur bowed her head, cast down +her eyes, smiled and courtesied. + +Mrs. Drane drew Ralph aside. + +"That is La Fleur, who used to be our cook. She is a kind old body, who +takes the greatest interest in our welfare. She is greatly pleased to +find us in such delightful quarters, but she has queer notions, and now +she wants very much to call on your cook. I don't know that this is the +right thing, and I have been looking for your sister, to ask her if she +objects to it, but I think she is not in the house." + +"Oh, bless me!" exclaimed Ralph, "she will not mind in the least. Let the +good woman go down and see Molly Tooney, and if she can give her some +points about cooking, I am sure we shall all be delighted." + +"Oh, she would not do that," said Mrs. Drane. "She is a very considerate +person; but I suppose, in any house, her instincts would naturally draw +her toward the cook." + +When Ralph turned to La Fleur, and assured her that his sister would be +glad to have her visit the kitchen, the old woman, who had not taken her +eyes from him for an instant, thanked him with great unction, again +bowed, courtesied, smiled, and, being shown the way to the kitchen, +descended. + +Molly Tooney, who was sitting on a low stool, paring potatoes, looked up +in amazement at the person who entered her kitchen. It was not an +obsequious old woman she saw, but a sedate, dignified, elderly person, +with her brows somewhat knitted. Throwing about her a glance, which was +not one of admiration, La Fleur remarked,-- + +"I suppose you are the cook of the house." + +"Indade, an' I am," said Molly, still upon the stool, with a knife in one +hand, and a potato, with a long paring hanging from it, in the other; +"an' the washer-woman, an' the chambermaid, an' the butler, too, as loike +as may be. An' who may you be, an' which do you want to see?" + +"I am Madame La Fleur," said the other, with a stateliness that none of +her mistresses ever supposed that she possessed. "I came to see Mrs. +Drane, in whose service I was formerly engaged, and I wish to know for +myself what sort of a person was cooking for the ladies whose meals I +used to prepare." + +Molly put down her knife and her half-pared potato, and arose. She had +heard of La Fleur, whose fame had spread through and about Thorbury. + +"Sit down, mum," said she. "This isn't much of a kitchen, for I +haven't had time to clane it up, an' as for me, I'm not much of a +cook, nather; for when ye have to be iverything, ye can't be anything +to no great ixtent." + +La Fleur, still standing, looked at her severely. + +"How often do you bake?" she asked. + +"Three times a week," answered Molly, lying. + +"The ladies upstairs," said La Fleur, "have been accustomed to fresh +rolls every morning for their breakfast." + +"An' afther this, they shall have 'em," said Molly, "Sundays an' weekday, +an' sorry I am that I didn't know before that they was used to have 'em." + +"How do you make your coffee?" asked La Fleur. + +Molly looked at her hesitatingly. + +"I am very keerful about that," she said. "I niver let it bile too +much--" + +"Ugh!" exclaimed La Fleur, raising her hand. "Tell your mistress to get +you a French coffee-pot, and if you don't know how to use it, I'll come +and teach you. I shall be here off and on as long as Mrs. Drane stops in +this house." And then, seating herself, La Fleur proceeded to put Molly +through an elementary domestic service examination. + +"Well," said the examiner, when she had finished, "I think you must be +the worst cook in this part of the country." + +"No, mum, I'm not," said Molly. "There was one here afore me, a nager +woman named Phoebe, that must have been worse, from what I'm told." + +"Where I have lived," said La Fleur, "they have such women to cook for the +farm laborers." + +"Beggin' your pardon, mum," said Molly, "that's what they are here, or +th' same thing. Mr. Haverley, he works on the farm with a pitchfork, jest +like the nager man." + +"Don't talk to me like that!" exclaimed La Fleur. "Mr. Haverley is a +gentleman. I have lived enough among gentlemen to know them when I see +them, and they can work and they can play and they can do what they +please, and they are gentlemen still. Don't you ever speak that way, +again, of your master." + +"I thought I had heard, mum," said Molly, "that you looked down on +tradespeople and the loike." + +"Tradespeople!" said the other, scornfully. "A gentleman farmer is very +different from a person in trade; but I can't expect anything better from +a woman who boils coffee, and never heard of bouillon. But remember the +things I have told you, and thank your stars that a cook as high up in +the profession as I am is willing to tell you anything. Are you the only +servant in this house?" + +"There's a man by the name of Mike," said Molly, "a nager, though you +wouldn't think it from his name. He helps me sometimes, an' he helps +iverybody else other times." + +"Is that the man?" said La Fleur, looking out of the window. + +"That's him, mum," said Molly; "he's jest goin' to the woodpile +with his axe." + +"I wish to speak to him," said La Fleur, and with a very slight nod of +the head she left the kitchen by the door that led into the grounds. + +Looking after her, Molly exclaimed,-- + +"Drat you, for a stuck-up, cross-grained, meddlin', bumble-bee-backed +old hag of a soup-slopper; to come stickin' yer big nose into other +people's kitchens! If there was a rale misthress to the house instead +of the little gal upstairs, you'd be rowled down the front steps afore +you'd been let come into my kitchen." And with this she returned to +her potatoes. + +La Fleur stopped at the woodpile, as if in passing she had happened to +notice a good man splitting logs. In her blandest voice she accosted Mike +and bade him good-day. + +"I think you must be Michael," she said. "The cook has been speaking of +you to me. My name is La Fleur." + +Mike, who had struck his axe into a log, touched his flattened hat. + +"Yes, mum," he said; "Mr. Griffing has been tellin' me that. Are you +lookin' for any of the folks?" + +"Oh no, no," said La Fleur; "I am just walking about to see a little of +this beautiful place. You don't mind that, do you, Michael? You keep +everything in such nice order. I haven't seen your garden, but I know it +is a fine one, because I saw some of the vegetables that came out of it." + +Mike grinned. "I reckon it ain't the same kind of a garden that you've +been used to, mum. I've heerd that you cooked for Queen Victoria." + +"Oh no, no," said La Fleur, dropping her head on one side so that her +smile made a slight angle with the horizon; "I never cooked for the +queen, no indeed; but I have lived with high families, lords, ladies, and +ambassadors, and I don't remember that any of them had better potatoes +than I saw to-day. Is this a large farm, Michael?" + +"It's considerable over a hundred acres, though I don't 'xactly know how +much. Not what you'd call big, and not what you'd call little." + +"But you grow beautiful crops on it, I don't doubt," remarked La Fleur. + +"Can't say about that," said Mike, shaking his head a little. "I 'spects +we'll git good 'nough craps for what we do for 'em. This ain't the kind +of farm your lords and ladies has got. It's ramshackle, you know." + +"Ramshackle?" repeated La Fleur. "Is that a sort of sheep farm?" + +Mike grinned. "Law, no, we ain't got no sheep, and I'm glad of it. +Ramshackle farmin' means takin' things as you find 'em, an' makin' 'em +do, an' what you git you've got, but with tother kind of farmin' most +times what you git, ye have to pay out, an' then you ain't got nuthin'." + +This was more than La Fleur could comprehend, but she inferred in a +general way that Mr. Haverley's farm was a profitable one. + +"All so pretty, so pretty," she said, looking from side to side; "such a +grand barn, and such broad acres. Is it the estate as far as I can see?" + +"Yes, mum," said Mike, "an' a good deal furder. The woods cuts it off +down thataway." + +"It is a lordly place," said La Fleur, "and it does you honor, Michael, +for the cook told me you were Mr. Haverley's head man." + +"I reckon she's about right there," said Mike. + +"And I am very glad indeed," continued the old woman, "that Mrs. and Miss +Drane are living here. And now, Michael, if either of them is ever taken +ill, and you're sent for the doctor, I want you to come straight to me, +and I'll see that he goes to them. If you knock at the back door of the +kitchen, I'll hear you, whether I am awake or asleep. And when you are +coming to town, Michael, you must drop in and see me. I can give you a +nice bit of a lunch, any day. I daresay you like good things to eat as +well as any-body." + +Mike stood silent for a moment, and his eyes began to brighten. + +"Indeed I do, mum," said he. "If I was to carry in a punkin to you when +they're ripe, I wonder if you'd be willin' to make me a punkin pie, same +kind as Queen Victoria has in the fall of the year." + +La Fleur beamed on him most graciously. + +"I will do that gladly, Michael: you may count on me to do that. And I +will give you other things that you like. Wait till we see, wait till we +see. Good-day, Michael; I must be going now, or the doctor will be kept +waiting for his dinner. Where's my cabby?" + +"Mr. Griffing has drove round to the front of the house, mum," said Mike. + +"Just like the stupid American," muttered the old woman as she hurried +away, "as if I'd get in at the front of the house." + +Andy Griffing talked a good deal on the drive back to Thorbury, but La +Fleur heard little and answered less. She was in a state of great mental +satisfaction, and during her driver's long descriptions of persons and +places, she kept saying to herself, "It couldn't be better than that. It +couldn't be better than that." + +This mental expression she applied to Mr. Haverley, whom she considered +an extraordinarily fine-looking young man; to the broad acres and fine +barn; to the fact that the Dranes were living with him; to the +probability that he would fall in love with the charming Miss Cicely, and +make her mistress of the estate; and to the strong possibility, that +should this thing happen, she herself would be the cook of Cobhurst, and +help her young mistress put the establishment on the footing that her +station demanded. + +"It couldn't be better than that," she muttered over and over again as +she busied herself about the Tolbridge dinner, and she even repeated the +expression two or three times after she went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE GAME IS CALLED + + +In her notions and schemes regarding the person and estate of Ralph +Haverley, the good cook, La Fleur, lacked one great advantage possessed +by her rival planner and schemer Miss Panney; for she whose cause was +espoused by the latter old woman was herself eager for the fray and +desirous of victory, whereas Cicely Drane had not yet thought of marrying +anybody, and outside of working hours was devoting herself to getting all +the pleasure she could out of life, not regarding much whether it was her +mother or Miriam or Mr. Haverley who helped her get it. Moreover, the +advantages of co-residence, which La Fleur naturally counted upon, were +not so great as might have been expected; for Mrs. Drane, having +perceived that Ralph was fond of the society of young ladies to a degree +which might easily grow beyond her ideas of decorous companionship +between a gentleman of the house and a lady boarder, gently interfered +with the dual apple gatherings and recreations of that nature. For this, +had she been aware of it, Dora Bannister would have been most grateful. + +Ralph had gone twice to see Congo, and to talk to Miss Bannister about +him, but he had not taken the dog home. Dora said she would take him to +Cobhurst the first time she drove over there to see Miriam. Congo would +follow her and the carriage anywhere, and this would be so much +pleasanter than to have him forced away like a prisoner. + +The gig shafts had now been repaired, and Ralph urged his sister to go +with him to Thorbury and attend to her social duties; but Miriam disliked +the little town and loved Cobhurst. As to social duties, she thought they +ought to be attended to, of course, but saw no need to be in a hurry +about them; so Ralph, one day, having business in Thorbury, prepared to +go in again by himself. He had been lately riding Mrs. Browning, who was +still his only available horse for family use; but she was not very +agreeable under the saddle, and he now proposed to take the gig. He had +thought it might be a good idea to take a little drive out of the town, +and see if Congo would follow him. Perhaps Miss Bannister would accompany +him, for she was very anxious that the dog should become used to Ralph +before leaving his present home; and her presence would help very much in +teaching the animal to follow. + +But although Miriam declined to go with her brother, she took much +interest in his expedition, and came out to the barn to see him harness +Mrs. Browning. + +"Are you going to Dora Bannister's again?" she asked. + +"Yes," said Ralph; "at least I think I shall stop in to see the dog. You +know the oftener I do that, the better." + +"I think it is a shame," said Miriam, "that you should be driving to town +alone, when there are other people who wish so much to go, and you have +no use at all for that empty seat." + +"Who wants to go?" asked Ralph, quickly. + +"Cicely Drane does. She has got into trouble over the doctor's +manuscript, and says she can't go on properly without seeing him. She has +been expecting him here every day, but it seems as if he never intended +to come. She asked me this morning how far it was to Thorbury, and I +think she intends to walk in, if he does not come to-day." + +"Why didn't you tell me this before?" asked Ralph. "I would have sent her +into town or taken her." + +"I had not formulated it in my mind," said Miriam. "Will you take her +with you to-day? I know that she has made up her mind she cannot wait any +longer for the doctor to come." + +"Of course I will take her," said Ralph. "Will you ask her to get ready? +Tell her I shall be at the door in ten or fifteen minutes." + +Ralph's tone was perfectly good-humored, but Miriam fancied that she +perceived a trace of disappointment in it. She was sorry for this, for +she could not imagine why any man should object to have Cicely Drane as a +companion on a drive, unless his mind was entirely occupied by some other +girl; and if Ralph's mind was thus occupied, it must be by Dora +Bannister, and that did not please her. So she resolutely put aside all +Cicely's suggestions that it might be inconvenient for Mr. Haverley to +take her with him, and deftly overcame Mrs. Drane's one or two impromptu, +and therefore not very well constructed, objections to the acceptance of +the invitation; and in the gig Cicely went with Ralph to Thorbury. + +After having left the secretary to attend to her business at the +doctor's house, Ralph drove to the Bannister's; but Dora would not see +him, and technically was not at home. Alas! She had seen him driving past +with Miss Drane, and she was angry. This was contrary to the plan of +action she had adopted; but her eighteen-year-old spirit rebelled, and +she could not help it. A more hideous trap than that old gig could not be +imagined, but she had planned a drive in it with Ralph on some of the +quiet country roads beyond Cobhurst. They would take Congo with them, and +that would be such a capital plan to teach the dog to follow his new +master. And now it was the Drane girl who was driving with him in his +gig. She could not go down and see him and meet him in the way she liked +to meet him. + +Miss Panney, on the other side of the street, had been passing the +Tolbridge house at the moment when Ralph and Cicely drove up. She +stopped for a moment, her feelings absolutely outraged. It was not +uncommon for her to pass places at times when people were doing things +in those places which she thought they ought not to do; but this was a +case which roused her anger in an unusual manner. Whatever else might +happen at Cobhurst, she did not believe that that girl would begin so +soon to go out driving with him. + +She had left her phaeton at a livery stable, and was on her way to the +Bannister house to have a talk with Dora on a subject in which they were +now both so much interested. She had been very much surprised when the +girl had come to her and freely avowed her feelings and hopes, but she +had been delighted. She liked a spirit of that sort, and it was a joy to +her to work with one who possessed it. But she knew human nature, and she +was very much afraid that Dora's purpose might weaken. It was quite +natural that a young person, in a moment of excitement and pique, should +figuratively raise her sword in air and vow a vow; but it was also quite +natural, when the excitement and pique had cooled down, that the young +person should experience what might be called a "vow-fright," and feel +unable to go through with her part. In a case such as Dora's, this was +very possible indeed, and all that Miss Panney had planned to say on her +present visit was intended to inspire the girl, if it should be needed, +with some of her own matured inflexibility and fixedness of purpose. But +if the man were doing this sort of thing already and Dora should know it, +she would have a right to be discouraged. + +Before the old lady reached the Bannisters' gate, she saw Mr. Haverley, +in his gig, drive away. This brightened her up a little. + +"He comes here, anyway," she thought; "what a pity Dora is not in." + +Nevertheless, she went on to the Bannister house; and when she found Dora +was in, she began to scold her. + +"This will never do, will never do," she said. "Get angry with him if you +choose, but don't show it. If you do that, you may crash him too low or +bounce him too high, and, in either case, he may be off before you know +it. It is too early in the game to show him that he has made you angry." + +"But if he doesn't want me, I don't want him," said Dora, sulkily. + +"If you think that way, my dear," said Miss Panney, "you may as well make +up your mind to make a bad match, or die an old maid. The right man very +seldom comes of his own accord; it is nearly always the wrong one. If you +happen to meet the right man, you should help him to know that he ought +to come. That is the way to look at it. That young Haverley does not know +yet who it is that he cares for. He is just floating along, waiting for +some one to thrust out a boat-hook and pull him in." + +"I shall marry no floating log," said Dora, stiffly. + +The old lady laughed. + +"Perhaps that was not a very good figure of speech," she said; "but +really, my dear, you must not interfere with your own happiness by +showing temper; and if you look at the affair in its proper light, you +will see it is not so bad, after all. Ten to one, he brought her to town +because she wanted to come with him,--probably on some patched-up errand; +but he came here because he wanted to come. There could be no other +reason; and, instead of being angry with him, you should have given him +an extraordinary welcome. For the very reason that she has so many +advantages over you, being so much with him, you should be very careful +to make use of the advantages you have over her. And your advantages are +that you are ten times better fitted to be his wife than she is; and the +great thing necessary to be done is to let him see it. But her chances +must come to an end. Those Dranes must be got away from Cobhurst." + +"I don't like that way of looking at it," said Dora, leaning back in her +chair, with a sigh. "It's the same thing as fishing for a man, though I +suppose it might have been well to see him when he came." + +Now Miss Panney felt encouraged; her patient was showing good symptoms. +Let her keep in that state of mind, and she would see that the lover +came. She had made a mistake in speaking so bluntly about getting the +Dranes out of Cobhurst. Although she would not say anything more to Dora +about that important piece of work, she would do it all the same. + +This little visit had been an important one to Miss Panney; it had +enabled her to understand Dora's character much better than she had +understood it before; and she perceived that in this case of matchmaking +she must not only do a great deal of the work herself, but she must do it +without Dora's knowing anything about it. She liked this, for she was not +much given to consulting with people. + +Miss Panney had another call to pay in the neighborhood, and she had +intended, for form's sake, to spend a little time with Mrs. Bannister; +but she did neither. She went back by the way she had come, wishing to +learn all she could about the movements of the Cobhurst gig. + +Approaching the Tolbridge house, she saw that vehicle standing before +the door, with the sleepy Mrs. Browning tied to a post, and as she drew +nearer, she perceived Ralph Haverley sitting alone on the vine-shaded +piazza. The old lady would not enter the Tolbridge gate, but she stood on +the other side of the street, and beckoned to Ralph, who, as soon as he +saw her, ran over to her. + +Ralph walked a little way with Miss Panney, and after answering her most +friendly inquiries about Miriam, he explained how he happened to be +sitting alone on the piazza; the doctor and Miss Drane, whom he had +brought to town, were at work at some manuscript, and he had preferred to +wait outside instead of indoors. + +"I called on Miss Bannister," he said, "but she was not at home, so I +came back here." + +"It is a pity she was out," said Miss Panney, carelessly, "and now that +you have mentioned Miss Bannister, I would like to ask you something; why +does not your sister return her visits? I saw Dora not very long ago, and +found that her feelings had been a little hurt--not much, perhaps, but a +little--by Miriam's apparent indifference to her. Dora is a very +sensitive girl, and is slow to make friends among other girls. I never +knew any friendship so quick and lively as that she showed for Miriam. +You know that Dora is still young; it has not been long since she left +school; there is not a girl in Thorbury that she cares anything about, +and her life at home must necessarily be a lonely one. Her brother is +busy, even in the evenings, and Mrs. Bannister is no companion for a +lively young girl." + +"I had thought," said Ralph, "that Miss Bannister went a good deal +into society." + +"Oh, no," answered Miss Panney; "she sometimes visits her relatives, who +are society people; but in years and disposition she is too young for +that sort of thing. Society women and society men would simply bore her. +At heart she is a true country girl, and I think it was because Miriam +had country tastes, and loved that sort of life, that Dora's affections +went out so quickly to her. I wish your sister had the same feelings +toward her." + +"Oh, Miriam likes her very much," exclaimed Ralph, "and is always +delighted to see her; but my little sister is wonderfully fond of staying +at home. I have told her over and over again that she ought to return +Miss Bannister's calls." + +"Make her do it," said the old lady. "It is her duty, and I assure you, +it will be greatly to her advantage. Miriam is a most lovely girl, but +her character has not hardened itself into what it is going to be, and +association with a thoroughbred girl, such as Dora Bannister, admirably +educated, who has seen something of the world, with an intelligence and +wit such as I have never known in any one of her age, and more than all +with a soul as beautiful as her face, cannot fail to be an inestimable +benefit to your sister. What Miriam most needs, at this stage of her +life, is proper companionship of her own age and sex." + +Ralph assented. "But," said he, "she is not without that, you know. Miss +Drane, who with her mother now lives with us, is a most--" + +Miss Panney's face grew very hard. + +"Excuse me," she interrupted, "I know all about that. Of course the +Dranes are very estimable people, and there are many things, especially +in the way of housekeeping, which Mrs. Drane could teach Miriam, if she +chose to take the trouble. But while I respect the daughter's efforts to +support herself and her mother, it must be admitted that she is a +working-girl--nothing more or less--and must continue to be such. Her +present business, of course, can only last for a little while, and she +will have to adopt some regular calling. This life she expects, and is +preparing herself for it. But a mind such as hers is, or must speedily +become, is not the one from which Miriam's young mind should receive its +impressions. The two will move in very different spheres, and neither can +be of any benefit to the other. More than that I will not say; but I will +say that your sister can never find any friend so eager to love her, and +so willing to help and be helped by her in so many ways in which girls +can help each other, as my dear Dora. Now bestir yourself, Mr. Haverley, +and make Miriam look at this thing as she ought to. I don't pretend to +deny that I have spoken to you very much for Dora's sake, for whom I have +an almost motherly feeling; but you should act for your sister's sake. +And please don't forget what I have said, young man, and give Miriam my +best love." + +When Ralph walked back to the Tolbridge piazza he found the working-girl +sitting there, waiting for him. His mind was not in an altogether +satisfactory condition; some things Miss Panney had said had pleased and +even excited him, but there were other things that he resented. If she +had not been such an old lady, and if she had not talked so rapidly, he +might have shown this resentment. But he had not done so, and now the +more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling grew. + +As for Cicely Drane, she was a great deal more quiet during the drive +home, than she had been when going to Thorbury. Her mind was in an +unsatisfactory condition, and this had been occasioned by an interview +with La Fleur, who had waylaid her in the hall as she came out of the +doctor's office. + +The good cook had been in a state of enthusiastic delight, since, looking +out of the kitchen window where she had been sitting, with a manuscript +book of recipes in her lap, planning the luncheon and dinner, she had +seen the lord of Cobhurst drive up to the gate with dear Miss Cicely. It +was a joy like that of listening to a party of dinner guests, who were +eating her favorite ice. With intense impatience she had awaited the +appearance of Cicely from the doctor's office; and, having drawn her to +one side, she hastily imparted her sentiments. + +"It's a shabby gig, Miss Cicely," she said, "such as the farmers use in +the old country, but it's his own, and not hired, and the big house is +his own, and all the broad acres. And he's a gentleman from head to heel, +living on his own estate, and as fine a built man as ever rode in the +Queen's army. Oh, Miss Cicely, your star is at the top of the heavens +this time, and I want you to let me know if there is anything you want in +the way of hats or wraps or clothes, or anything of that kind. It +doesn't make the least difference to me, you know, just now, and we'll +settle it all after a while. It is the Christian duty for every young +lady to look the smartest, especially at a time like this." + +Cicely, her face flushed, drew herself away. + +"La Fleur," she said, speaking quickly and in a low voice, "you ought to +be ashamed of yourself." And she hurried away, fearing that Mr. Haverley +was waiting for her. + +La Fleur was not a bit ashamed of herself; she chuckled as she went back +to the kitchen. + +"She's a young thing of brains and beauty," said she to herself, "and I +don't doubt that she had the notion in her own mind. But if it wasn't +there, I have put it there, and if it was there, I've dished it and +dressed it, and it will be like another thing to her. As for the rest of +it, he'll attend to that. I haven't a doubt that he is the curly-headed, +brave fellow to do that; and I'll find out from her mother if she needs +anything, and not hurt her pride neither." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO + + +To say that Cicely Drane had not thought of Ralph Haverley as an +exceedingly agreeable young man would be an injustice to her young +womanly nature, but it would be quite correct to state that she had not +thought him a whit more agreeable than Miriam. She was charmed with them +both; they had taken her into their home circle as if they had adopted +her as a sister. It was not until her mother began to put a gentle +pressure upon her in order to prevent her gathering too many apples, and +joining in too many other rural recreations with Mr. Haverley, that she +thought of him as one who was not to be considered in the light of a +brother. There could be no doubt that she would have come to the same +conclusion if left to herself, but she would not have reached it so soon. + +But the effect that her mother's precautionary disposition had had upon +her was nothing compared to that produced by the words of La Fleur. For +the first time she looked upon Ralph as one on whom other persons looked +as her lover, and to sit by the side of the said young man, immediately +after being informed of said fact, was not conducive to a free and +tranquil flow of remark. + +Her own sentiments on the subject, so far as she had put them into +shape,--and it was quite natural that she should immediately begin to +do this,--were neither embarrassing nor disagreeable. She liked him +very much, and there was no reason why she should object to his liking +her very much, and if they should ever do more than this, she should +not be ashamed of it, and perhaps should be glad of it. But she was +sorry that before either of them had thought of this, some one else +should have done so. + +This might prove to be embarrassing, and the only comfort she could give +herself was that La Fleur was such an affectionate old body, always +talking of some bit of good fortune for her, that if she had seen her in +company with a king or an emperor, she would immediately set herself to +find some sort of throne-covering which would suit her hair and +complexion. + +The definite result of her reflections, made between desultory questions +and answers, was that she regarded the young gentleman by her side in a +light very different from that in which she had viewed him before she had +met La Fleur in the doctor's hall. It was not that she looked upon him as +a possible lover--she had sense enough to know that almost any man might +be that--he was a hypothetic lover, and in view of the assumption it +behooved her to give careful observation to everything in him, herself, +or others, which might bear upon the ensuing argument. + +As for Ralph, it angered him to look at the young lady by his side, who +was as handsome, as well educated and cultured, as tastefully dressed, as +intelligent and witty, of as gentle, kind, and winning a disposition, +and, judging from what the doctor had told him when he first spoke of the +Dranes, of as good blood, family, and position, as any one within the +circle of his acquaintance, and then to remember that she had been called +a working-girl, and spoken of in a manner that was almost contemptuous. + +Ralph always took the side of the man who was down, and, consequently, +very often put himself on the wrong side; and although he did not +consider that Miss Drane was down, he saw that Miss Panney had tried to +put her down, and therefore he became her champion. + +"There could not be any one," he said to himself, "better fitted to be +the friend and companion of Miriam than Cicely Drane is, and the next +time I see that old lady, I shall tell her so. I have nothing to say +against Miss Bannister, but I shall stand up for this one." + +And now, feeling that it was not polite to treat a young lady with +seeming inattention, because he happened to be earnestly thinking about +her, he began to talk to Cicely in his liveliest and gayest manner, and +she, not wishing him to think that she thought that there was anything +out of the way in this, or in his previous preoccupation, responded +just as gayly. + +Ralph delivered Miss Panney's message to his sister, and Miriam, giving +much more weight to the advice and opinion of the old lady, whom she knew +very slightly and cared for very little, than to that of her brother, +whom she loved dearly, said she would go to see Miss Bannister the next +afternoon if it happened to be clear. + +It was clear, and she went, and Ralph drove her there in the gig, and +Dora was overwhelmed with joy to see her, and scolded Ralph in the most +charming way for not bringing her before; Miriam was taken to see Congo, +because Dora wanted her to begin to love him, and they were shown into +the library, because Dora said that she knew they both loved books, and +her father had gathered together so many. In ten minutes, Miriam was in +the window seat, dipping, which ended in her swimming, far beyond her +depth in Don Quixote, which she had so often read of and never seen, and +Dora and Ralph sat, heads together, over a portfolio of photographs of +foreign places where the Bannisters had been. + +There were very few books at Cobhurst, and Miriam had read all of them +she cared for, and consequently it was an absorbing delight to follow the +adventures of the Knight of La Mancha. + +Ralph had not travelled in Europe, and there were very few pictures at +Cobhurst, and he was greatly interested in the photographs, but this +interest soon waned in the increasing delight of having Dora seated so +close to him, of seeing her fair fingers point out the things he should +look at, and listening to her sweet voice, as she talked to him about the +scenes and buildings. There was an element of gentle and sympathetic +interest in Dora's manner, which reminded him of her visit to Cobhurst, +and the good-night on the stairs, and this had a very charming effect +upon Ralph, and made him wish that the portfolio were at least double its +actual size. + +The Haverleys stayed so long that Mrs. Bannister, upstairs, began to +be nervous, and wondered if Dora had asked those young people to +remain to tea. + +On the way home Ralph was in unusually good spirits, and talked much +about Dora. She must have seen a great deal of the world, he said, for +one so young, and she talked in such an interesting and appreciative way +about what she had seen, that he felt almost as if he had been to the +places himself. + +With this for a text, he dilated upon the subject of Dora and foreign +travel, but Miriam was not a responsive hearer. + +"I wish you knew Mr. Bannister better," she said in a pause in her +brother's remarks. "He must have been everywhere that his sister has +been, and probably saw a great deal more." + +"No doubt," said Ralph, carelessly, "and probably has forgotten most of +it; men generally do that. A girl's mind is not crammed with business and +all that sort of stuff, and she can keep it free for things that are +worth remembering." + +Miriam did not immediately answer, but presently she said, speaking with +a certain air of severity:-- + +"If my soul ached for the company of anybody as Miss Panney told you Dora +Bannister's soul ached for my company, I think I should have a little +more to say to her when she came to see me, than Dora Bannister had to +say to me to-day." + +"My dear child!" exclaimed Ralph, "that was because you were so busy with +your book. She saw you were completely wrapped up in it, and so let you +take your own pleasure in your own way. I think that is one of her good +points. She tries to find out what pleases people." + +"Bother her good points!" snapped Miriam. "You will make a regular +porcupine of her if you keep on. I wish Mr. Bannister had given +you the dog." + +Ralph was very much disturbed; it was seldom that his sister snapped at +him. He could see, now that he considered the matter, that Miriam had +been somewhat neglected. She was young and a little touchy, and this +ought to be considered. He thought it might be well, the next time he saw +Miss Bannister by herself, to explain this to her. He believed he could +do it without making it appear a matter of any great importance. It was +important, however, for he should very much dislike to see ill will grow +up between Miriam and Miss Bannister. What Miss Panney had said about +this young lady was very, very true, although, of course, it did not +follow that any one else need be disparaged. + +Early in the forenoon of the next day, Miss Panney drove to Cobhurst. She +had come, she informed Miriam, not only to see her, dear girl, but to +make a formal call upon the Dranes. + +The call was very formal; Miss Drane left her work to meet the visitor, +but having been loftily set aside by that lady during a stiff +conversation with her mother about old residents in the neighborhood in +which they had lived, she excused herself, after a time, and went back to +her table and her manuscripts. + +Then Miss Panney changed the conversational scene, and began to talk +about Thorbury. + +"I do not know, madam," she said, "that you are aware that I was the +cause of your coming to this neighborhood." + +Mrs. Drane was a quiet lady, and the previous remarks of her visitor had +been calculated to render her more quiet, but this roused her. + +"I certainly did not," she said. "We came on the invitation and through +the kindness of Dr. Tolbridge, my old friend." + +"Yes, yes, yes," said Miss Panney, "that is all true enough, but I told +him to send for you. In fact, I insisted upon it. I did it, of course, +for his sake; for I knew that the arrangement would be of advantage to +him in various ways, but I was also glad to be of service to your +daughter, of whom I had heard a good report. Furthermore, I interested +myself very much in getting you lodgings, and found you a home at Mrs. +Brinkly's that I hoped you would like. If I had not done so, I think you +would have been obliged to go to the hotel, which is not pleasant and +much more expensive than a private house. I do not mention these things, +madam, because I wish to be thanked, or anything of that sort; far from +it. I did what I did because I thought it was right; but I must admit, if +you will excuse my mentioning it, that I was surprised, to say the least, +that I was not consulted, in the slightest degree, on the occasion of +your leaving the home I had secured for you." + +"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Drane, "that I should appear to have been +discourteous to one who had done us a service, for which, I assure you, +we are both very much obliged, but Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge managed the +whole affair of our removal from Mrs. Brinkly's house, and I did not +suppose there was any one, besides them and ourselves, who would take the +slightest interest in the matter." + +"Oh, I find no fault," said Miss Panney. "It is not an affair of +importance, but I think you will agree, madam, that after the interest I +had shown in procuring you suitable accommodation, I might have been +spared what some people might consider the mortification of being told, +when I stated to Mrs. Tolbridge that I intended to call upon you, that +you were not then living with the lady whose consent to receive you into +her family I had obtained, after a great deal of personal solicitation +and several visits." + +Upon this presentation of the matter, Mrs. Drane could not help thinking +that the old lady had been treated somewhat uncivilly, and expressed her +regret in the most suitable terms she could think of, adding that she +was sure that Miss Panney would agree that the change had been an +excellent one. + +"Of course, of course," said Miss Panney. "For a temporary country +residence, I suppose you could not have found a better spot, though it +must be a long walk for your daughter when she goes to submit her work to +Dr. Tolbridge." + +"That has not yet been necessary," said Mrs. Drane; "Mr. Haverley is +very kind--" + +At this point Miss Panney rose. She had said all she wanted to say, and +to decline to hear anything about Ralph Haverley's having been seen +driving about with a young woman who had been engaged as Dr. Tolbridge's +secretary, was much better than speaking of it, and she took her leave +with a prim politeness. + +Mrs. Drane was left in an uncomfortable state of mind. It was not +pleasant to be reminded that this delightful country house was only a +temporary home, for that implied a return to Thorbury, a town she +disliked; and although she had, of course, expected to go back there, she +had not allowed the matter to dwell in her mind at all, putting it into +the future, without consideration, as she liked to do with things that +were unpleasant. + +Moreover, there was something, she could not tell exactly what, about +Miss Panney's words and manner, which put an unsatisfactory aspect upon +the obvious methods of Cicely's communications with her employer. + +Mrs. Drane's mind had already been slightly disturbed on this subject, +but Miss Panney had revived and greatly increased the disturbance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT + + +Having finished her visit of ceremony, Miss Panney asked permission of +Miriam to see Molly Tooney. That woman was, in a measure, her protégé, +and she had some little business with her. Declining to have the cook +sent for, Miss Panney descended to the kitchen. + +She had not talked with Molly more than five minutes, and had not +approached the real subject of the interview, which concerned the social +relations between the Haverleys and the Dranes, when the Irishwoman +lifted up her hands, and opened wide her eyes. + +"The Saints an' the Sinners!" she exclaimed, "if here isn't that auld +drab of a sausage, that cook of the docther's, a comin' here again to +tell me how to cook for them Dranes. Bad luck to them, they don't pay me +nothin', an' only give me trouble." + +Miss Panney turned quickly, and through the window she saw La Fleur +approaching the kitchen door. + +"She comes here to tell you how to cook for those people?" said Miss +Panney, quickly. + +"Indade she does, an' it's none of her business, nather, the meddlin' +auld porpoise." + +"Molly," said Miss Panney, "go away and leave me here. I want to talk to +this woman." + +"Which is more than I do," said the cook, and straightway departed to the +floor above. + +La Fleur had come to see Mrs. Drane, but perceiving Miss Panney's phaeton +at the door, she had concluded that there was company in the house, and +had consequently betaken herself to the kitchen to make inquiries. When +she found there Miss Panney, instead of Molly Tooney, La Fleur was +surprised, but pleased, for she remembered the old lady as one who +appreciated good cookery and a good cook. + +"How do you do, La Fleur," said Miss Panney. "I am glad to see you. I +suppose you still keep up your old interest in Mrs. Drane and her +daughter. Do you often find time to come out here to see them?" + +"Not often, madam, but sometimes. I can always find time for what I +really want to do. If I like to be away for an hour or two, I'll sit up +late the night before, long after midnight sometimes, planning the meals +and the courses for the next day, and when I go away, I leave everything +so that I can take it right up, the minute I get back, and lose nothing +in time or in any other way." + +"It is only a born chef who could do that," said Miss Panney, "and it is +very pleasant to see your affection for your former employers. Do you +suppose that they will remain here much longer?" + +"Remain!" exclaimed La Fleur; "they've never said a word to me, madam, +about going away, and I don't believe they have thought of it. I am sure +I haven't." + +Miss Panney shook her head. + +"It's none of my business," she said, "but I've lived a long time in this +world, and that gives me a right to speak my mind to people who haven't +lived so long. It may have been all very well for the Dranes to have come +here for a little vacation of a week or ten days, but to stay on and on +is not the proper thing at all, and if you really have a regard for them, +La Fleur, I think it is your duty to make them understand this. You might +not care to speak plainly, of course, but you can easily make them +perceive the situation, without offending them, or saying anything which +an old servant might not say, in a case like this." + +"But, madam," said La Fleur, "what's to hinder their stopping here? +There's no spot on earth that could suit them better, to my way of +thinking." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, regarding the other with moderate severity, +"you ought to know that when people see a young woman like Miss Drane +brought to live in a house with a handsome young gentleman, who, to all +intents and purposes, is keeping a bachelor's hall,--for that girl +upstairs is entirely too young to be considered a mistress of a +house,--and when they know that the young lady's mother is a lady in +impoverished circumstances, the people are bound to say, when they talk, +that that young woman was brought here on purpose to catch the master of +the house, and I don't think, La Fleur, that you would like to hear that +said of Mrs. Drane." + +As she listened, the bodily eyes of La Fleur were contracted until they +were almost shut, but her mental eyes opened wider and wider. She +suspected that there was something back of Miss Panney's words. + +"If I heard anybody say that, madam, meaning it, I don't think they would +care to say it to me again. But leaving out all that and looking at the +matter with my lights, it does seem to me that if Mr. Haverley wanted a +mistress for his house, and felt inclined to marry Miss Cicely Drane, he +couldn't make a better choice." + +"Choice!" repeated Miss Panney, sarcastically. "He has no choice to make. +That is settled, and that is the very reason why people will talk the +more and sharper, and nothing you can say, Madam Jane La Fleur, will stop +them. Not only does this look like a scheme to marry Mr. Haverley to a +girl who can bring him nothing, but to break off a most advantageous +match with a lady who, in social position, wealth, and in every way, +stands second to no one in this county." + +"And who may that be, please?" asked La Fleur. + +Miss Panney hesitated. It would be a bold thing to give the answer that +was on her tongue, but she was no coward, and this was a crisis of +importance. A proper impression made upon this woman might be productive +of more good results than if made upon any one else. + +"It is Miss Dora Bannister," she said, "and of course you know all about +the Bannister family. I tell you this, because I consider that, under the +circumstances, you ought to know it, but I expect you to mention it to no +one, for the matter has not been formally announced. Now, I am sure that +a woman of your sense can easily see what the friends of Mr. Haverley, +who know all about the state of affairs, will think and say when they see +Mrs. Drane's attempt to get for her daughter what rightfully belongs to +another person." + +If it had appeared to the mind of La Fleur that it was a dreadful thing +to get for one's daughter a lifelong advantage which happened to belong +to another, she might have greatly resented this imputation against Mrs. +Drane. But as she should not have hesitated to try and obtain said +advantage, if there was any chance of doing it, the imputation lost +force. She did not, therefore, get angry, but merely asked, wishing to +get as deep into the matter as possible, "And then it is all settled that +he's to marry Miss Bannister?" + +"Everything is not yet arranged, of course," said Miss Panney, speaking +rapidly, for she heard approaching footsteps, "and you are not to say +anything about all this or mention me in connection with it. I only +spoke to you for the sake of the Dranes. It is your duty to get them +away from here." + +She had scarcely finished speaking when Miriam entered the kitchen. La +Fleur had never seen her before, for on her previous visit it had been +Ralph who had given her permission to interview Molly Tooney, and she +regarded her with great interest. La Fleur's long years of service had +given her many opportunities of studying the characters of mistresses, in +high life as well as middle life, but never had she seen a mistress like +this school-girl, with her hair hanging down her back. + +Miriam advanced toward La Fleur. + +"My cook told me that you were here, and I came down, thinking that you +might want to see me." + +"This is Madam La Fleur," interpolated Miss Panney, "the celebrated chef +who cooks for Dr. Tolbridge. She came, I think, to see Mrs. Drane." + +"Not altogether. Oh, no, indeed," said La Fleur, humbly smiling and +bowing, with her eyes downcast and her head on one side. "I wished, very +much, also, to pay my respects to Miss Haverley. I am only a cook, and I +am much obliged to this good lady--Miss Panic, I think is the name--" + +"Panney," sharply interpolated the old lady. + +"Beg pardon, I am sure, Miss Panney--for what she has said about me; but +when I come to pay my respects to Mrs. Drane, I wish to do the same to +the lady of the house." + +There was a gravity and sedateness in Miriam's countenance, which was not +at all school-girlish, and which pleased La Fleur; in her eyes it gave +the girl an air of distinction. + +"I am glad to see you," said Miriam, and turned to Miss Panney, as if +wondering at that lady's continued stay in the kitchen. Miss Panney +understood the look. + +"I am getting points from La Fleur, my dear," she said, "cooking +points,--you ought to do that. She can give you the most wonderful +information about things you ought to know. Now, La Fleur, as you want to +see Mrs. Drane, and it is time I had started for home, it will be well +for us to go upstairs and leave the kitchen to Molly Tooney." + +Miss Panney was half way up the stairs when La Fleur detained Miriam by a +touch on the arm. + +"I will give you all the points you want, my dear young lady," she said. +"You have brains, and that is the great thing needful in overseeing +cooking. And I will come some day on purpose to tell you how the dishes +that your brother likes, and you like, ought to be cooked to make them +delicious, and you shall be able to tell any one how they should be done, +and understand what is the matter with them if they are not done +properly. All this the lady of the house ought to know, and I can tell +you anything you ask me, for there is nothing about cooking that I do not +thoroughly understand; but I will not go upstairs now, and I will not +detain you from your visitor. I will take a turn in the grounds, and when +the lady has gone, I will ask leave to speak with Mrs. Drane." + +With her head on one side, and her smile and her bow, La Fleur left the +kitchen by the outer door. She stepped quickly toward the barn, looking +right and left as she walked. She wished very much to see Mike, and +presently she had that pleasure. He had just come out of the barnyard, +and was closing the gate. She hurried toward him, for, although somewhat +porpoise-built, she was vigorous and could walk fast. + +"I am so pleased to see you, Michael," she said. "I have brought you +something which I think you will like," and, opening a black bag which +she carried on her arm, she produced a package wrapped in brown paper. + +"This," she said, opening the wrapping, "is a pie--a veal and 'am +pie--such as you would not be likely to find in this country, unless you +got me to make it for you. I baked it early this morning, intending to +come here, and being sure you would like it; and you needn't have any +scruples about taking it. I bought everything in it with my own money. I +always do that when I cook little dishes for people I like." + +The pie had been brought as a present for Mrs. Drane, but, feeling that +it was highly necessary to propitiate the only person on the place who +might be of use to her, La Fleur decided to give the pie to Mike. + +The face of the colored man beamed with pleasure. + +"Veal and ham. Them two things ought to go together fust rate, though +I've never eat 'em in that way. An' in a pie, too; that looks mighty +good. An' how do ye eat it, Mrs.--'scuse me, ma'am, but I never can +rightly git hold of yer name." + +"No wonder, no wonder," said the other; "it is a French name. My second +husband was a Frenchman. A great cook, Michael,--a Frenchman. But the +English of the name is flower, and you can call me Mrs. Flower. You can +surely remember that, Michael." + +Mike grinned widely. + +"Oh, yes indeed, ma'am," said he; "no trouble 'bout that, 'specially when +I think what pie crust is made of, an' that you's a cook." + +"Oh, it isn't that kind of flower," said La Fleur, laughing; "but it +doesn't matter a bit,--it sounds the same. And now, Michael, you must +warm this and eat it for your dinner. Have you a fire in your house?" + +"I can make one in no time," said Mike. "Then you think I'd better not +let the cook warm it for me?" + +"You are quite right," said La Fleur. "I don't believe she's half as good +a cook as you are, Michael, for I've heard that all colored people have a +knack that way; and like as not she'd burn it to a crisp." + +Wrapping up the pie and handing it to the delighted negro, La Fleur +proceeded to business, for she felt she had no time to lose. + +"And how are you getting on, Michael?" said she. "I suppose everybody is +very busy preparing for the master's wedding." + +"The what!" exclaimed Mike, his eyebrows elevating themselves to such a +degree that his hat rose. + +"Mr. Haverley's marriage with Miss Dora Bannister. Isn't that to take +place very soon, Michael?" + +Mike put his pie on the post of the barn gate, took off his hat, and +wiped his brow with his shirt-sleeve. + +"Bless my evarlastin' soul, Mrs. Flower! who on this earth told +you that?" + +"Is it then such a great secret? Miss Panney told it to me not twenty +minutes ago." + +Mike put on his hat; he took his pie from the post, and held it, +first in one hand and then in the other. He seemed unable to express +what he thought. + +"Look a here, Mrs. Flower," he said presently, "she told you that, did +she?" + +"She really did," was the answer. + +"Well, then," said Mike, "the long an' the short of it is, she lies. +'Tain't the fust time that old Miss Panney has done that sort of thing. +She comes to me one day, more than six year ago, an' says, 'Mike,' says +she, 'why don't you marry Phoebe Moxley?' ''Cause I don't want to marry +her, nor nobody else,' says I. 'But you ought to,' said she, 'for she's +a good woman an' a nice washer an' ironer, an' you'd do well together.' +'Don't want no washin' nor ironin', nor no Phoebe, neither,' says I. +But she didn't mind nothin' what I said, an' goes an' tells everybody +that me an' Phoebe was goin' to be married; an' then it was we did git +married, jest to stop people talkin' so much about it, an' now look at +us. Me never so much as gittin' a bite of corn-bread, an' she a +boardin' the minister! Jes' you take my word for it, Mrs. Flower, old +Miss Panney wants Miss Dora to marry him, an' she's goin' about tellin' +people, thinkin' that after a while they'll do it jes' 'cause everybody +'spects them to." + +"But don't you think they intend to marry, Mike?" forgetting to address +him by his full name. + +Mike was about to strike the pie in his right hand with his left, in +order to give emphasis to his words, but he refrained in time. + +"Don't believe one cussed word of it," said he. "Mr. Haverley ain't the +man to do that sort of thing without makin' some of his 'rangements p'int +that way, an' none of his 'rangements do p'int that way. If he'd been +goin' to git married, he'd told me, you bet, an' we'd laid out the farm +work more suitable for a weddin' than it is laid out. I ain't goin' to +believe no word about no weddin' till I git it from somebody better nor +Miss Panney. If he was goin' to marry anybody, he'd be more like to marry +that purty little Miss Drane. She's right here on the spot, an' she ain't +pizen proud like them Bannisters. She's as nice as cake, an' not stuck up +a bit. Bless my soul! She don't know one thing about nothin'." + +"You're very much mistaken, Michael," exclaimed La Fleur. "She is very +well educated, and has been sent to the best schools." + +"Oh, I don't mean school larnin'," said Mike; "I mean 'bout cows an' +chickens. She'll come here when I'm milkin', an' ask me things about the +critters an' craps that I knowed when I was a baby. I reckon she's the +kind of a lady that knows all about what's in her line, an' don't know +nothin' 'bout what's not in her line. That's the kind of young lady I +like. No spyin' around to see what's been did, an' what's hain't been +did. I've lived with them Bannisters." + +La Fleur gazed reflectively upon the ground. + +"I never thought of it before," she said, "but Miss Cicely would make a +very good wife for a gentleman like Mr. Haverley. But that's neither +here nor there, and none of our business, Michael. But if you hear +anything more about this marriage between Mr. Haverley and Miss +Bannister, I wish you'd come and tell me. I've had a deal of curiosity to +know if that old lady's been trying to make a fool of me. It isn't of any +consequence, but it is natural to have a curiosity about such things, and +I shall be very thankful to you if you will bring me any news that you +may get. And when you come, Michael, you may be sure that you will not go +away hungry, be it daytime or night." + +"Oh, I'll come along, you bet," said Mike, "an' I am much obleeged to +you, Mrs. Flower, for this here pie." + +When the good cook had gone to speak with Mrs. Drane, Mike repaired +to the woodshed, where, picking up an axe, he stood for some moments +regarding a short, knotty log on end in front of him. His blood +flowed angrily. + +"Marry that there Bannister girl," he said to himself. "A pretty piece of +business if that family was to come here with their money an' their +come-up-ence. They'd turn everythin' upside down on this place. No use +for ramshackle farmin' they'd have, an' no use for me, nuther, with their +top boots an' stovepipe hats." + +Mike had been discharged from the Bannisters' service because of his +unwillingness to pay any attention to his personal appearance. + +"If that durned Miss Panney," he continued, "keeps on tellin' that to the +people, things will be a cussed sight worse than me a livin' here without +decent vittles, an' Phoebe a boardin' that minister that ain't paid no +board yit. Blast them all, I say." And with that he lifted up his axe and +brought it down on the end of the upturned log with such force that it +split into two jagged portions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED + + +When Miss Panney had driven herself away from Cobhurst and Dr. +Tolbridge's cook had finished her conference with Mrs. Drane and had gone +out to the barn to look for her carriage, Miriam Haverley was left with +an impression upon her mind. This was to the effect that there was a good +deal of managing and directing going on in the house with which she had +nothing to do. + +Miss Panney went into her kitchen to talk to Molly Tooney, and when she +did not want to talk to her any more she sent her upstairs, in order that +she might talk to Dr. Tolbridge's cook, which latter person had come into +her kitchen, as Molly had informed her after La Fleur's departure, for +the purpose of finding fault with the family cooking. Whether or not the +old woman had felt herself called upon to instruct Mike in regard to his +duty, she did not know, but when Miriam went into the orchard for some +apples, she had seen her talking to him at the barn gate, and when she +came out again, she saw her there still. Even Ralph took a little too +much on himself, though of course he did not mean anything by it, but he +had told Molly Tooney that she ought to have breakfast sooner in order +that Miss Drane and he might get more promptly to their work. While +considering her impression, Molly Tooney came to Miriam, her face red. + +"What do you think, miss," said she, "that old bundle of a cook that was +here this mornin' has been doin'? She's been bringin' cauld vittles from +the docther's kitchen to that nager Mike, as if you an' Mr. Haverley +didn't give him enough to eat. I looked in at his winder, a wonderin' +what he wanted wid a fire in summer time, an' saw him heatin' the stuff. +It's an insult to me an' the family, miss, that's what it is." And the +irate woman rested her knuckles on her hips. + +Miriam's face turned a little pink. + +"I will inquire about that, Molly," she said, and her impression became a +conviction. + +Toward the close of the afternoon, Miriam went up to her room, and +spreading out on the bed the teaberry gown of Judith Pacewalk, she stood +looking at it. She intended to put on that gown and wear it. But it did +not fit her. It needed all sorts of alterations, and how to make these +she did not know; sewing and its kindred arts had not been taught in the +schools to which she had been sent. It is true that Miss Panney had +promised to cut and fit this gown for her, but Miriam did not wish Miss +Panney to have anything to do with it. That old lady seemed entirely too +willing to have to do with her affairs. + +While Miriam thus cogitated, Cicely Drane passed the open door of her +room, and seeing the queer old-fashioned dress upon the bed, she +stopped, and asked what it was. Miriam told the whole story of Judith +Pacewalk, which greatly interested Cicely, and then she stated her desire +to alter the dress so that she could wear it. But she said nothing about +her purpose in doing this. She was growing very fond of Cicely, but she +did not feel that she knew her well enough to entirely open her heart to +her, and tell her of her fears and aspirations in regard to her position +in the home so dear to her. + +"Wear it, my dear?" exclaimed Cicely. "Why, of course I would. You may +not have thought of it, but since you have told me that story, it seems +to me that the fitness of things demands that you should wear that gown. +As to the fitness of the dress itself, I'll help you about that. I can +cut, sew, and do all that sort of thing, and together we will make a +lovely gown of it for you. I do not think we ought to change the style +and fashion of it, but we can make it smaller without making it anything +but the delightful old-timey gown that it is. And then let me tell you +another thing, dear Miriam: you must really put up your hair. You will +never be treated with proper respect by your cook until you do that. +Mother and I have been talking about this, and thought that perhaps we +ought to mention it to you, because you would not be likely to think of +it yourself, but we thought we had no right to be giving you advice, and +so said nothing. But now I have spoken of it, and how angry are you?" + +"Not a bit," answered Miriam; "and I shall put up my hair, if you will +show me how to do it." + +So long as the Dranes admitted that they had no right to give her +advice, Miriam was willing that they should give her as much as +they pleased. + +For several days Cicely and Miriam cut and stitched and fitted and took +in and let out, and one morning Miriam came down to breakfast attired in +the pink chintz gown, its skirt touching the floor, and with her long +brown hair tastefully done up in a knot upon her head. + +"What a fine young woman has my little sister grown into!" exclaimed +Ralph. "To look at you, Miriam, it seems as if years must have passed +since yesterday. That is the pink dress that Dora Bannister wore when she +was here, isn't it?" + +This remark irritated Miriam a little; Ralph saw the irritation, and was +sorry that he had made the remark. It was surprising how easily Miriam +was irritated by references to Dora. + +"I lent it once," said his sister, as she took her seat at the table, +"but I shall not do it again." + +That day Mike was interviewed in regard to what might be called his +foreign maintenance. The ingenuous negro was amazed. His Irish and his +African temperaments struggled together for expression. + +"Bless my soul, Miss Miriam," he said; "nobody in this world ever +brought me nuthin' to eat, 'cause they know'd I didn't need it, an' +gittin' the best of livin' right here in your house, Miss Miriam, an' if +they had brought it I wouldn't have took it an' swallowed the family +pride; an' what's more, the doctor's cook didn't bring that pie on +purpose for me. She just comed down here to ax me how to make real good +corn-cakes, knowin' that I was a fust-rate cook, an' could make +corn-cakes, an' she wanted to know how to do it. When I tole her jes' +how to do it,--ash-cakes, griddle-cakes, batter-cake, every kin' of +cake,--she was so mighty obligated that she took a little bit of a pie, +made of meat, out of the bag what she'd brought along to eat on the way +home, not feelin' hungry at lunch time, an' give it to me. An' not +wantin' to hurt her feelin's, I jes' took it, an' when I went to my +house I het it an' eat it, an' bless your soul, Miss Miriam, it did +taste good; for that there woman in the kitchen don't give me half +enough to eat, an' never no corn-bread an' ham fat, which is mighty +cheap, Miss Miriam, an' a long sight better for a workin' pusson than +crusts of wheat bread a week old an'--" + +"You don't mean to say," interrupted Miriam, "that Molly does not give +you enough to eat? I'll speak to her about that. She ought to be ashamed +of herself." + +"Now look here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, speaking more earnestly, "don't +you go an' do that. If you tell her that, she'll go an' make me the +biggest corn-pone anybody ever seed, an' she'll put pizen into it. Oh, +it'd never do to say anythin' like that to Molly Tooney, if she's got me +to feed. Jes' let me tell you, Miss Miriam, don't you say nothin' to +Molly Tooney 'bout me. I never could sleep at night if I thought she was +stirrin' up pizen in my vittles. But I tell you, Miss Miriam, if you was +to say Molly, that you an' Mr. Haverley liked corn-cakes an' was always +used to 'em before you come here, an' that they 'greed with you, then in +course she'd make 'em, an' there'd be a lot left over for me, for I don't +'spect you all could eat the corn-bread she'd make, but I'd eat it, bein' +so powerful hungry for corn-meal." + +"Mike," said Miriam, "you shall have corn-bread, but that is all +nonsense about Molly. I do not see how you could get such a notion into +your head." + +Mike gave himself a shrug. + +"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," he said; "I've heard before of red-headed +cooks, an' colored pussons as wasn't satisfied with their victuals, an' +nobody knows what they died of, an' the funerals was mighty slim, an' no +'count, the friends an' congregation thinkin' there might be somethin' +'tagious. Them red-headed kind of cooks is mighty dangerous, Miss Miriam, +an' lemme tell you, the sooner you git rid of them, the better." + +Miriam's previous experiences had brought her very little into contact +with negroes, and although she did not care very much about what Mike was +saying, it interested her to hear him talk. His intonations and manner of +expressing himself pleased her fancy. She could imagine herself in the +sunny South, talking to an old family servant. This fancy was novel and +pleasant. Mike liked to talk, and was shrewd enough to see that Miriam +liked to listen to him. He determined to take advantage of this +opportunity to find out something in regard to the doleful news brought +to him by La Fleur and which, he feared, might be founded upon fact. + +"Now look here, Miss Miriam," said he, lowering his voice a little, but +not enough to make him seem disrespectfully confidential, "what you want +is a first-class colored cook--not Phoebe, she's no good cook, an' won't +live in the country, an' is so mighty stuck up that she don't like +nuthin' but wheat bread, an' ain't no 'count anyway. But I got a sister, +Miss Miriam. She's a number one, fust-class cook, knows all the northen +an' southen an' easten an' westen kind of cookin', an' she's only got two +chillun, what could keep in the house all day long an' not trouble +nobody, 'side bringin' kindlin' an' runnin' errands; an' the husband, +he's dead, an' that's a good sight better, Miss Miriam, than havin' him +hangin' round, eatin' his meals here, an' bein' no use, 'cause he had +rheumatism all over him, 'cept on his appetite." + +This suggestion pleased Miriam; here was a chance for another old +family servant. + +"I think I should like to have your sister, Mike," she said; "what is her +name? Is she working for anybody now?" + +"Her name is Seraphina--Seraphina Paddock. Paddock was his name. She's +keepin' house now, an' takin' in washin', down to Bridgeport. I reckon +she's like to come here an' live, mighty well." + +"I wish you'd tell her to come and see me," said Miriam. "I think it +would be a very good thing for us to have a colored cook." + +"Mighty good thing. There ain't nothin' better than a colored cook; but +jus' let me tell you, Miss Miriam, my sister's mighty particular 'bout +goin' to places an' takin' her family, an' furniture, an' settin' herself +up to live when she don't know whether things is fixed an' settled +there, or whether the fust thing she knows is she's got to pull up stakes +an' git out agin." + +"I am sure everything is fixed and settled here," said Miriam, in +surprise. + +"Well, now look a here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, "'spose you was clean +growed up, an' you're near that now, as anybody can see, an' you was +goin' to git married to somebody, or 'spose Mr. Haverley was goin' to +git married to somebody, why don' you see you'd go way with your +husband, an' your brother he'd come here with his new wife, an' +everything would be turned over an' sot upside down, an' then Seraphina, +she'd have to git up an' git, for there'd sure to be a new kin' of cook +wanted or else none, an' Seraphina, she'd fin' her house down to +Bridgeport rented to somebody who had gone way without payin' the rent, +an' had been splittin' kindlin' on the front steps an' hacking 'em all +up, and white-washin' the kitchen what she papered last winter to hide +the grease spots what they made through living like pigs, an' Seraphina, +she can't stand nothing like that." + +Miriam burst out laughing. + +"Mike," she cried, "nobody is going to get married here." + +Mike's eyes glistened. + +"That so, sure?" he said. "You see, Miss Miriam, you an' your brother is +both so 'tractive, that I sort o' 'sposed you might be thinkin' of +gittin' married, an' if that was so, I couldn't go to Seraphina, an' git +her to come here when things wasn't fixed an' settled." + +"If that is all that would keep your sister from coming," said Miriam, +"she need not trouble herself." + +"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, quickly, "of course everything +in this world depends on sarcumstances, an' if it happened that Mr. +Hav'ley was the one to git married, an' he was to take some lady that was +livin' here anyway an' was used to the place, an' the ways of the house, +an' didn't want to go anywheres else an' wanted to stay here an' not to +chance nothin' an' have the same people workin' as worked before, like +Miss Drane, say, with her mother livin' here jes' the same, an' you +keepin' house jes' as you is now, an' all goin' on without no upsottin', +of course Seraphina, she wouldn't mind that. She'd like mighty well to +come, whether your brother was married or not; but supposin' he married a +lady like Miss Dora Bannister. Bless my soul, Miss Miriam, everything in +this place would be turned heels up an' heads down, an' there wouldn't be +no colored pussons wanted in this 'stablishment, Seraphina nor me nuther, +an' I reckon you wouldn't know the place in six months, Miss Miriam, with +that Miss Dora runnin' it, an' old Miss Panney with her fingers in the +pie, an' nobody can't help her doin' that when Miss Dora is concerned, +an' you kin see for yourself, Miss Miriam, that Seraphina, an' me, too, +is bound to be bounced if it was to come to that." + +"I will talk to you again about your sister," said Miriam, and she went +away, amused. + +Mike was delighted. + +"It's all a cussed old lie, jes' as I thought it wuz," said he to +himself; "an' that old Miss Panney'll fin' them young uns is harder nuts +to crack than me an' Phoebe wuz. I got in some good licks fur dat purty +Miss Cicely, too." + +Miriam's amusement gradually faded away as she approached the house. At +first it had seemed funny to hear any one talk about Ralph or herself +getting married, but now it did not appear so funny. On the contrary, +that part of Mike's remarks which concerned Ralph and Dora was +positively depressing. Suppose such a thing were really to happen; it +would be dreadful. She had thought her brother overfond of Dora's +society, but the matter had never appeared to her in the serious aspect +in which she saw it now. + +She had intended to find Ralph, and speak to him about Mike's sister; but +now she changed her mind. She was wearing the teaberry gown, and she +would attend to her own affairs as mistress of the house. If Ralph could +be so cruel as to marry Dora, and put her at the head of everything,--and +if she were here at all, she would want to be at the head of +everything,--then she, Miriam, would take off the teaberry gown, and lock +it up in the old trunk. + +"But can it be possible," she asked herself, as a tear or two began to +show themselves in her eyes, "that Ralph could be so cruel as that?" + +As she reached the door of the house, Cicely Drane was coming out. +Involuntarily Miriam threw her arms around her and folded her close to +the teaberry gown. + +Miriam was not in the habit of giving away to outbursts of this sort, +and as she released Cicely she said with a little apologetic blush,-- + +"It is so nice to have you here. I feel as if you ought not ever +to go away." + +"I am sure I do not want to go, dear," said Cicely, with the smile of +good-fellowship that always went to the heart of Miriam. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS + + +Molly Tooney waited with some impatience the result of Miriam's interview +with Mike. If the "nager" should be discharged for taking cold victuals +like a beggar, Molly would be glad of it; it would suit her much better +to have a nice Irish boy in his place. + +But when Miriam told her cook that evening that Mike had satisfactorily +explained the matter of the pie, and also remarked that in future she +would like to have bread or cakes made of corn-meal, and that she +couldn't see any reason why Mike, who was accustomed to this sort of +food, should not have it always, Molly's soul blazed within her; it would +have burst out into fiery speech; but the girl before her, although +young, was so quiet and sedate, so suggestive of respect, that Molly, +scarcely knowing why she did it, curbed herself; but she instantly gave +notice that she wished to quit the place on the next day. + +When Ralph heard this, he was very angry, and wanted to go and talk to +the woman. + +"Don't you do anything of the kind," said Miriam. "It is not your +business to talk to cooks. I do that. And I want to go to-morrow to +Thorbury and get some one to come to us by the day until the new +cook arrives. If I can get her, I am going to engage Seraphina, +Mike's sister." + +Ralph looked at her and laughed. + +"Well, well, Miss Teaberry," he said, "you are getting on bravely. +Putting up your hair and letting down your skirts has done wonders. You +are the true lady of the house now." + +"And what have you to say against that?" asked Miriam. + +"Not a word!" he cried. "I like it, I am charmed with it, and I will +drive you into Thorbury to-morrow. And as to Mike's sister, you can have +all his relations if you like, provided they do not charge too much. If +we had a lot of darkies here, that would make us more truly ramshackle +and jolly than we are now." + +"Ralph," said Miriam, with dignity, "stop pulling my ears. Don't you see +Mrs. Drane coming?" + +The next day Miriam and Ralph jogged into Thorbury. Miriam, not wearing +the teaberry gown, but having its spirit upon her, had planned to inquire +of the grocer with whom she dealt, where she might find a woman such as +she needed, but Ralph did not favor this. + +"Let us first go and see Mrs. Tolbridge," he said. "She is one of our +first and best friends, and probably knows every woman in town, and if +she doesn't, the doctor does." + +This last point had its effect upon Miriam. She wanted to see Dr. +Tolbridge to ask if he could not stop in and quiet the mind of Cicely, +who really wanted to see him about her work, but who did not like, as +Miriam easily conjectured, to ask Ralph to send her to town. Miriam +wished to make things as pleasant as possible for Cicely, and Mrs. +Tolbridge had not, so far, meddled in the least with her concerns. If, +inadvertently, Ralph had proposed a consultation with Mrs. Bannister, +there would have been a hubbub in the gig. + +The doctor and his wife were both at home, and when the business of the +Haverleys had been stated to them, Mrs. Tolbridge clapped her hands. + +"Truly," she cried, "this is a piece of rare good fortune; we will lend +them La Fleur. Do you know, my dear girl," she said to Miriam, "that the +doctor and I are going away? He will attend a medical convention at +Barport, and I will visit my mother, to whom he will come, later. It will +be a grand vacation for us, for we shall stay away from Thorbury for two +weeks, and the only thing which has troubled us is to decide what we +shall do with La Fleur while we are gone. We want to shut up the house, +and she does not want to go to her friends, and if she should do so, I am +afraid we might lose her. I am sure she would be delighted to come to +you, especially as the Dranes are with you. Shall I ask her?" + +Miriam jumped to her feet, with an expression of alarm on her +countenance, which amused the doctor and her brother. + +"Oh, please, Mrs. Tolbridge, don't do that!" she exclaimed. "Truly, I +could not have a great cook like La Fleur in our kitchen. I should be +frightened to death, and she would have nothing to do anything with. You +know, Mrs. Tolbridge, that we live in an awfully plain way. We are not in +the least bit rich or stylish or anything of the sort. If Cicely had not +told me that she and her mother lived in the same way, we could not have +taken them. We keep only a man and a woman, you know, and we all do a lot +of work ourselves, and Molly Tooney was always growling because there +were not enough things to cook with, and what a French cook would do in +our kitchen I really do not know. She would drive us crazy!" + +"Come now," said the doctor, laughing, "don't frighten yourself in that +way, my little lady. If La Fleur consents to go to you for a couple of +weeks, she will understand the circumstances, and will be perfectly +satisfied with what she finds. She is a woman of sense. You would better +let Mrs. Tolbridge go and talk with her." + +Miriam sat down in a sort of despair. Here again, her affairs were being +managed for her. Would she ever be able to maintain her independence? She +had said all she could say, and now she hoped that La Fleur would treat +the proposition with contempt. + +But the great cook did nothing of the kind. In five minutes, Mrs. +Tolbridge returned with the information that La Fleur would be overjoyed +to go to Cobhurst for a fortnight. She wanted some country air; she +wanted to see the Dranes; she had a great admiration for Miss Haverley, +being perfectly able to judge, although she had met her but once, that +she was a lady born; she looked upon her brother as a most superior +gentleman; and she would be perfectly content with whatever she found in +the Cobhurst kitchen. + +"She says," added Mrs. Tolbridge, "that if you give her a gridiron, a +saucepan, and a fire, she will cook a meal fit for a duke. With brains, +she says, one can make up all deficiencies." + +Ralph took his sister aside. + +"Do go out and see her, Miriam," he said. "If we take her, we shall +oblige our friends here, and please everybody. It will only be for a +little while, and then you can have your old colored mammy and the +pickaninnies, just as you have planned." + +When Miriam came back from the kitchen, she found that the doctor had +left the house and was going to his buggy at the gate. + +"Oh, Ralph!" she exclaimed, "you do not know what a nice woman she is. +She is just like an old family nurse." And then she ran out to catch the +doctor, and talk to him about Cicely. + +"Your sister is a child yet," remarked Mrs. Tolbridge, with a smile. + +"Indeed she is," said Ralph; "and she longs for what she never +had--old family servants, household ties, and all that sort of thing. +And I believe she would prefer a good old Southern mammy to a fine +young lover." + +"Of course she would," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "That would be natural to any +girl of her age, except, perhaps," she added, "one like Dora Bannister. I +believe she was in love when she was fifteen." + +It seemed strange to Ralph that the mention of a thing of this sort, +which must have happened three or four years ago, and to a lady whom he +had known a very short time, should send a little pang of jealousy +through his heart, but such was the fact. + +There were picnic meals at Cobhurst that day; for La Fleur was not to +arrive until the morrow, and they were all very jolly. + +Mike was in a state of exuberant delight at the idea of having that good +Mrs. Flower in the place of Molly Tooney. He worked until nearly twelve +o'clock at night to scour and brighten the kitchen and its contents for +her reception. + +Into this region of bliss there descended, about the middle of the +afternoon, a frowning apparition. It was that of Miss Panney, to whom +Molly had gone that morning, informing her that she had been discharged +without notice by that minx of a girl, who didn't know anything more +about housekeeping than she did about blacksmithing, and wanted to put +"a dirty, hathen nager" over the head of a first-class Christian cook. + +When she heard this news, the old lady was amazed and indignant; and she +soundly rated Molly for not coming to her instantly, before she left her +place. Had she known of the state of affairs, she was sure she could +have pacified Miriam, and arranged for Molly to retain her place. It was +very important for Miss Panney, though she did not say so, to have some +one in the Cobhurst family who would keep her informed of what was +happening there. If possible, Molly must go back; and anyway the old lady +determined to go to Cobhurst and look into matters. + +Miss Panney was glad to find Miriam alone on the front piazza, training +some over-luxuriant vines upon the pillars; and the moment her eyes fell +upon the girl, she saw that she was dressed as a woman, and not in the +youthful costume in which she had last seen her. This strengthened the +old lady's previous impression that Ralph's sister was rapidly becoming +the real head of this house, and that it would be necessary to be very +careful in her conduct toward her. It might be difficult, even +impossible, to carry out her match-making plans if Miriam should rise up +in opposition to them. + +The old lady was very cordial, and entreated that Miriam should go on +with her work, while she sat in an armchair near by. After a little +ordinary chat, Miss Panney mentioned that she had heard that Molly Tooney +had been discharged. Instantly Miriam's pride arose, and her manner +cooled. Here again was somebody meddling with her affairs. In as few +words as possible, she stated that the woman had not been discharged, but +had left of her own accord without any good reason; that she did not like +her, and was glad to get rid of her; that she had an excellent cook in +view, and that until this person could come to her, she had engaged, +temporarily, a very good woman. + +All this she stated without question or remark from Miss Panney; and when +she had finished, she began again to tie the vines to their wires. Miss +Panney gazed very steadily through her spectacles at the resolute side +face of the girl, and said only that she was very glad that Miriam had +been able to make such a good arrangement. It was plain enough to her +that Molly Tooney must be dropped, but in doing this, Miss Panney would +not drop her plans. They would simply be changed to suit circumstances. + +Had Miss Panney known who it was who was coming temporarily to the +Cobhurst kitchen, it is not likely that she could have glided so quietly +from the subject of household service to that of the apple prospect and +Miriam's success with hens, and from these to the Dranes. + +"Do you expect to have them much longer with you?" she asked. "The +work the doctor gave the young lady must be nearly finished. When that +is done, I suppose she will go back to town to try to get something to +do there." + +"Oh, they have not thought of going," said Miriam; "the doctor's book is +a very long one, and when I saw him yesterday, he told me that he had +ever so much more work for her to do, and he is going to bring it out +here before he goes to Barport. I should be very sorry indeed if Cicely +had to leave here, and I don't think I should let her do it, work or no +work. I like her better and better every day, and it is the greatest +comfort and pleasure to have her here. It almost seems as if she were my +sister, and Mrs. Drane is just as nice as she can be. She is so good and +kind, and never meddles with anything." + +Miss Panney listened with great attention. She now saw how she must +change her plans. If Ralph were to marry Dora, Miriam must like Dora. As +for his own liking, there would be no trouble about that, after the Drane +girl should be got rid of. In regard to this riddance, Miss Panney had +intended to make an early move and a decided one. Now she saw that this +would not do. The Drane girl, that alien intruder, whom Dr. Tolbridge's +treachery had thrust into this household, was the great obstacle to the +old lady's schemes, but to oust her suddenly would ruin everything. +Miriam would rise up in opposition, and at present that would be fatal. +Miriam was not a girl whose grief and anger at the loss of one thing +could be pacified by the promise of another. Having lost Cicely, she +would turn her back upon Dora, and what would be worse, she would +undoubtedly turn Ralph's back in that direction. + +To this genial young man, his sister was still his chief object on earth. +Later, this might not be the case. + +When Miriam began to like Dora,--and this must happen, for in Miss +Panney's opinion the Bannister girl was in every way ten times more +charming than Cicely Drane,--then, cautiously, but with quick vigor, Miss +Panney would deliver the blow which would send the Dranes not only from +Cobhurst, but back to their old home. In the capacity of an elderly and +experienced woman who knew what everybody said and thought, and who was +able to make her words go to the very spinal marrow of a sensitive +person, she was sure she could do this. And when she had done it, it +would cheer her to think that she had not only furthered her plans, but +revenged herself on the treacherous doctor. + +Now was heard from within, the voice of Cicely, who had come downstairs +from her work, and who, not knowing that Miriam had a visitor, was +calling to her that it was time to get dinner. + +"My dear," said Miss Panney, "go in and attend to your duties, and if you +will let me, I shall like ever so much to stay and take dinner with you, +and you need not put yourself to the least trouble about me. You ought to +have very simple meals now that you are doing your own work. I very much +want to become better acquainted with your little friend Cicely and her +good mother. Now that I know that you care so much for them, I feel +greatly interested in them both, and you know, my dear, there is no way +of becoming acquainted with people which is better than sitting at table +with them." + +Miriam was not altogether pleased, but said the proper things, and went +to call Mike to take the roan mare, who was standing asleep between the +shafts of her phaeton. + +Miss Panney now had her cues; she did not offer to help in any way, and +made no suggestions in any direction. At luncheon she made herself +agreeable to everybody, and before the meal was over they all thought +her a most delightful old lady with a wonderful stock of good stories. On +her side Miss Panney was also greatly pleased; she found Ralph even a +better fellow than she had thought him. He had not only a sunny temper, +but a bright wit, and he knew what was being done in the world. Cicely, +too, was satisfactory. She was a most attractive little thing, pretty to +a dangerous extent, but in her treatment of Ralph there was not the least +sign of flirtation or demureness. She was as free and familiar with him +as if she had known him always. + +"Men are not apt to marry the girls they have known always," said Miss +Panney to herself, "and Dora can do better than this one if she has but +the chance; and the chance she must have." + +While listening with the most polite attention to a reminiscence related +by Mrs. Drane, Miss Panney earnestly considered this subject. She had +thought of many plans, some of them vague, but all of the same general +character, for bringing Dora and Miriam together and promoting a sisterly +affection between them, for her mind had been busy with the subject since +Miriam had left her alone on the piazza, but none of the plans suited +her. They were clumsy and involved too much action on the part of Dora. +Suddenly a satisfying idea shot into the old lady's mind, and she smiled +so pleasantly that Mrs. Drane was greatly encouraged, and entered into +some details of her reminiscence which she had intended to omit, thinking +they might prove tiresome. + +"If they only could go away together, somewhere," said Miss Panney to +herself, "that would be grand; that would settle everything. It would not +be long before Dora and Miriam would be the dearest of chums, and with +Ralph's sister away, that Drane girl would have to go. It would all be so +natural, so plain, so beautiful." + +When Miss Panney drove home, about the middle of the afternoon, she was +still smiling complacently at this good idea, and wondering how she might +carry it out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD + + +According to his promise, Dr. Tolbridge came to Cobhurst on the morning +of his intended departure for Barport, bringing with him more of his +manuscript and some other copying which he wished Cicely to do. He had +never known until now how much he needed a secretary. He saw only the +ladies, Ralph having gone off to try to shoot some woodcock. The young +man was not in a good humor, for he had no dog, and his discontent was +increased by the reflection that a fine setter had been presented to him, +and he had not yet come into possession of it. He wanted the dog, Congo, +because he thought it was a good dog, and also because Dora Bannister had +given it to him, and he was impatient to carry out the plan which Dora +had proposed to get the animal to Cobhurst. + +But this plan, which included a visit from Dora, in order that the dog +might come to his new home without compulsion, and which, as modified by +Ralph, included a drive or a walk through the woods with the donor in +order that the dog might learn to follow him, needed Miriam's +coöperation. And this coöperation he could not induce her to give. She +seemed to have all sorts of reasons for putting off the invitation for +which Miss Bannister was evidently waiting. Of course there was no reason +for waiting, but girls are queer. A word from Miriam would bring her, but +Miriam was very unresponsive to suggestions concerning said word. + +"It is not only ourselves," said the doctor, in reply to some questions +from Mrs. Drane in regard to the intended journey, "who are going this +afternoon. We take with us Mrs. Bannister and Dora. This is quite a +sudden plan, only determined upon last night. They both want a little +Barport life before the season closes, and thought it would be pleasant +to go with us." + +Mrs. Drane and Cicely were not very much interested in the Bannisters, +and received this news tranquilly, but Miriam felt a little touch of +remorse, and wished she had asked Dora to come out some afternoon and +bring her dog, which poor Ralph seemed so anxious to have. She asked the +doctor how long he thought the Bannisters would stay away. + +"Oh, we shall pick them up as we come back," he said "and that will be in +about two weeks." And with this the busy man departed. + +Since the beginning of his practice, Dr. Tolbridge had never gone away +from Thorbury for an absence of any considerable duration without first +calling on Miss Panney to see if she needed any attention from him before +he left, and on this occasion he determined not to depart from this +custom. It is true, she was very angry with him, but so far as he could +help it, he would not allow her anger to interfere with the preservation +of a life which he considered valuable. + +When the old lady was told that the doctor had called and had asked for +her, she stamped her foot and vowed she would not see him. Then her +curiosity to know what brought him there triumphed over her resentment, +and she went down. Her reception of him was cold and severe, and she +answered his questions regarding her health as if he were a census-taker, +exhibiting not the slightest gratitude for his concern regarding her +physical well-being, nor the slightest hesitation in giving him +information which might enable him to further said well-being. + +The doctor was as cool as was his patient; and, when he had finished his +professional remarks, informed her that the Bannisters were to go with +him to Barport. When Miss Panney heard this she sprang from her chair +with the air of an Indian of the Wild West bounding with uplifted +tomahawk upon a defenceless foe. The doctor involuntarily pushed back his +chair, but before he could make up his mind whether he ought to be +frightened or amused, Miss Panney sat down as promptly as she had risen, +and a grim smile appeared upon her face. + +"How you do make me jump with your sudden announcements," she said. "I +am sure I am very glad that Dora is going away. She needed a change, and +sea air is better than anything else for her. How long will they stay?" + +The slight trace of her old cordiality which showed itself in Miss +Panney's demeanor through the few remaining minutes of the interview +greatly pleased Dr. Tolbridge. + +"She is a good old woman at heart," he said to himself, "and when she +gets into one of her bad tempers, the best way to bring her around is +to interest her in people she loves, and Dora Bannister is surely one +of those." + +When the doctor had gone, Miss Panney gave herself up to a half minute of +unrestrained laughter, which greatly surprised old Mr. Witton, who +happened to be passing the parlor door. Then she sat down to write a +letter to Dora Bannister, which she intended that young lady to receive +soon after her arrival at Barport. + +That afternoon the good La Fleur came to Cobhurst, her soul enlivened by +the determination to show what admirable meals could be prepared from the +most simple materials, and with the prospect of spending a fortnight with +Mrs. Drane and Cicely, and with that noble gentleman, the master of the +estate, and to pass these weeks in the country. She was a great lover of +things rural: she liked to see, pecking and scratching, the fowls with +which she prepared such dainty dishes. In her earlier days, the sight of +an old hen wandering near a bed of celery, with a bed of beets in the +middle distance, had suggested the salad for which she afterwards became +somewhat famous. + +She knew a great deal about garden vegetables, and had been heard to +remark that brains were as necessary in the culling of fruits and roots +and leaves and stems as for their culinary transformation into +attractions for the connoisseur's palate. She was glad, too, to have the +opportunity of an occasional chat with that intelligent negro Mike, and +so far as she could judge, there were no objections to the presence of +Miriam in the house. + +Ralph did not come back until after La Fleur had arrived, and he returned +hungry, and a little more out of humor than when he started away. + +"I had hoped," he said to Miriam, "to get enough birds to give the new +cook a chance of showing her skill in preparing a dish of game for +dinner; but these two, which I may say I accidentally shot, are all I +brought. It is impossible to shoot without a dog, and I think I shall go +to-morrow morning to see Miss Bannister and ask her to let me take Congo +home with me. He will soon learn to know me, and the woodcock season does +not last forever." + +"But Dora will not be at home," said Miriam; "she goes to Barport to-day +with the Tolbridges." + +Ralph opened his mouth to speak, and then he shut it again. It was of no +use to say anything, and he contented himself with a sigh as he went to +the rack to put up his gun. Miriam sighed, too, and as she did so, she +hoped that it was the dog and not Dora that Ralph was sighing about. + +The next morning there came to Cobhurst a man, bringing a black setter +and a verbal message from Miss Bannister to the effect that if Mr. +Haverley would tie up the dog and feed him himself for two or three +days and be kind to him, she had no doubt Congo would soon know him as +his master. + +"Now that is the kind of a girl I like," said Ralph to his sister. "She +promises to do a thing and she does it, even if the other party is not +prompt in stepping forward to attend to his share of the affair." + +There was nothing to say against this, and Miriam said nothing, but +contented herself with admiring the dog, which was worthy of all the +praise she could give him. Congo was tied up, and Mike and Mrs. Drane and +Cicely, and finally La Fleur, came to look at him and to speak well of +him. When all had gone away but the colored man and the cook, the latter +asked why Miss Bannister had been mentioned in connection with this dog. + +"'Cause he was her dog," said Mike. "She got him when he was a little +puppy no bigger nor a cat, an' you'd a thought, to see her carry him +about an' put him in a little bed an' kiver him up o' night an' talk to +him like a human bein', that she loved him as much as if he'd been a +little baby brother; an' she's thought all the world of him, straight +'long until now, an' she's gone an' give him to Mr. Hav'ley." + +La Fleur reflected for a moment. + +"Are you sure, Mike," she asked, "that they are not engaged?" + +"I'm dead sartain sure of it," he said. "His sister told me so with her +own lips. Givin' dogs don't mean nothin', Mrs. Flower. If people married +all the people they give dogs to, there'd be an awful mix in this world. +Bless my soul, I'd have about eight wives my own self." + +La Fleur smiled at Mike's philosophy, and applied his information to the +comfort of her mind. + +"If his sister says they are not engaged," she thought, "it's like they +are not, but it looks to me as if it were time to take the Bannister pot +off the fire." + +La Fleur now retired to a seat under a tree near the kitchen door, and +applied her intellect to the consideration of the dinner, and the future +of the Drane family and herself. The present state of affairs suited her +admirably. She could desire no change in it, except that Mr. Haverley +should marry Miss Cicely in order to give security to the situation. For +herself, this was the place above all others at which she would like to +live, and a mistress such as Miss Cicely, who knew little of domestic +affairs, but appreciated everything that was well done, was the mistress +she would like to serve. She would be sorry to leave the good doctor, for +whom, as a man of intellect, she had an earnest sympathy, but he did not +live in the country, and the Dranes were nearer and dearer to her than he +was. He should not be deserted nor neglected. If she came to spend the +rest of her life on this fine old estate, she would engage for him a good +young cook, who would be carefully instructed by her in regard to the +peculiarities of his diet, and who should always be under her +supervision. She would get him one from England; she knew of several +there who had been her kitchen maids, and she would guarantee that the +one she selected would give satisfaction. + +Having settled this part of her plan, she now began to ponder upon that +important feature of it which concerned the marriage of Miss Cicely with +Ralph Haverley. Why, under the circumstances, this should not take place +as a mere matter of course and as the most natural thing in the world, +she could not imagine. But in all countries young people are very odd, +and must be managed. She had not yet had any good opportunity of judging +of the relations between these two; she had noticed that they were on +very easy and friendly terms with each other, but this was not enough. It +might be a long time before people who were jolly good friends came to +look upon each other from a marrying point of view. Things ought to be +hurried up; that Miss Bannister would be away for two weeks; she, La +Fleur, would be here for two weeks. She must try what she could do; the +fire must be brightened,--the draught turned on, ashes raked out, +kindling-wood thrust in if necessary, to make things hotter. At all +events the dinner-bell must ring at the appointed time, in a fortnight, +less one day. + +Ralph came striding across the lawn, and noticing La Fleur, +approached her. + +"I am glad to see you," he said, "for I want to tell you how much I +enjoyed your beefsteak this morning. One could not get anything +better cooked than that at Delmonico's. The dinner last night was +very good, too." + +"Oh, don't mention that, sir," said La Fleur, who had risen the moment +she saw him, and now stood with her head on one side, her eyes cast +down, and a long smile on her face. "That dinner was nothing to what I +shall give you when Miss Miriam has sent for some things from the town +which I want. And as for the steak, I beg you will not judge me until I +have got for myself the cuts I want from the butcher. Then you shall see, +sir, what I can do for you. In a beautiful home like this, Mr. Haverley, +the cooking should be of the noblest and best." + +Ralph laughed. + +"So long as you stay with us, La Fleur," he said, "I am sure Cobhurst +will have all it deserves in that respect." + +"Thank you very much, sir," she said, dropping a little courtesy. Then, +raising her eyes, she cast them over the landscape and bent them again +with a little sigh. + +"You are a gentleman of feeling, Mr. Haverley," she said, "and can +understand the feelings of another, even if she be an old woman and a +cook, and I know you can comprehend my sentiments when I find myself +again serving my most gracious former mistress Mrs. Drane, and her lovely +daughter, whose beautiful qualities of mind and soul it does not become +me to speak of to you, sir. They were most kind to me when I first came +to this country, she and her daughter, two angels, sir, whom I would +serve forever. Do not think, sir, that I would not gladly serve you and +your lady sister, but they are above all. It was last night, sir, as I +sat looking out of my window at the beautiful trees in the moonlight, and +I have not seen such trees in the moonlight since I lived in the Isle of +Wight at Lord Monkley's country house there; La Fleur was his chef, and I +was only there on a visit, because at that time I was attending to the +education of my boy, who died a year afterward; and I thought then, sir, +looking out at the moonlight, that I would go with the Dranes wherever +they might go, and I would live with them wherever they might live; that +I would serve them always with the best I could do, and that none could +do better. But I beg your pardon, sir, for standing here, and talking in +this way, sir," and with a little courtesy and with her head more on one +side and more bowed down, she shuffled away. + +"Now then," said she to herself, as she entered the kitchen, "if I have +given him a notion of a wife with a first-class cook attached, it is a +good bit of work to begin with." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY + + +Since her drive home from Thorbury with Ralph Haverley, Cicely Drane had +not ceased to consider the hypothesis which had been suggested to her +that day by La Fleur; but this consideration was accompanied by no plan +of action, no defined hopes, no fears, no suspicions, and no change in +her manner toward the young man, except that in accordance with her +mother's prudential notions, which had been indicated to her in a +somewhat general way, she had restricted herself in the matter of +tête-à-têtes and dual rambles. + +She looked upon the relations between Ralph and herself in the most +simple and natural manner possible. She was enjoying life at Cobhurst. It +delighted her to see her mother so contented and so well. She was greatly +interested in her work, for she was a girl of keen intelligence, and +thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed the novel theories and reflections of +Dr. Tolbridge. She thought it the jolliest thing in the world to have La +Fleur here with them. She was growing extremely fond of Miriam, who, +although a good deal younger than herself, appeared to be growing older +with wonderful rapidity, and every day to be growing nearer and dearer to +her, and she liked Ralph better than any man she had ever met. She knew +but little of Dora Bannister and had no reason to suppose that any +matrimonial connection between her and Mr. Haverley had ever been thought +of; in fact, in the sincerity and naturalness of her disposition, she +could see no reason why she should not continue to like Mr. Haverley, to +like him better and better, if he gave her reason to do so, and more than +that, not to forget the hypothesis regarding him. + +La Fleur was not capable of comprehending the situation with the sagacity +and insight of Miss Panney, but she was a woman of sense, and was now +well convinced that it would never do to speak again to Miss Cicely in +the way she had spoken to her in Dr. Tolbridge's hall. In her affection +and enthusiasm, she had gone too far that time, and she knew that any +further suggestions of the sort would be apt to make the girl fly away +like a startled bird. Whatever was to be done must be done without the +coöperation of the young lady. + +Miss Panney's letter to Dora Bannister contained some mild reproaches +for the latter's departure from Thorbury without notice to her oldest +friend, but her scolding was not severe, and there was as much pleasant +information and inquiry as the writer could think of. Moreover, the +epistle contained the suggestion that Dora should invite Miriam +Haverley to come down and spend some time with her while she was at the +seashore. This suggestion none but a very old friend would be likely to +make, but Miss Panney was old enough for anything, in friendship or in +any other way. + +"My mind was on Miriam Haverley," the old lady wrote, "at the moment I +heard that you had gone to Barport, and it struck me that a trip of the +sort is exactly what that young person needs. She is shut up in the +narrowest place in which a girl can be put, with responsibilities +entirely beyond her years, and which help to cramp her mind and her +ideas. She should have a total change; she should see how the world, +outside of her school and her country home, lives and acts--in fact, she +needs exactly what Barport and you and Mrs. Bannister can give her. I do +not believe that you can bestow a greater benefit upon a fellow-being +than to ask Miriam to pay you a visit while you are at the seaside. Think +of this, I beg of you, my dear Dora." + +This letter was read and re-read with earnest attention. Dora was fond +of Miriam in a way, and would be very glad to give her a glimpse of +seaside life. Moreover, Miriam's companionship would be desirable; for +although Miss Bannister did not expect to lack acquaintances, there +would be times when she could not call upon these, and Miriam could +always be called upon. + +After a consultation with Mrs. Bannister, who was pleased with the idea +of having some one to go about with Dora, when she did not feel like +it,--which was almost all the time,--Dora wrote to Miriam, asking her to +come and visit her during the rest of her stay at Barport. While +writing, Dora was not at all annoyed by the thought which made her stop +for a few minutes and look out of the window,--that possibly Miriam +might not like to make the journey alone, and that her brother might +come with her. She did not, however, mention this contingency, but +smiled as she went on writing. + +Miriam, attired in her teaberry gown, came up from the Cobhurst kitchen, +and walked out toward the garden. She was not in good spirits. She had +already found that La Fleur was a woman superior to influences from any +power derived from the wearing of Judith Pacewalk's pink chintz dress. +She was convinced that at this moment that eminent cook was preparing a +dinner for the benefit of the Dranes, without any thought of the tastes +or desires of the mistress of the house or its master. And yet she could +find nothing to say in opposition to this; consequently, she had walked +away unprotesting, and that act was so contrary to her disposition that +it saddened her. If she had supposed that a bad meal would be the result +of the bland autocracy she had just encountered, she would have been +better satisfied; but, as she knew the case would be quite otherwise, her +spirits continued to fall. Even the meat, that morning, had been ordered +without consultation with her. + +As Miriam walked dolefully toward the garden gate, Ralph came riding from +Thorbury with the mail-bag, and in it was the letter from Dora. + +"Oh, Ralph!" cried Miriam, when, with her young soul glowing in her face, +she thrust the open letter into her brother's hand, "may I go? I never +saw the sea!" + +Of Ralph's decision there could be no question, and the Cobhurst family +was instantly in a flurry. Mrs. Drane, Cicely, and Miriam gave all their +thoughts and every available moment of time to the work necessary on the +simple outfit that was all that Miriam needed or desired; and in two days +she was ready for the journey. Ralph was glad to do anything he could to +help in the good work, but, as this was little, he was obliged to content +himself with encomiums upon the noble character of Dora Bannister. That +she should even think of offering such an inexpressible delight and +benefit to his sister was sufficient proof of Miss Bannister's solid +worth and tender, gracious nature. These remarks made to the ladies in +general really did help in the good work, for, while Ralph was talking in +this way, Cicely bent more earnestly over her sewing and stitched faster. +Until now, she had never thought much about Miss Bannister; but, without +intending it, or in the least desiring it, she began to think a good deal +about her, even when Ralph was not there. + +Miriam herself settled the manner of her journey. She had thought for a +moment of Ralph as an escort, but this would cause him trouble and loss +of time, which was not at all necessary, and--what was very +important--would at least double the expenses of the trip; so she wrote +to Miss Pender, the head teacher in her late school, begging that she +might come to her and be shipped to Barport. Miss Pender had great skill +and experience in the shipping of girls from the school to destinations +in all parts of the country. Despatched by Miss Pender, the wildest or +the vaguest school-girl would go safely to her home, or to whatever spot +she might be sent. + +As this was vacation, and she happened to be resting idly at school, +Miss Pender gladly undertook the congenial task offered her; and +welcomed Miriam, and then shipped her to Barport with even more than her +usual success. + +When the dear girl had gone, everybody greatly missed her,--even La +Fleur, for of certain sweets the child had eaten twice as much as any one +else in the house. But all were happy over her great pleasure, including +the cook, who hated to have even the nicest girls come into her kitchen. + +Thus far Miss Panney's plan worked admirably, but one idea she had in +regard to Miriam's departure never came into the mind of any one at +Cobhurst. That the Dranes should go away because Miriam, as mistress +of the establishment, was gone, was not thought of for an instant. +With La Fleur and Mrs. Drane in the house, was there any reason why +domestic and all other affairs should not go on as usual during +Miriam's brief absence? + +Everything did indeed go on pretty much as it had gone on before, +although it might have been thought that Ralph was now living with the +Dranes. La Fleur expanded herself into all departments of the household, +and insisted upon doing many little things that Cicely had been in the +habit of doing for herself and her mother; and, with the assistance of +Mike, who was always glad to help the good Mrs. Flower whenever she +wanted him--which was always--and did it whenever he had a chance--which +was often--the household wheels moved smoothly. + +In one feature of the life at Cobhurst there was a change. The absence of +Miriam threw Cicely and Ralph much more together. For instance, they +breakfasted by themselves, for Mrs. Drane had always been late in coming +down in the morning, and it was difficult for her to change her habits. +Moreover, it now happened frequently that Cicely and Ralph found that +each must be the sole companion of the other; and in this regard more +than in any other was Miriam missed. But to say that in this regard more +than any other her absence was regretted would be inaccurate. + +Cicely felt that she ought to regret it, but she did not. To be so much +with Ralph was contrary to her own plans of action, and to what she +believed to be her mother's notions on the subject; but she could not +help it without being rude to the young man, and this she did not intend +to be. He was lonely and wanted a companion; and in truth, she was glad +to fill the position. If he had not talked to her so much about Dora +Bannister's great goodness, she would have been better pleased. But she +could nearly always turn this sort of conversation upon Miriam's virtues, +and on that subject the two were in perfect accord. + +Mrs. Drane intended now to get up sooner in the morning, but she did not +do it; and she resolved that she would not drop asleep in her chair early +in the evening, as she had felt perfectly free to do when Miriam was with +them; but she calmly dozed all the same. + +There was another obstacle to Mrs. Drane's good intentions, of which she +knew nothing. This was the craft of La Fleur, who frequently made it a +point to call upon the good lady for advice or consultation, and who was +most apt to do this at times when her interview with Mrs. Drane would +leave Ralph and Cicely together. It was wonderful how skilfully this +accomplished culinary artist planned some of these situations. + +Ralph was surprised to find that he could so well bear the absence of +his sister. He would not have believed it had he been told it in +advance. He considered it a great piece of luck that Miriam should be +able to go to the seashore, but it was also wonderful luck that Miss +Drane should happen to be here while Miriam was away. Had both gone, he +would have had a doleful time of it. As it was, his time was not at all +doleful. All the chickens, hens, cats, calves, and flowers that Miriam +had had under her especial care were now attended to most sedulously by +Cicely, and in these good works Ralph gave willing and constant +assistance. In fact, he found that he could do a great deal more for +Cicely than Miriam had been willing he should do for her. This +coöperation was very pleasing to him, for Cicely was a girl who knew +little about things rural but wanted to know much, and Ralph was a young +fellow who liked to teach such girls as Cicely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH + + +After her recent quick pull and strong pull, Miss Panney rested +placidly on her oars. She knew that Miriam had gone, but she had not +yet heard whether the Dranes had returned to their former lodging in +Thorbury, or had left the neighborhood altogether. She presumed, +however, that they were in the town; for the young woman's work for Dr. +Tolbridge was probably not completed. She intended to call on Mrs. +Brinkly and find out about this; and she also determined to drop in at +Cobhurst, and see how poor Ralph was getting on by himself. But for +these things there was no hurry. + +But jogging into town one morning, she was amazed to meet Ralph and Mrs. +Drane returning to Cobhurst in the gig. Both vehicles stopped, and Ralph +immediately began to tell the old lady of Miriam's good fortune. He told, +also, of his own good fortune in having Mrs. Drane and her daughter to +run the house during Miriam's absence, and was in high good spirits and +glad to talk. + +Miss Panney listened with rigid attention; but when Ralph had finished, +she asked Mrs. Drane if she had left her daughter alone at Cobhurst, +while she and Mr. Haverley came to town. + +"Oh, yes," answered the other lady; "Cicely is there, and hard at work; +but she is not alone. You know our good La Fleur is with us, and will +remain as long as the doctor and Mrs. Tolbridge are away." + +When Miss Panney received this last bit of information, she gazed +intently at Mrs. Drane and then at Ralph, after which she bade them good +morning, and drove off. + +"The old lady is not in such jolly good humor as when she lunched with us +the other day," said Ralph. + +"That is true," said Mrs. Drane; "but I have noticed that very elderly +people are apt to be moody." + +Twice in the course of a year Miss Panney allowed herself to swear, if +there happened to be occasion for it. In her young days a lady of fashion +would sometimes swear with great effect; and Miss Panney did not entirely +give up any old fashion that she liked. Now, there being good reason for +it, and no one in sight, she swore, and directed her abjurations against +herself. Then her mind, somewhat relieved from the strain upon it, took +in the humorous points of the situation, and she laughed outright. + +"If the Dranes had hired some sharp-witted rogue to help them carry out +their designs, he could not have done it better than I have done it. I +have simply put the whole game into their hands; I have given them +everything they want." + +But before she reached Thorbury, she saw that the situation was not +hopeless. There was one thing that might be done, and that successfully +accomplished the game would be in her hands. Ralph must be made to go to +Barport. A few days with Dora at the seaside, with some astute person +there to manage the affair, would settle the fate of Mr. Ralph Haverley. +At this thought her eyes sparkled, and she began to feel hungry. At this +important moment she did not wish to occupy her mind with prattle and +chat, and therefore departed from her usual custom of lunching with a +friend or acquaintance. Hitching her roan mare in front of a +confectionery shop, she entered for refreshment. + +Seated at a little table in the back room, with a cup of tea and some +sandwiches before her, Miss Panney took more time over her slight meal +than any previous customer had ever occupied in disposing of a similar +repast, at least so the girl at the counter believed and averred to the +colored man who did outside errands. The girl thought that the old lady's +deliberate method of eating proceeded from her want of teeth; but the man +who had waited at dinners where Miss Panney was a guest contemptuously +repudiated this assumption. + +"I've seen her eat," said he, "and she's never behind nobody. She's got +all the teeth she wants for bitin'." + +"Then why doesn't she get through?" asked the girl. "When is she ever +going to leave that table?" + +"When she gits ready," answered the man; "that's the time Miss Panney +does everything." + +Sipping her tea and nibbling her sandwich, Miss Panney considered the +situation. It would be, of course, a difficult thing to get that young +man to visit his sister at Barport. It would cost money, and there would +seem to be no good reason for his going. Of course no such influence +could be brought to bear upon him at this end of the line. Whatever +inducement was offered, must be offered from Barport. And there was no +one there who could do it, at least with the proper effect. The girls +would be glad to have him there, but nothing that either of them could, +with propriety, be prompted to say, would draw him into such extravagant +self-gratification. But if she were at Barport, she knew that she could +send him such an invitation, or sound such a call to him, that he would +be sure to come. + +Accordingly Miss Panney determined to go to Barport without loss of time; +and although she did not know what sort of summons she should issue to +Ralph after she got there, she did not in the least doubt that +circumstances would indicate the right thing to do. In fact, she would +arrange circumstances in such a way that they should so indicate. + +Having arrived at this conclusion, Miss Panney finished eating her +sandwich with an earnestness and rapidity which convinced the astonished +girl at the counter that she had all the teeth she needed to bite with; +and then she went forth to convince other people of the same thing. On +the sidewalk she met Phoebe. + +"How d'ye do, Miss Panney?" said that single-minded colored woman. "I +hain't seen you for a long time." + +Miss Panney returned the salutation, and stood for a moment in thought. + +"Phoebe," said she, "when did you last see Mike?" + +"Well, now, really, Miss Panney, I can't say, but it's been a mighty long +time. He don't come into town to see me, and I's too busy to go way out +thar. I does the minister's wash now, besides boardin' him an' keepin' +his clothes mended. An' then it's four or five miles out to that farm. I +can't 'ford to hire no carriage, an' Mike ain't no right to expect me to +walk that fur." + +"Phoebe," said Miss Panney, "you are a lazy woman and an undutiful wife. +It is not four miles to Cobhurst, and you walk two or three times that +distance every day, gadding about town. You ought to go out there and +attend to Mike's clothes, and see that he is comfortable, instead of +giving up the little time you do work to that minister, and everybody +knows that the reason you have taken him to board is that you want to set +yourself up above the rest of the congregation." + +"Good laws, Miss Panney!" exclaimed Phoebe, "I don't see as how anybody +can think that!" + +"Well, I do," replied the old lady, "and plenty of other people besides. +But as you won't go out to Cobhurst to attend to your own duty, I want +you to go there to attend to something for me. I was going myself, but I +start for the seashore to-morrow, and have not time. I want to know how +that poor Mr. Ralph is getting along. Molly Tooney has left, and his +sister is away, and of course those two Drane women are temporary +boarders and take no care of him or his clothes. To be sure, there is a +woman there, but she is that English-French creature who gives all her +time to fancy dishes, and I suppose never made a bed or washed a shirt in +her life." + +"That's so, Miss Panney," said Phoebe, eagerly, "an' I reckon it's a lot +of slops he has to eat now. 'Tain't like the good wholesome meals I gave +him when I cooked thar. An' as fur washin', if there's any of that done, +I reckon Mike does it." + +"I should not wonder," said the old lady. "And, Phoebe, I want you to go +out there this afternoon, and look over Mr. Haverley's linen, and see +what ought to be washed or mended, and take general notice of how things +are going on. I shall see his sister, and I want to report the state of +affairs at her home. For all I know, those Dranes and their cook may pack +up and clear out to-morrow if the notion takes them. Then you must meet +me at the station at nine o'clock to-morrow morning, and tell me what you +find out. If things are going all wrong, Mr. Haverley will never write to +his sister to disturb her mind. Start for Cobhurst as soon as you can, +and I will pay your carriage hire--no, I will not do that, for I want +you to make a good long stay, and it will cost too much to keep a hack +waiting. You can walk just as well as not, and it will do you good. And +while you are there, Phoebe, you might take notice of Miss Drane. If she +has finished the work she was doing for the doctor, and is just sitting +about idly or strolling around the place, it is likely they will soon +leave, for if the young woman does not work they cannot afford to stay +there. And that is a thing Miss Miriam ought to know all about." + +"Seems to me, Miss Panney," said the colored woman, "that 'twould be a +mighty good thing for Mr. Hav'ley to get married. An' thar's that Miss +Drane right thar already." + +"What stupid nonsense!" exclaimed Miss Panney. "I thought you had more +sense than to imagine such a thing as that. She is not in any way +suitable for him. She is a poor little thing who has to earn her own +living, and her mother's too. She is not in the least fit to be the +mistress of that place." + +"Don't see whar he'll get a wife, then," said Phoebe. "He never goes +nowhar, and never sees nobody, except p'r'aps Miss Dora Bannister; an' +she's too high an' mighty for him." + +"Phoebe, you are stupider than I thought you were. No lady is too high +and mighty for Mr. Haverley. And if he should happen to fancy Miss Dora, +it will be a capital match. What he needs is to marry a woman of position +and means. But that is not my business, or yours either, and by the way, +Phoebe, since you are here, I will get you to take a letter to the +post-office for me. I will go back into this shop and write it. You can +take these two cents and buy an envelope and a sheet of paper, and bring +them in to me." + +With this Miss Panney walked into the shop, and having asked the loan of +pen and ink, horrified the girl at the counter by proceeding to the table +she had left, which, in a corner favored by all customers, had just been +prepared for the next comer, and, having pushed aside a knife and fork +and plate, made herself ready to write her letter, which was to a friend +in Barport, informing her that the writer intended making her a visit. + +"I shall get there," she thought, "about as soon as it does, but it looks +better to write." + +Before the letter was finished, Phoebe was nearly as angry as the +shop-girl; but at last, with exactly two cents with which to buy a stamp, +she departed for the post-office. + +"The stingy old thing!" she said to herself as she left the shop; "not a +cent for myself, and makes me walk all the way out to that Cobhurst, too! +I see what that old woman is up to. She's afraid he'll marry the young +lady what's out thar, an' she wants him to marry Miss Dora, an' git a lot +of the Bannister money to fix up his old house, an' then she expects to +go out thar an' board with 'em, for I reckon she's gittin' mighty tired +of the way them Wittons live. She's always patchin' up marriages so she +can go an' live with the people when they first begins housekeepin', an' +things is bran-new an' fresh. She did that with young Mr. Witton, but +their furniture is gittin' pretty old an' worn out now. If she tries it +with Mr. Hav'ley an' Dora Bannister, I reckon she'll make as big a botch +of it as she did with Mike an' me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A CRY FROM THE SEA + + +Miss Panney left Thorbury the next morning, but she had to go without +seeing Phoebe, who did not appear at the station. She arrived at Barport +in the afternoon, and went directly to the house of the friend to whom +she had written, and who, it is to be hoped, was glad to see her. She +deferred making her presence known to the Bannister party until the next +morning. When she called at their hotel about ten o'clock, she was +informed that they had all gone down to the beach; and as they could not +be expected to return very soon, Miss Panney betook herself to the +ocean's edge to look for them. + +She found a wide stretch of sand crowded with bathers and spectators. It +had been a long time since she had visited the seashore, and she +discovered that seaside customs and costumes had changed very much. She +was surprised, amused, and at times indignant; but, as she had come to +look for the Bannisters, she confined herself to that business, +postponing reflections and judgments. + +Her search proved to be a difficult one. She walked up and down the beach +until she assured herself that the Bannisters and Miriam were not among +those who had come as lookers-on, or merely to breathe the salt air and +enjoy the ocean view. When she came to scrutinize the bathers, whether +they were disporting themselves in the sea or standing or lying about on +the sand, she found it would be almost impossible to recognize anybody in +that motley crowd. + +"I can scarcely make out," she said to herself, "whether they are men or +women, much less whether I know them or not. But if the Bannisters and +Miriam are among those water-monkeys, I shall know them when I see their +faces, and then I shall take the first chance I get to tell them what I +think of them." + +It was not long before Miss Panney began to grow tired. She was not used +to trudging through soft sand, and she had walked a good deal before she +reached the beach. She concluded, therefore, to look for a place where +she might sit down and rest, and if her friends did not show themselves +in a reasonable time she would go back to their hotel and wait for them +there; but she saw no chairs nor benches, and as for imitating the +hundreds of well-dressed people who were sitting down in the dirt,--for +to Miss Panney sand was as much dirt as any other pulverized portion of +the earth's surface,--she had never done such a thing, and she did not +intend to. + +Approaching a boat which was drawn up high and dry, she seated herself +upon, or rather leaned against, its side. The bathing-master, a burly +fellow in a bathing-costume, turned to her and informed her courteously +but decidedly that she must not sit upon that boat. + +"I do not see why," said Miss Panney, sharply, as she rose "for it is +not of any use in any other way, lying up here on the sand." + +She had scarcely finished speaking when the bathing master sprang to his +feet so suddenly that it made Miss Panney jump. For a moment the man +stood listening, and then ran rapidly down the beach. Now Miss Panney +heard, coming from the sea, a cry of "Help! Help!" + +Other people heard it, too, and began hurrying after the bathing master. +The cry, which was repeated again and again, came from a group of bathers +who were swimming far from shore, opposite a point on the beach a hundred +yards or more from where Miss Panney was standing. The spectators now +became greatly excited, and crowds of them began to run along the beach, +while many people came out of the sea and joined the hurrying throng. + +Still the cries came from the ocean, but they were feebler. Those +experienced in such matters saw what had happened, a party of four +bathers, swimming out beyond the breakers, had been caught in what is +called a "seapuss," an eccentric current, too powerful for them to +overcome, and they were unable to reach the shore. + +As he ran, the bathing master shouted to some men to bring him the +lifeline, and this, which was coiled in a box near the boat, was soon +seized by two swift runners and carried out to the man. + +"Fool!" exclaimed Miss Panney, who, with flushed face, was hurrying after +the rest, "why didn't he take it with him?" + +When the bathing master reached a point opposite the imperilled +swimmers, he was obliged to wait a little for the life-line, but as soon +as it reached him he tied one end of it around his waist and plunged into +the surf. The men who had brought the line did not uncoil it nor even +take it out of the box, and very soon it was seen that the bathing-master +was not only making his way bravely through the breakers, but was towing +after him the coil of rope, and the box in which it had been entangled. +As soon as he perceived this, the man stopped for an instant, jerked the +line from his waist and swam away without it. + +Meanwhile a party of men had seized the life-boat, and had pushed it over +the sand to the water's edge, where they launched it, and with much +difficulty kept it from grounding until four young men, all bathers, +jumped in and manned the oars. But before the excited oarsmen had begun +to pull together, an incoming wave caught the bow of the boat, turned it +broadside to the sea, and rolled it over. A dozen men, however, seized +the boat and quickly righted her; again the oarsmen sprang in, and having +been pushed out until the water reached the necks of the men who ran +beside her, she was vigorously pulled beyond the breakers. + +The excitement was now intense, not only on the beach, but in the hotels +near the spot, and the shore was black with people. The cries had +entirely ceased, but now the bathing-master was seen making his way +toward the shore, and supporting a helpless form; before he could touch +bottom, however, he was relieved of his burden by some of the men who +were swimming out after him, and he turned back toward a floating head +which could just be seen above the water. He was a powerful swimmer, but +without a line by which he and any one he might rescue could be pulled to +shore, his task was laborious and dangerous. + +The boat had now pulled to the bather who, though farthest out to sea, +was the best swimmer, and he, just as his strength was giving way, was +hauled on board. The lifeline had been rescued and disentangled, and the +shore end of it having been taken into proper charge, a man, with the +other end about him, swam to the assistance of the bathing master. +Between these two another lifeless helpless body was borne in. + +As might have been supposed, Miss Panney was now in a state of intense +agitation. Not only did she share in the general excitement, but she was +filled with a horrible dread. In ordinary cases of sickness and danger, +it had been her custom to offer her services without hesitation, but then +she knew who were in trouble and what she must do. Now there was a +sickening mystery hanging over what was happening. She was actually +afraid to go near the two lifeless figures stretched upon the sand, each +surrounded by a crowd of people eager to do something or see something. + +But her anxious questioning of the people who were scattered about +relieved her, for she found that the two unfortunate persons who had +been brought in were men. Nobody knew whether they were alive or not, +but everything possible was being done to revive them. Several doctors +had made their appearance, and messengers were running to the hotels +for brandy, blankets, and other things needed. In obedience to an +excited entreaty from a physician, one of the groups surged outward and +scattered a little, and Miss Panney saw the form of a strongly built man +lying on his back on the sand, with men kneeling around him, some +working his arms backward and forward to induce respiration, and others +rubbing him vigorously. It was difficult for her to restrain herself +from giving help or advice, for she was familiar with, and took a great +interest in, all sorts of physical distress, but now she turned away and +hurried toward the sea. + +She had heard the people say there was another one out there, and her +sickening feeling returned. She walked but a little way, and then she +stopped and eagerly watched what was going on. The bathing-master had +been nearly exhausted when he reached the shore the second time, but he +had rallied his strength and had swum out to the boat which was pulling +about the place where the unfortunate bathers had been swimming. Suddenly +the oarsmen gave a quick pull, they had seen something, a man jumped +overboard, there was bustling on the boat, something was pulled in, then +the boat was rapidly rowed shoreward, the man in the water holding to the +stern until his feet touched ground. + +The people crowded to the water's edge so that Miss Panney could scarcely +see the boat when it reached shore, but presently the crowd parted, and +three men appeared, carrying what seemed to be a very light burden. + +"Oh, dear," said a woman standing by, "that one was in the water a long +time. I wonder if it is a girl or a boy." + +Miss Panney said nothing, but made a few quick steps in the direction of +the limp figure which the crowd was following up the beach; then she +stopped. Her nature prompted her to go on; her present feelings +restrained her. She could not help wondering at this, and said to herself +that she must be aging faster than she thought. Her distant vision was +excellent, and she knew that the inanimate form which was now being laid +on the dry sand was not a boy. + +She turned and looked out over the sea, but she could not stand still; +she must do something. On occasions like this it was absolutely necessary +for Miss Panney to do something. She walked up the beach, but not toward +the ring of people that had now formed around the fourth unfortunate. She +must quiet herself a little first. + +Suddenly the old lady raised her hands and clasped them. It was a usual +gesture when she thought of something she ought to do. + +"If it is one of them," she said to herself, "he ought to know it +instantly! And even if it isn't, he ought to know. They will be in a +terrible state; somebody should be here, and Herbert has gone to the +mountains. There is no one else." She now began to walk more rapidly. +"Yes," she said, speaking aloud in the intensity of her emotion, "he +ought to come, anyway. I can't be left here to take any chances. And if +he does not know immediately, he cannot get here today." + +She now directed her steps toward one of the hotels, where she knew there +was a telegraph office. + +"No matter what has happened, or what has not happened," she said to +herself as she hurried along, "he ought to be here, and he must come!" + +The old lady's hand trembled a good deal as she wrote a telegram to Ralph +Haverley, but the operator at the window could read it. It ran: "A +dreadful disaster here. Come on immediately." + +When she had finished this business, Miss Panney stood for a few moments +on the broad piazza of the hotel, which was deserted, for almost +everybody was on the beach. In spite of her agitation a grim smile came +over her face. + +"Perhaps that was a little strong," she thought, "but it has gone now. +And no matter how he finds things, I can prove to him he is needed. I do +not believe he will be too much frightened; men never are, and I will see +to it that he has a blessed change in his feelings when he gets here." + +Miss Panney was now allowing to enter her mind the conviction, previously +denied admittance, that no one of her three friends would be likely to be +swimming far from shore with a party of men. And, having thus restored +herself to something of her usual composure, she went down to the beach +to find out who had been drowned. On the way she met Mrs. Bannister and +the two girls, and from them she got her information that two of the +persons were believed to be beyond any power of resuscitation, and one of +these was a young lady from Boston. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES + + +It was toward the middle of the afternoon that the good La Fleur sat +upon a bench under a tree by the side of the noble mansion of +Cobhurst. She was enjoying the scene and allowing her mind to revel in +the future she had planned for herself. She was not even thinking of +the dinner. Presently there drove into the grounds a boy in a +bowl-shaped trotting-wagon, bringing a telegram for Mr. Haverley. La +Fleur went to meet him. + +"He is not at home," she said. + +"Well," said the boy, "there is seventy-five cents to pay, and perhaps +there is an answer." + +"Are you sure the message was not prepaid?" asked La Fleur, suspiciously. + +"Oh, the seventy-five cents is for delivery," said the boy. "We deliver +free in town, but we can't come way out here in the country for nothing. +Isn't there somebody here who can 'tend to it?" + +La Fleur drew a wallet from her pocket. "I will pay you," she said; +"but if there is an answer you should take it back with you. Can't you +wait a bit?" + +"No," said the boy, "I can't. I shall be away from the office too long +as it is." + +La Fleur was in a quandary; there was no one at home but herself; a +telegram is always important; very likely an immediate answer was +required; and here was an opportunity to send one. If the message were +from his sister, there might be something which she could answer. At any +rate, it was an affair that must not be neglected, and Mr. Haverley had +gone off with his fishing-rod, and no one knew when he would get back. + +"Wait one minute," she said to the boy, and she hurried into the kitchen +with the telegram. She put on her spectacles and looked at it; the +envelope was very slightly fastened. No doubt this was something that +needed attention, and the boy would not wait. Telegrams were not like +private letters, anyway, and she would take the risk. So she opened the +envelope without tearing it, and read the message. First she was +frightened, and then she was puzzled. + +"Well, I can't answer that," she said, "and I suppose he will go as soon +as he gets it." + +She laid the telegram on the kitchen table and went out to the impatient +boy, and told him there was no answer. Whereupon he departed at the top +of his pony's speed. + +La Fleur returned to the kitchen and reread the telegram. The signature +was not very legible, and in her first hasty reading she had not made it +out, but now she deciphered it. + +"Panney!" she exclaimed, "R. Panney! I believe it is from that tricky old +woman!" And with her elbows on the table she gave herself up to the study +of the telegram. "I never saw anything like it," she thought. "It looks +exactly as if she wanted to frighten him without telling him what has +happened. It could not be worse than it is, even if his sister is dead, +and if that were so, anybody would telegraph that she was very ill, so as +not to let it come on him too sudden. Nothing can be more dreadful than +what he'll think when he reads this. One thing is certain: she meant him +to go when he got it. Yes, indeed!" And a smile came upon her face as she +thought. "She wants him there; that is as plain as daylight." + +At this moment a step was heard outside, and the telegram was slipped +into the table drawer. La Fleur arose and approached the open door; there +she saw Phoebe. + +"How d'ye do, ma'am?" said that individual. "Do let me come in an' sit +down, for I'm nearly tired to death, an' so cross that I'd like to +fight a cat." + +"What has happened to you?" asked La Fleur, when she and her visitor had +seated themselves. + +"Nothin'," replied Phoebe, "except that I've been sent on a fool's +errand, an' made to walk all the way from Thorbury, here, an' a longer +an' a dirtier an' a rockier road I never went over. I thought two or +three times that I should just drop. If I'd knowed how stiff my j'ints +would be, I wouldn't 'a' come, no matter what she said." + +"She said," repeated La Fleur. "Who?" + +"That old Miss Panney!" said Phoebe, with a snap. "She sent me out +here to look after Mike, an' was too stingy even to pay my hack fare. +She wanted me to come day before yesterday, but I couldn't get away +'til to-day." + +"Where is Miss Panney?" asked La Fleur, quickly. + +"She's gone to the seashore, where the Bannisters an' Miss Miriam is. She +said she'd come here herself if it hadn't been for goin' thar." + +"To look after Mike?" asked the other. + +"Not 'zactly," said Phoebe, with a grin. "There's other things here she +wanted to look after." + +"Upon my word!" exclaimed La Fleur, "I can't imagine what there is on +this place that Miss Panney need concern herself about." + +"There isn't no place," said Phoebe, "where there isn't somethin' that +Miss Panney wants to consarn herself in." + +La Fleur looked at Phoebe, and then dropped the subject. + +"Don't you want a cup of tea?" she asked, a glow of hospitality suddenly +appearing on her face. "That will set you up sooner than anything else, +and perhaps I can find a piece of one of those meat pies your husband +likes so much." + +Phoebe was not accustomed to being waited upon by white people, and to +have a repast prepared for her by this cook of high degree flattered her +vanity and wonderfully pleased her. Her soul warmed toward the good woman +who was warming and cheering her body. + +"I say it again," remarked La Fleur, "that I cannot think what that old +lady should want to look after in this house." + +"Now look here, madam," said Phoebe, "it's jes' nothin' at all. It's +jes' the most nonsensical thing that ever was. I don't mind tellin' you +about it; don't mind it a bit. She wants Mr. Hav'ley to marry Miss Dora +Bannister, an' she's on pins an' needles to know if the young woman here +is likely to ketch him. That's all there is 'bout it. She don't care two +snaps for Mike, an' I reckon he don't want no looking after anyway." + +"No, indeed," answered the other; "I take the best of care of him. Miss +Panney must be dreadful afraid of our young lady, eh?" + +"That's jes' what she is," said Phoebe. "I wonder she didn't take Mr. +Hav'ley along with her when she went to the seashore." + +La Fleur's eyes sparkled. + +"Now come, Phoebe," said she; "what on earth did she want you to do +here?" + +Phoebe took a long draught of tea, and put down the cup, with a sigh +of content. + +"Oh, nothin'," said she. "She jes' wanted me to spy round, an' see if Mr. +Hav'ley an' Miss Drane was fallin' in love with each other, an' then I +was to go an' tell her about it the mornin' before she started. Now I'll +have to keep it 'til she comes back, but I reckon thar ain't nothin' to +tell about." + +La Fleur laughed. "Nothing at all," said she. "You might stay here a week +and you wouldn't see any lovemaking between those two. They don't as much +as think of such a thing. So you need not put yourself to any trouble +about that part of Miss Panney's errand. Here comes your good Michael, +and I think you will find that he is doing very well." + +About ten minutes after this, when Phoebe and Mike had gone off to talk +over their more than semi-detached domestic affairs, La Fleur took the +telegram from the drawer, replaced it in its envelope, which she closed +and fastened so neatly that no one would have supposed that it had been +opened. Then she took from a shelf a railroad time-table, which lay in +company with her cookbook and a few other well-worn volumes; for the good +cook cared for reading very much as she cared for her own mayonnaise +dressing; she wanted but little at a time, but she liked it. + +"The last train to the city seems to be seven-ten," she said to herself. +"No other train after that stops at Thorbury. If he had been at home he +would have taken an early afternoon train, which was what she expected, I +suppose. It will be a great pity for him to have to go tonight, and for +no other reason than for that old trickster's telegram. If anything has +really happened, he'll get news of it in some sensible shape." + +At all events, there was nothing now to be done with the telegram, so she +put it on the shelf, and set about her preparations for dinner, which had +been very much delayed. + +Ralph had gone off fishing; but, before starting, he had put Mrs. +Browning to the gig and had told Cicely that as soon as her work was +finished, she must take her mother for a drive. The girl had been +delighted, and the two had gone off for a long jog through the +country lanes. + +It was late in the afternoon when Ralph came striding homeward +across the fields. He was still a mile from Cobhurst, and on a bit of +rising ground when, on the road below him, he saw Mrs. Browning and +the gig, and to his surprise the good old mare was demurely trotting +away from Cobhurst. + +"Can it be possible," he exclaimed, "that they have just started!" And +he hurried down toward the road. He now saw that there was only one +person in the gig, and very soon he was near enough to perceive that +this was Cicely. + +"I expect you are wondering what I am doing here by myself, and where I +am going," she said, when she stopped and he stood by the gig. "I shall +tell you the exact truth, because I know you will not mind. We started +out a long time ago, but mother had a headache, and the motion of the gig +made it worse. She was trying to bear it so that I might have a drive, +but I insisted upon turning back. I took her as far as the orchard, where +I left her, and since then I have been driving about by myself and having +an awfully good time. Mother did not mind that, as I promised not to go +far away. But I think I have now gone far enough along this road. I like +driving ever so much! Don't you want me to drive you home?" + +"Indeed I do!" said Ralph, and in he jumped. + +"I expect Miriam must be enjoying this lovely evening," she said. "And +she will see the sun set from the beach, for Barport faces westward, and +I never saw a girl enjoy sunsets as she does. At this moment I expect her +face is as bright as the sky." + +"And wouldn't you like to be standing by her?" asked Ralph. + +Cicely shook her head. "No," she said. "To speak truly, I should rather +be here. We used to go a good deal to the seashore, but this is the first +time that I ever really lived in the country, and it is so charming I +would not lose a day of it, and there cannot be very many more days of +it, anyway." + +"Why not?" asked Ralph. + +"I am now copying chapter twenty-seventh of the doctor's book, and there +are only thirty-one in all. And as to his other work, that will not +occupy me very long." + +Ralph was about to ask a question, but, instead, he involuntarily grasped +one of the little gloved hands that held the reins. + +"Pull that," he said quickly. "You must always turn to the right when you +meet a vehicle." + +Cicely obeyed, but when they had passed a wagon, drawn by a team of oxen, +she said, "But there was more room on the other side." + +"That may be," replied Ralph, with a laugh, "but when you are driving, +you must not rely too much on your reason, but must follow rules and +tradition." + +"If I knew as much about driving as I like it," said she, "I should be a +famous whip. Before we go, I am going to ask Miriam to take me out with +her, two or three times, and give me lessons in driving. She told me that +you had taught her a great deal." + +"So you would be willing to take your tuition secondhand," said Ralph. "I +am a much better teacher than Miriam is." + +"Would you like to make up a class?" she asked. "But I do not know how +the teacher and the two pupils could ride in this gig. Oh, I see. Miriam +and I could sit here, and you could walk by our side and instruct us, and +when the one who happened to be driving should make a mistake, she would +give up her seat and the reins, and go to the foot of her class." + +"Class indeed!" exclaimed Ralph; "I'll have none of it. I will take you +out tomorrow and give you a lesson." + +So they went gayly on till they came to a grassy hill which shut out the +western view. + +"Do you think I could go through that gate," asked Cicely, "and drive +Mrs. Browning up that hill? There is going to be a grand sunset, and we +should get a fine view of it up there." + +"No," said Ralph, "let us get out and walk up, and as Mrs. Browning can +see the barn, we will not worry her soul by tying her to the fence. I +shall let her go home by herself, and you will see how beautifully she +will do it." + +So they got out, and Ralph having fastened the reins to the dashboard, +clicked to the old mare, who walked away by herself. Cicely was greatly +interested, and the two stood and watched the sober-minded animal as she +made her way home as quietly and properly as if she had been driven. When +she entered the gate of the barnyard, and stopped at the stable door, +Ralph remarked that she would stand there until Mike came out, and then +the two went into the field and walked up the hill. + +"I once had a scolding from Miriam for doing that sort of thing," said +Ralph; "but you do not seem to object." + +"I do not know enough yet," cried Cicely, who had begun to run up the +hill; "wait until I have had my lessons." + +They stood together at the top of the little eminence. + +"I wonder," said Cicely, "if Miriam ever comes upon this hill at sunset. +Perhaps she has never thought of it." + +Ralph did not know; but the mention of Miriam's name caused him to think +how little he had missed his sister, who had seemed to live in his life +as he had lived in hers. It was strange, and he could not believe that he +would so easily adapt himself to the changed circumstances of his home +life. There was another thing of which he did not think, and that was +that he had not missed Dora Bannister. It is true that he had never seen +much of that young lady; but he had thought so much about her, and made +so many plans in regard to her, and had so often hoped that he might see +her drive up to the Cobhurst door, and had had such charming +recollections of the hours she had spent in his home, and of the travels +they had taken together by photograph, her blue eyes lifted to his as if +in truth she leaned upon his arm as they walked through palace and park, +that it was wonderful that he did not notice that for days his thoughts +had not dwelt upon her. + +When the gorgeous color began to fade out of the sky, Cicely said her +mother would be wondering what had become of her, and together they went +down the hill, and along the roadside, where they stopped to pick some +tall sprays of goldenrod, and through the orchard, and around by the +barnyard, where Mike was milking, and where Ralph stopped while Cicely +went on to the house. + +Phoebe was standing down by the entrance gate. She was waiting for an +oxcart, whose driver had promised to take her with him on his return to +Thorbury. She had arranged with a neighbor to prepare the minister's +supper, but she must be on hand to give him his breakfast. As there was +nothing to interest her at Cobhurst, and nothing to report, she was glad +to go, and considered this oxcart a godsend, for her plan of getting Mike +to drive her over in the spring cart had not been met with favor. + +Waiting at the gateway, she had seen Ralph and Cicely walk up the hill, +and watched them standing together, ever and ever so long, looking at the +sky, and she had kept her eyes on them as they came down the hill, +stopped to pick flowers which he gave to her, and until they had +disappeared among the trees of the orchard. + +"Upon my word an' honor!" ejaculated Mrs. Robinson, "if that old French +slop-cook hasn't lied to me, wus than Satan could do hisself! If them +two ain't lovers, there never was none, an' that old heathen sinner +thought she could clap a coffee bag over my head so that I couldn't see +nothin' nor tell nothin'. She might as well a' slapped me in the face, +the sarpent!" + +And unable, by reason of her indignation, to stand still any longer, she +walked up the road to meet the returning oxcart, whose wheels could be +heard rumbling in the distance. + +La Fleur had seen the couple standing together on the little hill, but +she had thought it a pity to disturb their tête-à-tête. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT + + +Just before Cicely reached the back piazza, La Fleur came out of the +kitchen door with the telegram in her hand. + +"Do you know," she said, "if Mr. Haverley has come home, and where I can +find him? Here is a message for him, and I have been looking for him, +high and low." + +"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely. "He is at the barn. I will take it to +him. I can get there sooner than you can, La Fleur," and without further +word, she took the yellow missive and ran with it toward the barn. She +met Ralph half way, and stood by him while he read the message. + +"I hope," she cried as she looked into his pale face, "that nothing has +happened to Miriam." + +"Read that," he said, his voice trembling. "Do you suppose--" but he +could not utter the words that were in his mind. + +Cicely seized the telegram and eagerly read it. She was on the point of +screaming, but checked herself. + +"How terrible!" she exclaimed. "But what can it mean? It is from Miss +Panney. Oh! I think it is wicked to send a message like that, which does +not tell you what has happened." + +"It must be Miriam," cried Ralph. "I must go instantly," and at the top +of his voice he shouted for Mike. The man soon appeared, running. + +"Mike!" exclaimed Ralph, "there has been an accident, something has +happened to Miss Miriam. I must go instantly to Barport. I must take the +next train from Thorbury. Put the horse to the gig as quickly as you can. +You must go with me." + +With a face expressing the deepest concern, Mike stood looking at the +young man. + +"Don't stop for a minute," cried Ralph, in great excitement. "Drop +everything. Take the horse, no matter what he has been doing; he can go +faster than the mare. I shall be ready in five minutes!" + +"Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "there ain't no down train stops at Thorbury +after the seven-ten, and it's past seven now. That train'll be gone +before I can git hitched up." + +"No train tonight!" Ralph almost yelled, "that cannot be. I do not +believe it." + +"Now look here, Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "I wouldn't tell you nothin' +that wasn't so, 'specially at a time like this. But I've been driving to +Thorbury trains an' from 'em, for years and years. There's a late train +'bout ten o'clock, but it's a through express and don't stop." + +"I must take that train," cried Ralph, "what is the nearest station where +it does stop?" + +"There ain't none nearer than the Junction, and that's sixteen miles up, +an' a dreadful road. I once druv there in the daytime, an' it tuk me four +hours, an' if you went to-night you couldn't get there afore daylight." + +"Why don't you go to Thorbury and telegraph?" asked Cicely, who was now +almost as pale as Ralph. "Then you could find out exactly what has +happened." + +"Oh, I must go, I must go," said Ralph; "but I shall telegraph. I shall +go to Thorbury instantly, and get on as soon as I can." + +Mike stood looking on the ground. + +"Mr. Hav'ley," he said, as the young man was about to hurry to the house, +"tain't no use, the telegraph office is shet up, right after that down +train passes." + +"It is barbarous!" exclaimed Ralph. "I will go anyway. I will find the +operator." + +"Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "don't you go an' do that. You is tremblin' +like a asp. You'll be struck down sick if you go on so. There's a train a +quarter of six in the mornin', an' I'll git you over to that. If you goes +to Thorbury, you won't be fit to travel in the mornin', an' you won't be +no good when you gits there." + +Tears were now on Cicely's cheeks, in spite of her efforts to +restrain herself. + +"He is right, Mr. Ralph," she said. "I think it will be dreadful for you +to be in Thorbury all night, and most likely for no good. It will be a +great deal better to leave here early in the morning and go straight to +Barport. But let us go into the house and talk to mother. After all, it +may not be Miriam. You cannot tell what it is. It is a cruel message." + +Mrs. Drane was greatly shocked, but she agreed with her daughter that it +would not be wise for Ralph to go to Thorbury until he could start for +Barport. La Fleur was somewhat frightened when she found that her wilful +delay of the telegram might occasion Mr. Haverley an harassing and +anxious night in Thorbury, and was urgent in her endeavors to quiet him +and persuade him to remain at home until morning. But it was not until +Cicely had put in her last plea that the young man consented to give up +his intention of going in search of the telegraph operator. + +"Mr. Ralph," said she, "don't you think it would be awful if you were to +send a message and get a bad answer to it, and have to stay there by +yourself until the morning? I cannot bear to think of it; and telegraphic +messages are always so hard and cruel. If I were you, I would rather go +straight on and find out everything for myself." + +Ralph looked down at her and at the tears upon her cheeks. + +"I will do that," he said, and taking her hand, he pressed it thankfully. + +Every preparation and arrangement was made for an early start, and Ralph +wandered in and out of the house, impatient as a wild beast to break +away and be gone. Cicely, whose soul was full of his sorrow, went out to +him on the piazza, where he stood, looking at the late moon rising above +the treetops. + +"What a different man I should be," he said, "if I could think that +Miriam was standing on the seashore and looking at that moon." + +Cicely longed to comfort him, but she could not say anything which would +seem to have reason in it. She had tried to think that it might be +possible that the despatch might not concern Miriam, but she could not +do it. If it had been necessary to send a despatch and Miriam had been +alive and well, it would have been from her that the despatch would have +come. Cicely's soul was sick with sorrow and with dread, not only for +the brother, but for herself, for she and Miriam were now fast friends. +But she controlled herself, and looking up with a smile, said, "What +time is it?" + +Ralph took out his watch and held the face of it toward the moon, which +was but little past the full. + +"It is a quarter to nine," he said. + +"Well, then," said she, "I will ask Miriam, when I see her, if she was +looking at the moon at this time." + +"Do you believe," exclaimed Ralph, turning suddenly so that they stood +face to face, "do you truly believe that we shall ever see her again?" + +The question was so abrupt that Cicely was taken unawares. She raised her +face toward the eager eyes bent upon her, but the courageous words she +wished to utter would not come, and she drooped her head. With a swift +movement, Ralph put his two hands upon her cheeks and gently raised her +face. He need not have looked at her, for the warm tears ran down upon +his hands. + +"You do not," he said; and as he gazed down upon her, her face became +dim. For the first time since his boyhood, tears filled his eyes. + +At a quick sound of hoofs and wheels, both started; and the next +moment the telegraph boy drove up close to the railing and held up a +yellow envelope. + +"One dollar for delivery," said he; "that's night rates. This come jest +as the office was shetting up, and Mr. Martin said I'd got to deliver it +to-night; but I couldn't come till the moon was up." + +Cicely, who was nearer, seized the telegram before Ralph could get it. + +"Drive round to the back of the house," she said to the boy, "and I will +bring you the money." + +She held the telegram, though Ralph had seized it. + +"Don't be too quick," she said, "don't be too quick. There, you will tear +it in half. Let me open it for you." + +She deftly drew the envelope from his hand, and spread the telegram on +the broad rail of the piazza, on which the moon shone full. Instantly +their heads were close together. + +"I cannot read it," groaned Ralph; "my eyes are--" + +"I can," interrupted Cicely, and she read aloud the message, which +ran thus,-- + +"Fear news of accident may trouble you. We are all well. Have written. +Miriam Haverley." + +Ralph started back and stood upright, as if some one had shouted to him +from the sky. He said not one word, but Cicely gave a cry of joy. Ralph +turned toward her, and as he saw her face, irradiated by the moonlight +and her sudden happiness, he looked down upon her for one moment, and +then his arms were outstretched toward her; but, quick as was his motion, +her thought was quicker, and before he could touch her, she had darted +back with the telegram in her hand. + +"I will show this to mother," she cried, and was in the house in +an instant. + +La Fleur was in the hall, where for some time she had been quietly +standing, looking out upon the moonlight. From her position, which was +not a conspicuous one, at the door of the enclosed stairway, she had been +able to keep her eyes upon Ralph and Cicely; and held herself ready, +should she hear Mrs. Drane coming down the stairs, to go up and engage +her in a consultation in regard to domestic arrangements. She had known +of the arrival of the telegraph boy, had seen what followed, and now +listened with rapt delight to Cicely's almost breathless announcement of +the joyful news. + +After the girl went upstairs, La Fleur walked away; there was no need for +her to stand guard any longer. + +"It isn't only the telegram," she said to herself, "that makes her face +shine and her voice quiver like that." Then she went out to congratulate +Mr. Haverley on the news from his sister. But the young man was not +there; his soul was too full for the restraints of a house or a roof, and +he had gone out, bareheaded, into the moonlight to be alone with his +happiness and to try to understand it. + +When Mrs. Drane returned to her room, having gone down at her daughter's +request to pay the telegraph messenger, she found her daughter lying on a +couch, her face wet with tears. But in ten minutes Cicely was sitting up +and chattering gayly. The good lady was rejoiced to know that there was +no foundation for the evils they had feared, but she could not understand +why her daughter, usually a cool-headed little thing and used to +self-control, should be so affected by the news. And in the morning she +was positively frightened when Cicely informed her that she had not slept +a wink all night. + +Mrs. Drane had not seen Ralph's face when he stretched out his arms +toward her daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +UNDISTURBED LETTUCE + + +When Ralph Haverley came in from his long moonlight ramble, he was so +happy that he went to bed and slept as sound as rock. But before he +closed his eyes he said to himself,-- + +"I will do that to-morrow; the very first thing to-morrow." + +But people do not always do what they intend to do the very first thing +in the morning, and this was the case with Ralph. La Fleur, who knew that +a letter was expected, sent Mike early to the post-office, and soon after +breakfast Ralph had a letter from Miriam. It was a long one; it gave a +full account of the drowning accident and of some of her own experiences, +but it said not one word of the message sent by Miss Panney, to whom +Miriam alluded very slightly. It gave, however, the important information +that Mrs. Bannister had been so affected by the dreadful scene on the +beach that she declared she could not go into the ocean again, nor even +bear the sight of it, and that, therefore, they were all coming home on +the morrow. + +"She will be here to-night," said Ralph, who knew the trains from +Barport. + +As soon as he had read the letter Ralph went to look for Cicely. She had +come down late to breakfast, and he had been surprised at her soberness +of manner. On the other hand, Mrs. Drane had been surprised at Ralph's +soberness of manner, and she found herself in the unusual position of the +liveliest person at the breakfast table. + +"People who have heard such good news ought to be very happy," she +thought, but she made no remark on the subject. + +It was Cicely's custom to spend the brief time she allowed herself +between breakfast and work, upon the lawn, or somewhere out of doors, +but to-day Ralph searched in vain for her. He met La Fleur, however, +and that conscientious cook, in her most respectful manner, asked him, +if he happened to meet Miss Cicely, would he be so good as to give her +a message? + +"But I don't know where she is," said Ralph. "I have a letter to +show her." + +La Fleur wished very much to know what was in the letter, which, she +supposed, explained the mystery of the telegrams, but at a moment like +this she would not ask. + +"She is in the garden, sir," she said. "I asked her to gather me some +lettuce for luncheon. She does it so much more nicely than I could do it, +or Mike. She selects the crispest and most tender leaves of that crimped +and curled lettuce you all like so much, and I thought I would ask you, +sir, if you met her, to be so very kind as to tell her that I would like +a few sprigs of parsley, just a very few. I would go myself, sir, but +there is something cooking which I cannot leave, and I beg your pardon +for troubling you and will thank you, sir, very much if you--" + +It was not worth while for her to finish her sentence, for Ralph had +gone. + +He found Cicely just as she stooped over the lettuce bed. She rose with a +face like a peach blossom. + +"I have a letter from Miriam," he said, "I will give it to you presently, +and you may read the whole of it, but I must first tell you that she, +with Mrs. Bannister and Dora, are coming home to-day. They will reach +Thorbury late this afternoon. Isn't that glorious?" + +All the delicate hues of the peach blossom went out of Cicely's face. +That everlasting person had come up again, and now he called her Dora, +and it was glorious to have her back! She did not have to say anything, +for Ralph went rapidly on. + +"But before they leave Barport," he said, "I want to send Miriam a +telegram. If Mike takes it immediately to Thorbury, she will get it +before her train leaves." + +"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely, but she did not look up at him. + +"Yes," said he; "I want to telegraph to Miriam that you and I are +engaged to be married. I want her to know it before she gets here. Shall +I send it?" + +She raised to him a face more brightly hued than any peach +blossom--rich with the color of the ripe fruit. Ten minutes after this, +two wood doves, sitting in a tree to the east of the lettuce bed, and +looking westward, turned around on their twig and looked toward the +east. They were sunny-minded little creatures, and did not like to be +cast into the shade. + +As they went out of the garden gate, Cicely said, "You have always been a +very independent person and accustomed to doing very much as you please, +haven't you?" + +"It has been something like that," answered Ralph; "but why?" + +"Only this," she said; "would you begin already to chafe and rebel if I +were to ask you not to send that telegram? It would be so much nicer to +tell her after she gets back." + +"Chafe!" exclaimed Ralph, "I should think not. I will do exactly as +you wish." + +"You are awfully good," said Cicely, "but you must agree with me more +prudently now that we are out here, and I will not tell mother until +Miriam knows." + +A gray old chanticleer, who was leading his hens across the yard, +stopped at this moment and looked at Ralph, but it is not certain that +he sniffed. + +Ralph knew very well when people, coming from Barport, should arrive in +Thorbury, but his mind was so occupied that when he went to the barn, he +forgot so many things he should have done at the house, and he ran +backward and forward so often, and waited so long for an opportunity to +say something he had just thought of, to somebody who did not happen to +be ready to listen at the precise moment he wished to speak, that he had +just stepped into the gig to go to the station for his sister, when +Miriam arrived alone in the Bannister carriage. Not finding anybody at +the station to meet her, they had sent her on. + +Mrs. Drane was not the liveliest person at the dinner table, and she +wondered much how Ralph and Cicely, who had been so extremely sober at +breakfast time, should now be so hilarious. The arrival of Miriam seemed +hardly reason enough for such intemperate gayety. + +As for Miriam, she overflowed with delight. The ocean was grand, but +Cobhurst was Cobhurst. "There was nothing better about my trip than the +opportunity it gave me of coming back to my home. I never did that +before, you know, my children." + +This she said loftily from her seat at the head of the table. Dinner was +late and lasted long, and Ralph had gone into the room on the lower +floor, in which he kept his cigars, and which he called his office, when +Miriam followed him. There was no unencumbered chair, and she seated +herself on the edge of the table. + +"Ralph," said she, "I want to say something to you, now, while it is +fresh in my mind. I think we can sometimes understand our affairs better +when we go away from them and are not mixed up in them. I have been +thinking a great deal since I have been at Barport about our affairs +here, not only as they are but as they may be, and most likely will be, +and I have come to the conclusion that some of these days, Ralph, you +will want to be married." + +"Do you mean me?" cried Ralph. "You amaze me!" + +"Oh, you are only a man, and you need not be amazed," said his sister. +"This is the way I have been thinking of it: if you ever do want to get +married, I hope you will not marry Dora Bannister. I used sometimes to +think that that might be a good thing to do, though I changed my mind +very often about it, but I do not think so, now, at all. Dora is an +awfully nice girl in ever so many ways, but since I have been at Barport +with her, I am positive that I do not want you to marry her." + +Ralph heaved a long sigh and put his hands in his pockets. + +"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed, "this is very discouraging; if I do not +marry Dora, who is there that I can marry?" + +"You goose," said his sister, "there is a girl here, under your very +nose, ever so much nicer and more suitable for you than Dora. If you +marry anybody, marry Cicely Drane. I have been thinking ever and ever so +much about her and about you, and I made up my mind to speak to you of +this as soon as I got home, so that you might have a chance to think +about it before you should see Dora. Don't you remember what you used to +tell me about the time when you were obliged to travel so much, and how, +when you had a seat to yourself in a car, and a crowd of people were +coming in, you used to make room for the first nice person you saw, +because you knew you would have to have somebody sitting alongside of +you, and you liked to choose for yourself? Now that is the way I feel +about your getting married; if you marry Cicely Drane, I shall feel safe +for the rest of my life." + +"Miriam!" exclaimed Ralph, "you astonish me by the force of your +statements. Wait here one moment," and he ran into the hall through which +he had seen Cicely passing, and presently reappeared with her. + +"Miss Drane," said he, "do you know that my sister thinks that I ought to +marry you?" + +In an instant Miriam had slipped from the table to the floor. + +"Good gracious, Ralph!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"I am merely stating your advice," he answered; "and now, Miss Drane, how +does it strike you?" + +"Well," said Cicely, demurely, "if your sister really thinks we should +marry, I suppose--I suppose we ought to do it." + +Miriam's eyes flashed from one to the other, then there were two girlish +cries and a manly laugh, and in a moment Miriam and Cicely were in each +other's arms, while Ralph's arms were around them both. + +"Now," said Cicely, when this group had separated itself into its several +parts, "I must run up and tell mother." And very soon Mrs. Drane +understood why there had been sobriety at breakfast and hilarity at +dinner. She was surprised, but felt she ought not to be; she was a little +depressed, but knew she would get over that. + +La Fleur did not hear the news that night, but it was not necessary; she +had seen Ralph and Cicely coming through the garden gate without a leaf +of lettuce or a single sprig of parsley. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +ANGRY WAVES + + +The ocean rolled angrily on the beach, and Miss Panney walked angrily +on the beach, a little higher up, however, than the line to which the +ocean rolled. + +The old lady was angrier than the ocean, and it was much more than mere +wind that made her storm waves roll. Her indignation was directed first +against Mrs. Bannister, that silly woman, who, by cutting short her stay +at the seashore, had ruined Miss Panney's plans, and also against Ralph, +who had not come to Barport as soon as he had received the telegram. If +he had arrived, the party might have stayed a little longer for his sake. +Why he had not come she knew no more than she knew what she was going to +say to him in explanation of her message, and she cared as little for the +one as for the other. + +Her own visit to Barport had been utterly useless. She had spent money +and time, she had tired herself, had been frightened and +disgusted,--all for nothing. She did not remember any of her plans that +had failed so utterly. + +Meeting the bathing-master, she rolled in upon him some ireful waves, +because he did not keep a boat outside the breakers to pick up people who +might be exhausted and in danger of drowning. In vain the man protested +that ten thousand people had said that to him, before, and that the thing +could not be done, because so many swimmers would make for the boat and +hang on to its sides, just to rest themselves until they were ready to go +back. It would simply be a temptation to people to swim beyond the +breakers. She went on, in a voice that the noise of the surf could not +drown, to tell him that she hoped ten thousand more people would say the +same thing to him, and to declare that he ought to have several boats +outside during bathing hours, so that people could cling to some of them, +and so, perhaps, save themselves from exhaustion on their return, and so +that one, at least, could be kept free to succor the distressed. At last +the poor man vowed that he acted under orders, and that, if she wanted to +pitch into anybody, she ought to pitch into the proprietors of the hotel +who employed him, and who told him what he must do. + +Miss Panney accepted this advice; and if the sea had broken into the +private office of that hotel, the owners and managers could not have had +a worse time than they had during the old lady's visit. It may be stated +that for the remainder of the season two or three boats might always be +seen outside the breakers during bathing hours at the Barport beach. + +For the sake of appearances, Miss Panney did not leave Barport +immediately; for she did not wish her friends to think that she was a +woman who would run after the Bannisters wherever they might please to +go. But in a reasonable time she found herself in the Witton household, +and the maid who had charge of her room had some lively minutes after the +arrival of the old lady therein. + +The next day she went to Thorbury to see what had happened, and chanced +to spy Phoebe resting herself on a bench at the edge of the public green. +Instantly the colored woman sprang to her feet, and began to explain to +Miss Panney why she had not made her report before the latter set out on +her journey. + +"You see, ma'am, I hadn't no shoes as was fit for that long walk out in +the country, an' I had to take my best ones to the shoemaker; and though +I did my best to make him hurry, it took him a whole day, an' so I had to +put off going to Cobhurst, an' I've never got over my walk out thar yit. +My j'ints has creaked ever sense." + +"If you used them more, they would creak less," snapped Miss Panney. "How +are things going on at Cobhurst? What did you see there?" + +"I seed a lot, an' I heard a lot," the colored woman answered. "Mike's +purty nigh starved, an' does his own washin'. An' things are in that +state in the house that would make you sick, Miss Panney, if you could +see them. What the rain doesn't wash goes dirty; an' as for that old cook +they've got, if she isn't drunk all the time, her mind's givin' way, an' +I expect she'll end by pizenin' all of them. The vittles she gave me to +eat, bein' nearly tired to death when I got thar, was sich that they give +me pains that I hain't got over yit. And what would have happened if I'd +eat a full meal, nobody knows." + +"Get out with you," cried Miss Panney. "I don't want any more of your +jealousy and spite. If that woman gave you anything to eat, I expect it +was the only decently cooked thing you ever put into your mouth. Did you +see Mr. Haverley? Were the Drane women still there? How were they all +getting on together?" + +Phoebe's eyes sparkled, and her voice took in a little shrillness. + +"I was goin' to git the minister to write you a letter 'bout that, Miss +Panney," said she; "but you didn't tell me whar you was goin', nor give +me no money for stamps nor nothin'. But I kin say to you now that that +woman, which some people may call a cook, but I don't, she told me, +without my askin' a word 'bout nothin', that Mr. Hav'ley an' that little +Miss Drane was to be married in the fall, an' that they was goin' away, +all of them, to the wife's mother's to live, bein' that that old farm +out thar didn't pay to run, an' never would. I reckoned they'd git sick +of it afore this, which I always said." + +"Phoebe!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "I do not believe a word of all that! +How dare you tell me such a lot of lies?" + +Phoebe was getting very angry, though she did not dare to show it; but +instead of taking back anything she had said, she put on more lie-power. + +"You may believe me, Miss Panney, or you needn't; that's just as you +choose," she said "but I can tell you more than I have told you, and that +is, that from what I've seen and heard, I believe Mr. Hav'ley an' Miss +Drane is married already, an' that they was only waitin' for the +Tolbridges to come home to send out the cards." + +Miss Panney glared at the woman. "I tell you what I believe, and that +is that you never went to Cobhurst at all. You must tell me something, +and you are making up the biggest story you can," and with this she +marched away. + +"I reckon the next time she sends me on an arrand," thought Phoebe, +whose face would have been very red if her natural color had not +interfered with the exhibition of such a hue, "she'll send me in a hack, +and pay me somethin' for my time. I was bound to tell her 'zactly what +she didn't want to hear, an' I reckon I done it, an' more'n that if she +gets her back up 'bout this, an' goes out to Cobhurst, that old cook'll +find herself in hot water. It was mighty plain that she was dreadful +skeered for fear anybody would think thar was somethin' goin' on 'twixt +them two." + +If Phoebe had been more moderate in her doubleheaded treachery, Miss +Panney might have been much disturbed by her news, but the story she had +heard was so preposterous that she really believed that the lazy colored +woman had not gone to Cobhurst, and by the time she reached the Bannister +house her mind was cleared for the reception of fresh impressions. + +She was fortunate enough to find Dora alone, and as soon as it was +prudent she asked her what news she had heard from Cobhurst. Dora was +looking her loveliest in an early autumn costume, and answered that she +had heard nothing at all, which surprised Miss Panney very much, for she +had expected that Miriam would have been to see Dora before this time. + +"Common politeness would dictate that," said Miss Panney, "but I expect +that that child is so elated and excited by getting back to the head of +her household that everything else has slipped out of her mind. But if +you two are such close friends, I don't think you ought to mind that sort +of thing. If I were you, I would go out and see her. Eccentric people +must be humored." + +"They needn't expect that from me," said Dora, a little sharply. "If +Miriam lived there by herself, I might go; but as it is, I shall not. It +is their duty to come here, and I shall not go there until they do." + +Miss Panney drummed upon the table, but otherwise did not show her +impatience. + +"We can never live the life we ought in this world, my dear," she said, +"if we allow our sensitive fancies to interfere with the advancement of +our interests." + +"Miss Panney," cried Dora, sitting upright in her chair, "do you mean +that I ought to go out there, and try to catch Ralph Haverley, no matter +how they treat me?" + +"Yes," said Miss Panney, leaning back in her chair, "that is exactly what +I mean. There is no use of our mincing matters, and as I hold that it is +the duty of every young woman to get herself well married, I think it is +your duty to marry Mr. Haverley if you can. You will never meet a man +better suited to you, and who can use your money with as much advantage +to yourself. I do not mean that you should go and make love to him, or +anything of that sort. I simply mean that you should allow him to expose +himself to your influences." + +"I shall do nothing of the kind!" cried Dora, her face in a flush; "if he +wants that sort of exposure, let him come here. I don't know whether I +want him to come or not. I am too young to be thinking of marrying +anybody, and though I don't want to be disrespectful to you, Miss Panney, +I will say that I am getting dreadfully tired of your continual harping +about Ralph Haverley, and trying to make me push myself in front of him +so that his lordship may look at me. If he had been at Barport, or there +had been any chance of his coming there, I should have suspected that you +went there for the express purpose of keeping us up to the work of +becoming attached to each other. And I say plainly that I shall have no +more to do with exerting influence on him, through his sister or in any +other way. There are thousands of other men just as good as he is, and +if I have not met any of them yet, I have no doubt I shall do so." + +"Dora," said Miss Panney, speaking very gently, "you are wrong when you +say that there was no chance of Ralph's coming to Barport. If some things +had not gone wrong, I have reason to believe he would have been there +before you left, and I am quite sure that if you had stayed there until +now, you would have been walking on the sands with him at this minute." + +Dora looked at her in surprise, and the flush on her face subsided a +little. + +"What do you mean?" she asked. "You do not think he would have gone there +on my account?" + +"Yes, I do," said Miss Panney. "That is exactly what I mean, and now, my +dear Dora, do not let--" + +At this moment Mrs. Bannister walked into the room, and was very glad +to see Miss Panney, and to know that she had returned in safety from +the seashore. + +When Dora went up to her room, after the visitor had gone, she shut the +door and sat down to think. + +"After all," she said to herself, "I do not believe much in the thousand +other men. Not one of them is here, and none may ever come, and if Ralph +really did intend to come to me at the seashore, I wish we had stayed +there. It is such a good place to find out just how people feel." + +In this frame of mind she sat and thought and thought, until a servant, +who had been to the post office, came up and brought her a note from +Miriam Haverley. + +The next morning Dora Bannister, in an open carriage, drawn by the +family bays, appeared at the door of the Witton mansion. Miss Panney, +with overshoes on and a little shawl about her, for the mornings were +beginning to be cool, was walking up and down between two rows of +old-fashioned boxwood bushes. She hurried forward, for she knew very well +that Dora had not come to call on the Wittons. + +"Miss Panney," said the young lady, "I am on my way to Cobhurst, and I +thought you might like to go there, and so if you choose, I shall be glad +to take you with me." + +"Now, my dear girl," said Miss Panney, "you are a trump. I always thought +you were, but I will not say anything more about that. I shall be +delighted to go with you, and we can talk on the way. If you will come in +or take a seat on the piazza, I shall be ready in five minutes." + +As Miss Panney busied herself preparing for the drive and the call, her +mind was a great deal more active than her rapid fingers. She had been +intending to go to Cobhurst, but did not wish to do so until she had +decided what she should say to Ralph about the telegram she had sent him. +Until that morning, this had given her very little concern, but as the +time approached when it would be absolutely necessary to speak upon the +subject, she found that she was a good deal concerned about it. She saw +that it was very important that nothing should be said to rouse Ralph +into opposition. + +But now everything seemed bright and clear before her. After Dora, +looking perfectly lovely, as she did this morning, had shone upon Ralph +for half an hour, or even less, the old lady felt that if the young man +asked her any questions about her telegram she would not in the least +mind telling him how she came to send it, giving him, of course, a +version of her motive which would make him understand her anxious +solicitude, in case anything had happened to any one dear to him, that +his arrival should not be delayed an instant, as well as the sympathetic +delight she would have felt in witnessing the joy his presence in Barport +would cause to the dear ones, alive and well. + +This somewhat complicated explanation might need policy and alteration, +but Miss Panney now felt quite ready for anything Ralph might ask about +the telegram. If any one else asked any questions, she would answer as +happened to please her. + +As they drove away Miss Panney immediately began to congratulate Dora on +her return to her senses. She was in high good humor, "You ought to know, +my dear, that if the loveliest woman in the world found herself stuck in +a quagmire, it would be quite foolish for her to expect that the right +sort of man would come and pull her out. In all probability it would be +precisely the wrong sort of man who would do it. Consequently, it would +be wise in her if she saw the right sort of man going by, not only to let +him know that she was there, but to let him understand that she was worth +pulling out. All women are born in a quagmire, and some are so anxious to +get out that they take the first hand that is stretched toward them, and +some, I am sorry to say, never get out at all. But they are the wise +ones who do not leave it to chance, who shall be their liberators. Number +yourself, my dear, among this happy class. I am so glad it is cool enough +this morning for you to wear that lovely costume. It is as likely as not +that by tomorrow it will be too warm. All these little things tell, my +child, and I am glad to know that even the thermometer is your friend." + +"I had a letter from Miriam yesterday afternoon," said Dora, "in which +she told me that her brother Ralph is engaged to Miss Drane." + +Miss Panney turned around like a weather vane struck by a squall. She +seized the girl's arm with her bony fingers. + +"What!" she exclaimed. + +Ordinarily, the pain of the old lady's grasp would have made Dora wince, +but she did not seem to feel it. Without the slightest sign of emotion in +her face, she answered,-- + +"It is so. It happened while I was at Barport." + +"Stop!" cried Miss Panney, in a voice that made the driver pull up his +horses with a jerk. In a moment she had stepped from the low carriage to +the ground, and with quick strides was walking back to the Witton house. +Dora turned in the seat, looked after her, and laughed. It was a sudden, +bitter laugh, which the circumstances made derisive. + +Never before had Miss Panney's soul been so stung, burned, and +lacerated, all at once, as by this laugh. But the sound had scarcely +left Dora Bannister's lips when she bounded out of the carriage and ran +after the old lady. Throwing her arms around her neck, she kissed her +on the cheek. + +"I am awfully sorry I did that," she said, "and I beg your pardon. I +don't mind the thing a bit, and won't you let me take you home in the +carriage?" + +Dora might as well have embraced a milestone and talked to it, for +the moment she could release herself, Miss Panney stalked away +without a word. + +When she was again driving toward Cobhurst, Dora took from the front of +the carriage a little hand mirror, and carefully arranged her hat, her +feathers, her laces and ribbons. Then having satisfied herself that her +features were in perfect order, she put back her glass. + +"I am not going to let any of them see," she said, "that I mind it in +the least." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE + + +Neither Ralph nor his sister nor either of the Drane ladies had the least +reason to believe that Dora minded the news contained in Miriam's note, +except that it had given her a heartfelt delight and joy, and that it had +made her unable to wait a single moment longer than was necessary to come +and tell them all how earnestly she congratulated them, and what a +capital good thing she thought it was. She caught Ralph by himself and +spoke to him so much like a sympathetic sister that he was a little, +just the least little bit in the world, pained. + +As Cicely had never had any objection to Miss Bannister, excepting her +frequent appearances in Ralph's conversation, she received Dora's +felicitations with the same cordiality that she saw in her lovely eyes +and on her lips. And Mrs. Drane thought that if this girl were a sample +of the Haverleys' friends and neighbors, her daughter's lot would be even +more pleasant than she had supposed it would be. As for Miriam, she and +Dora walked together, their arms around each other's waists, up and down +in the garden, and back and forward in the orchard, until the Bannister +coachman went to sleep on his box. + +During this long interview, the younger girl became impressed, not only +with the fact that Dora thought so well of the match, that, if she had +been looking for a wife for Ralph, she certainly would have selected Miss +Drane, but with the stability of Miss Bannister's affection for her, +which did not seem to be affected in the least by the changes which would +take place in the composition of the Cobhurst household. Dora had said, +indeed, that she had no doubt that she and Miriam would be more intimate +than ever, because Mr. Haverley would be so monopolized by his wife. + +This was all very pleasant to Miriam, but it did not in the least cause +her to regret Ralph's choice. Dora was a lovely girl, but it was now +plainer than ever that she was also a very superior one, whereas Cicely +was just like other people and did not pretend to be anything more, and, +moreover, she would not have wished her brother to marry anyone whose +idea of matrimony was the monopoly of her husband, and she knew that +Cicely had no such idea. But Dora was the dearest of good friends, Miriam +was very sure of that. + +The Bannister carriage had scarcely left the Cobhurst gates when the dog, +Congo, came bounding after it. Dora looked at him as his great brown eyes +were turned up towards her, and his tail was wagging with the joy of +following her once more, she knew that his training was so good that she +had only to tell him to go back and he would obey her, sorrowfully, with +his tail hanging down. He was Ralph's dog now, and she ought to send him +back, but would she? She looked at him for a few moments, considering the +question, and then she said,-- + +"Come, Congo" and with a bound he was in the carriage and at her feet. +"You were not an out and out gift, poor fellow," she said, stroking his +head. "I expected you to be partly my dog, all the same, and now we will +see if she will let him claim you." + +The dog heard all this, but Dora spoke so low, the coachman could not +hear it, and she did not intend that any one else should know it unless +the dog told. + +Ralph did not miss Congo until the next morning, and then, having become +convinced that the dog must have followed the Bannister carriage, he +expressed, in the presence of Cicely, his uncertainty as to whether it +would be better for him to go after the dog himself, or to send Mike. + +"If I were you," said Miss Cicely, "I would not send for him at all. If +Miss Bannister really wants to get rid of him, and does not know anybody +else who would take him, she may send him back herself. But it seems to +me that a setter is not the best sort of a dog for a farm like this. I +should think you ought to have a big mastiff, or something of that sort." + +"It is a great pity," said Ralph, musingly, "that he happened to be +unchained." + +"The more I think about it," said Cicely, "the less I like setters. They +are so intimately connected with the death of the beautiful. Did you ever +think of that?" + +Ralph never had, and as a man now came up to talk to him about hay, the +dog and everything connected with it passed out of his mind. + +When Miss Panney reached home after her abrupt parting from Dora +Bannister, she took a dose of the last medicine that Dr. Tolbridge had +prescribed for her. It was against her rules to use internal medicines, +but she made exceptions on important occasions, and as this was a remedy +for the effects of anger, she had taken it before and she took it now. +Then she went to bed and there she stayed until three o'clock the next +afternoon. This greatly disturbed the Wittons, for they had always +believed that this hearty old lady would not be carried off by any +disease, but when her time had come would simply take to her bed and die +there, after the manner of elderly animals. + +About the middle of the afternoon Mrs. Witton came up into her room. She +did not do this often, for the old lady had always made everybody in the +house understand that this room was her castle, and when any one was +wanted there, he or she would be summoned. + +"You must be feeling very badly," said the meek and anxious Mrs. Witton +"don't you think it would be better to send for a doctor?" + +"There is no doctor," said Miss Panney, shortly. + +"Oh yes," said the other, "there are several excellent doctors in +Thorbury, and Dr. Parker takes all of Dr. Tolbridge's practice while +he is away." + +"Stuff!" remarked Miss Panney. "I spanked Dr. Parker, when he wore +little frocks, for running his tin wheelbarrow against me so that I +nearly fell over it." + +"But he has learned a great deal since then," pleaded Mrs. Witton "and if +you do not want any new doctors, isn't there something I can do for you? +If you will tell me how you feel, it may be that some sort of herb +tea--or a mustard plaster--" + +"Gammon and spinach!" cried Miss Panney, throwing off the bedclothes as +if she were about to spring into the middle of the floor. "I want no teas +nor plasters. I have had as much sleep as I care for, and now I am going +to get up. So trot downstairs, if you please, and tell Margaret to bring +me up some hot water." + +For an hour or two before supper time, Miss Panney occupied herself in +clearing out her medicine closet. Every bottle, jar, vial, box, or +package it contained was placed upon a large table and divided into two +collections. One consisted of the lotions and medicines prescribed for +her by Dr. Tolbridge, and the other of those she herself, in the course +of many years, had ordered or compounded,--not only for her own use, but +for that of others. She had long prided herself on her skill in this sort +of thing, and was always willing to prepare almost any sort of medicine +for ailing people, asking nothing in payment but the pleasure of seeing +them take it. + +When everything had been examined and placed on its appropriate end of +the table, Miss Panney called for an empty coalscuttle, into which she +tumbled, without regard to spilling or breakage, the whole mass of +medicaments which had been prepared or prescribed by herself, and she +then requested the servant to deposit the contents of the scuttle in +the ash-hole. + +"After this," she said to herself, "I will get somebody else to do my +concocting," and she carefully replaced her physician's medicines on +the shelves. + +It was three days later when Miss Panney was told that Dr. Tolbridge was +in the parlor and wished to see her. + +"Well," said the old lady, as she entered the parlor, "I supposed that +after your last call here, you would not come again." + +"Oh, bless my soul!" said the doctor, "I haven't any time to consider +what has happened, I must give my whole attention to what is happening or +may happen. How are you? and how have you been during my absence?" + +"Oh, I had medicines enough" said she, "if I had needed them, but +I didn't." + +"Well, I wanted to see for myself, and, besides, I was obliged to come," +said the doctor; "I want to know what has happened since we left. We got +home late last night, and I have not seen anybody who knows anything." + +"And so," said the old lady, "you will swallow an insult in order to +gratify your curiosity." + +"Insult, indeed!" said he. "I have a regular rule about insults. When +anybody under thirty insults me, I give her a piece of my mind if she is +a woman, and a taste of my horsewhip if he is a man. But between thirty +and fifty, I am very careful about my resentments, because people are +then very likely to be cracked or damaged in some way or other, either in +body or mind, and unless I am very cautious, I may do more injury than I +intend. But toward folks over fifty, especially when they are old +friends, I have no resentments at all. I simply button up my coat and +turn up my collar, and let the storm pelt; and when it is fine weather +again, I generally find that I have forgotten that it ever rained." + +"And when a person is in the neighborhood of seventy-five, I suppose you +thank her kindly for a good slap in the face." + +The doctor laughed heartily. + +"Precisely," said he. "And now tell me what has happened. You are all +right, I see. How are the Cobhurst people getting on?" + +"Oh, well enough," said Miss Panney. "The young man and that Cicely Drane +of yours have agreed to marry each other, and I suppose the old lady +will live with them, and Miriam will have to get down from her high horse +and agree to play second fiddle, or go to school again. She is too young +for anything else." + +The doctor stared. "You amaze me!" he cried. + +"Oh, you needn't be amazed," said Miss Panney; "I did it!" + +"You?" said the doctor, "I thought you wanted him to marry Dora." + +"If you thought that," said Miss Panney, flashing her black eyes upon +him, "why did you lend yourself to such an underhanded piece of business +as the sending of that Drane girl there?" + +"Oh, bless my soul!" exclaimed the doctor, "I did not lend myself to +anything. I did not send her there to be married. Let us drop that, and +tell me how you came to change your mind." + +"I have a rule about dropping things," said the old lady, "and with +people of vigorous intellect, I never do it, but when any one is getting +on in years and a little soft-minded, so that he does what he is told to +do without being able to see the consequences of it, I pity him and drop +the subject which worries his conscience. I have not changed my mind in +the least. I still think that Dora would be the best wife young Haverley +could have, and after I found that you had added to your treacheries or +stupidities, or whatever they were, by carrying her off to Barport, I +intended to take advantage of the situation, so I got Dora to invite +Miriam there, feeling sure that the Drane women would have sense enough +to know that they then ought to leave Cobhurst; but they had not sense +enough, and they stayed there. Then I saw that the situation was +critical, and went to Barport myself, and sent the young man a telegram +that would have aroused the heart of a feather-bed and made it be with me +in three hours, but it did not rouse him and he did not come; and before +that silly Mrs. Bannister got back with the two girls, the mischief was +done, and that little Drane had taken advantage of the opportunity I had +given her to trap Mr. Ralph. Oh, she is a sharp one! and with you and me +to help her, she could do almost anything. You take off her rival, and I +send away the interfering sister; and all she has to do is to snap up the +young man, while her mother and that illustrious cook of yours stand by +and clap their hands. But I do not give you much credit. You are merely +an inconsiderate blunderer, to say no more. You did not plan anything; I +did that, and when my plans don't work one way, they do in another. This +one was like a boomerang that did not hit what it was aimed at, but came +banging and clattering back all the same. And now I will remark that I +have given up that sort of thing. I can throw as well as ever, but I am +too old to stand the back-cracks." + +"You are not too old for anything," said the doctor, "and you and I will +do a lot of planning yet. But tell me one thing; do you think that this +Haverley-Drane combination is going to deprive me of La Fleur?" + +"Upon my word!" cried the old lady, springing to her feet, "never did I +see a man so steeped in selfishness. Not a word of sympathy for me! In +all this unfortunate affair, you think of nothing but the danger of +losing your cook! Well, I am happy to say you are going to lose her. That +will be your punishment, and well you deserve it. She will no more think +of staying with you, after the Dranes set up housekeeping at Cobhurst, +than I would think of coming to cook for you. And so you may go back to +your soggy bread, and your greasy fries, and your dishwater coffee, and +get yellow and green in the face, thin in the legs, and weak in the +stomach, and have good reason to say to yourself that if you had let Miss +Panney alone, and let her work out that excellent plan she had confided +to you, you would have lived to a healthy old age, with the best cook in +this part of the country making you happy three times a day, and +satisfied with the world between meals." + +"Deal gently with the erring," said the doctor. "Don't crush me. I want +to go to Cobhurst this morning, to see them all, and find out my fate. +Wouldn't you like to go with me? I have a visit to make, two or three +miles above here, but I shall be back soon, and will drive you over. What +do you say?" + +"Very good," said Miss Panney. "I have been thinking of calling on the +happy family." + +As soon as the doctor had departed Miss Panney ordered her phaeton. + +"I intended going to Cobhurst to-day," she said to herself, "but I do not +propose to go with him. I shall get there first and see how the land +lies, before he comes to muddle up things with his sordid anxieties about +his future victuals and drink." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +AN INTERVIEWER + + +The roan mare travelled well that morning, and Miss Panney was at +Cobhurst before the doctor reached his patient's house. To her regret +she found that Mrs. Drane and Miriam had driven to Thorbury. Miss +Drane was upstairs at her work, and Mr. Haverley was somewhere on the +place, but could easily be found. All this she learned from Mike, whom +she saw outside. + +"And where is the cook?" + +"She's in the kitchen," said Mike. + +"A good place for her," replied the old lady; "let her stay there. I will +see Mr. Haverley, and I will see him out here. Go and find him and tell +him I am sitting under that tree." + +Ralph arrived, bright-eyed. + +"Well, sir," cried the old lady, "and so you have decided to take a wife +to yourself, eh?" + +"Indeed I have," said he, with the air of one who had conquered a +continent, and giving Miss Panney's outstretched hand a hearty shake. + +"Sit down here," said she, "and tell me all about it. I suppose your soul +is hungering for congratulations." + +"Oh yes," he said, laughing; "they are the collateral delights which are +next best to the main happiness." + +"Now," said Miss Panney, "I suppose you feel quite certain that Miss +Drane is a young woman who will suit your temperament and your general +intellectual needs?" + +"Indeed I do," cried Ralph. "She suits me in every possible way." + +"And you have thoroughly investigated her character, and know that she +has the well-balanced mind which will be very much wanted here, and that +she has cut off and swept away all remnants of former attachments to +other young men?" + +Ralph twisted himself around impatiently. + +"One moment," said Miss Panney, raising her hand. "And you are quite +positive that she would have been willing to marry you if you had not +owned this big farm; and that if you had had a dozen other girls to +choose from, you still would have chosen her; and that you really think +such a small person will appear well by the side of a tall fellow like +you; and you are entirely convinced that you will never look around on +other men's wives and wish that your wife was more like this one or that +one; and that--" + +"Miss Panney!" cried Ralph, "do you suppose there was ever a man in the +world who thought about all those things when he really loved a woman?" + +"No," said she, "I do not suppose there ever was one, and it was in the +hope that such a one had at last appeared on earth that I put my +questions to you." + +"Well, I can answer them all in a bunch," said he; "she is exactly the +wife I want, and nobody in the world would suit me as well. And if there +is any one who does not think so--" + +"Stop!" exclaimed Miss Panney; "your face is getting red. Never jump over +a wall when there is a bottomless ditch on the other side. You might miss +the ditch, but it is not likely. You are in love, and when people are +that way, the straight back of a saw is parallel to every line of its +teeth. Don't quarrel, and I will go on with my congratulations." + +"Very queer ones they are so far, I am sure," replied Ralph, his face +still flushed a little. + +"Oh yes," said Miss Panney, rising, "there are a lot of queer things in +this world, and I may be one of them. Now I will go and see your young +lady. I do not know her very well yet, and I must make her better +acquaintance." + +"Miss Panney," said Ralph, quickly, "if you are going to stir her up with +questions such as you put to me, I beg you will not see her." + +"Boy, boy," said the old lady, "don't bubble and boil. I have a great +regard for you, and care a great deal more for you than I do for her, and +it is only people that I care a great deal for that I stir up. Go back to +your grindstone, or whatever you were at work at, and do not worry your +mind about your little Cicely. It may be that I shall like her enough to +wish that I had made the match." + +When Cicely accidentally met Ralph in the garden, a few hours later, she +said to him that she could not have imagined that Miss Panney was such a +dear old lady. + +"Why, Ralph," said the girl, looking up at him with moistened eyes, "she +talked to me so sweetly and gave me such good advice that I actually +cried. And never before, dear Ralph, did good advice make me feel so +happy that I had to cry." + +And at this point the two wood doves, who had become regular detectives, +actually pecked at each other in their despair of emulation. + +Miss Panney's interview with Cicely had not been very long, because the +old lady was anxious to see La Fleur before the doctor got there, and she +went down into the kitchen, where, although she did not know it, the cook +was expecting her. La Fleur's soul was in a state of turbulent triumph, +but her expression was as soft as a dish of jelly. + +Miss Panney sat down on the chair offered her, while the cook +remained standing. + +"I came down to ask you," said the old lady, "if you have heard whether +Dr. Tolbridge and his wife have returned. I suppose you will be going +back to them immediately." + +"Oh no," said La Fleur, her eyes humbly directed toward the floor as she +spoke, "at least not for a permanency. I shall get the doctor a good +cook. I shall make it my business to see that she is a person fully +capable of filling the position. I have my eyes on such a one. As for me, +I shall stay here with my dear Miss Cicely." + +"Good heavens, woman!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "your Miss Cicely isn't +head of this house. What do you mean by talking in that way? Miss +Haverley is mistress of this establishment. Haven't you sense enough to +know that you are in her service, and that Miss Drane and her mother are +merely boarders?" + +Not a quiver or a shake was seen on the surface of the gentle jelly. + +"Oh, of course," said La Fleur, with her head on one side, and her +smile at its angle of humility, "I meant that I would come to her when +she is settled here as Mrs. Haverley, and her dear mother is living +with her, and when Miss Miriam has gone to finish her education at +whatever seminary is decided on. Then this house will seem like my true +home, and begging your pardon, madam, you cannot imagine how happy I am +going to be." + +"You!" exclaimed Miss Panney. "What earthly difference does it make to +anybody whether you are happy or not?" + +The jelly seemed to grow softer and more transparent. + +"I am only a cook," said La Fleur, "but I can be as happy as persons of +the highest quality, and I understand their natures very well, having +lived with them. And words cannot tell you, madam, how it gladdens my old +heart to think that I had so much to do myself with the good fortunes of +us all, for the Dranes and me are a happy family now, and I hope may long +be so, and hold together. I am sure I did everything that my humble mind +could conceive, to give those two every chance of being together, and to +keep other people away by discussing household matters whenever needed; +for I had made up my mind that Miss Cicely and Mr. Haverley were born for +each other, and if I could help them get each other, I would do it. When +your telegram came, madam, it disturbed me, for I saw that it might spoil +everything, by taking him away just at the time when they had nobody but +each other for company, and when he was beginning to forget that he had +ever been engaged to Miss Bannister, as you told me he was, madam, though +I think you must have been a little mistaken, as we are all apt to be +through thinking that things are as we want them to be. But I couldn't +help feeling thankful that nobody but me was home when the telegram was +brought without any envelope on it, and I had no chance to give it to him +until it was too late to take a train that night; for the trouble the +poor gentleman was in on account of his sister, being sure, of course, +that something had happened to her, put him into such a doleful way that +Miss Cicely gave herself up, heart and soul, to comfort him. And when a +beautiful young woman does that for a young man, their hearts are sure to +run together, like two eggs broken into one bowl. Now that's exactly what +theirs did that night, for being so anxious about them I watched them and +kept Mrs. Drane away. The very next morning when I asked her to go into +the garden and pick some lettuce, and then told him where she was, he +offered himself and was accepted. So you see, madam, that without +boasting, or exalting myself above others, I may really claim that I made +this match that I set my heart on. Although, to be sure--for I don't +take away rightful credit from anybody--some of the credit is yours for +having softened up their hearts with your telegram, just at the very +moment when that sort of softening could be of the most use." + +Miss Panney sat up very cold and severe. + +"La Fleur," said she, "I thought you were a cook who prided herself on +attending to her business. Since I have been sitting here, listening to +your twaddle, the cat has been making herself comfortable in that pan of +bread dough that you set by the fire to rise." + +La Fleur turned around; her impulse was to seize a poker and rush at +the cat. But she stood where she was and infused more benignity into +her smile. + +"Poor thing," said she, "she doesn't do any harm. There's a thick +towel over the pan, and I should be ashamed of my yeast if it couldn't +lift a cat." + +When Miss Panney went upstairs she laughed. She did not want to laugh, +but she could not help it. She had scarcely driven out of the gate when +she met Dr. Tolbridge. + +"A pretty trick you have played me!" he cried. + +"Yes, indeed, a very pretty one," replied the old lady, pulling up her +mare. "I thought you knew me better than to think that I would come here +to look into this engagement business with you or anybody else. Or that I +would let you get ahead of me, either. Well, I have got all the points I +want, and more too, and now you can go along, and Mr. Ralph will tell you +that he is the happiest man in the world, and your secretary will tell +you that she is the happiest young woman, and the cook you are going to +lose will vow that she is the happiest old woman, and if you stay until +Mrs. Drane and Miriam come back, the one will tell you that she is the +happiest middle-aged woman, and the other that she is the happiest girl, +and if you give Mike a half dollar, he will tell you that he is the +happiest negro in the world. Click!" + +The doctor went on to Cobhurst, where Mrs. Drane and Miriam soon arrived, +and he heard everything that Miss Panney told him he would hear. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE SIREN AND THE IRON + + +The summer, the Dranes, La Fleur, and Miriam had all left Cobhurst. The +summer had gone south for an eight months' stay; the Dranes had gone to +their old Pennsylvania home to settle up their affairs, and prepare for +the marriage of the younger lady, which was to take place early in the +coming spring; La Fleur had returned to the Tolbridges' to remain until +the new Cobhurst household should be organized; and Miriam, whose +association with Dora and Cicely had aroused her somewhat dormant +aspirations in an educational direction, had gone to Mrs. Stone's school +for the winter term. + +November had come to Cobhurst, and there Ralph remained to get his farm +ready for the winter, and his house in order for the bride who would come +with the first young leaves. He did not regret this period of solitary +bachelorhood, for not having very much money, he required a good deal of +time to do what was to be done. + +He had planned a good deal of refitting for the house, although not so +much as to deprive it of any of those characteristics which made it dear +old Cobhurst. And there were endless things to do on the farm, the most +important of which, in his eyes, was the breaking of the pair of colts, +which task he intended to take into his own hands. Mrs. Browning and the +gig were very well in their places, but something more would be needed +when the green leaves came. + +Seraphina, Mike's sister, now ruled in the kitchen, but Ralph's thoughts +had acquired such a habit of leaving the subject on which he was engaged +and flying southward, that even when he took a meal with the Tolbridges, +which happened not infrequently, he scarcely noticed the difference +between their table and his own. Nothing stronger than this could be said +regarding his present power of abstracting his mind from surrounding +circumstances. + +His income was a limited one, although it had been a good deal helped by +the products of his farm, and he had to do a great deal of calculating +with his pencil before he dared to order work which would oblige him to +draw a check with his pen. But by thus giving two dollars' worth of +thought to every dollar of expenditure, he made his money go a long way, +and the lively and personal interest he took in every little improvement, +made a garden fence to him of as much importance and satisfaction as a +new post-office would have been to the people of Thorbury. + +One day he went into a hardware store of the town to buy some nails, and +there he met Miss Panney, who had just purchased a corkscrew. + +"A thing you will not want for some time," she said, "for you do not look +as if you needed anything to cheer your soul. Now tell me, young man, is +it really the engagement rapture that has lasted all this time?" + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph, laughing, "and besides that I have had all sorts +of good fortune. For instance, one of my hens, setting unbeknown to +anybody in a warm corner of the barn, has hatched out a dozen little +chicks. Think of that at this season! I have put them in a warm room, and +by the time we begin housekeeping we shall have spring chickens to eat +before anybody else. And then there is that black colt, Dom Pedro. I had +great doubts about him, because he showed such decided symptoms of free +will, but now he is behaving beautifully. He has become thoroughly +reconciled to a haycart. I have driven him in a light wagon with his +sister, and he is just as good as she is, and yesterday I drove him +single, and find that he has made up his mind to learn everything I can +teach him. Now isn't that a fine thing?" + +"Oh, yes," said Miss Panney, "it must be such things as those that make +your eyes sparkle! But of course it warms your heart to give her delicate +eating when she first comes to you, and to have a fine pair of horses for +her to drive behind. If your face beams as it does now while she is +away, it will serve as an electric light when she comes back. Good +fortune! Oh, yes, of course, you consider that you have it in full +measure. But we are sometimes apt to look on our friends' good fortune in +an odd way. Now, if I had wanted you to go to Boston to get rich, and +instead of that you had insisted on going to Nantucket, and had become +rich there, I suppose that I should have been satisfied as long as you +were prosperous, but I do not believe I would have been; at least, not +entirely so. In this world we do want people to do what we think they +ought to do." + +"Yes," said Ralph, knowingly, "I see. But now, Miss Panney, don't you +really think that Boston would have been too rich a place for me? That it +would have expected too much of me, and that perhaps it would have done +too much for me? Boston is a good enough place, but if you only knew how +much lovelier Nantucket is--" + +"Stop, stop, boy!" said the old lady. "I am getting so old now, that I am +obliged to stop happy people and disappointed people from talking to me. +If I listened to all they had to say, I should have no time for anything +else. By the way, have you heard any news from the Bannister family? That +sedate Herbert is going to be married, and he intends to live with his +wife in the Bannister mansion." + +"And how will his sister like that?" asked Ralph. + +"She won't like it at all. She has told me she is going away." + +"I am sorry for that," he said. "That is too bad." + +"Not at all. She could not do better. A girl like that in a town such as +Thorbury, with nobody to marry her but the rector, is as much out of +place as a canary bird in a poultry yard. I have advised her to visit her +relatives in town, and go with them to Europe, where I hope she will +marry a prince. Good conscience! Look at her! Imagine that girl in a +sweeping velvet robe with one great diamond blazing on her breast." + +Ralph turned quickly, and as his eyes fell upon Dora, as she entered the +store, it struck him that no royal gowns could make her more beautiful +than she was at that moment. + +"Now, my dear," said Miss Panney, "what did you come here for? Do you +want a saw or a pitchfork?" + +"I came," said Dora, with her most charming smile, "because I saw you two +in here, and I wanted to speak to you. It is a funny place for this sort +of thing, but I do not see either of you very often, now, and I thought I +would like to tell you, before you heard it from any one else, of my +engagement." + +"To whom?" cried Miss Panney, in a voice that made the ox-chains rattle. + +Dora looked around anxiously, but there was no one in the front part of +the store. + +"To Mr. Ames," she replied. + +"The rector!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"Yes," said Dora; "I want to write to Miriam about it, and do you know I +have lost her address." + +"Dora Bannister," interrupted Miss Panney, "it may be a little early to +make bridal presents, but I want to give you this corkscrew. It is a +very good one, and I think that after a while you will have need of it. +Good morning." + +When the old lady had abruptly departed, the two young people laughed, +and Ralph offered his congratulations. + +"I do not know Mr. Ames very well," he said, "but I have heard no end of +good of him. But this is very surprising. It seems--" + +"Seems what?" asked Dora. + +"Well, since you ask me," Ralph answered, hesitating a little, "it seems +odd, not, perhaps, that you should marry the rector, but that you should +marry anybody. You appear to me too young to marry." + +"Oh, indeed!" said Dora; "you think that?" + +"I do not know that you understand me," said Ralph, "but I mean that you +are so full of youth--and all that, and enjoy life so much, that it is +a pity that you should not have more of youthful enjoyment before you +begin any other kind." + +Dora laughed. + +"Truly," said she, "I never looked at the matter in that light. Perhaps I +ought to have done so. You think me too young, and if you had had a +chance, perhaps you would have warned me! You are so kind and so +considerate, but don't you think you ought to speak to Mr. Ames about it? +He does not know you very well, but he has heard no end of good of you, +and perhaps what you say might make him reflect." + +As she spoke she looked at him with her eyes not quite so wide open as +usual. Ralph returned her gaze steadfastly. + +"I know what you are thinking of," he said. "You are thinking of a fable +with an animal in it and some fruit, and the animal was a small one, and +the fruit was on a high trellis." + +"Oh, dear," said Dora. "It must be very nice to have read as much as you +have, and to know fables and all sorts of things to refer to. But my life +hasn't been long enough for all that." + +The more Ralph's mind dwelt upon the matter, the more dissatisfied did he +feel that this beautiful young creature should marry the rector. If, in +truth, she applied the fable to him, this was all the more reason why he +should feel sorry for her. If anything of all this showed itself in his +eyes, he did not know it, but Dora's eyes opened to their full width, and +grew softer. + +"I expect I surprise you," she said, "by talking to you of these things, +but I have so few friends to confide in. Herbert is wrapped up in his +own engagement, and Mrs. Bannister is entirely apart from me. Almost +ever since I have known you two, I have felt that Miriam and you were +friends with whom I could talk freely, and I am now going to tell you, +and I know you will never mention it, that I do not believe I shall ever +marry Mr. Ames." + +"What!" exclaimed Ralph. "Didn't you say you were engaged to him?" + +"Of course I said so; and I am, and I was very glad to be able to say it +to Miss Panney, for she is always bothering me about such things; but +the engagement is a peculiar one. Mr. Ames has been coming to see me for +a long time, and I think it was because he heard that I was planning to +go away that he decided to declare himself at once, before he lost his +opportunity. I told him that I had never thought of anything of the sort; +but he was very insistent, and at last I consented, provided the +engagement should be a long one, and that, if after I had seen more of +the world and knew myself better, I should decide to change my mind, I +must be allowed to do so. He fought terribly against this, but there was +nothing for him to do but agree, and so now we are engaged on +approbation, as it were. This is a great relief to me in various ways, +because I feel as if I were safely anchored, and not drifting about +whichever way the wind blows, while other people are sailing where they +want to; and yet, whenever I please, I can loosen my anchor, and spread +my sails, and skim away over the beautiful sea." + +It is seldom that a siren, leaning lightly against a bright new +hay-cutter, with a background of iron rakes and hoes and spades, sings +her soft song. But it was so now, and Dora, her heart beating quickly, +looked from under her long lashes to note the effect of her words. + +"If he will drop the little Drane," she said to herself, "I will drop +the rector." + +But Ralph stood looking past her. It was as plain as could be that he was +not approaching the rocks; that he did not like the song; and that he was +thinking what he should say about it. + +"Oh, dear," said Dora, suddenly starting. "I have ever so much to do +this morning, and it must be nearly noon. I wonder what made that queer +Miss Panney think of giving me this corkscrew." + +Ralph knew very well that the old lady meant the little implement as a +figurative auxiliary of consolation, but he merely remarked that Miss +Panney did and gave very queer things. He opened the door for her, and +she bade him good-by and went out. + +She crossed the street, and when on the opposite sidewalk, she turned her +luminous eyes back upon the glass doors she had passed through. + +But there was no one looking out after her. Ralph was standing at the +counter, buying nails. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANNEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE + + +Cobhurst never looked more lovely than in the early June of the following +year. With the beauty of the trees, the grass, the flowers, the vines, +and all things natural, it possessed the added attractiveness of a +certain personal equation. To all the happy dwellers therein, the dear +old house appeared like one in which good people had always lived. +Although they used to think that it was as charming as could be, they now +perceived that the old mansion and all its surroundings had shown strong +evidences of that system of management which Mike called ramshackle. No +one said a word against any of the changes that Ralph had made, for in +spite of them Cobhurst was still Cobhurst. + +On a bench under a tree by the side of the house sat La Fleur, shelling +some early spring peas, a tin basin of which she held in her lap. Mrs. +Drane, in a rustic chair near by, was sewing, and Miriam, who had come +laden with blossoms from the orchard, had stopped in the pleasant shade. +Mike, absolutely picturesque in a broad new straw hat, was out in the +sunshine raking some grass he had cut, and Seraphina, who remained in the +household as general assistant, could be seen through the open window of +the kitchen. + +"As I told you before, madam," said La Fleur, "I don't think you need +feel the least fear about the young horses. Their master has a steady +hand, and they know his voice, and as for Mrs. Haverley, she's no more +afraid of them than if they were two sheep. As they drove off this +afternoon, I had a feeling as if I were living with some of those great +families in the old country in whose service I have been. For, said I to +myself, 'Here is the young master of the house, actually going to drive +out with his handsome wife and his spirited horses, and that in the very +middle of the working day, and without the prospect of making a penny of +profit.' You don't see that often in this country, except, perhaps, among +the very, very rich who don't have to work. But it is a good sign when a +gentleman like Mr. Haverley sets such an upper-toned example to his +fellow young men. + +"I spoke of that to Dr. Tolbridge once. 'Begging your pardon, sir,' said +I, 'it seems to me that you never drive out except when you have to.' +'Which is true,' said he, 'because I have to do it so much.' 'You will +excuse me, sir, for saying so,' said I, 'but if you did things for +pleasure sometimes, your mind would be rested, and you would feel more +like comprehending the deliciousness of some of my special dishes, which +I notice you now and again say nothing about, because you are so hungry +when you eat them, you don't notice their savoriness.'" + +"La Fleur," said Mrs. Drane, "I am surprised that you should have spoken +to the doctor in that way." + +"Oh, I have a mind," said La Fleur, "and I must speak it. My mind is like +a young horse--if I don't use it, it gets out of condition; and I don't +fear to speak to the doctor. He has brains, and he knows I have brains, +and he understands me. He said something like that when I left him, and I +am sure I never could have had a night's rest since if I hadn't put a +good woman there in my place. With what Mary Woodyard knows already, and +with me to pop in on her whenever I can coax Michael to drive me to town, +the doctor should never have need for any of his own medicines, so far as +digestion goes." + +"Don't you think," interpolated Miriam, "that there is a great deal more +said and done about eating than the subject is worth?" + +Mrs. Drane looked a little anxiously at La Fleur, but the cook did not in +the least resent the remark. + +"You are young yet, Miss Miriam," she said; "but when you are older, you +will think more of the higher branches of education, the very topmost of +which is cookery. But it's not only young people, but a good many older +ones, and some of them of high station, too, who think that cooking is +not a fit matter for the intellect to work on. When I lived with Lady +Hartleberry, she said over and over to my lord, and me too, that she +objected to the art works I sent up to the table, because she said that +the human soul ought to have something better to do than to give itself +up to the preparation of dishes that were no better to sustain the body +than if they had been as plain as a pike-staff. But I didn't mind her; +and everything that Tolati or La Fleur ever taught me, and everything I +invented for myself, I did in that house. My lady was an awfully serious +woman, and very particular about public worship: and on Sunday morning +she used to send the butler around to every servant with a little book, +and in that he put down what church each one was going to, and at what +time of day they would go. But when he came to me, I always said, 'La +Fleur goes to church when she likes and where she chooses.' And the +butler, being a man of brains, set down any church and time that happened +to suit his fancy, and my lady was never the wiser; and if I felt like +going to church, I went, and if I didn't, I didn't. But when the family +went to their seat in Scotland, they did not take their butler with them, +and the piper was sent round on Sunday morning to find out about the +servants going to church. And when he came to me, I said the same thing +I had always said, and do you know that pink-headed Scotchman put it down +in the book and carried it to my lady. And when she read it, she was in a +great rage, to be sure, and sent for me and wanted to know what I meant +by such a message. Then I told her I meant no offence by it, and that I +didn't think the idiot would put it down, but that I was too old to +change my ways, and that if her ladyship wasn't willing that I should +keep on in them, she would have to dismiss me. And then I curtsied and +left her; and my lord, when he heard of it, got a new piper. 'For,' said +he, 'a fool's a dangerous thing to have in the house,' and I stayed on +two years. So you see, Miss Miriam, that we are getting to the +point,--even my strait-laced lady made her opinions about church-going +give way before high art in her cook. For, as much as she might say +against my creations and compositions, she had gotten so used to 'em, +she couldn't do without 'em." + +"Well," said Miriam, "I suppose when the time comes I do not like +everything as I do now, I shall care more for some things. But I mustn't +sit here; I must go up to my sewing." + +"Miriam!" exclaimed Mrs. Drane, "what on earth are you working at? +Shutting yourself up, day after day, in your room, and at hours, too, +when everything is so pleasant outside. Cannot you bring out here what +you are doing?" + +"No," said Miriam, "because it is a secret; but it is nearly finished, +and as I shall have to tell you about it very soon, I may as well do it +now: I have been altering Judith Pacewalk's teaberry gown for Cicely. It +was altered once for me, and that makes it all the harder to make it fit +her now. I am not very good at that sort of thing, and so it has taken me +a long time. I expected to have it ready for her when she came back from +the wedding trip, but I could not do it. I shall finish it to-day, +however, and to-morrow I am going to invest her with it. She is now the +head of the house, and it is she who should wear the teaberry gown. Don't +tell her, please, until to-morrow; I thought it would be nice to have a +little ceremony about it, and in that case I shall have to have some one +to help me." + +"It is very good of you, my dear," said Mrs. Drane, "to think of such a +thing, and Cicely and your brother will be delighted, I know, to find out +what you think of this change of administration. Ralph said to me the +other day that he was afraid you were not altogether happy in yielding +your place to another. He had noticed that you had gotten into the habit +of going off by yourself." + +Miriam laughed. + +"Just wait until he hears the beautiful speech I am going to make +to-morrow, and then he will see what a wise fellow he is." + +"Mrs. Drane! Miss Miriam!" exclaimed La Fleur, her face beginning to glow +with emotion; "let me help to make this a grand occasion. Let me get up a +beautiful lunch. There isn't much time, it is true, but I can do it. I'll +make Michael drive me to town early in the morning, and I'll have +everything ready in time. A dinner would be all very well, but a +luncheon gives so much better chance to the imagination and the +intellect. There're some things you have to have at a dinner, but at a +lunch there is nothing you are obliged to have, and nothing you may not +have if you want it. And if you don't mind, I'd like you to ask old Miss +Panney. I've been a good deal at odds with her since I have known her, +but I'm satisfied now, and if there is anything I can do to make her +satisfied, I'm more than ready. Besides, when I do get up anything +extraordinary in the way of a meal, I like to have people at the table +who can appreciate it. And as for that, I haven't met anybody in this +country who is as well grounded in good eating as that old lady is." + +Her proposition gladly agreed to, La Fleur rose to a high heaven of +excited delight. She had had no chance to show her skill in a wedding +breakfast, for the young couple had been married very quietly in +Pennsylvania, and she was now elated with the idea of exhibiting her +highest abilities in an Investiture Luncheon. + +She handed the basin of peas through the open window to Seraphina, and +retired to her room, to study, to plan, and to revel in flights of +epicurean fancy. + +"Mike," said Seraphina to her brother, who was now raking the grass near +the kitchen window, "did you hear dat ar ole cook a talkin' jes' now?" + +"No," said Mike, "I hain't got no time to harken to people talkin', 'cept +they're talkin' to me, an' it 'pends on who they is whether I listens +then or not." + +"That fool thinks she made this world," said Seraphina. "I've been +thinkin' she had some notion like dat. She do put on such a'rs." + +"Git out," said Mike. "You never heard her say nothing like that." + +"I didn't hear all she said," replied the colored woman, "but I heard +more'n 'nough, an' I heard her talkin' about her creation. Her creation +indeed! I'll let her know one thing; she didn't make me." + +"Now look a here, Seraphiny," said Mike; "the more you shet up now, now +you's in the prime of life, the gooder you'll feel when you gits old. An' +so long as Mrs. Flower makes them thar three-inch-deep pies for me, I +don't care who she thinks she made, an' who she thinks she didn't make. +Thar now, that's my opinion." + + * * * * * + +The Investiture Luncheon, at which the Tolbridges and Miss Panney were +present, was truly a grand and beautiful affair, to which Dora would +certainly have been invited had she not been absent on her bridal trip +with Mr. Ames. Seldom had La Fleur or either of her husbands prepared for +prince, ambassador, or titled gourmand a meal which better satisfied the +loftiest outreaches of the soul in the truest interests of the palate. + +Cicely appeared in the teaberry gown, and if the spirit of Judith +Pacewalk hovered o'er the scene, and allowed its gaze to wander from the +charming bride, over the happy faces of the rest of the company, to the +half-open door of the dining-room, where shone the radiant face of the +proudest cook in the world, it must have been as well satisfied with the +fate of the pink garment as it could possibly expect to be. + +It was late in the afternoon when the luncheon party broke up, and +although Miss Panney was the last guest to leave, she did not go home, +but drove herself to Thorbury, and tied her roan mare in front of the +office of Mr. Herbert Bannister. When the young lawyer looked up and +perceived his visitor, he heaved a sigh, for he had expected in a few +moments to lock up his desk, and stop, on his way home, at the house of +his lady love. But the presence of Miss Panney at his office meant +business, and business with her meant a protracted session. Miss Panney +did not notice the sigh, and if she had, it would not have affected +her. Her soul had been satisfied this day, and no trifle could disturb +her serenity. + +"Now what I want," said she, after a good deal of prefatory remark, "is +for you to give me my will. I want to alter it." + +"But, madam," said young Bannister, when he had heard the alterations +desired by Miss Panney, "is not this a little quixotic? Excuse me for +saying so. Mr. Haverley is not even related to you, and you are bestowing +upon him--" + +"Herbert Bannister," said the old lady, "if you were your father instead +of yourself, you would know that this young man ought to have been my +grandson. He isn't; but I choose to consider him as such, and as such I +shall leave him what will make him a worthy lord of Cobhurst. Bring me +the new will as soon as it is ready and bring also the old one, with all +the papers I have given you, from time to time, regarding the disposition +of my property. I shall burn them, every one, and although it may set the +Wittons' chimney on fire the conflagration will make me happy." + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Girl at Cobhurst, by Frank Richard Stockton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AT COBHURST *** + +***** This file should be named 11106-8.txt or 11106-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/1/0/11106/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +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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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: The Girl at Cobhurst + +Author: Frank Richard Stockton + +Release Date: February 15, 2004 [EBook #11106] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AT COBHURST *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + THE GIRL AT COBHURST + + BY FRANK R. STOCKTON + + 1898 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. DR. TOLBRIDGE + II. MISS PANNEY + III. BROTHER AND SISTER + IV. THE HOME + V. PANNEYOPATHY + VI. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS + VII. DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK + VIII. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED + IX. JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON + X. A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE + XI. TWO GIRLS AND A CALF + XII. TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY + XIII. DORA'S NEW MIND + XIV. GOOD-NIGHT + XV. MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER + XVI. "KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" + XVII. JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN + XVIII. BLARNEY FLUFF + XIX. MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" + XX. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE + XXI. THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS + XXII. A TRESPASS + XXIII. THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON + XXIV. THE DOCTOR'S MISSION + XXV. BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE + XXVI. DORA COMES AND SEES + XXVII. "IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" + XXVIII. THE GAME IS CALLED + XXIX. HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO + XXX. A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT + XXXI. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED + XXXII. MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS + XXXIII. LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD + XXXIV. A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY + XXXV. MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH + XXXVI. A CRY FROM THE SEA + XXXVII. LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES + XXXVIII. CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT + XXXIX. UNDISTURBED LETTUCE + XL. ANGRY WAVES + XLI. PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE + XLII. AN INTERVIEWER + XLIII. THE SIREN AND THE IRON + XLIV. LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE + + + + +THE GIRL AT COBHURST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DR. TOLBRIDGE + + +It was about the middle of a March afternoon when Dr. Tolbridge, giving +his horse and buggy into the charge of his stable boy, entered the warm +hall of his house. His wife was delighted to see him; he had not been at +home since noon of the preceding day. + +"Yes," said he, as he took off his gloves and overcoat, "the Pardell boy +is better, but I found him in a desperate condition." + +"I knew that," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "when you told me in your note that +you would be obliged to stay with him all night." + +The doctor now walked into his study, changed his overcoat for a +well-worn smoking-jacket, and seated himself in an easy chair before the +fire. His wife sat by him. + +"Thank you," he said, in answer to her inquiries, "but I do not want +anything to eat. After I had gone my round this morning I went back to +the Pardells, and had my dinner there. The boy is doing very well. No, I +was not up all night. I had some hours' sleep on the big sofa." + +"Which doesn't count for much," said his wife. + +"It counts for some hours," he replied, "and Mrs. Pardell did not +sleep at all." + +Dr. Tolbridge, a man of moderate height, and compactly built, with some +touches of gray in his full, short beard, and all the light of youth in +his blue eyes, had been for years the leading physician in and about +Thorbury. He lived on the outskirts of the little town, but the lines of +his practice extended in every direction into the surrounding country. + +The doctor's wife was younger than he was; she had a high opinion of him, +and had learned to diagnose him, mentally, morally, and physically, with +considerable correctness. It may be asserted, in fact, that the doctor +seldom made a diagnosis of a patient as exact as those she made of him. +But then it must be remembered that she had only one person to exert her +skill upon, while he had many. + +The Tolbridge house was one of the best in the town, but the family was +small. There was but one child, a boy of fourteen, who was now away at +school. The doctor had readjusted the logs upon the andirons, and was +just putting the tongs in their place when a maidservant came in. + +"There's a boy here, sir," she said, "from Miss Panney. She's sent for +you in a hurry." + +In the same instant the doctor and his wife turned in their chairs and +fixed their eyes upon the servant, but there was nothing remarkable +about her; she had delivered her message and stood waiting. The doctor's +fists were clenched and there was a glitter in his eye. He seemed on the +point of saying something in a loud voice, but he changed his mind, and +quietly said, "Tell the boy to come here," and turned back to the fire. +Then, when the girl had gone, he struck his fist upon his knee and +ejaculated, "Confound Miss Panney!" + +"Harry!" exclaimed his wife, "you should not speak of your patients in +that way, but I agree with you perfectly;" and then, addressing the boy, +who had just entered, and who stood by the door, "Do you mean to say that +there is anything serious the matter with Miss Panney?" she said +severely. "Does she really want to see the doctor immediately?" + +"That's what they told me, ma'am," said the boy, looking about him at the +books and the furniture. "They told me that she was took bad, and that I +must come here first to tell the doctor to come right away, and if he +wasn't at home to leave that message." + +"How did you come?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge; "on horseback?" + +"No, ma'am; with a wagon." + +"You could have come a great deal quicker without the wagon," said she. + +"Oh, yes, but then I've got to stop at the store going back." + +"That will do," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "you can go now and attend to your +other business." + +The doctor was quietly looking into the fire, and as his wife turned to +him he gave a little snort. + +"I was just beginning to get up enough energy," he remarked, "to think of +putting on my slippers." + +"Well, put them on," said she, in a very decided tone. + +"No," replied the doctor, "that will not do; of course I must go to her." + +"You mustn't do anything of the kind!" exclaimed Mrs. Tolbridge, her eyes +sparkling. "How many times by night and by day has that woman called you +away on a fool's errand? It is likely as not that there is nothing more +the matter with her than there is with me. She has no right to worry the +life out of you in this way. She ought to have gone to heaven long ago." + +"You shouldn't talk of my patients in that way, Kitty," said the doctor; +"and in the opinion of a good many of her neighbors the old lady is not +bound for heaven." + +"I don't care where she is going, but one thing is certain: you are not +going to her this afternoon. You are not fit for it." + +"You must remember, Kitty," said the doctor, "that Miss Panney is an old +lady, and though she may sound many a false alarm, the true alarm is to +be expected, and I would much prefer to go by daylight than to wait until +after supper. The roads are bad, the air is raw, and she would keep me +nobody knows how late. I want to go to bed early to-night." + +"And that is what you are going to do," said Mrs. Tolbridge. + +He looked at her inquiringly. "Harry," said she, "you have been up +nearly all night. You have been working the greater part of this day, and +I do not intend to let you drive three miles to be nearly talked to death +by Racilia Panney. No, you needn't shake your head in that way; she is +not to be neglected. I shall go myself and see what is the matter with +her, and if it is really anything serious, I can then let you know. I do +not believe she would have sent for you at all, if she had not known the +wagon was going to town." + +"But, my dear," said the doctor, "you cannot--" + +"Yes, I can," interrupted his wife. "I want some fresh air and shall +enjoy the drive, and Buckskin has done nothing for two days. I shall +take the cart, Tom can get up behind, and I can go there in less than +half an hour." + +"But if there really is anything the matter--" said the doctor. + +"It's just as likely as not," interrupted his wife, "that what she wants +is somebody to talk to, and that a minister or a lawyer or a stranger +from foreign parts would do just as well as you. And now put on your +slippers, push the sofa up to the fire, and take your nap, and I'll go +and see how the case really stands." + +The doctor smiled. "I have no more to say," said he. "There are angels +who bless us by coming, and there are angels who bless us by going. You +belong to both classes. But don't stay too long." + +"In any case I shall be back before dark," she said, and with a kiss on +his forehead she left him. + +Dr. Tolbridge looked into the fire and considered. + +"Ought I to let her go?" he asked himself. This question, mingled with +various thoughts and recollections of former experiences with Miss +Panney, occupied the doctor's mind until he heard the swift rolling of +the dog-cart wheels as they passed his window. Then he arose, put on his +slippers, drew up the soft cushioned sofa, and lay down for a nap. + +In about half an hour he was aroused by the announcement that Miss +Bannister had called to see him. + +Long practice in that sort of thing made him wake in an instant, and the +young lady who was ushered into the study had no idea that she had +disturbed the nap of a tired man. She was a very pretty girl, handsomely +dressed; she had large blue eyes, and a very gentle and sweet expression, +tinged, however, by an anxious sadness. + +"Who is sick, Miss Dora?" asked the doctor, quickly, as he shook +hands with her. + +She did not seem to understand him. "Nobody," she said. "That is, I have +come to see you about myself." + +"Oh," said he, "pray take a seat. I imagined from your face," he +continued, with a smile, "that some one of your family was in desperate +need of a doctor." + +"No," said she, "it is I. For a long time I have thought of consulting +you, and to-day I felt I must come." + +"And what is the matter?" he asked. + +"Doctor," said she, a tear forcing itself into each of her beautiful +eyes, "I believe I am losing my mind." + +"Indeed," said the doctor; "and how is your general health?" + +"Oh, that's all right," answered Miss Dora. "I do not think there is the +least thing the matter with me that way. It is all my mind. It has been +failing me for a good while." + +"How?" he asked. "What are the symptoms?" + +"Oh, there are ever so many of them," she said; "I can't think of them +all. I have lost all interest in everything in this world. You remember +how much interest I used to take in things?" + +"Indeed I do," said he. + +"The world is getting to be all a blank to me," she said; "everything +is blank." + +"Your meals?" he asked. + +"No," she said. "Of course I must eat to live." + +"And sleep?" + +"Oh, I sleep well enough. Indeed, I wish I could sleep all the time, so +that I could not know how the world--at least its pleasures and +affections--are passing away from me. All this is dreadful, doctor, when +you come to think of it. I have thought and thought and thought about it, +until it has become perfectly plain to me that I am losing my mind." + +Dr. Tolbridge looked into the fire. + +"Well," said he, presently, "I am glad to hear it." + +Miss Dora sprang to her feet. + +"Oh, sit down," said he, "and let me explain myself. My advice is, if you +lose your mind, don't mind the loss. It really will do you good. That +sounds hard and cruel, doesn't it? But wait a bit. It often happens that +the minds of young people are like their first teeth--what are called +milk teeth, you know. These minds and these teeth do very well for a +time, but after a while they become unable to perform the services which +will be demanded of them, and they are shed, or at least they ought to +be. Sometimes, of course, they have to be extracted." + +"Nonsense, doctor," said the young lady, smiling in spite of herself, +"you cannot extract a mind." + +"Well, perhaps not exactly that," he answered, "but we can help it to be +absorbed and to disappear, and so make a way for the strong, vigorous +mind of maturity, which is certain to succeed it. All this has happened +and is happening to you, Miss Dora. You have lost your milk mind, and the +sooner it is gone the better. You will be delighted with the one that +succeeds it. Now then, can you give me an idea about how angry you are?" + +"I am not angry at all," she replied, "but I feel humiliated. You think +my mental sufferings are all fanciful." + +"Oh, no," said the doctor; "to continue the dental simile, they are the +last aches of your youthful mentality, forced to make way for the +intellect of a woman." + +Miss Bannister looked out of the window for a few moments. + +"Doctor," she then said, "I do not believe there is any one else who +knows me, who would tell me that I have the mind of a child." + +"Oh, no," replied Dr. Tolbridge, "for it is not likely that there is any +one else to whom you have made the fact known." + +There was a quick flush on the face of Miss Dora, and a flash in her blue +eyes, and she reached out her hand toward her muff which lay on the table +beside her, but she changed her purpose and drew back her hand. The +doctor looked at her with a smile. + +"You were just on the point of jumping up and leaving the room without a +word, weren't you?" + +"Yes, I was," said she, "and I have a great mind to do it now, but +first I must--" + +"Miss Dora," said the doctor, "I am delighted. Actually you are cutting +your new mind. Before you can realize the fact, you will have it all +full-formed and ready for use. Let me see; this is the ninth of March; +bad roads; bad weather; no walking; no driving; nothing inspiriting; +disagreeable in doors and out. I think the full change will occur within +three weeks. By the end of this month, you will not only have forgotten +that your milk mind has troubled you, but that the world was ever blank, +and that your joys and affections were ever on the point of passing away +from you. You will then be the brave-hearted, bright-spirited woman that +Nature intended you to be, after she had passed you through some of the +preliminary stages." + +The flush on the face of Miss Dora gradually passed away as she listened +to this speech. + +She rose. "Doctor," said she, "I like that better than what you have been +saying. Anyway, I shall not be angry, and I shall wait three weeks and +see what happens, and if everything is all wrong then, the responsibility +will rest on you." + +"Very good," said he, "I agree to the terms. It is a bargain." + +Now Miss Dora seemed troubled again. She took up her muff, put it down, +drew her furs about her, then let them fall again, and finally turned +toward the physician, who had also risen. + +"Doctor," she said, "I don't want you to put this visit in the family +bill. I wish to--to attend to it myself. How much should I pay you?" and +she took out her little pocketbook. + +Dr. Tolbridge put his hands behind him. + +"This case is out of my usual line of practice," he said, "and my +ordinary schedule of fees does not apply to it. For advice such as I have +given you I never charge money. I take nothing but cats." + +"What!" exclaimed Miss Dora; "what on earth do you mean?" + +"I mean cats," he replied, "or rather kittens. I am very fond of kittens, +and at present we have not one in the house. So, if you have a kitten--" + +"Dr. Tolbridge," cried Miss Dora, her eyes sparkling, "do you really mean +that? Would you truly like to have an Angora kitten?" + +"That is exactly the breed I want," he answered. + +"Why, I have five," she said; "they are only four days old, and perfect +beauties. I shall be charmed to give you one, and I will pick out the +very prettiest for you. As soon as it is old enough, I will bring it to +you, already named, and with a ribbon on its neck. What color would you +like the ribbon to be?" + +"For Angoras, blue," he said; "I shall be so glad to have a kitten like +that; but remember that you must not bring it to me until its eyes are +opened, and it has--" + +"Doctor," interrupted Miss Dora, raising her forefinger, "you were just +on the point of saying, 'and has shed its milk mind.' Now I am going away +before you make me angry again." + +When his patient had gone, Dr. Tolbridge put another log on the fire, +shook up the cushions of the sofa, and lay down to continue his nap. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MISS PANNEY + + +The Witton family, distant relatives of Miss Panney, with whom she had +lived for many years, resided on a farm in the hilly country above +Thorbury, and when Mrs. Tolbridge had rattled through the town, she found +the country road very rough and bad--hard and bumpy in some places, and +soft and muddy in others; but Buckskin was in fine spirits and pulled her +bravely on. + +When she reached the Witton house she left the horse in charge of the +boy, and opening the hall door, went directly up to Miss Panney's room. +Knocking, she waited some little time for an answer, and then was told, +in a clear, high voice, to come in. The room was large and well lighted. +Against one of the walls stood a high-posted bed with a canopy, and on +one of the pillows of the bed appeared the head of an elderly woman, the +skin darkened and wrinkled by time, the nose aquiline, and the black eyes +very sharp and quick of movement. This head was surrounded by the frills +of a freshly laundered night-cap, and the smooth white coverlid was drawn +up close under its chin. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed the person in the bed, "is that you, Mrs. +Tolbridge? I thought it was the doctor." + +"I don't wonder at that, Miss Panney," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "At times we +have very much the same sort of knock." + +"But where is the doctor?" asked the old lady. + +"I hope he is at home and asleep," was the reply. "He has been working +very hard lately, and was up the greater part of last night. He was +coming here when he received your message, but I told him he should not +do it; I would come myself, and if I found it absolutely necessary that +you should see him, I would let him know. And now what is the trouble, +Miss Panney?" + +Miss Panney fixed her eyes steadfastly upon her visitor, who had taken a +seat by the bedside. + +"Catherine Tolbridge," said she, "do you know what will happen to you, if +you don't look out? You'll lose that man." + +"Lose him!" exclaimed the other. + +"Yes, just that," replied the old lady; "I have seen it over and over +again. Down they drop, right in the middle of their harness. And the +stouter and sturdier they are, the worse it is for them; they think they +can do anything, and they do it. I'll back a skinny doctor against a +burly one, any day. He knows there are things he can't do. He doesn't +try, and he keeps afloat." + +"That is exactly what I am trying to do," said the doctor's wife, "and if +those are your opinions, Miss Panney, don't you think that the doctor's +patients ought to have a regard for his health, and that they ought not +to make him come to them in all sorts of weather, and at all hours of the +day, unless there is something serious the matter with them? Now I don't +believe there is anything serious the matter with you today." + +"There is always something serious the matter with a person of my age," +said Miss Panney, "and as for Dr. Tolbridge's visits to me doing him any +harm, it is all stuff and nonsense. They do him good; they rest him; they +brighten him up. He's never livelier than when he is with me. He doesn't +have to hang over me all the night, giving me this and that, to keep the +breath in my body, when he ought to be taking the rest that he needs more +than any of us." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. "No, indeed," said she, "he never has to do +anything of that kind for you. I believe you are the healthiest +patient he has." + +"That may be," said the other, "and it is much to his credit, and to +mine, too. I know when I want a doctor. I don't send for him when I am +in the last stages of anything. But we won't talk anything more about +that. I want to know all about your husband. Do you think he is really +out of health?" + +"No," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "he is simply overworked, and needs rest. Just +the sort of rest I hope he is getting this afternoon." + +"Nonsense," said Miss Panney; "rest is well enough, but you must give him +more than that if you do not want to see him break down. You must give +him good victuals. Rest, without the best of food, amounts to little in +his case." + +"Truly, Miss Panney!" exclaimed her visitor, "I think I give my husband +as good living as any one in Thorbury has or can expect." + +"Humph!" said the old lady. "He may have all that, and yet be starving +before your eyes. There isn't a man, woman, or child, in or about +Thorbury, who really lives well--excepting, perhaps, myself." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I think you do manage to live very well, +Miss Panney." + +"Yes," said the other, "and I'd like to manage to have my friends live +well, too. By the way, did you ever make rum-flake for the doctor when +he comes in tired and faint?" + +"I never heard of it," replied the other. + +"I thought as much," said Miss Panney. "Well, you take the whites of two +eggs and beat them up, and while you are beating you sprinkle rum over +the egg, from a pepper caster, which you ought to keep clean to use for +this and nothing else. Then you should sift in sugar according to taste, +and when you have put a dry macaroon, which has been soaking in rum all +this time, in the bottom of a glass saucer, you pile the flake over it, +and it's ready for him, except that sometimes you put in,--let me see!--a +little orange juice, I think, but I've got the recipe there in my +scrap-book, and I can find it in a minute." So saying, the old lady threw +aside the coverlid, and jumped to the floor with the activity of a cat. + +Mrs. Tolbridge burst out laughing. + +"I declare, Miss Panney!" she exclaimed, "you have your dress on." + +"What of that?" said the old lady, opening a drawer. "A warm dress is a +good thing to wear, at least I have always found it so." + +"But not with a night-cap," said the other. + +"That depends on circumstances," said Miss Panney, turning over the pages +of a large scrap-book. + +"And shoes," continued Mrs. Tolbridge, laughing again. + +"Shoes," cried Miss Panney, pushing out one foot, and looking at it. +"Well, truly, that was an oversight; but here is the recipe;" and without +the aid of spectacles, she began to read. "It's exactly as I told you," +she said presently, "except that some people use sponge cake instead of +macaroons. The orange juice depends on individual taste. Shall I write +that out for you, or will you remember it?" + +"Oh, I can remember it," said the other; "but tell me, Miss Panney--" + +"Well, then," said the old lady, "make it for him, and see how he likes +it. There is one thing, Mrs. Tolbridge, that you should never forget, and +that is that the doctor is not only your husband, but the mainstay of the +community." + +"Oh, I know that, and accept the responsibility; but you must tell me why +you are in bed with all your clothes on. I believe that you did not +expect the doctor so soon, and when you heard my knock, you clapped on +your night-cap and jumped into bed." + +"Catherine," quietly remarked the old lady, "there is nothing so +discouraging to a doctor as to find a person who has sent for him out of +bed. If the patient is up and about, she mystifies him; he is apt to make +mistakes; he loses interest; he wonders if she couldn't come to him, +instead of his having to go to her; but when he finds the ailing person +in bed, the case is natural and straightforward; he feels at home, and +knows how to go to work. If you believe in a doctor, you ought to make +him believe in you. And if you are in bed, he will believe in you, and if +you are out of it, he is apt not to. More than that, Mrs. Tolbridge, +there is no greater compliment that you can pay to a physician you have +sent for, than to have him find you in bed." + +The doctor's wife laughed. She thought, but she did not say so, that +probably this old lady had paid her husband a great many compliments. + +"Well, Miss Panney," she said, rising, "what report shall I make?" + +The old lady took off her night-cap, and replaced it with her ordinary +headgear of lace and ribbons. + +"Have you heard anything," she asked, "of the young man who is coming to +Cobhurst?" + +"No," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "nothing at all." + +"Well," continued Miss Panney, "I think the doctor knows something about +him through old Butterwood. I have an idea that I know something about +him myself, but I wanted to talk to the doctor about him. Of course this +is a mere secondary matter. My back has been troubling me a good deal +lately, but as the doctor is so pushed, I won't ask him to come here on +purpose to see me. If he's in the neighborhood, I shall be very glad to +have him call. For the present, I shall try some of the old liniments. +Dear knows, I have enough of them, dating back for years and years." + +"But it will not do to make any mistakes, Miss Panney. Those old +prescriptions might not suit you now." + +"Don't trouble yourself in the least about that," said the old lady, +lifting her hand impressively; "medicine never injures me. Not a drop of +it do I ever take inside of me, prescription or no prescription. But I +don't mind putting things on the outside of me--of course, I mean in +reason, for there are outside applications that would ruin the +constitution of a jack-screw." + +There were very few people in the neighborhood of Thorbury who were older +than Miss Panney, and very few of any age who were as alert in both mind +and body. She had been born in this region; had left it in her youth, and +had returned about thirty years ago, when she had taken up her abode with +the Wittons, who at that time were a newly married couple. They were now +middle-aged people, but Miss Panney still lived with them, and seemed to +be much the very same old lady as she was when she arrived. She was a +woman who kept a good deal to herself, having many resources for her +active mind. With many people who were not acquainted with her socially +but knew all about her, she had the reputation of being wicked. The +principal reason for this belief was the well-known fact that she always +took her breakfast in bed. This was considered to be a French habit, and +the French were looked upon as infidels. Moreover, she never went to +church, and when questioned upon this subject, had been known to answer +that she could not listen with patience to a sermon, for she had never +heard one without thinking that she could preach on that subject a great +deal better than the man in the pulpit. + +In spite of this fact, however, the rector of the Episcopal church of +Thorbury and the Methodist minister were both great friends of Miss +Panney, and although she did not come to hear them, they liked very much +to go to hear her. Mr. Hampton, the Methodist, would talk to her about +flower-gardening and the by-gone people and ways of the region, while Mr. +Ames, the rector, who was a young man, did not hesitate to assert that he +frequently got very good hints for passages in his sermons, from remarks +made by Miss Panney about things that were going on in the religious and +social world. + +But although Miss Panney took pleasure in the company of clergymen and +physicians, she boldly asserted that she liked lawyers better. + +"In the law," she would say, "you find things fixed and settled. A law +is a law, the same for everybody, and no matter how much people may +wrangle and dispute about it, it is there, and you can read it for +yourself. But the practice of medicine has to be shifted to suit +individual cases, and the practice of theology is shifted to suit +individual creeds, and you can't put your finger on steady principles as +you can in law. When I put my finger down, I like to be sure what is +under it." + +Miss Panney had other reasons for liking lawyers, for her first real +friend had been her legal guardian, old Mr. Bannister of Thorbury. She +was one of the few people of the place who remembered this old gentleman, +and she had often told how shocked and pained she had been when summoned +from boarding-school to attend his funeral, and how she had been +impressed by the idea that the preparations for this important event +consisted mainly in beating up eggs, stemming raisins, baking cakes and +pies, and making all sorts of provision for the sumptuous entertainment +of the people who should be drawn together by the death of the principal +citizen of the town. To her mind it would have been more appropriate had +the company been fed on bread and water. + +Thomas Bannister, who succeeded to his father's business, had been Miss +Panney's legal friend and counsellor for many years. But he, too, was +dead, and the office had now devolved on Herbert Bannister, the grandson +of the old gentleman, and the brother of Miss Dora. + +Herbert and Miss Panney were very good friends, but not yet cronies. He +was still under thirty, and there were many events of the past of which +he knew but little, and about which he could not wholly sympathize with +her. But she believed that years would ripen him, and that the time would +come when she would get along as well with him as she had with his father +and grandfather. + +She was not supposed to be a rich woman, and she had not been much +engaged in suits at law, but it was surprising how much legal business +Miss Panney had, as well as business of many other kinds. + +When Mrs. Tolbridge had left her, the old lady put away her scrap-book, +and prepared to go downstairs. + +"It is a great pity," she said to herself, "that one of the bodily +ailments which is bound to show itself in the family in the course of the +spring, should not have turned up to-day. I want very much to talk to the +doctor about the young man at Cobhurst, and I cannot drive about the +country in such weather as this." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BROTHER AND SISTER + + +There were other people in and around Thorbury, who very much wanted to +know something about the young man at Cobhurst, but this desire was +interfered with by the fact that the young man was not yet at Cobhurst, +and did not seem to be in a hurry to get there. + +Cobhurst was the name of an estate a mile or so from the Witton farm, +whose wide fields had lain for a half a dozen years untilled, and whose +fine old mansion had been, for nearly a year, uninhabited. Its former +owner, Matthias Butterwood, a bachelor, and during the greater part of +his life, a man who took great pride in his farm, his stock, and his +fruit trees, had been afflicted in his later years with various kinds of +rheumatism, and had been led to wander about to different climates and +different kinds of hot springs for the sake of physical betterment. + +When at home in these latter days, old Butterwood had been content to +have his garden cultivated, for he could still hobble about and look at +that, and had left his fields to take care of themselves, until he should +be well enough to be his own farmer, as he had always been. But old age, +coming to the aid of his other complaints, had carried him off a few +months before this story begins. + +The only person now living at Cobhurst was a colored man named Mike, +who inhabited the gardener's house and held the office of care-taker of +the place. + +Whenever Mike now came to town with his old wagon and horse, or when he +was met on the road, he found people more and more inquisitive about the +new owner of Cobhurst. Mike was not altogether a negro, having a good +deal of Irish blood in his veins, and this conjunction of the two races +in his individuality had had the effect upon his speech of destroying all +tendency to negro dialect or Irish brogue, so that, in fact, he spoke +like ordinary white people of his grade in life. The effect upon his +character, however, had been somewhat different, and while the vivacity +of the African and that of the Hibernian, in a degree, had neutralized +each other, making him at times almost as phlegmatic as the traditional +Dutchman, he would sometimes exhibit the peculiarities of a Sambo, and +sometimes those of a Paddy. + +Mike could give no satisfaction to his questioners; he knew nothing of +the newcomer, except that he had received a postal card, directed to the +man in charge of Cobhurst, and which stated that Mr. Haverley would +arrive there on the fourth of April. + +"More'n that," Mike would say, "I don't know nothin'. Whether he's old or +young, and what family he's got, I can't tell ye. All I know is, that he +don't seem in no hurry to see his place, an' he must be a reg'lar city +man, or he'd know that winter's the time to come to work a farm in the +spring of the year." + +Other people, however, knew more about Mr. Haverley than Mike did, and +Miss Panney could have informed any one that he was a young man, +unmarried, and a second nephew to old Butterwood. She had faith that Dr. +Tolbridge could give her some additional points, provided she could get +an opportunity of properly questioning him. + +Meanwhile the days passed on; the roads about Thorbury dried up and grew +better; in low, sheltered places, the grass showed a greenish hue; the +willows turned yellow, and people began to ponder over the catalogues of +seed merchants. At last, it was the third of April, and on that day, in +a large bright room of a New York boarding-house, kneeling in front of an +open trunk, were Mr. Ralph Haverley and his sister Miriam. + +Presently Miriam, whose years had not yet reached fifteen, vigorously +pushed a pair of slippers into an unoccupied crevice in the trunk, and +then, drawing back, seated herself on a stool. + +"The delightful thing about this packing is," she said, "that it will +never have to be done again. I am not going to any school, or any country +place to board; you are not going to a hotel, not to any house kept by +other people; our things do not have to be packed separately; we can put +them in anywhere where they will fit; we are both going to the same +place; we are going home, and there we shall stay." + +"Always?" asked her brother, looking up with a smile. + +"Always," answered Miriam. "When one gets a home, one stays there. At +least I do." + +"And you will not even go away to school?" he asked. + +"By no means," said his sister, looking at him with much earnestness. "I +have been to school ever since I was six years old,--nearly nine +years,--and I positively declare that that is long enough for any girl. +Others stay later, but then they do not begin so soon. As to finishing my +education, as they call it, I shall do that at home. What a happy +thought! It makes me want to skip. And you are to be my teacher, Ralph. I +am sure you know everything that I shall need to know." + +Ralph laughed. + +"I suppose you will examine me to see what I do know," he said, as he +folded a heavy overcoat and laid it in the trunk. + +Miriam sprang up and began to collect more of her effects. + +"We shall see about that," she said, and then, suddenly stopping, she +turned toward her brother. "There is one thing, Ralph, about which I need +not examine you at all, and that is goodness of heart. If you had not had +a very good heart indeed, you would not have waited and waited and +waited--fairly pinching yourself, I expect--till I could get away from +school and we could both go together and look at our new home in the very +same instant." + +Ralph Haverley was a brown-haired, bright-eyed young fellow under thirty. +He had been educated for a profession, but the death of his parents, +before he reached his majority, made it necessary for him to go to work +at something by which he could immediately earn money enough to support +not only himself, but his little sister. At his father's death, which +occurred a month or two after that of his mother, young Haverley found +that the family resources, which had never been great, had almost +entirely disappeared. He could barely scrape together enough money to +send Miriam to a boarding-school and to keep himself alive until he could +get work. He had spent a great part of his boyhood in the country. His +tastes and disposition inclined him to an out-door life, and, had he been +able, he would have gone to the West, and established himself upon a +ranch. But this was impossible; he must do the work that was nearest at +hand, and as soon as he found it, he set himself at it with a will. + +For eight long years he had struggled and labored; changing his +occupation several times, but always living in the city; always making +his home in a boardinghouse or a hotel. His pluck and energy had had its +reward, and for the past three years he had held a responsible and +well-paid position in a mercantile house. But his life and his work had +for him nothing but a passing interest; he had no sympathy with bonded +warehouses, invoices, and ledgers. All he could look forward to was a +higher position, a larger salary, and, when Miriam should graduate, a +little home somewhere where she could keep house for him. In his dreams +of this home, he would sometimes place it in the suburbs, where Sundays +and holidays spent in country air would compensate for hasty breakfasts, +early morning trains, and late ones in the afternoon. But when he +reflected that it would not do to leave his young sister alone all day in +a thinly settled, rural place, at the mercy of tramps, he was forced to +the conclusion that the thing for them to do was to live in a city +apartment. But there was nothing in either of these outlooks to create +fervent longings in the soul of Ralph Haverley. + +For some legal reason, probably connected with the fact that old +Butterwood died at a health resort in Arkansas, Haverley did not learn +until late in the winter that his mother's uncle had left to him the +estate of Cobhurst. The reason for this bequest, as stated in the will, +was the old man's belief that the said Ralph Haverley was the only one of +his blood relations who seemed to be getting on in the world, and to him +he left the house, farm, and all the personal property he might find +therein and thereon, but not one cent of money. Where the testator's +money was bestowed, Ralph did not know, for he did not see the will. + +When Ralph heard of his good fortune, his true life seemed to open before +him; his Butterwood blood boiled in his veins. He did not hesitate a +moment as to his course, for he was of the opinion that if a healthy +young man could not make a living out of a good farm he did not deserve +to live at all. He gave immediate notice of his intention to abandon +mercantile life, and set himself to work by day and by night to wind up +his business affairs, so that he might be free by the beginning of April. +It was this work which helped him to control his desire to run off and +take a look at Cobhurst without waiting for his sister. + +Of the place which was to be their home, Miriam knew absolutely nothing, +but Ralph had heard his mother talk about her visits to her uncle, and, +in his mind, the name Cobhurst had always called up visions of wide halls +and lofty chambers, broad piazzas, sunny slopes and lawns, green meadows, +and avenues bordered with tall trees--a grand estate in fact, with woods +full of nuts, streams where a boy could fish, and horses that he might +ride. Had these ideas existed in Miriam's mind, the brother and sister +would have visited Cobhurst the day after he brought her the letter from +the lawyer; but her conceptions of the place were vague and without form, +except when she associated it with the homes of girls she had visited. +But as none of these suited her very well, she preferred to fall back +upon chaotic anticipation. + +"When I think of Cobhurst," she wrote to her brother, "I smell marigolds, +and think of rather poor blackberries that you pick from bushes. Please +do not put in your letters anything that you know about it, for I would +rather see everything for myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE HOME + + +It was late in the afternoon when Ralph and Miriam Haverley alighted at +the station at Thorbury. Miss Dora Bannister, who had come down to see a +friend off, noticed the two standing on the platform. She did not know +who they were, but she thought the one to be a very handsome young man, +and the other a nice-looking girl who seemed to be all eyes. + +"What a queer-looking colored man!" said Miriam. "He looks mashed on +top." + +The person alluded to was getting down from a wagon drawn by a mournful +horse, and now approached the platform. + +"Is you Mr. Hav'ley, sir?" he said, touching his hat. "Thought so; I'm +the man in charge o' yer place. Got any baggage, sir?" + +On being informed that the travellers had brought three trunks with them, +and that some boxes would be expected on the morrow, Mike, who with his +worn felt hat pressed flat upon his head, might give one the idea of a +bottle with the cork driven in, stood for a moment in thought. + +"I can take one trunk," he said, "the one ye will want the most tonight, +and ye'd better have the others hauled over tomorrow with the boxes. Ye +can both go in the wagon, if ye like. The seat can be pushed back, and I +can sit on the trunk myself, or ye can hire a kerridge." + +"Of course we will take a cab," said Ralph. "How far is it to Cobhurst?" + +"Well, some says three miles, and some says four. It depends a good deal +on the roads. They're pretty good today." + +Having engaged the services of a country cabman, who declared that he +had known Cobhurst ever since he was born, and having arranged for +the transfer of their goods the next day, the Haverleys rattled out +of the town. + +"Now," said Miriam, "we are truly going home, and I do not remember ever +doing that before. And, Ralph," she continued, after gazing right and +left from the cab windows, "one of the first things we ought to do is to +get a new man to take charge of the place. That person isn't fit. I never +saw such slouchy clothes." + +Ralph laughed. "I am the man who is to have charge of the place," he +said. "What do you think of my clothes?" + +Miriam gave a little pull at his hair for reply. "And there is another +thing," she continued. "If that is our horse and wagon, don't you really +think that we ought to sell them? They are awful." + +"Don't be in a hurry," said Ralph. "We shall soon find out whether we own +the horse or not. He may belong to the man. He's not a bad one, either. +See, he is passing us now with that big trunk in the wagon." + +"Passing us!" exclaimed Miriam. "Almost any horse could do that. Did you +ever see such an old poke as we have, and such a bouncy, jolting +rattletrap of a carriage? It squeaks all over." + +"Alas," said Ralph, "I am thinking of something worse than jolts or +squeaks. I am hungry, and I am sure you must be, and I don't see what we +are going to do about supper. I am afraid I am not a very good manager, +yet. I had an idea that Cobhurst was not so far from the station, and +that we could go over and look at the house, and come back to a hotel and +stay there for the night; but now I see it will be dark before we get +there, and we shall not feel like turning round and going directly back. +Perhaps it would be better to turn now." + +"Turn back, when we are going to our home!" cried Miriam. "How can you +think of such a thing, Ralph? And you needn't suppose that neither of us +is a good manager. I am housekeeper now, and I did not forget that we +shall need our supper. I have it all there in my bag, and I shall cook +it as soon as we reach the house. Of course I knew that we could not +expect anything to eat in a place with only a man to take care of it." + +"What in the world have you?" asked Ralph, much amused. + +"I have four breakfast rolls," she said, "six mutton chops, a package of +ground coffee, another of tea, a pound of sugar, and a good big piece of +gingerbread. I am sorry I couldn't bring any butter, but I was afraid +that might melt in a warm car, and run over everything. As for milk, we +shall have to make up our minds to do without that for one meal. I got up +early this morning, and went out and bought all these things." + +Ralph was on the point of saying, "What are we going to have for +breakfast?" But he would not trouble his sister's mind with any such +suggestions. + +"You are a good little housewife," said he; "I wish we were there, and +sitting down at the table--if there is any table." + +"I have thought it all out," said Miriam, "if it is one of those large +farm-houses, with a big kitchen, where the family eat and spend their +evening, we shall eat there, too, this once. You shall build a fire, +and I'll have the coffee made in no time. There must be a coffee-pot, +or a tin cup, or something to boil in. The chops can be broiled over +the coals." + +"On what?" asked Ralph. + +"You can get a pointed stick and toast them, if there is no other way, +sir. And you need not make fun of my supper; the chops are very nice +ones, and I have wrapped them up in oiled silk, so that they will not +grease the other things." + +"Oh, don't talk any more about them," exclaimed Ralph. "It makes me too +dreadfully hungry." + +"If it is a cottage," remarked Miriam, looking reflectively out of the +window, "I cannot get it out of mind that there will be all sorts of +kitchen things hanging around the old-fashioned fireplace. That would be +very nice and convenient, but--" + +"You hope it is not a cottage?" said her brother. + +"Well," answered Miriam, presently, "home is home, and I made up my mind +to be perfectly satisfied with it whatever kind of house it may be. It +seems to me that a real home ought to be like parents and relations; +we've got them, and we can't change them, and we never think of such a +thing. We love them quite as they are. But I cannot help hoping, just a +little, that it is not a cottage. The only ones I have ever been in smelt +so much of soapsuds." + +It was now quite dark, and the road appeared to be growing rougher. Every +now and then they jolted over a big stone, or sunk into a deep rut. Ralph +let down the front window. + +"Are we nearly there?" he asked of the driver. + +"Yes, sir," said the man; "we are on the place now." + +"You don't mean," exclaimed Miriam, "that this is our road!" + +"It's a good deal washed just here," said the man, "by the heavy rains." + +Presently the road became smoother and in a few minutes the +carriage stopped. + +"I am trembling all over," said Miriam, "with thinking of being at home, +and with not an idea of what it is like." + +In a moment they were standing on a broad flagstone. Although it was +dark, they could see the outline of the house before them. + +"Ralph," whispered Miriam, drawing close to her brother, "it is not a +cottage." Without waiting for a reply she went on: "Ralph," she said, her +hands trembling as they held his arm, "it is lordly." + +"I had some sort of an idea like that myself," he answered; "but, my +dear, don't you think it will be well to keep this man until we go inside +and see what sort of accommodations we shall find? Perhaps we may be +obliged to go back to the town." + +Miriam immediately began to ascend the broad steps of the piazza. + +"Come on, Ralph," she said, "and please don't talk like that." + +Her brother laughed, paid the driver and dismissed him. + +"Now, little girl," he cried, "we have burned our ships, and must take +what we shall find." + +"Oh, Ralph," cried Miriam, "I couldn't have gone back. If there are +floors to the rooms, they will do to sleep on for to-night." + +At this moment a wide front door opened, revealing a colored woman +holding a lamp. + +"Good evenin'," said she; "walk in." + +When Ralph and Miriam had entered, the woman looked out the open door. + +"Is you all?" she asked. + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph. + +The woman hesitated a moment, looked out again, and then closed the door. + +"Would you like to go to your rooms afore supper?" she asked. + +The brother and sister were so absorbed in gazing about them, that they +did not hear the question. The lamp, still in the woman's hand, gave a +poor and vacillating light, but they could see a wide, long hall, tall +doors opening on each side, some high-backed chairs, and other +dark-colored furniture. + +"Yer rooms is ready," continued the woman; "ye can take yer pick of them. +Supper'll be on the table the minute ye come down. Ye'd better take this +lamp, sir, and thar's another one in the upper hall. I expect ye two is +brother and sister. Ye're alike as two pins of different sizes." + +"You're right," said Ralph, holding up the lamp, and looking about him; +"but please tell me, where are the stairs?" + +"Oh, yer open that glass door right in front of ye," said the woman. "I'd +go with yer, but I smell somethin' bilin' over now." + +Opening the glass door, they saw before them a narrow staircase in +two flights. + +"Stairs shut up in a room of their own," said Ralph, as they ascended. +"Did you ever see anything like this before?" + +"I never saw anything like anything before," said Miriam, in a low, +reverent voice. + +On the floor above they found another wide hall, and four or five +open doors. + +"There is your lamp," said Ralph to his sister; "take the first room you +come to, and to-morrow we will pick and choose." + +"Who would have thought," said Miriam, "that a woman--" + +"Don't let us think or talk of her now," interrupted her brother. "To +hurry down to supper is our present business." + +When the two went downstairs, they found the colored woman standing by an +open door in the rear of the hall. + +"Supper's ready, sir," said she, and they entered the dining-room. + +It was a large and rather sparely furnished room, but Miriam and Ralph +took no note of anything except the table, which stood in the middle of +the floor, lighted by a hanging lamp. It was a large table and arranged +for eight people with chairs at every place. The woman gave a little +laugh, as she said:-- + +"I reckon you all may think this is a pretty big table for two people, +an' one not growed up, but you see I didn't know nothin' about the size +of the family, an' Mike he didn't know nothin' either. I'm Phoebe, Mike's +wife, an' I ain't got nothin' in the world to do with this house, for +mostly I go out to service in the town, but I'm here now; and of course +we didn't want you all to come an' find nothin' to eat, an' no beds made, +an' as you didn't write no orders, sir, we had just to do the best we +could accordin' to our own lights. I reckoned there would be the gem'en +and his wife, an' perhaps two growed-up sons, though Mike, he was +doubtful about the growed-up sons, especially as to thar bein' two of +them. Then I reckoned thar'd be a darter, just about your age, Miss, an' +then there'd be two younger chillen, one a boy an' one a girl, an' a +gov'ness for these two. Of course I didn't know whether the gov'ness was +in the habit of eatin' at your table or not, but I reckoned that this +time, comin' so late, you'd all eat at the same table, an' I put a plate +an' a cheer for her. An' Mike went ter town, an' got groc'ries an' things +enough for to-night and tomorrow, an' as everything was ready I just left +everything as it was. I reckoned you wouldn't want ter wait until I'd sot +the whole table over again." + +"By no means," cried Ralph, and down they sat, Ralph at one end of the +long table, and Miriam at the other. It was a good supper; beefsteak, an +omelet, hot rolls, fried potatoes, coffee, tea, preserved fruit, and all +on the scale suited to a family of eight. + +When Phoebe had retired to the kitchen, presumably for additional +supplies, Miriam stretched her arms over the table. + +"Think of it, Ralph," she said, "this is our supper. The first meal we +ever truly owned." + +They had not been long at the table when they were startled by the loud +ringing of the door-bell. + +"'Pon my word," ejaculated Phoebe, "it's a long time since that bell's +been rung," and setting down a plate of hotter biscuit, with which she +had been offering temptations, she left the room. Presently she returned, +ushering in Dr. Tolbridge. + +Briefly introducing himself, the doctor welcomed the brother and sister +to the neighborhood of Thorbury, and apologized for the extreme +promptness of his call. + +"I heard you had arrived," he said, "from a hackman I met on the road, +and having made a visit near by I thought I would look in on you. It +might be days before I should again have a chance. But don't let me +disturb your supper; I beg that you will sit down again." + +"And I beg you, sir," said Ralph, "to sit down with us." + +"Well," said the doctor, smiling, "I am hungry, and my own supper-time is +passed. You seem to have plenty of room for a guest." + +"Oh, yes, indeed, sir," said Miriam, who had already taken a fancy to the +doctor's genial face. "Phoebe thought we were a large family, and you can +take the seat of one of the grown-up sons, or the daughter's chair, or +the place that was intended for either the little boy or little girl, or +perhaps you would like the governess' seat." + +At this Phoebe turned her face to the wall and giggled. + +"A fine imagination," said the doctor, "and what is better, a bountiful +meal. Please consider me, for the present, the smallest boy, who might +naturally be supposed to have the biggest appetite." + +"It would have been funnier," said Miriam, gravely, "if you had been the +governess." + +The supper was a lively one; the three appetites were excellent; the +doctor was in his jolliest mood, and Ralph and Miriam were delighted with +him. On his part, he could not help looking upon it in the light of a +joke--an agreeable one, however--that these two young people, one of them +a mere child, should constitute the new Cobhurst family. He had known +that the property had gone to an unmarried man who was in business, and +had not thought of his coming here to live. + +"And now," said the doctor, as they rose from the table, "I must go. My +wife will call on you very soon, and in the meantime, what is there that +I can do for you?" + +"I think," answered Miriam, looking about her to see that Phoebe was not +in the room, "that it would be very nice if you could get us a new man. +We like the woman well enough, but the man is awful." + +The doctor looked at her, astonished. + +"Do you mean Mike?" he asked, "the faithful Mike, who has been in charge +here ever since Mr. Butterwood took to travelling about for the good of +his rheumatisms? Why, my dear young lady, the whole country looks upon +Mike as a pattern man-of-all-work. He may be getting a little cranky and +independent in his notions, for he has been pretty much his own master +for years, but I am sure you could find no one to take his place who +would be more trustworthy or so generally useful." + +Ralph was about to explain that it was only the appearance of the man to +which his sister objected, but she spoke for herself. + +"Of course, we oughtn't always to judge people by their looks," she said, +"but in my thoughts about our home, I never connected it with such a very +shabby person. But then, if he is an old family servant, he may be the +very kind of a man the place needs." + +"Oh, I advise you to stick to Mike, by all means," said the doctor, "and +to Phoebe, too, if she will stay with you. But I think she prefers the +town to this somewhat secluded place." + +"A good omen," said Ralph, as he closed the door after the doctor. "As a +neighbor, I believe that man is at the head of his class, and I am very +glad that he happened to be the first one who came to see us." + +"Well," said Miriam, "we haven't seen the others yet, and I am glad that +we don't know whether this doctor is homeopathic or allopathic, so that +we can get started in liking him before we know whether we approve of his +medicines or not." + +"Upon my word," cried Ralph, "I never knew that you had opinions about +the different medical schools. Did they teach you that sort of thing at +Mrs. Stone's?" + +"I suppose I can have opinions without having them taught to me, can't +I?" she answered. "I saw a lot of sickness among the girls, and I am +homeopathic." + +"Stuff," exclaimed Ralph, "I don't believe you ever took any medicine in +your life." + +"I have not taken much," answered Miriam, "but I have taken enough to +settle it in my mind that I am never going to take any more of the +same sort." + +"And they were not little sugar pills?" + +"No, indeed they were not," said Miriam, very decidedly. + +"I've made a fire in the parlor," said Phoebe, coming in, "if you all +want to sit there afore you go to bed." + +"I don't want to sit anywhere," cried Miriam, "and I am crazy to get a +peep out of doors. Come on, Ralph, just for a minute." + +Ralph followed her out on the piazza. + +"It's awfully dark," said Miriam, "but if we walk carefully, I think we +can get far enough away from the house to look up at it, and find out a +little what it looks like." + +They groped their way across the driveway, and on to the grass beyond. + +"We can see a good deal of it against the sky!" exclaimed Miriam. "What +tall pillars! It looks like a Greek temple in front. And from what I can +make out, it's pretty much all front." + +"I suppose it is a regular old-fashioned house," said her brother, +"with a Grecian portico front, and perhaps another at the back. But you +must come in now, for you have on neither hat nor wrap." And he took +her by the hand. + +"It isn't cold," said Miriam, "and oh, Ralph, look up at the stars. Those +are our stars, every one of them." + +Ralph laughed, as he led her into the house. + +"Yes, indeed," she insisted, "we own all the way down, and all the way +up." + +"Now then," said Miriam, when they had closed the door behind them, "how +shall we explore the house? Shall we each take a lamp, or will candles +be better?" + +"Little girl!" exclaimed her brother, "I had no idea that you were such a +bunch of watch springs. It is nearly nine o'clock, and after the day's +work that you have done, it is time you were in bed. House exploring can +be done to-morrow." + +"Yes, indeed, Miss," said Phoebe, who stood by, anxious to shut up the +house and retire to her own domicile, "and I will go up into your room +with you and show you about things." + +Half an hour after this, Miriam came out of her bedroom, holding a bit of +lighted candle in her hand. She was dressed, with the exception of her +shoes. Softly she advanced to the foot of the stairs which led to the +floor above. + +"They are partly my stairs," she said to herself, as she paused for a +moment at the bottom of the step. "Ralph told me that he considered the +place as much mine as his, and I have a right to go up. I cannot go to +sleep without seeing what is up here. I never imagined such a third floor +as this one." + +In less than a minute, Miriam was slowly creeping along the next floor of +the house, which was indeed an odd one. For it was nothing more than a +gallery, broader at the ends than the sides, with a railed open space, +through which one could look down to the floor below. Some of the doors +were open and she peeped into the rooms, but saw nothing which induced +her to enter them. Having made the circuit of the gallery, she reached a +narrow staircase which wound still higher upward. + +"I must go up," she said; "I cannot help it." + +Arrived at the top of these stairs, Miriam held up her candle and looked +about her. She was in a great, wide, magnificent, glorious garret! Her +soul swelled. To own such a garret was almost too much joy! It was the +realization of a thousand dreams. + +Slowly advancing, she beheld fascinations on every side. Here were old +trunks, doubtless filled with family antiquities; there was a door +fastened with a chain and a padlock--there must be a key to that, or the +lock could be broken; in the dim light at the other end of the garret, +she could see what appeared to be a piled-up collection of boxes, chests, +cases, little and big, and all sorts of old-fashioned articles of use and +ornament, doubtless every one of them a treasure. A long musket, its +stock upon the floor, reclined against a little trunk covered with +horse-hair, from under the lid of which protruded the ends of some dusty +folded papers. + +"Oh, how I wish Ralph were here, and that we had a lamp. I could spend +the night here, looking at everything; but I can't do it now with this +little candle end." + +At her feet was a wooden box, the lid of which was evidently unfastened, +for it lay at an angle across the top. + +"I will look into this one box," she said, "and then I will go down." + +She knelt down, and with the candle in her right hand, pushed aside the +lid with her left. From the box there grinned at her a human skull, +surrounded by its bones. She started back. + +"Uncle Butterwood," she gasped and tried to rise, but her strength and +senses left her, and she fell over unconscious, upon the floor. The +candle dropped from her hand, and, fortunately, went out. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PANNEYOPATHY + + +About ten o'clock the next morning, Mike, in his little wagon, rattled up +to the door of Dr. Tolbridge. + +The doctor was not at home, but his wife came out. + +"That young girl!" she exclaimed. "Why, what can be the matter with her?" + +"I dunno, ma'am," answered Mike. "Phoebe told me just as the wagon got +there with the boxes an' trunks, an' nobody but me to help the man +upstairs with 'em, an' said I must get away to the doctor's jes' as fast +as I could drive. She said somethin' about her sleepin' in the garret and +ketchin' cold, but she wouldn't let me stop to ax no questions. She said +the doctor was wanted straight off." + +"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "that he is not here, but he +said he was going to stop and see Miss Panney. I can't tell you any +other place to which he was going. If you drive back by the Witton road, +you may find him, or, if he has not yet arrived, it might be well to +wait for him." + +Arrived at the Witton house, Mike saw Miss Panney, wrapped in a heavy +shawl and wearing a hood, taking her morning exercise on the piazza. + +"They want the doctor already!" she exclaimed in answer to Mike's +inquiries. "Who could have thought that? And he left here nearly half +an hour ago. His wife will send him when he gets home, but there is no +knowing when that will be. However, she must have somebody to attend +to her. Mike, I will go myself. I will go with you in your wagon. Wait +one minute." + +Into the house popped Miss Panney, and in a very short time returned, +carrying with her an umbrella and a large reticule made of brown plush, +and adorned with her monogram in yellow. One of the Witton girls came +with her, and assisted her to the seat, by the side of Mike. + +"Now then," said she, "get along as fast as you can. I shall not mind +the jolts." + +"Phoebe," said Miss Panney, as she entered the Cobhurst door, "it's a +long time since I have seen you, and I have not been in this house for +eight years. I hope you will be able to tell me something about this +sudden sickness, for Mike is as stupid as a stone post, and knows +nothing at all." + +"Now, Miss Panney," said Phoebe, speaking very earnestly, but in a low +voice, "I can't say that I can really give you the true head and tail of +it, for it's mighty hard to find out what did happen to that young gal. +All I know is that she didn't come down to breakfast, and that Mr. +Haverley went up to her room hisself, and he knocked and he knocked, and +then he pushed the door open and went in, and, bless my soul, Miss +Panney, she wasn't there. Then he hollered, and me and him, we sarched +and sarched the house. He went up into the garret by hisself, for you may +be sure I wouldn't go there, but he was just wild, and didn't care where +he went, and there he found her dead asleep on the floor, and a livin' +skeleton a sittin' watchin' her." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Miss Panney; "he never told you that." + +"That's the pint of what I got out of him, and you know, Miss Panney, +that that garret's hanted." + +Miss Panney wasted no words in attempting to disprove this assertion. + +"He found her asleep on the floor?" said she. + +"Yes, Miss Panney," answered Phoebe, "dead asleep, or more likely, to my +mind, in a dead faint, among all the drafts and chills of that garret, +and in her stockin' feet. She had tuk up a candle with her, but I'spect +the skeleton blowed it out. And now she's got an awful cold, so she can +scarcely breathe, and a fever hot enough to roast an egg." + +At this moment Ralph appeared in the hall. The visitor immediately went +up to him. + +"Mr. Haverley, I suppose. I am Miss Panney. I am a neighbor, and I came +to see if I could do anything for your sister before the doctor arrives. +I am a good nurse, and know all about sicknesses;" and she explained why +she had come and the doctor had not. + +When Miriam turned her head and saw the black eyes of Miss Panney gazing +down upon her, she pushed herself back in the bed, and exclaimed,-- + +"Are you his wife?" + +"No, indeed," said Miss Panney, "I wouldn't marry him for a thousand +pounds. I am your nurse. I am going to give you something nice to make +you feel better. Put your hand in mine. There, that will do. Keep +yourself covered up, even if you are a little warm, and I will come back +presently with the nicest kind of a cup of tea." + +"It's a cold and a fever," she said to Ralph, outside the chamber door. +"The commonest thing in the world. But I'll make her a hot drink that +will do her more good than anything else that could be given her, and +when the doctor comes, he'll tell you so. He knows me, and what I can do +for sick people. I brought everything that's needed in my bag, and I am +going down to the kitchen myself. But how in the world did she come to +stay on the garret floor all night? She couldn't have been in a swoon all +that time." + +"No," answered Ralph; "she told me she came to her senses, she didn't +know when, but that everything was pitch dark about her, and feeling +dreadfully tired and weak, she put her head down on her arm, and tried +to think why she was lying on such a hard floor, and then she must +have dropped into the heavy sleep in which I found her. She was tired +out with her journey and the excitement. Do you think she is in danger, +Miss Panney?" + +"Don't believe it," said the old lady. "She looks strong, and these young +things get well before you know it." + +"Now, my young lady," said Miss Panney, as she stood by Miriam's bedside, +with a steaming bowl, "you may drink the whole of this, but you mustn't +ask me for any more, and then you may go to sleep, and to-morrow morning +you can get up and skip around and see what sort of a place Cobhurst is +by daylight." + +"I can't wait until to-morrow for that," said Miriam, "and is that tea or +medicine?" + +"It's both, my dear; sit up and drink it off." + +Miriam still eyed the bowl. "Is it homeopathic or allopathic?" she asked. + +"Neither the one or the other," was the discreet reply; "it is +Panneyopathic, and just the thing for a girl who wants to get out of bed +as soon as she can." + +Miriam looked full into the bright black eyes, and then took the bowl, +and drank every drop of the contents. + +"Thank you," she said. "It is perfectly horrid, but I must get up." + +"Now you take a good long nap, and then I hope you will feel quite able +to go down and begin to keep house for your brother." + +"The first thing to do," said Miriam, as Miss Panney carefully adjusted +the bedclothes about her shoulders, "is to see what sort a house we have +got, and then I will know how I am to keep it." + +When her young patient had dropped asleep, Miss Panney went downstairs. +In the lower hall she found Ralph walking up and down. + +"There is no earthly need of your worrying yourself about your sister. I +am sure the doctor would say she is in no danger at all," said the old +lady. "And now, if you don't mind, I would like very much to go up into +the garret and see what frightened your sister." + +"It was apparently a box of human bones," he said, "but I barely glanced +at it. You are perfectly welcome to go up and examine." + +It was a quarter of an hour before Miss Panney came down from the +garret, laughing. + +"I studied anatomy on those bones," she said. "Every one of them is +marked in ink with its name. I had forgotten all about them. Mathias' +brother Reuben was a scientific man, and he used the skeleton. That is, +he studied all sorts of things, though he never did anything worth +notice. I took a look round the garret," she continued, "and I tell you, +sir, that if you care anything for family relics and records, you have +them to your heart's content. I expect there are things up there that +have not been touched for fifty years." + +"I should suppose," said Ralph, "that the servants of the house would +have had some curiosity about such objects, if no one else had." + +Miss Panney laughed. + +"There hasn't been a servant in that garret for many a long year," said +she. "You evidently don't know that this house is considered haunted, +particularly the garret; and I suppose that box of bones had a good deal +to do with the notion." + +"Well," said Ralph, "no doubt the ghosts have been a great protection to +our family treasures." + +"And to your whole house," said the old lady; "watch-dogs would be +nothing to them." + +Miss Panney and Ralph ate dinner together. The old lady would not leave +until the doctor had come; and the conversation was an education to young +Haverley in regard to the Butterwood family and the Thorbury +neighborhood. At the conclusion of the meal, Phoebe came into the room. + +"I went upstairs to see how she was gettin' on, sir," she said; "an' she +was awake, an' she made me get a pencil an' paper out of her bag, an' she +sent you this note." + +On a half-sheet of note-paper, he read the following: "Dear Ralph, I went +upstairs and looked at the third floor and a good deal of the garret, +without you being with me. I really want to be perfectly fair, and so you +must not stop altogether from looking at things until I am able to go +with you. I think good things to look at by yourself would be stables and +barnyards, and the lower part of barns. Please do not go into haylofts, +nor into the chicken-yard, if there is one. You might keep your eyes on +the ground until you get to these places and then look up. If there are +horses and cows, don't tell me anything about them when you see me. +Don't tell me anything. I think I shall be well to-morrow, perhaps +to-night. Miriam." + +Ralph laughed heartily, and read the note aloud. + +"I should say," said Miss Panney, "that that girl has a good deal more +conscience than fever. She ought to have slept longer, but as she is +awake I will go up and take a look at her; while you can blindfold +yourself, if you like, and go out to the barns." + +The doctor did not arrive until late in the afternoon, and it was +nearly half an hour after he had gone up to his patient before he +reported to Ralph. + +"She is all right," said he, "but I am not." + +The young man looked puzzled. + +"By which I mean," continued the other, "that Miss Panney's concoction +and the girl's vigorous young nature have thrown off the effects of her +nap in the haunted garret, and that I am an allopathist, whereas I ought +to be a homeopathist. The young lady and I have had a long conversation +on that subject and others. I find that she is a Nonconformist." + +"What?" asked Ralph. + +"I use the word in its political and social, as well as its religious +meaning. That is a sister worth taking care of, sir. Lock her up in her +room, if she inclines to any more midnight wanderings." + +"And now, having finished with the young patient," said Miss Panney, who +was waiting with her bonnet and shawl on, "you can take up an old one, +and I will get you to drive me home on your way back to Thorbury." + +The doctor had been very much interested in Miriam, and talked about +her to Miss Panney as he drove her to the Witton house, which, by the +way, was a mile and a half out of his direct road. The old lady +listened with interest, but did not wish to listen very much; she +wished to talk of Ralph. + +"I like him," she said; "he has pluck. I have had a good deal of talk +with him, and he told me frankly that he could not afford to put money +into the place and farm it as it ought to be farmed. But he was born a +country man, and he has the heart of a country man; and he is going to +see if he can make a living out of it for himself and his sister." + +"Which may result," said the doctor, "in his becoming a mere farm laborer +and putting an end to his sister's education." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the old lady. "Young fellows--college men--go out +on ranches in the West and do that sort of thing, and it lowers them in +nobody's estimation. Let young Haverley call his farm a ranch and rough +it. It would be the same thing. I've backed him up strongly. It's a manly +choice of a manly life. As for his sister, she has been so long at school +that it will do her more good to stop than to go on." + +"It will be hard scratching," said the doctor, "to get a living out of +Cobhurst, and I hope these young people will not come to grief while they +are making the experiment." + +Miss Panney smiled without looking at her companion. + +"Don't be afraid of that," she said presently; "I have pretty good +reason to think that he will get on well enough." + +That evening Miriam sat up in bed with a shawl about her shoulders and +discoursed to her brother. + +"Now, Ralph," said she, "you must have seen a lot of things about our +place, because, when I came to think of it, it was plain enough that you +couldn't help it. I am crazy to see what you saw, but you mustn't tell me +anything except what I ask you. Please be particular about that." + +"Go on," said Ralph. "You shall not have a word more or less than +you want." + +"Well, then, is your bed comfortable?" + +"Perfectly," he answered. + +"And have you pillows enough?" + +"More than I want," said Ralph. + +"And are the doors and windows all fastened and locked downstairs?" + +He laughed. "You needn't bother yourself about that sort of thing. I will +attend to the locking up." + +She slightly knitted her brows in reflection. "Now then, Ralph," said +she, "I am coming to it, and mind, not a word more than I ask for. Have +we any horses?" + +"We have," he replied. + +"How many?" + +"Four." + +Miriam clasped her hands and looked at her brother with sparkling eyes. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "four horses!" + +"Two of them," he began, but she stopped him in an instant. + +"Don't tell me another thing," she cried; "I don't want to know what +color they are, or anything about them. To-morrow I shall see them for +myself. Oh, Ralph, isn't it perfectly wonderful that we should have four +horses? I can't stand anything more just now, so please kiss me +good-night." + +About an hour afterwards Ralph was awakened by a knock at his door. + +"Who is there?" he cried. + +The door opened a very little way. + +"Ralph," said Miriam, through the crack, "is there one of our horses +which can be ridden by a lady?" + +Ralph's first impulse was to throw a pillow at the door, but he +remembered that sisters were different from fellows at school. + +"Can't say anything about that until we try," said he; "and now, Miriam, +please go to bed and to sleep." + +Miriam shut the door and went away, but in her dreams she rode a prancing +charger into Miss Stone's schoolyard, and afterwards drove all the girls +in a tally-ho. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS + + +The next day was a very fine one, and as the roads were now good, and the +air mild, Miss Panney thought it was quite time that she should begin to +go about and see her friends without depending on the vehicles of other +people, so she ordered her little phaeton and her old roan mare, and +drove herself to Thorbury to see Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"The doctor tells me," said that good lady, "that you take great interest +in those young people at Cobhurst." + +"Indeed I do," said Miss Panney, sitting up as straight in her easy chair +as if it had been a wooden bench with no back; "I have been thinking +about him all the morning. He ought to be married." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. + +"Dear me, Miss Panney," said she, "it is too soon to begin thinking of a +wife for the poor fellow. He has not had time to feel himself at home." + +"My motto is that it is never too soon to begin, but we won't talk about +that. Kitty, you are the worst matchmaker I ever saw." + +"I think I made a pretty good match for myself," said the other. + +"No, you didn't. The doctor made that, and I helped. You had nothing to +do with the preliminary work, which is really the most important." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I am sure I am very much obliged," she said. + +"You ought to be. And now while we are on the subject, let me ask you: +Have you a new cook?" + +"I have," replied the other, "but she is worse than the last one." + +Miss Panney rose to her feet, and walked across the room. + +"Kitty Tolbridge!" she exclaimed, "this is too bad. You're trifling +with the greatest treasure a woman can have on this earth--the life of a +good husband." + +"But what am I to do?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. "I have tried everywhere, +and I can get no one better." + +"Everywhere," repeated Miss Panney. "You mean everywhere in Thorbury. You +oughtn't to expect to get a decent cook in this little town. You should +go to the city and get one. What you want is to keep the doctor well, no +matter what it costs. He doesn't look well, and I don't see how he can be +well, on the kind of cooking you can get in Thorbury." + +Mrs. Tolbridge flushed a little. + +"I am sure," she said, "that Thorbury people, for generations and +generations, have lived on Thorbury cooking, and they have been just as +healthy as any other people." + +"Ah, Kitty, Kitty!" exclaimed the old lady, "you forget how things have +changed. In times gone by the ladies of the household superintended all +the cooking, and did a good deal of it besides; and they brought +something into the kitchen that seldom gets into it now, and that is +brains. A cook with a complete set of brains might be pretty hard to get, +and would cost a good deal of money. But it is your duty, Kitty, to get +as good a one as you can. If she has only a tea-cup full of brains, it +will be better than none at all. Don't mind the cost. If you have to do +it, spend more on cooking, and less on raw material." + +This was all Miss Panney had to say on the subject, and shortly +she departed. + +After brief stops at the post-office and one or two shops, she drove to +the abode of the Bannisters. Miss Panney tied her roan to the +hitching-post by the sidewalk, and went up the smooth gravel path to the +handsome old house, which she had so often visited, to confer on her own +affairs and those of the world at large with the father and the +grandfather of the present Bannister, attorney-at-law. + +She and the house were all that were left of those old days. Even the +widow was the second wife, who had come into the family while Miss Panney +was away from Thorbury. + +Mrs. Bannister was not at home, but Miss Dora was, and that entirely +satisfied the visitor. When the blooming daughter of the house came +hurrying into the parlor, Miss Panney, who had previously raised two of +the window shades, gazed at her earnestly as she saluted her, and nodded +her head approvingly. Then the two sat down to talk. + +They talked of several things, and very soon of the Cobhurst people. + +"Oh, have you seen them?" exclaimed Dora. "I have, but only for a minute +at the station, and then I didn't know who they were, though I was told +afterward. They seemed to be very nice." + +"They are," said Miss Panney. "The girl is bright, and young Mr. Haverley +is an exceedingly agreeable gentleman, just the sort of man who should be +the owner of Cobhurst. He is handsome, well educated, and spirited. I saw +a good deal of him, for I spent the best part of yesterday there. I +should say that your brother would find him a most congenial neighbor. +There are so few young men hereabout who are worth anything." + +"That is true," replied Dora, with a degree of earnestness, "and I know +Herbert will be delighted. I am sure he would call if he were here, but +he is away, and doesn't expect to be back for a week." + +It crossed Miss Panney's mind that a week's delay in a matter of +this sort would not be considered a breach of courtesy, but she did +not say so. + +"It would be friendly if Mrs. Bannister and you were to call on the +sister, before long," she remarked. + +"Of course we will do it," said Dora, with animation. "I should think a +young lady would be dreadfully lonely in that great house, at least at +first, and perhaps we can do something for her." + +Although Miss Panney had seen Miriam only in bed, she had a strong +conviction that she was not yet a young lady, but this, like the other +reflection, was not put into words. + +It was not noon when Miss Panney left the Bannister house, and the mind +of Miss Dora, which had been renewing itself within her with all the +vigor and freshness which Dr. Tolbridge had predicted, was at a loss how +to occupy itself until dinner-time, which, with the Bannisters and most +of the gentlefolk of Thorbury, was at two o'clock. + +Dora put on her prettiest hat and her wrap and went out. She wanted to +call on somebody and to talk, and suddenly it struck her that she would +go and inquire about the kitten she had given Dr. Tolbridge, and carry +it a fresh ribbon. She bought the ribbon, and found Mrs. Tolbridge and +the kitten at home. + +When the ornament had been properly adjusted, Miss Dora put the kitten +upon the floor and remarked: "Now there is some comfort in doing a thing +like that for Dr. Tolbridge, because he will be sure to notice it. There +are some gentlemen who hardly ever notice things you do for them. Herbert +is often that way." + +"Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Tolbridge, who had turned toward a desk at +which she had been writing. "The doctor is a man I can recommend, and I +hope you may get a husband as good as he is. And by the way, if you ever +do get such a one, I also hope you will be able to find some one who will +cook his meals properly. I find that I cannot do that in Thorbury, and I +am going to try to get one in the city. I am now writing an advertisement +which I shall put into several of the papers, and day after to-morrow I +shall go down to see the people who answer." + +"Oh, that will be fun," cried Dora; "I wish I could go with you." + +"And why not?" + +"Why not, indeed?" replied the young lady, and the matter was +immediately arranged. + +"And while we are talking about servants," said Dora, whose ebullient +mind now found a chance to bring in the subject which was most prominent +within it, "I should think that the new people at Cobhurst would find it +troublesome to get the right sort of service." + +"Perhaps so," replied Mrs. Tolbridge, "although I have a fancy they are +going to have a very independent household, at least for a time. It is a +great pity that the young girl was taken sick just as she entered into +her new home." + +"Sick!" exclaimed Dora; "I never heard of that." + +"Oh, it wasn't anything serious," said the other, her thoughts turning +to the advertisement, which she wished to get into the post-office +before dinner, "and I have no doubt she is quite well now, but still it +was a pity." + +"Indeed it was!" exclaimed Dora, in tones of the most earnest sympathy +and commiseration. "It was the greatest kind of a pity, and I think I +really ought to call on her very soon." And in this mood she went home +to dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK + + +Very early that afternoon Miss Dora Bannister was driven to Cobhurst to +call upon the young lady who had been taken sick, and who ought not to be +neglected by the ladies of Thorbury. Dora had asked her stepmother to +accompany her, but as that good lady seldom made calls, and disliked long +drives, and could not see why it was at all necessary for her to go, Dora +went alone. + +When the open carriage with its pair of handsome grays had bumped over +the rough entrance to the Cobhurst estate, and had drawn up to the front +of the house, Miss Dora skipped lightly out, and rang the door-bell. She +rang twice, and as no one came, and as the front door was wide open, she +stepped inside to see if she could find any one. She had never been in +that great wide hall before, and she was delighted with it, although it +appeared to be in some disorder. Two boxes and a trunk were still +standing where they had been placed when they were brought from the +station. She looked through the open door of the parlor, but there was no +one there, and then she knocked on the door of a closed room. + +No answer came, and she went to the back door of the long hall and looked +out, but not a soul could she see. This was discouraging, but she was not +a girl who would willingly turn back, after having set out on an errand +of mercy. There was a door which seemed to lead to the basement, and on +this she knocked, but to no purpose. + +"This is an awfully funny house," she said to herself. "If I could see +any stairs, I might go up a little way and call. Surely there must be +somebody alive somewhere." Then the thought suddenly came into her mind +that perhaps want of life in the particular person she had come to see +might be the reason of this dreadful stillness and desertion, and without +a moment's hesitation she stepped out of the back door into the open air. +She could not stay in that house another second until she knew. Surely +there must be some one on the place who could tell her what had happened. + +Approaching the gardener's house, she met Phoebe just coming out +of the door. + +"Bless my soul!" exclaimed the woman of color. "Is that you, Miss Dora? +Mike hollered to me that a kirridge had come, and I was a-hurryin' up to +the house to see who it was." + +"I came to call on Miss Haverley," said Dora. "How is she, Phoebe, and +can I see her?" + +"Oh, she's well enough, and you can see her if you can find her; but to +save my soul, Miss Dora, I couldn't tell you where she is at this minute. +You never did in all your life see anybody like that Miss Miriam is. Why, +true as I speak, the very sparrers in the trees isn't as wild as she is. +From sunrise this morning she has been on the steady go. You'd think, to +see her, that the hens and the cows and the colts and even the old apple +trees was all silver and gold and diamonds in her eyes, she takes on so +about 'em. I can't keep up with her, I can't. The last time I see her, +she was goin' into the barn, and I reckon she's thar yit, huntin' hens' +nests. If you like, I'll go look for her, Miss Dora." + +Phoebe had often worked for the Bannister family, and Dora knew her to be +one of the slowest movers among mankind; besides, the idea of calling +upon a young lady who was engaged in looking for hens' nests in a barn +was an exceedingly attractive one. It had not been long since Dora had +taken much delight in that sort of thing herself. + +"You needn't trouble yourself, Phoebe," she said; "I will walk over to +the barn. I would a great deal rather do that than wait in the house. If +I don't see her there, I will come back and leave our cards." + +"You might as well do that," said Phoebe, laughing, "for if she isn't +thar, she's as like as not at the other end of the farm in the field +where the colts is." + +The Cobhurst barn was an unusual, and, indeed, a remarkable structure. It +was not as old as the house, although it had been built many years ago by +Mathias Butterwood, in a fashion to suit his own ideas of what a barn +should be. + +It was an enormous structure, a great deal larger than the house, and +built of stone. It stood against a high bluff, and there was an entrance +on the level to the vast lower story, planned to accommodate Mr. +Butterwood's herd of fine cattle. A little higher up, a wide causeway, +supported by an arch, led into the second story, devoted to horses and +all kinds of vehicles, and still higher, almost on a level with the +house, there was a road, walled on each side, by which the loaded +haywagons could be driven in upon the great third floor of the barn. + +When Dora Bannister reached this barn, having followed a path which led +to the lower story, she looked in at an open door, and received the +impression of vast extent, emptiness, and the scent of hay. She entered, +looking about from side to side. At the opposite end of the great room, +was an open door through which the sun shone, and as she approached it, +she heard a voice and the cracking of cornstalks outside. + +Standing in the doorway, she looked out, and saw a large barnyard, the +ground near the door covered with fresh straw which seemed to have been +recently strewn there. The yard beyond was a neglected and bad-looking +expanse, into which no young lady would be likely to penetrate, and from +which Dora would have turned away instantly, had she not seen, crossing +it, a young man and a horse. + +The young man was leading the horse by its forelock, and was walking +in a sidewise fashion, with his back toward Dora. The horse, a +rough-looking creature, seemed reluctant to approach the barn, and its +leader frequently spoke to it encouragingly, and patted its neck, as +he moved on. + +This young man was tall and broad-shouldered. He wore a light soft hat, +which well suited his somewhat curling brown hair. A corduroy suit and +high top boots, in which he strode fearlessly through the debris and +dirt of the yard, gave him, in Dora's eyes, a manly air, and she longed +for him to turn his face toward her, that she might speak to him, and +ask him where she would be apt to find his sister--for of course this +must be Mr. Haverley. + +But he did not turn; instead of that he now backed himself toward the +stable door, pulling the horse after him. Dora was pleased to stand and +look at him; his movements struck her as athletic and graceful. He was +now so near that she felt she ought to make her presence known. She +stepped out upon the fresh straw, intending to move a little out of his +way and then accost him, but he spoke first. + +"Good," he said; "don't you want to take hold of this mare by the +forelock, as I am doing, and keep her here until I get a halter?" And as +he spoke he turned toward Miss Bannister. + +His face was a handsome one, fully equal in quality to his height, his +shoulders, and his grace of movement. His blue eyes opened wide at the +sight of the young lady in gray hat and ostrich plumes, fashionable +driving costume edged with fur, for the spring air was yet cool, and +bright silk parasol, for the spring sun was beginning to be warm. With +almost a stammer, he said:-- + +"I beg your pardon, I thought it was my sister I heard behind me." + +"Oh, it doesn't matter in the least," said Dora, with a charming smile; +"I am Miss Bannister. I live in Thorbury, and I came to call on your +sister. Phoebe told me she thought she was out here, and so I came to +look for her myself. A barn is so charming to me, especially a great one +like this, that I would rather make a call in it than in the house." + +"I will go and look for her," said Ralph. "She cannot be far away." And +then he glanced at the horse, as if he were in doubt what to do with it +at this juncture. + +"Oh, let me hold your horse," cried Dora, putting down the parasol by the +side of the barn and approaching; "I mean while you go and get its +halter. I am ever so fond of horses, and like to hold them and feed them +and pet them. Is this one gentle?" + +"I don't know much about her," said Ralph, laughing, "for we have just +taken possession of the place, and are only beginning to find out what +animals we own, and what they are like. This old mare seems gentle +enough, though rather obstinate. I have just brought her in out of the +fields, where she has been grazing ever since the season opened." + +"She looks like a very good horse, indeed," said Dora, patting the +tangled hair on the creature's neck. + +"I brought her in," said Ralph, "thinking I might rub her down, and get +her into proper trim for use. My sister is much disappointed to find that +out of our four horses, two are unbroken colts, and one is in constant +use by the man. I think if I can give her a drive, even if it is behind a +jogging old mare, it will set up her spirits again." + +"You must let me hold her," said Dora, "while you get the halter, and +then you can tie her, while we go and look for your sister. Don't +think of such a thing as letting her go, after all your trouble in +catching her." + +"If I could get her into these stables," said Ralph, "I might shut her +in, but I don't think that I shall be able to pull her through that +doorway in this fashion." + +Without further ado, Miss Dora put out her right hand, in its neatly +fitting kid glove, and took hold of the mare's forelock, just above +Ralph's hand. The young man demurred an instant, and then, laughing, ran +into the stable to find a halter. His ownership of everything was so +fresh that he forgot that the lower part of the barn was occupied by the +cow stables--which the old mare did not wish to enter, or even approach. +He hurriedly rummaged here and there among the stalls, finding nothing +but some chains and rope's ends fastened to the mangers, but in his hasty +search he could not help thinking how extremely ingenuous and neighborly +was that handsome girl outside. + +Dora held firmly the forelock of the mare, and patted the good animal's +head with the other hand; but, strange to say, the animal did not like +being held by the young lady, and gradually she backed, first toward the +side of the barn, and then out toward the open yard. Dora attempted to +restrain her, but in spite of all her efforts was obliged to follow the +retrogressive animal. + +"It's my gloves she doesn't like," she said to herself; "I know some +horses can't bear the smell of kid, but I can't take them off now, and I +will not let go. I wish he would hurry with the halter." + +Little by little poor Dora was pulled forward, until she reached a spot +which was at the very end of the clean straw, and yet not very far from +the wall of the barn. Here she vigorously endeavored to make a stand, +for if she went another step forward her dainty boots would sink into +mud and dirt. + +"Whoa!" she called out to the mare; "whoa, now!" + +At the sound of these words, plainly uttered in trouble, Ralph, who +happened to be in a stall next to the barn wall looking over some ropes, +glanced through a little window about four feet from the ground, and saw +Miss Bannister very close to him, tottering on the edge of the straw, and +just about to let go of the mare, or step into the mire. Before he could +shape words to tell her to release her dangerous hold, or make up his +mind to rush around to the door to go to her assistance, she saw him, and +throwing out her left hand in his direction, she exclaimed:-- + +"Oh, hold me, please." + +Instantly Ralph put out his long arm, and caught her by the hand. + +"Thank you," said Miss Dora. "In another moment she would have pulled me +into the dirt. Perhaps now I can make her walk up on the clean straw. +Come, come," she continued persuasively to the mare, which, however, +obstinately declined to advance. + +"Let go of her, I beg of you, Miss Bannister," cried Ralph. "It will hurt +you to be pulled on two sides in this way." + +Dora was a strong young girl, and so far the pulling had not hurt her at +all. In fact, she liked it, at least on one side. + +"Oh, I couldn't think of letting her go," she replied, "after all the +trouble you have had in catching her. The gate is open, and in a minute +she would be out in the field again. If she will only make a few steps +forward, I am sure I can hold her until you come out. If you would draw +me in a little bit, Mr. Haverley, perhaps she would follow." + +Ralph did not in the least object to hold the smoothly gloved little hand +in his own, but he was really afraid that the girl would be hurt, if she +persisted in this attempt to make a halter of herself. If he released his +hold, he was sure she would be jerked face forward into the mire, or at +least be obliged to step into it; and as for the mare, it was plain to be +seen that she did not intend to come any nearer the shed. He therefore +doubled his entreaties that she would let the beast go, as it made no +difference whether she ran into the fields or not. He could easily catch +her again, or the man could. + +"I don't want to let her go," said Dora. "Your sister would have a pretty +opinion of me when she is ready to take her drive, and finds that I have +let her horse run away; and, besides, I don't like to give up things. Do +you like to give up things? I am sure you don't, for I saw you bringing +this horse into the yard, and you were very determined about it. If I let +her go, all your determination and trouble will have been for nothing. I +should not like that. Come, come, you obstinate creature, just two steps +forward. I have some lumps of sugar in my pocket which I keep to give to +our horses, but of course I can't get it with both my hands occupied. I +wish I had thought of the sugar. By the way, the sugar is not in my +pocket; after all, it is in this little bag on my belt; I don't suppose +you could reach it." + +Ralph stretched out his other hand, but he could not reach the little +leather bag with its silver clasp. If he could have jumped out of the +window, he would have done so without hesitation, but the aperture was +not large enough. He could not help being amused by the dilemma in which +he was placed by this young lady's inflexibility. He did not know a girl, +his sister not excepted, whom, under the circumstances, he would not have +left to the consequences of what he would have called her obstinacy. But +there was something about Dora--some sort of a lump of sugar--which +prevented him from letting go of her hand. + +"I never saw a horse," said she, "nor, indeed, any sort of a living +thing, which was so unwilling to come to me. You are very good to hold me +so strongly, and I am sure I don't mind waiting a little longer, until +some one comes by." + +"There is no one to come by," exclaimed Ralph, "and I most earnestly +beg of you--" + +At this moment the horse began to back; Miss Dora's fingers nervously +clasped themselves about Ralph's hand, which pressed hers more closely +and vigorously than before. There was a strong pull, a little jerk, and +the forelock of the mare slipped out of Miss Dora's hand. + +"There!" she cried; "that is exactly what I knew would happen. The wicked +creature has galloped out of the gate." + +The young lady now made a step or two nearer the barn, Ralph still +holding her hand, as if to assist her to a better footing. + +She did not need the assistance at all, but she looked up gratefully, as +Ralph loosened his grasp, and she gently withdrew her hand. + +"Thank you ever so much," she said. "If it had not been for you, I do not +know where I should have been pulled to; but it is too bad that the horse +got off, after all." + +"Don't mention it," said Ralph. "I'll have her again in no time," and +then he ran outside to join her. + +"Now, sir," said she, and giving him no time to make any proposition, "I +should like very much to find your sister, and see her, for at least a +few moments before I go. Do you think she is anywhere in this glorious +old barn? Phoebe told me she was." + +"Is this a girl or a woman?" thought Ralph to himself. The charming and +fashionable costume would have settled this question in the mind of a +lady, but Ralph felt a little puzzled. But be the case what it might, it +would be charming to go with her through the barn or anywhere else. As +they walked over the lower floor of the edifice toward the stairway in +the corner, Dora remarked:-- + +"How happy your cows ought to be, Mr. Haverley, to have such a wide, cool +place as this to live in. What kind of cows have you?" + +"Indeed, I don't know," said Ralph, laughing. "I haven't had time to make +their acquaintance. I have seen them, only from a distance. They are but +a very small herd, and I am sure there are no fancy breeds among them." + +"Do you know," said Dora, as they went up the broad steps, sprinkled with +straw and hayseed, "that what are called common cows are often really +better than Alderneys, or Ayrshires, and those sorts? And this is the +second story! How splendid and vast! What do you have here?" + +"On the right are the horse stables," said Ralph, "and in those stalls +there should be a row of prancing chargers and ambling steeds; and on the +great empty floor, which you see over here, there should be the +carriages,--the coupe, the family carriage, the light wagon, the pony +phaeton, the top buggy, and all the other vehicles which people in the +country need. But, alas! you only see that old hay-wagon, which I am sure +would fall to pieces if horses attempted to pull it, and that affair +with two big wheels and a top. I think they call it a gig, and I believe +old Mr. Butterwood used to drive about in it." + +"Indeed he did," said Dora. "I remember seeing him when I was a little +girl. It must be very comfortable. I should think your sister and you +would enjoy driving in that. In a gig, you know, you can go +anywhere--into wood-roads, and all sorts of places where you couldn't +turn around with anything with four wheels. And how nice it is that it +has a top. I've heard it said that Mr. Butterwood would always have +everything comfortable for himself. Perhaps your sister is in some of +these smaller rooms. What are they?" + +"Oh, harness rooms, and I know not what," answered Ralph, and then he +called out:-- + +"Miriam!" His voice was of a full, rich tone, and it was echoed from the +bare walls and floors. + +"If my sister is in the barn at all," said Ralph, "I think she must be on +the floor above this, for there is the hay, and the hens' nests, if there +are any--" + +"Oh, let us go up there," said Dora; "that is just where we ought to +find her." + +There was not the least affectation in Dora's delight, as she stood on +the wide upper floor of the barn. Its great haymows rose on either side, +not piled to the roof as before, but with enough hay left over from +former years to fill the air with that delightful scent of mingled +cleanliness and sweetness which belongs to haylofts. At the back was a +wide open door with a bar across it, out of which she saw a +far-stretching landscape, rich with varied colors of spring, and through +a small side door at the other end of the floor, which there was level +with the ground, came a hen, clucking to a brood of black-eyed, downy +little chicks, which she was bringing in for the night to the spacious +home she had chosen for them. + +Whether or not Dora would have enjoyed all this as much had she been +alone is a point not necessary to settle, but she was a true country +girl, and had loved chickens, barns, and hay from her babyhood up. She +stepped quickly to the open door, and she and Ralph leaned upon the bar +and looked out upon the beautiful scene. + +"How charming it will be," she said, "for your sister to come here and +sit with her reading or sewing. She can look out and see you, almost +wherever you happen to be on your farm." + +"I don't believe Miriam will be content to sit still and watch anybody," +replied Ralph. "I wonder where she can be;" and twice he called her, once +directing his voice up toward the haymows and once out into the open air. +Dora still leaned on the bar and looked out. + +"It would be nice if we could see her walking somewhere in the fields," +she said, and she and Ralph both swept the landscape with their eyes, but +they saw nothing like a moving girl in shade or sunshine. + +Miss Bannister was not in the least embarrassed, as she stood here with +this young man whom she had met such a little time before. She did not +altogether feel that she was alone with him. The thought that any moment +the young man's sister might make one of the party, produced a sensation +not wholly unlike that of knowing she was already there. + +The view of the far-off hills with the shadows across their sides and +their forest-covered tops glistening in the sunshine was very +attractive, and there was a blossomy perfume in the outside air which +mingled charmingly with the hay-scents from within; but Dora felt that +it would not do to protract her pleasure in these things, especially as +she noticed signs of a slight uneasiness on the face of her companion. +Probably he wanted to go and look for his sister, so they walked slowly +over the floor of the great hayloft, and out of the little door where +the hen and chickens had come in, and Ralph accompanied the young lady +to her carriage. + +"I am sure I shall find Thomas and the horses fast asleep," said she, +"for I have made a long call, or, at least, have tried to make one, and +you must tell your sister that my stay proves how much I wanted to see +her. I hope she will call on me the first time she comes to Thorbury." + +"Oh, I shall drive her over on purpose," said Ralph, and, with a smile, +Miss Bannister declared that would be charming. + +When the carriage had rolled upon the smooth road outside of Cobhurst, +Miss Dora drew off her left glove and looked at her wrist. "Dear me!" +said she to herself, "I thought he would have squeezed those buttons +entirely through my skin, but I wouldn't have said a word for anything. I +wonder what sort of a girl his sister is. If she resembles him, I know I +shall like her." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED + + +A few days after Miss Bannister's call at Cobhurst, it was returned by +Ralph and Miriam, who drove to Thorbury with the brown mare and the gig. +To their disappointment, they found that the young lady was not at home, +and the communicative maid informed them that she had gone to the city to +help Mrs. Tolbridge to get a new cook. + +They went home by the way of the Witton house, and there they found +Miss Panney at home. The old lady was very much interested in Miriam, +whom she had not before seen out of bed. She scrutinized the girl from +hat to boots. + +"What do you want me to call you, my dear?" she asked. "Don't you +honestly think you are too young to be called Miss Haverley?" + +"I think it would be very well if you were to call me Miriam," said the +other, who was of the opinion that Miss Panney was old enough to call any +woman by her Christian name. + +The conversation was maintained almost entirely by the old lady and +Ralph, for Miriam was silent and very solemn. Once she broke in with a +question:-- + +"What kind of a person is Miss Bannister?" she asked. Miss Panney gave a +short laugh. + +"Oh, she is a charming person," she answered, "pretty, good-humored, +well educated, excellent taste in dress and almost everything, and very +lively and pleasant to talk to. I am very fond of her." + +"I am afraid," said Miriam, "that she is too old and too fine for me," +and turning to a photograph album she began to study the family +portraits. + +"Your sister's ideas are rather girlish as yet," said Miss Panney, "but +housekeeping at Cobhurst will change all that;" and then she went on with +her remarks concerning the Haverley and Butterwood families, a subject +upon which Ralph was not nearly so well informed as she was. + +When the brother and sister had driven away, Miss Panney reflected that +the visit had given her two pieces of information. One was that the +Haverley girl was a good deal younger than she had thought her, and the +other was that Mrs. Tolbridge was really trying to get a new cook. The +first point she did not consider with satisfaction. + +"It is a pity," she thought, "that Dora and his sister are not likely to +be friends. That would help wonderfully. This schoolgirl, probably +jealous of the superiority of grown-up young ladies, may be very much in +the way. I am sorry the case is not different." + +In regard to the other point the old lady was very well satisfied, and +determined to go soon to see what success Mrs. Tolbridge had had. + +About the middle of the next forenoon, Miss Panney tied her horse in +front of the Tolbridge house and entered unceremoniously, as she was in +the habit of doing. She found the doctor's wife standing by the +back-parlor window looking out on the garden. When the old lady had +seated herself she immediately proceeded to business. + +"Well, Kitty," said she, "what sort of a time did you have yesterday?" + +"A very discouraging and disagreeable one," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "I might +just as well have stayed at home." + +"You don't mean to say," asked Miss Panney, "that nobody answered your +advertisement?" + +"When I reached the rooms of the Non-Resident Club, where the applicants +were to call--" + +"That's the first time," interrupted Miss Panney, "that I ever heard that +that Club was of the slightest use." + +"It wasn't of any use this time," said the other; "for although I found +several women there who came before the hour appointed, and at least a +dozen came in the course of the morning, not one of them would do at +all. I was just now looking out at our asparagus bed, and wondering if +any of those beautiful heads would ever be cooked properly. The woman in +our kitchen knows that she is to depart, and she is in a terribly bad +temper, and this she puts into her cooking. The doctor is almost out of +temper himself. He says that he has pretty good teeth, but that he +cannot bite spite." + +Miss Panney now appeared to be getting out of temper. + +"I must say, Kitty," she said, in a tone of irritation, "that I do not +understand how it was that out of the score or more of applicants, you +could not find a better cook than the good-for-nothing creature you have +now. What was the matter with them?" + +"Everything, it seemed to me," answered Mrs. Tolbridge. "Now here +is Dora. She was with me yesterday, and you can ask her about the +women we saw." + +Miss Panney attached no value whatever to the opinions, in regard to +domestic service, of the young lady who had just entered the room, and +she asked her no questions. Miss Bannister, however, did not seem in the +least slighted, and sat down to join the chat. + +"I suppose," said Miss Panney, sarcastically, "that you tried to find +that woman that the doctor used to say he wanted: a woman who had +committed some great crime, who could find no relief from her thoughts +but in constant work, work, work." + +Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. + +"No, I did not look for her; nor did I try to find the person who was of +a chilly disposition and very susceptible to draughts. We used to want +one of that sort, but she should be a waitress. But, seriously, there +were objections to every one of them. Religion was a great obstacle. The +churches of Thorbury are not designed for the consciences of city +servants. There was no Lutheran Church for the Swedes; and the fact that +the Catholic Church was a mile from our house, with no street-cars, +settled the question for most of them. The truth is, none of them wanted +to come into the country, unless they could get near Newport or some +other suitable summer resort." + +"But there was that funny old body in a shawl," said Dora, "who made no +objections to churches, or anything else in fact, as soon as she found +out your husband wasn't in trade." + +"True," replied Mrs. Tolbridge; "she didn't object, but she was +objectionable." + +Miss Panney was beginning to fasten her wrap about her. She had heard +quite enough, but still she deigned to snap out:-- + +"What was the matter with her?" + +"Oh, she was entirely out of the question," said the lady of the house. +"In the first place, she was the widow of a French chef, or somebody of +that sort, and has a wonderful opinion of her abilities. She understands +all kinds of cooking,--plain or fancy." + +"And even butter," said Dora; "she said she knew all about that." + +"Yes; and she understood how butcher's meat should be cut, and the +choosing of poultry, and I know not what else besides." + +"And only asked," cried Dora, laughing, "if your husband was in trade; +and when she heard that he was a professional man, was perfectly +willing to come." + +Miss Panney turned toward Mrs. Tolbridge, sat up very straight in her +chair, and glared. + +"Was not this the very woman you were looking for? Why didn't you +take her?" + +"Take her!" repeated Mrs. Tolbridge, with some irritation. "What could I +do with a woman like that? She would want enormous wages. She would have +to have kitchen maids, and I know not whom, besides, to wait on her; and +as for our plain style of living, she could not be expected to stand +that. She would be entirely out of place in a house like this." + +"Her looks were enough to settle her case," said Dora. "You never saw +such an old witch; she would frighten the horses." + +"Kitty Tolbridge," said Miss Panney, severely, "did you ask that woman if +she wanted high wages, if she required kitchen maids, if she would be +satisfied to cook for your family?" + +"No, I didn't," said the other; "I knew it was of no use. It was plain to +see that she would not do at all." + +"Did you get her address?" + +"Yes," said Dora; "she gave me a card as we were going out, and insisted +on my taking it. It is in my bag at home." + +Miss Panney was silent for a moment, and was evidently endeavoring to +cool her feelings so as to speak without indignation. + +"Kitty Tolbridge," she said presently, "I think you have deliberately +turned your back on one of the greatest opportunities ever offered to a +woman with a valuable husband. There are husbands who have no value, and +who might as well be hurried to their graves by indigestion as in any +other way, but the doctor is not one of these. Now, whatever you know of +that woman proves her to be the very person who should be in your kitchen +at this moment; and whatever you have said against her is all the result +of your imagination. If I were in your place, I would take the next +train for the city; and before I closed my eyes this night, I would know +whether or not such a prize as that were in my reach. I say prize because +I never heard of such a chance being offered to a doctor's wife in a +country town. Now what are you going to do about it, Kitty? If your +regard for your husband's physical condition is not sufficient to make +you look on this matter as I do, think of his soul. If you don't believe +that true religion and good cooking go hand in hand, wait a year and then +see what sort of a husband you will have." + +Mrs. Tolbridge felt that she ought to resent this speech, that she ought +to be, at least, a little angry; but when she was a small girl, Miss +Panney was an old woman who sometimes used to scold her. She had not +minded the scoldings very much then, and she could not bring herself to +mind this scolding very much now. Occasionally she had scolded Miss +Panney, and the old lady had never been angry. + +"I shall not go to the city," she said, with a smile; "but I will write, +and ask all the questions. Then our consciences will be easier." + +Miss Panney rose to her feet. + +"Do it, I beg of you," she said, "and do it this morning. And now, Dora, +if you walked here, I will drive you home in my phaeton, for you ought to +send that address to Mrs. Tolbridge without delay." + +As the old roan jogged away from the doctor's house, Miss Panney remarked +to her companion, "I needn't have hurried you off so soon, Dora, for it +is three hours before the next mail will leave; but I did want Mrs. +Tolbridge to sit down at once and write that letter without being +interrupted by anything which you might have come to tell her. Of course, +the sooner you send her the address, the better." + +"The boy shall take it to her as soon as I get home," said Dora. + +She very much disliked scoldings, and had not now a word to say against +the old body who would frighten the horses. Desirous of turning the +conversation in another direction without seeming to force it, "It seems +to me," she said, "that Mr. and Miss Haverley ought to have somebody +better to cook for them than old Phoebe. I have always looked upon her as +a sort of a charwoman, working about from house to house, doing anything +that people hired her to do." + +"That's just what those Haverleys want," said Miss Panney. "At present, +everything is charwork at their place, and as to their food, I don't +suppose they think much about it, so that they get enough. At their age +they can eat anything." + +"How old is Miss Haverley?" asked Dora. + +"Miss Haverley!" repeated Miss Panney, "she's nothing but a girl, with +her hair down her back and her skirts a foot from the ground. I call +her a child." + +A shadow came over the soul of Miss Bannister. + +Would it be possible, she thought, to maintain, with a girl who did not +yet put up her hair or wear long skirts, the intimacy she had hoped to +maintain with Mr. Haverley's sister? + +Very much the same idea was in the mind of Miss Panney, but she thought +it well to speak encouragingly. "I wish, for her brother's sake, the girl +were older," said she: "but housekeeping will help to mature her much +more quickly than if she had remained at school. And as for school," she +added, "it strikes me it would be a good thing for her to go back +there--after awhile." + +Dora thought this a good opinion, but before she could say anything on +the subject, she lifted her eyes, and beheld Ralph Haverley walking down +the street toward them. He was striding along at a fine pace, and looked +as if he enjoyed it. + +"I declare," ejaculated Miss Bannister, "here he is himself. We shall +meet him." + +"He? who?" and Miss Panney looked from side to side of the road, and the +moment she saw the young man, she smiled. + +It pleased her that Dora should speak of him as "he," showing that the +brother was in her mind when they had been talking of the sister. + +Miss Panney drew up to the sidewalk, and Ralph stopped. + +He was greatly pleased with the cordial greeting he received from +the two ladies. These Thorbury people were certainly very sociable +and kind-hearted. The sunlight was on Dora's soul now, and it +sparkled in her eyes. + +"It was my other hand that I gave you when I met you before," she said, +with a charming smile. + +"Yes," said Ralph, also with a smile, "and I think I held it an +uncommonly long time." + +"Indeed you did," said Dora; and they both laughed. + +Miss Panney listened in surprise. + +"You two seem to know each other better than I supposed," she said. "When +did you become acquainted?" + +"We have met but once before," replied Dora, "but that was rather a +peculiar meeting." And then she told the story of her call at Cobhurst, +and of the mare's forelock, and the old lady was delighted with the +narration. She had never planned a match which had begun so auspiciously. +These young people must be truly congenial, for already a spirit of +comradeship seemed to have sprung up between them. But of course that +sort of thing could not be kept up to the desirable point without the +assistance of the sister. In some way or other, that girl must be +managed. Miss Panney determined to give her mind to it. + +With Ralph standing close by the side of the phaeton, the reins lying +loose on the back of the drowsy roan, and Dora leaning forward from her +seat, so as to speak better with the young man, the interview was one of +considerable length, and no one seemed to think it necessary that it +should be brought to a close. Ralph had come to attend to some business +in the town, and had preferred to walk rather than drive the brown mare. + +"Did you ever catch that delightfully obstinate creature?" cried Dora. +"And did you give your sister a drive in the gig?" + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph, "I easily caught her again, and I curried and +polished her up myself, and trimmed her mane and tail and fetlocks, and +since she has been having good meals of oats, you can hardly imagine +what a sleek-looking beast she has become. We drove her into Thorbury +when Miriam returned your call. I am sorry you were not at home, so that +you might have seen what a change had come over Mrs. Browning." + +Dora looked inquiringly. + +"That is the name that Miriam has given to the mare." + +Dora laughed. + +"If Mrs. Browning is one of your sister's favorite poets," she said, +"that will be a bond between us, for I like her poems better than I do +her husband's, at least I understand them better. I wonder if your sister +will ever ask me to take a drive with her in the gig? I could show her so +many pretty places." + +"Indeed she will," said Ralph; "but you mustn't think we are going to +confine ourselves to that sedate conveyance and the old mare. The colts +are old enough to be broken, and when they are ready to drive we shall +have a spanking team." + +"That will be splendid," exclaimed Dora. "I cannot imagine anything more +inspiriting than driving with a pair of freshly broken horses." + +Miss Panney gave a little sniff. + +"That sort of thing," she said, "sometimes exalts one's spirit so high +that it is never again burdened by the body; but all horses have to be +broken, and people continue to live." + +She smiled as she thought that the pair of young colts which she had +taken in hand seemed to give promise of driving together most +beautifully. But it would not do to stop here all the morning, and as +there was no sign that Dora would tire of asking questions or Ralph of +answering them, the old lady gathered up the reins. + +"You mustn't be surprised, Mr. Haverley," she said, "if the ladies of +Thorbury come a good deal to Cobhurst. We have more time than the +gentlemen, and we all want to get well acquainted with your sister, and +help her in every way that we can. Miss Bannister is going to drive over +very soon and stop for me on the way, so that we shall call on her +together." + +When the young man had bowed and departed, and the old roan was +jogging on, Dora leaned back in the phaeton and said to herself, that, +without knowing it, Miss Panney was an angel. When they should go +together to Cobhurst, the old lady would be sure to spend her time +talking to the girl. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON + + +Two days after her lecture to Mrs. Tolbridge, Miss Panney was again in +Thorbury, and, having finished the shopping which brought her there, she +determined to go to see the doctor's wife, and find out if that lady had +acted on the advice given her. She had known Mrs. Tolbridge nearly all +that lady's life, and had always suspected in her a tendency to neglect +advice which she did not like, after the adviser was out of the way. She +did not wish to be over-inquisitive, but she intended, in some quiet way, +to find out whether or not the letter about which she had spoken so +strongly had been written. If it had not, she would take time to make up +her mind what she should do. Kitty Tolbridge and she had scolded each +other often enough, and had had many differences, but they had never yet +seriously quarrelled. Miss Panney did not intend to quarrel now, but if +she found things as she feared they were, she intended to interfere in a +way that might make Kitty uncomfortable, and perhaps produce the same +effect on herself and the doctor; but let that be as it might, she +assured herself there were some things that ought to be done, no matter +who felt badly about it. + +She found the doctor's wife in a state of annoyance and disquiet, and was +greatly surprised to be told that this condition had been caused by a +note which had just been brought to her from her husband, stating that he +had been called away to a distant patient, and would not be able to come +home to luncheon. + +"My dear Kitty!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "I should have thought you were +thoroughly used to that sort of thing. I supposed a country doctor would +miss his mid-day meal about half the time." + +"And so he does," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "but I was particularly anxious +that he should lunch at home to-day, and he promised me that he would." + +"Well," said the old lady, "you will have to bear up under it as well +as you can, and I hope they will give him something to eat wherever he +is going." + +Mrs. Tolbridge seemed occupied, and did not answer. + +"Miss Panney," she said suddenly, "will you stay and take lunch with me? +I should like it ever so much." + +"Are you going to have strawberries?" asked Miss Panney. + +Mrs. Tolbridge hesitated a little, and then replied, "Yes, we shall +have them." + +"Very well, then, I'll stay. The Witton strawberries are small and sour +this year; and I haven't tasted a good one yet." + +During the half hour which intervened before luncheon was announced, Miss +Panney discovered nothing regarding the matter which brought her there. +She would ask no questions, for it was Kitty Tolbridge's duty to +introduce the subject, and she would give her a chance; but if she did +not do it in a reasonable time, Miss Panney would not only ask questions, +but state her opinion. + +When she sat down at the pretty round table, arranged for two persons, +Miss Panney was surprised at the scanty supply of eatables. There was the +tea-tray, bread and butter, and some radishes. Her soul rose in anger. + +"Slops and fruit," she said to herself. "She isn't worthy to have any +sort of a husband, much less such a one as she has." + +There was a vase of flowers in the centre of the table; but although Miss +Panney liked flowers, at meal-times she preferred good honest food. + +"Shall I give you a cup of tea?" asked her hostess. + +The old lady did not care for tea, but as she considered that she could +not eat strawberries on an empty stomach, she took some, and was just +about to cast a critical eye on the bread, when a maid entered, bearing a +dish containing two little square pieces of fish, covered with a greenish +white sauce, and decorated with bits of water-cress. + +As soon as Miss Panney's eyes fell upon this dish, she understood the +situation--Mrs. Tolbridge had actually fallen back upon Kipper. Kipper +was a caterer in Thorbury, and a good one. He was patronized by the +citizens on extraordinary festive occasions, but depended for his custom +principally upon certain families who came to the village for a few +months in the summer, and who did not care to trouble themselves with +much domestic machinery. + +"Kipper, indeed," thought the old lady; "that is the last peg. A +caterer's tid-bit for a hard-working man. If she would have her fish +cooked properly in her own house, she could give him six times as much +for half the money. And positively," she continued, in inward speech, as +the maid presented the bread and butter, "Kipper's biscuit! I suppose she +is going to let him provide her with everything, just as he does for +those rich people on Maple Avenue." + +The fish was very good, and Miss Panney ate every morsel of it, but made +no remark concerning it. Instead of speaking of food, she talked of the +doings of the Methodist congregation in Thorbury, who were planning to +build a new church, far more expensive than she believed they could +afford. She was engaged in berating Mr. Hampton, the minister, who, she +declared, was actually encouraging his flock in their proposed +extravagance, when the maid gave her a clean plate, and handed her a dish +of sweetbread, tastefully garnished with clover blossoms and leaves. Miss +Panney stopped talking, gazed at the dish for a minute, and then helped +herself to a goodly portion of its contents. + +"Feathers," she said to herself; "no more than froth and feathers to a +man who has been working hard half a day, and as to the extravagance of +such flimsy victuals--" She could keep quiet no longer, she was obliged +to speak out, and she burst into a tirade against people who called +themselves pious, and yet, wilfully shutting their eyes, were about to +plunge into wicked wastefulness. She ate as she talked, however, and she +had brought up John Wesley, and was about to give her notion of what he +would have had to say about a fancy church for a Thorbury congregation, +when the plates were again changed, and a dainty dish of sirloin steak, +with mushrooms, and thin slices of delicately browned potatoes, was put +before her. + +"Well!" inwardly ejaculated the old lady, "something substantial at last. +But what money this meal must have cost!" + +As she cut into the thick, juicy piece of steak, which had been broiled +until it was cooked enough, and not a minute more, Miss Panney's mind +dropped from the consideration of congregational finances into that of +domestic calculation. She knew Kipper's charges; she knew everybody's +charges. + +"That dish of fish," she said to herself, "was not less than sixty cents; +the sweetbreads cost a dollar, if they cost a cent; this sirloin, with +mushrooms, was seventy-five cents; that, with the French biscuit, is two +dollars and a half for a family lunch for two people." + +Miss Panney did not let her steak get cold, for she could talk and eat at +the same time, and the founder of Methodism never delivered so scorching +a tirade against pomp and show in professors of religion as she gave +forth in his name. + +Mrs. Tolbridge had been very quiet during the course of the meal, but +she was now constrained to declare that she had nothing to do with the +plans for the new Methodist church, and, in fact, she knew very little +about them. + +"Some things concern all of us," retorted Miss Panney. "Suppose Bishop +White, when he was ordained and came back to this country, had found a +little village--" + +Her remarks were stopped by a dish of salad. The young and tender leaves +of lettuce were half concealed by a mayonnaise dressing. + +"This makes three dollars," thought Miss Panney, as she helped herself, +"for Kipper never makes any difference, even if you send your own lettuce +to be dressed." And then she went on talking about Bishop White, and what +he would have thought of a little cathedral in every country town. + +"But the Methodists do not have cathedrals," said Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"Which makes it all the worse when they try to build their +meeting-houses to look like them," replied the old lady. + +It was a long time since Miss Panney had tasted any mayonnaise dressing +as good as this. But she remembered that the strawberries were to come, +and did not help herself again to salad. + +"If one of the old Methodist circuit-riders," she said, "after toiling +over miles of weary road in the rain or scorching sun, and preaching +sometimes in a log meeting-house, sometimes in a barn, and often in a +private house, should suddenly come upon--" + +The imaginary progress of the circuit-rider was brought to a stop by the +arrival of the last course of the luncheon. From a pretty glass dish +uprose a wondrous structure. Within an encircling wall of delicate, +candied tracery was heaped a little mound of creamy frost, the sides of +great strawberries showing here and there among the veins and specks of +crimson juice. + +Miss Panney raised her eyes from this creation to the face of her +hostess. + +"Kitty," said she, "is this the doctor's birthday?" + +"No," answered Mrs. Tolbridge, with a smile; "he was born in January." + +"Yours then, perhaps?" + +Mrs. Tolbridge shook her head. + +"A dollar and a half," thought the old lady, "and perhaps more. Five +dollars at the very least for the meal. If the doctor makes that much +between meals, day in and day out, she ought to be thankful." + +The dainty concoction to which the blazing-eyed old lady now applied +herself was something she had never before tasted, and she became of the +opinion that Kipper would not get up a dish of that sort, and so much of +it, for less than two dollars. + +"There was a Methodist preacher," she said, spoonful after spoonful of +the cold and fruity concoction melting in her mouth as she spoke, "a +regular apostle of the poor, named Lorenzo Dow. How I would like to have +him here. He was a man who would let people know in trumpet tones, by day +and by night, what he thought of wicked, wasteful prodigality, no matter +how pleasant it might be, how easy it might be, or how proper in people +who could afford it. Is there to be anything more, Kitty Tolbridge?" + +The doctor's wife could not restrain a little laugh. + +"No," she said, "there is to be nothing more, unless you will take a +little tea." + +Miss Panney pushed back her chair and looked at her hostess. "Tea after a +meal like that! I should think not. If you had had champagne during the +luncheon, and coffee afterwards, I shouldn't have been surprised." + +"I did not order coffee," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "because we don't take it +in the middle of the day, but--" + +"You ordered quite enough," said her visitor, severely; "and I will say +this for Kipper, that he never got up a better meal, although--" + +"Kipper!" interrupted Mrs. Tolbridge. "Kipper had nothing to do with this +luncheon. It was prepared by my new cook. It is the first meal she has +given us, and I am so sorry the doctor could not be here to eat it." + +Miss Panney rose from her chair, and gazed earnestly at Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"What cook?" she asked, in her deepest tones. + +"Jane La Fleur," was the reply; "the woman you urged me to write to. I +sent the letter that afternoon. Yesterday she came to see me, and I +engaged her. And while we were at breakfast this morning, she arrived +with her boxes, and went to work." + +"And she cooked that meal? She herself made all those things?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "she even churned the butter and made the +biscuit. She says she is going to do a great deal better than this when +she gets things in order." + +"Better than this!" ejaculated Miss Panney. "Do you mean to say, Kitty +Tolbridge, that this sort of thing is going to happen three times a day? +What have you done? What sort of a creature is she? Tell me all about it +this very minute." + +Mrs. Tolbridge led the way to the parlor, and the two sat down. + +"Now," said the doctor's wife, "suppose you finish what you were saying +about the Methodist church, then--" + +Miss Panney stamped her foot. + +"Don't mention them!" she cried. "Let them build tower on tower, spire on +spire, crypts, picture galleries, altars, confessionals, if they like. +Tell me about your new cook." + +"It will take a long time to tell you all about her, at least all she +told me," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "for she talked to me more than an hour +this morning, working away all the time. Her name is Jane La Fleur, but +she does not wish any one to call her Jane. She would like the family to +use her last name, and the servants can do the same, or call her 'madam.' +She is the widow of two chefs, one a Florentine, named Tolati, and the +other a Frenchman, La Fleur. She acted as 'second' to each of these, and +in that way has thoroughly learned the art of Italian cooking, as well as +the French methods. She herself is English, and she has told me about +some of the great families she and her husbands lived with." + +"Kitty," said Miss Panney, "I should think she was trying to impose upon +you with a made-up story; but after that luncheon I will believe anything +she says about her opportunities. How in the world did you get such a +woman to come to you?" + +"Oh, the whole business of engaging her was very simple," answered +Mrs. Tolbridge. "Her last husband left her some money, and she came to +this country on a visit to relatives, but she loved her art so much, +she said--" + +"Did she call it art?" asked Miss Panney. + +"Yes, she did--that she felt she must cook, and she lived for some time +with a family named Drane, in Pennsylvania, with whom the doctor used +to be acquainted. She had a letter from them which fully satisfied me. +On her part she said she would be content with the salary I paid my +last cook." + +"Did she call it salary?" exclaimed the old lady. + +"That was the word she used," answered Mrs. Tolbridge, "and as I said +before, the only question she asked was whether or not my husband was +in trade." + +"What did that matter?" asked the other. + +"It seemed to matter a great deal. She said she had never yet lived with +a tradesman, and never intended to. She was with Mrs. Drane, the widow of +a college professor, for several months, and when the family found they +could no longer afford to keep a servant who could do nothing but cook, +La Fleur returned to her relatives, and looked for another position; but +not until I came, she said, had any one applied who was not in trade." + +"She must be an odd creature," said Miss Panney. + +"She is odder than odd," was the answer. At this moment the maid came in +and told Mrs. Tolbridge that the madam cook wanted to see her. The lady +of the house excused herself, and in a few minutes returned, smiling. + +"She wished to tell me," said she, "before my visitor left, that the +name of the 'sweet' which she gave us at luncheon is _la promesse_, being +merely a promise of what she is going to do, when she gets about her +everything she wants." + +"Kitty Tolbridge," said Miss Panney, solemnly, "whatever happens, don't +mind that woman's oddity. Keep your mind on her cooking, and don't +consider anything else. She is an angel, and she belongs to the very +smallest class of angels that visit human beings. You may find, by the +dozen, philanthropists, kind friends, helpers and counsellors, the most +loving and generous; but a cook like that in a Thorbury family is as rare +as--as--as--I can't think of anything so rare. I came here, Kitty, to +find out if you had written to that woman, and now to discover that the +whole matter has been settled in two days, and that the doors of Paradise +have been opened to Dr. Tolbridge--for you know, Kitty, that the Garden +of Eden was truly Paradise until they began to eat the wrong things--I +feel as if I had been assisting at a miracle." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE + + +It was toward the end of June that Miss Dora Bannister returned from a +fortnight's visit to some friends at the seashore, and she had been home +a very little while, when she became convinced that her most important +duty was to go to see that young girl at Cobhurst. It seemed very +strange that so long a time had passed since the arrival of the +Haverleys into the neighborhood, and she had never yet seen his sister. +In Miss Bannister's mind there was a central point, about which +clustered everything connected with Cobhurst: that point was a young +man, and the house was his house, and the fields were his fields, and +the girl was his sister. + +It so happened, the very next day, that Herbert Bannister found it +necessary to visit a lady client, who lived about four miles beyond +Cobhurst, and when Dora heard this she was delighted. Her brother should +take her as far as Cobhurst with him; they should start early enough to +give him time to stop and call on Ralph Haverley, which he most certainly +ought to do, and then he could go on and attend to his business, leaving +her at Cobhurst. Even if neither the brother nor the sister were at home, +she would not mind being left at that charming old place. She would take +a book with her, for there were so many shady spots where she could sit +and read until Herbert came back. + +Herbert Bannister, whose mind was devoted to business and the happiness +of his sister, was well pleased with this arrangement, and about three +o'clock in the afternoon the buggy containing the two stopped in front of +the Cobhurst portico. + +The front door was open, and they could see through the hall and the open +back door into the garden beyond. + +Dora laughed as she said, "This is just what happened when I came here +before,--everything wide open, as though there were no flies nor dogs nor +strangers." + +Herbert got out and rang the bell: he rang it twice, but no one came. +Dora beckoned him to her. + +"It is of no use," she said; "that also happened when I came before. +They don't live in the house, at least in the daytime. But Herbert, +there is a man." + +At this moment, the negro Mike was seen at a little distance, hurrying +along with a tin pitcher in his hand. Herbert advanced, and called to +him, and Mike, with his pitcher, approached. + +"The boss," he said, in response to their inquiries, "is down in the big +meadow, helpin' me get in the hay. We tried to git extry help, but +everybody's busy this time o' year, an' he an' me has got to step along +pretty sharp to git that hay in before it rains. No, Miss, I dunno where +the young lady is. She was down in the hay-field this mornin', rakin', +but I 'spects she is doin' some sort of housework jes' now, or perhaps +she's in the garden. I'd go an' look her up, but beggin' your pardon, I +ain't got one minute to spare, the boss is waitin' for me now," and, +touching his shabby old hat, Mike departed. + +"What shall we do?" asked Herbert, standing by the buggy. + +"I think," said Dora, slowly and decisively, as if she had fully +considered the matter, "that you may as well go on, for I don't suppose +it would do to disturb Mr. Haverley now. I know that when people are +making hay, they can't stop for anything." + +"You are right," said her brother, with a smile; "hay-making is like +drawing the will of a rich man on his death-bed; it must be done +promptly, if it is done at all. I shall go on, of course, and you will +go with me?" + +"No, indeed," said Dora, preparing to get down from the buggy; "I would +not want to wait for you in that tiresome old horse-hair parlor of the +Dudleys. I should ever so much rather sit here, by myself, until you come +back. But of course I shall see her before long. Isn't it funny, Herbert? +I had to look for her when I came here before, and I suppose I shall +always have to look for her whenever I come." + +Her brother admitted that it was funny, and accepting her arrangement, +he drove away. Dora rang the bell, and stepped into the hall. "I will +wait here a little while," she said to herself, "then I will go to +Phoebe's house, and ask her where she is. If she does not know, I do not +in the least mind walking over to the hay-field, and calling to Mr. +Haverley. It would not take him three minutes to come and tell me where I +would better go to look for his sister." + +At this Miss Bannister smiled a little. She would be really glad to know +if Mr. Haverley would be willing to leave that important hay, and make +everything wait until he came to speak to her. As she stood, she looked +about her; on a table by the wall lay a straw hat trimmed with flowers, +and a pair of long gloves, a good deal soiled and worn. Dora's eyes +passed carelessly over these, and rested on another pair of gloves, +larger and heavier. + +"He hasn't driven much, yet," she said to herself, "for they look almost +new. I wonder when he will break his colts. Then, I suppose, he will +drive a good deal." + +Dora was a girl who noticed things, and turning to the other side of the +hall, she saw a larger table, and on it lay a powder-horn and a +shot-flask, while in the angle of the table and the wall there stood a +double-barrelled fowling-piece. This sight made her eyes sparkle; he must +like to hunt and shoot. That pleased her very much. Herbert never cared +for those things, but she thought a young man should be fond of guns and +dogs and horses, and although she had never thought of it before, she +now considered it a manly thing to be able to go out into the hay-field +and work, if it happened to be necessary. + +She went to the back door, and stood, looking out. There was nobody +stirring about Phoebe's house, and she asked herself if it would be worth +while to go over to it. Perhaps it might be as well to stroll toward the +hay-field. She knew where the great meadow was, because she had looked +over it when she had stood at the wide barn window with Mr. Haverley. He +had pointed out a good many things to her, and she remembered them all. + +But she did not go to the hay-field. Just as she was about to step out +upon the back porch, she heard a door open behind her, and turning, saw, +emerging from the closed apartment which contained the staircase, a +strange figure. The head was that of a young girl about fourteen, with +large, astonished blue eyes, and light brown hair hanging in a long plait +down her back, while her form was attired in a plum-colored silk gown, +very much worn, torn in some places, with several great stains in the +front of the skirt, and a long and tattered train. The shoulders were +ever so much too wide, the waist was ever so much too big, and the long +sleeves were turned back and rolled up. In her hand the figure held a +large glass bottle, from the mouth of which hung a short rubber tube, +ending in a bulbous mouth-piece. + +Dora could not suppress a start and an expression of surprise, but she +knew this must be Miriam Haverley, and advanced toward her. In a moment +she had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to introduce herself +and explain the situation. Miriam took the bottle in her left hand, and +held out her right to Dora. + +"I have been expecting you would call," she said, "but I had no idea you +were here now. The door-bell is in the basement, and I have been +upstairs, trying to get dough off my hands. I have been making bread, and +I had no idea it was so troublesome to get your hands clean afterwards; +but I expect my dough is stickier than it ought to be, and after that I +was busy getting myself ready to go out and feed a calf. Will you walk +into the parlor?" + +"Oh, no," cried Dora, "let me go with you to feed the calf; I shall like +that ever so much better." + +"It can wait just as well as not," said Miriam; "we can sit in the hall, +if you like," and she moved toward an old-fashioned sofa which stood +against the wall; as she did so, she stepped on the front of her +voluminous silk gown, and came near falling. + +"The horrid old thing!" she exclaimed; "I am always tripping over it," +and as she glanced at Dora the two girls broke into a laugh. "I expect +you think I look like a perfect guy," she said, as they seated +themselves, "and so I do, but you see the calf is not much more than a +week old, and its mother has entirely deserted it, and kicks and horns at +it if it comes near her. It got to be so weak it could scarcely stand up, +and I have adopted it, and feed it out of this bottle. The first time I +did it I nearly ruined the dress I had on, and so I went to the garret +and got this old gown, which covers me up very well, though it looks +dreadfully, and is awfully awkward." + +"To whom did it belong?" asked Dora. "It is made in such a queer +way,--not like really old-fashioned things." + +"I am sure I don't know to whom it belonged," said Miriam. "There are +all sorts of things in our garret,--except things that are good for some +particular purpose,--and this old gown was the best I could find to +cover me up. It looks funny, but then the whole of it is +funny,--calf-feeding and all." + +"Why do you have to make your own bread?" asked Dora. "Don't +Phoebe do that?" + +"Oh, Phoebe isn't here now. She went away nearly a week ago, and I do all +the work. I went to Thorbury and engaged a woman to come here; but, as +that was three days ago and she has not come yet, I think she must have +changed her mind." + +"But why did Phoebe leave you?" exclaimed Miss Bannister. "She ought to +be ashamed of herself, to leave you without any one to help you." + +"Well," replied Miriam "she said she wasn't regularly employed, anyway, +and there were plenty of cooks in the town that I could get, and that she +was obliged to go. You see, the colored church in Thorbury has just got a +new minister, and he has to board somewhere; and as soon as Phoebe heard +that, she made up her mind to take a house and board him; and she did it +before anybody else could get the chance. Mike, her husband, who works +for us, talked to her and we talked to her, but it wasn't of any use. I +think she considers it one of the greatest honors in the world to board a +minister. Mike does not believe in that sort of business, but he says +that Phoebe has always been in the habit of doing what she wants to, and +he is getting used to it." + +"But it is impossible for you to do all the work," said Dora. + +"Oh, well," replied Miriam, "some of it doesn't get done, and some of it +I am helped with. Mike does ever so much; he makes the fires, and carries +the heavy things, and sometimes even cooks. My brother Ralph helps, too, +when there is anything he can do, which is not often; but just now they +are so busy with their hay that it is harder upon me than it was before. +We have had soda biscuit and all that sort of thing, but I saw that Ralph +was getting tired of them; and to-day I thought I would try and make some +real bread,--though how it is going to turn out, I don't know." + +"Come, let us go out and feed the calf," said Dora; "I really want to see +how you do it. I have come to make you a good long call, you must know;" +and then she explained how her brother had left her, while he went on to +attend to his business. + +At this Miriam was much relieved. She had been thinking that perhaps she +would better go upstairs and take off that ridiculous silk dress, and +entertain her visitor properly during the rest of her call; but if Miss +Bannister was going to stay a good while, and if there was no coachman +outside to see her and her train, there was no reason why she should not +go and feed the calf, and then come back and put herself into the proper +trim for the reception of visitors. It seemed strange to her, but she was +positively sure that she would not have felt so much at ease with this +handsomely dressed young lady, if she herself had been attired in her +best clothes; but now they had met without its being possible for either +Miss Bannister or herself to make any comparisons of attire. The old, +draggled silk gown did not count one way or the other. It was simply a +covering to keep one's clothes clean when one fed a calf. When they +should return to the house, and she took off her old gown, she and her +visitor would be better acquainted, and their comparative opinions of +each other would not depend so much on clothes. Miriam was accustomed to +making philosophical reflections concerning her relations with the rest +of the world; and in regard to these relations she was at times very +sensitive. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TWO GIRLS AND A CALF + + +Having gone to the kitchen to fill the bottle with milk, which she had +set to warm, Miriam accompanied her guest to the barn. As she walked by +the side of Dora, with the bottle in one hand and the other holding up +her voluminous silk robe, it was well for her peace of mind that no +stately coachman sat upon a box and looked at her. + +In a corner of the lower floor of the barn they found the calf, +lying upon a bed of hay, and covered by a large piece of mosquito +netting, which Miriam had fastened above and around him. Dora +laughed as she saw this. + +"It isn't every calf," she said, "that sleeps so luxuriously." + +"The flies worried the poor thing dreadfully," said Miriam, "but I take +it off when I feed it." + +She proceeded to remove the netting, but she had scarcely done so, when +she gave an exclamation that was almost a scream. + +"Oh, dear, oh, dear!" she cried; "I believe it is dead," and down she sat +upon the floor close to the calf, which lay motionless, with its head and +neck extended. Down also sat Dora. She did not need to consider the +hay-strewn floor and her clothes; for although she wore a very tasteful +and becoming costume, it was one she had selected with reference to barn +explorations, field strolls, and anything rural and dusty which any one +else might be doing, or might propose. No one could tell what dusty and +delightful occupation might turn up during an afternoon at Cobhurst. + +"Its eye does look as if it were dead," she exclaimed. "What a pity!" + +"Oh, you can't tell by that eye," said Miriam, over whose cheeks a few +tears were now running. "Dr. Tolbridge says it has infantile ophthalmia +in that eye, but that as soon as it gets strong enough, he can cure it. +We must turn up its other eye." + +She took the little creature's head in her lap, with the practicable eye +uppermost. This slowly rolled in its socket, as she bent over it. + +"There is life in it yet," she cried; "give me the bottle." The calf +slowly rolled its eye to the position from which it had just moved, and +declined to consider food. + +"Oh, it must drink; we must make it drink," said Miriam. "If I open its +mouth, will you put in the end of that tube? If it gets a taste of the +milk, it may want more. We must not let it die. But you must be careful," +she continued. "That bottle leaks all round the cork. Spread part of my +skirt over you." + +Dora followed this advice, for she had not considered a milk-stained lap +among the contingent circumstances of the afternoon. Holding the bottle +over the listless animal, she managed to get some drops on its tongue. + +"Now," said Miriam, "we will put that in its mouth, and shut its +jaws, and perhaps it may begin to suck. It will be perfectly dreadful +if it dies." + +The two girls sat close together, their eyes fixed upon the apparently +lifeless head of the bovine infant. + +"See!" cried Miriam, presently, "its throat moves; I believe it is +sucking the milk." + +Dora leaned over and gazed. It was indeed true; the calf was beginning to +take an interest in food. The interest increased; the girls could see the +milk slowly diminishing in the bottle. Before long the creature gave its +head a little wobble. Miriam was delighted. + +"That is the way it always does, when its appetite is good. We must let +it drink every drop, if it will." + +There they sat on the hard, hay-strewn floor, one entirely, and the other +almost entirely covered with purple silk, their eyes fixed upon the +bottle and the feeding calf. After a time the latter declined to take any +more milk, and raised its head from Miriam's lap. + +"There," she cried; "see, it can hold up its own head. I expect it was +only faint from want of food. After this I will feed it oftener. It was +the bread-making that made me forget it this time." + +"Let us wait a minute," said Dora, who was now taking an earnest and +womanly interest in the welfare of this weakling. "Perhaps after a while +it may want some more." And so they continued to sit. Every motion of the +calf's head, and every effort it made to bend its legs, or change its +position, sent sparkles of delight into Miriam's eyes, and brightened +Dora's beautiful face with sympathetic smiles. + +Dora had taken up the bottle, and was about to give the calf an +opportunity to continue its repast, when suddenly she stopped and sat +motionless. Outside the barn, approaching footsteps could be plainly +heard. They were heavy, apparently those of a man. Dora dropped the +bottle, letting it roll unheeded upon the floor; then pushing Miriam's +skirt from her lap, she sprang to her feet, and stepped backwards and +away from the little group so quickly, that she nearly stumbled over some +inequalities in the floor. Miriam looked up in astonishment. + +"You needn't be frightened," she said. "How red you are! I suppose it is +only Ralph." + +"I was afraid it was," said Dora, in a low voice, as she shook out her +skirts. "I wouldn't have had him see me that way for anything." + +Now Miriam was angry. There was nothing to be ashamed of, that she could +see, and it was certainly very rude in Miss Bannister to drop her +bottle, and nearly push her over in her haste to get away from her and +her poor calf. + +The person who had been approaching the barn now entered, but it was +not Ralph Haverley. It was a shorter and a stouter young man, with +side whiskers. + +"Why, Herbert!" exclaimed Dora, in a tone of surprise and disappointment, +"have you got back already?" + +Her brother smiled. "I haven't got back," he said, "for I haven't been +anywhere yet. I had not gone a mile before one of the springs of the +buggy broke, and it keeled over so far that I came near tumbling out. It +happened at a place where there were no houses near, so I drew the buggy +to the roadside, took out the horse, and led him back. I heard voices in +here, and I came in. I must go and look for Mr. Haverley, and ask him to +lend me a vehicle in which we may return home." + +Dora stood annoyed; she did not want to return home; at least, not so +soon. She had calculated on Herbert making a long stay with Mrs. Dudley. + +"I suppose so," she replied, in an injured tone; "but before we say +anything else, Herbert, let me introduce you to Miss Haverley." + +She turned, but in the corner to which she directed her eyes, she saw +only a calf; there was no young person in silk attire. The moment that +Miriam perceived that the man who came in was not her brother, but the +brother of some one else, her face had crimsoned, she had pushed away the +unfortunate calf, and, springing to her feet, had darted into the shadows +of an adjoining stall. From this, before Dora had recovered from her +surprise at not seeing her, Miriam emerged in the costume of a neatly +dressed school-girl, with her skirts just reaching to the tops of her +boots. It had been an easy matter to slip off that expansive silk gown. +She advanced with the air of defensive gravity with which she generally +greeted strangers, and made the acquaintance of Mr. Bannister. + +"I am sure," she said, when she had heard what had happened, "that my +brother will be very glad to lend you the gig. That is the only thing we +have at present which runs properly." + +"A gig will do very well, indeed," said Mr. Bannister. "We could not want +anything better than that; although," he continued, "I am not sure that +my harness will suit a two-wheeled vehicle." + +"Oh, we have gig harness," said Miriam, "and we will lend you a horse, +too, if you like." + +Dora now thought it was time to say something. She was irritated because +Herbert had returned so soon, and because he was going to take her away +before she was ready to go; and although she would have been delighted to +have a drive in the Cobhurst gig, provided the proper person drove her, +she did not at all wish to return to Thorbury in that ridiculous old +vehicle with Herbert. In the one case, she could imagine a delightful +excursion in she knew not what romantic by-roads and shaded lanes; but in +the other, she saw only the jogging old gig, and all the neighbors asking +what had happened to them. + +"I think," she said, "it will be well to see Mr. Haverley as soon as +possible. Perhaps he knows of a blacksmith's shop, where the buggy can +be mended." + +Herbert smiled. "Repairs of that sort," he said, "require a good deal of +time. If we waited for the buggy to be put in travelling condition, we +would certainly have to stay here all night, and probably the greater +part of tomorrow." + +In the sudden emotions which had caused her to act almost exactly as Dora +had acted, Miriam had entirely forgotten her resentment toward her +companion. + +"Why can't you stay?" she asked. "We have plenty of room, you know." + +The man of business shook his head. + +"Thank you very much," he replied, "but I must be in my office this +evening. I think I shall be obliged to borrow your gig. I will walk over +to the field--" + +"Oh, you need not take the trouble to do that," said Miriam. "They are +way over there at the end of the meadow beyond the hill. The gig is here +in the barn, and I can lend it to you just as well as he can." + +"You are very kind," said Herbert, "and I will accept your amendment. It +will be the better plan, because if I saw your brother, I should +certainly interfere with his work. He might insist upon coming to help +me, which is not at all necessary. Where can I find the gig, Miss +Haverley?" + +Miriam led her visitors to the second floor. + +"There it is," she said, "but of course you must have the harness +belonging to it, for your buggy harness will not hold up the shafts +properly. It is in the harness room, but I do not know which it is. There +is a lot of harness there, but it is mostly old and worn out." + +"I will go and look," said Herbert. "I think it is only part of it that I +shall need." + +During this conversation Dora had said nothing. Now as she stood by the +old gig, toppling forward with its shafts resting upon the floor, she +thought she had never seen such a horrible, antediluvian old trap in her +life. Nothing could add so much to her disappointment in going so soon, +as going in that thing. If there had been anything to say which might +prevent her brother from carrying out his intention, she would have said +it, but so far there had been nothing. + +She followed the others into the harness room, and as her eyes glanced +around the walls, they rested upon a saddle hanging on its peg. Instantly +she thought of something to say. + +"Herbert," she remarked, not too earnestly, "I think we shall be putting +our friends to a great inconvenience by borrowing the gig. You will never +be able to find the right harness and put it on so that there will not be +an accident on the road, and Mr. Haverley or the man will have to be +sent for. And, besides, there will be the trouble of getting the gig back +again. Now, don't you think it will be a great deal better for you to put +that saddle on the horse, and ride him home, and then send the carriage +for me? That would be very simple, and no trouble at all." + +Mr. Bannister turned his admiring eyes upon his sister. + +"I declare, Dora," he said, "that is a good practical suggestion. If Miss +Haverley will allow me, I will borrow the saddle and the bridle and ride +home; I shall like that." + +"Of course you are welcome to the saddle, if you wish it," said Miriam; +"but you need not send for your sister. Why can't she stay with me +to-night? I think it would be splendid to have a girl spend the night +with me. Perhaps I oughtn't to call you a girl, Miss Bannister." + +Dora's eyes sparkled. "But I am a girl, just as you are," she exclaimed, +"and I should be delighted to stay. You are very good to propose it. +Herbert is an awfully slow rider (I believe he always walks his horse), +and I am sure it would be after dark before the carriage would get here." + +"Do let her stay," cried Miriam, seizing Dora's arm, as if they had been +old friends; "I shall be so glad to have her." + +Mr. Bannister laughed. + +"It is not for me to say what Dora shall do," he replied. "You two must +decide that, and if I go home to report our safety, it will be all +right. It is now too late for me to go to Mrs. Dudley's, especially as I +ride so slowly; but I will drive there to-morrow, and stop for Dora on +my return." + +"Settled!" cried Miriam; and Dora gazed at her with radiant face. It was +delightful to be able to bestow such pleasure. + +In two minutes Mr. Bannister had brought in his horse. In the next minute +all three of the party were busy unbuckling his harness; in ten minutes +more it had been taken off, the saddle and bridle substituted, and Mr. +Bannister was riding to Thorbury. + +Dora of the sparkling eyes drew close to Miriam. + +"Would you mind my kissing you?" she asked. + +There was nothing in the warm young soul of the other girl which in the +least objected to this token of a new-born friendship. + +As Dora and Miriam, each with an arm around the waist of the other, +walked out of the barn and passed the lower story, the calf, who had been +the main instrument in bringing about the cordial relations between the +two, raised his head and gazed at them with his good eye. Then perceiving +that they had forgotten him, and were going away without even arranging +his mosquito net for the night, he slowly turned his clouded visual organ +in their direction, and composed himself to rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY + + +As the two girls entered the house, Miriam clapped her hands. + +"What a surprise this will be for Ralph!" she exclaimed. "He hasn't the +slightest idea that you are here, or that anybody is going to spend the +night with us. If Mike said anything about you and your brother,--which I +doubt, for he is awfully anxious to get in that hay,--Ralph thought, of +course, that you were both gone long ago." + +The situation suited Dora's fancy admirably. + +"Let us make it a regular surprise," she said. "I am going to help you to +get supper, and to do whatever you have to do. Suppose you don't tell +your brother that I am here, and let him find it out by degrees. Don't +you think that will be fun?" + +"Indeed it will," cried the other; "and if you don't mind helping a +little about the cooking, I think that will be fun too. Perhaps you can +tell me some things I don't know." + +"Let us begin," exclaimed Dora, "for everything ought to be ready before +he comes in. Can you lend me a big apron?" + +"I have only one," said Miriam, "and it is not very big; I intended to +make some more, but I haven't had time. But you needn't do anything, you +know. You can just give me advice and keep me company." + +"Oh, I want to do things. I want to work," cried Dora; "it would be cruel +to keep me from the fun of helping you get supper. Haven't you something +I can slip on instead of this dress? It is not very fine, but I don't +want to spatter or burn it." + +"None of my clothes are long enough for you," said Miriam; "but perhaps I +might find something in the garret. There are all sorts of clothes up +there. If you choose, we can go up and look." + +In the next minute the two girls were in the great garret, kneeling in +front of a trunk, in which Miriam had found the silk robe, which now lay +tumbled up in a corner of a stall in the cow-stable. Article after +article of female attire was drawn out and tossed on the floor. Dora was +delighted; she was fond of old-fashioned things, and here were clothes of +various eras. Some colonial, perhaps, and none that had been worn since +these two girls had come into the world. There was a calico dress with +large pink figures in it which caught Dora's eye; she sprang to her feet, +shook it out, and held it up before her. + +"This will do," she said. "The length is all right, and it does not +matter about the rest of the fit." + +"Of course not," said Miriam; "and now let us go down. We need not wait +to put the rest of the things back." + +As Dora was about to go, her eyes fell on an old-fashioned pink +sunbonnet. + +"If you don't mind," she said, "I will take that, too. I shall be +awfully awkward, and I don't want to get cinders or flour in my hair." + +When Dora had arrayed herself in the calico dress with pink flowers, she +stood for a moment before the large mirror in Miriam's room. The dress +was very short as to waist, and very perpendicular as to skirt, and the +sleeves were puffy at the elbows and tight about the wrists, but pink was +a color that became her, the quaint cut of the gown was well suited to +her blooming face, and altogether she was pleased with the picture in the +glass. As for the sunbonnet, that was simply hideous, but it could be +taken off when she chose, and the wearing of it would help her very much +in making herself known to Mr. Ralph Haverley. + +For half an hour the girls worked bravely in the kitchen. Dora had some +knowledge of the principles of cookery, though her practice had been +small, and Miriam possessed an undaunted courage in culinary enterprises. +However, they planned nothing difficult, and got on very well. Dora made +up some of Miriam's dough into little rolls. + +"I wish I could make these as the Tolbridges' new cook makes them. They +say that every morning she sends in a plate of breakfast rolls, each one +a different shape, and some of them ever so pretty." + +"I don't suppose they taste any better for that," remarked Miriam. + +"Perhaps not," said the other, "but I like to see things to eat look +pretty." And she did her best to shape the little rolls into such +forms that they might please the eye of Mr. Ralph as well as satisfy +his palate. + +Miriam went up to the dining-room to arrange the table. While doing this +she saw Ralph approaching from the barn. In the kitchen, below, Dora, +glancing out of the window, also saw him coming, and pulling her +sunbonnet well forward, she applied herself more earnestly to her work. +Ralph came in, tired and warm, and threw himself down on a long +horse-hair sofa in the hall. + +"Heigh ho, Miriam," he cried; "hay-making is a jolly thing, all the world +over, but I have had enough of it for to-day. How are you getting on, +little one? Don't put yourself to too much trouble about my supper. Only +give me enough of whatever you have; that is all I ask." + +"Ralph," said Miriam, standing gravely by him, "I did not have to get +supper all by myself; there is a new girl in the kitchen." + +"Good," cried Ralph; "I am very glad to hear that. When did she come?" + +"This afternoon," said Miriam, "and she is cooking supper now. But, +Ralph," she continued, "there is hardly any wood in the kitchen. We +have--she has used up nearly all that was brought in this morning." + +"Well," said Ralph, "there is plenty of it cut, in the woodhouse." + +"But, Ralph," said Miriam, "I don't like to ask her to go after the wood, +herself, and some is needed now." + +"Mike is just as busy as he can be down at the barn," said her brother, +"and I cannot call him now. If you show her the woodhouse, she can get +what she wants with very little trouble, and Mike will bring in a lot of +it to-night." + +"But, Ralph," persisted his sister, "I don't want to ask her to stop her +cooking and go out and get wood. It does not look like good management, +for one thing, and for other reasons I do not want to do it. Don't you +think you could bring her some wood? Just a little basketful of short +sticks will do." + +Ralph sat up and knitted his brows. "Miriam," said he, "if your new cook +is the right sort of a woman, she ought to be able to help herself in +emergencies of this kind, with the woodhouse not a dozen yards from the +kitchen. But as she is a stranger to the place, and I don't want to +discourage anybody who comes to help you, I will get some wood for her, +but I must say that it does not look very well for the lord of the manor +to be carrying fuel to the cook." + +"It isn't the lord of the manor," cried Miriam; "it is the head +hay-maker, and when you dress yourself for supper, she will never think +of you as the man who brought in the wood." + +Dora, from the kitchen window, saw Ralph go out to the woodhouse, and she +saw him returning with an arm-load of small sticks. Then she turned her +back to the kitchen door, and bent her head over a beefsteak she was +preparing for the gridiron. + +Ralph came in with the wood, and put it down by the side of the great +stove. As he glanced at the slight form in the pink gown, it struck him +that this woman would not be equal to the hard work which would be +sometimes necessary here. + +"I suppose this wood will be as much as you will want for the present," +he said, as he turned toward the door, "and the man will fill this box +to-night, but if you need any more before he does so, there is the +woodhouse just across the yard, where you can easily get a few sticks." + +Dora half turned herself in the direction of the woodhouse, and murmured, +"Yes, sir." + +"Miriam," said Ralph, as he went into the dining-room, where his sister +was putting the knives and forks upon the supper table, "do you think +that woman is strong enough to wash, iron, and do all the things that +Phoebe used to do when she was here? How old is she?" + +"I don't know, exactly," answered Miriam, going to a cupboard for some +glasses; "and as to rough work, I can't tell what she can do, until +she tries." + +When Ralph had made his toilet and come downstairs, attired in a very +becoming summer suit, his sister complimented him. + +"Hay-making makes you ever so much handsomer," she said; "you look as if +you had been on a yachting cruise. There is one thing I forgot to say to +you, but I do not suppose it will make any difference, as we are real +country people now: our new cook is accustomed to eating at the table +with the family." + +Ralph's face flushed. "Upon my word!" he exclaimed, staring at his +sister. "Well," he continued, "I don't care what she is accustomed to, +but she cannot eat at our table. I may carry wood for cooks, but I do +not eat with them." + +"But, Ralph," said Miriam, "you ought to consider the circumstances. She +is not a common Irishwoman, or German. She is an American, and has always +taken her meals with the family in which she lived. I could not ask her +to eat in the kitchen. You know, Mike takes his meals there since Phoebe +has gone. Indeed, Ralph, I cannot expect her to do a thing that she has +never done in her life, before. Do you really think you would mind it? +You work with Mike in the field, and you don't mind that, and this girl +is very respectable, I assure you." + +Ralph stood silent. He had supposed his sister, young as she was, knew +more of the world than to make an arrangement with a servant which would +put her, in many respects, on an equality with themselves. He was very +much annoyed, but he would not be angry with Miriam, if he could help it, +nor would he put her in the embarrassing position of revoking the +agreement with this American woman, probably a farmer's daughter, and, in +her own opinion, as good as anybody. But, although he might yield at +present, he determined to take the important matter of engaging domestic +servants into his own hands. His sister had not yet the necessary +judgment for that sort of thing. + +"Miriam," said he, "for how long have you engaged this woman?" + +"Nothing at all has been said about time," she answered. + +"Very well, then," said he, "she can come to the table to-night and +to-morrow morning, for, I suppose, if I object, she will go off and leave +you again without anybody, but to-morrow she must be told that she cannot +eat with us; and if she does not like that, she must leave, and I will go +to the city and get you a proper servant. The hay is in now, and there is +no more important work to which I could give a day. Now do not be angry, +little one, because I object to your domestic arrangements. We all have +to make mistakes, you know, when we begin." + +"Thank you, Ralph," said Miriam. "I really am ever so much obliged to +you," and going up to her brother, she lifted her face to his. Ralph +stooped to kiss her, but suddenly stopped. + +"Who, in the name of common sense, is that!" he exclaimed. The sound of +wheels was plainly heard upon the driveway, and turning, they saw a buggy +stop at the door. + +"It is Dr. Tolbridge!" cried Miriam. + +Through the open front door Ralph saw that it was the doctor, preparing +to alight. + +"Miriam," said he, quickly, "we must ask the doctor to stay to supper, +and if he does, that cook must not come to the table. It will not do at +all, as you can see for yourself. We cannot ask our friends and neighbors +to sit down with servants." + +"I will see," said Miriam. "I think that can be made all right," and they +both went to the door to meet their visitor. + +The doctor shook hands with them most cordially. + +"Glad to see you both so ruddy; Cobhurst air must agree with you. And +now, before we say anything else, let me ask you a question: Have you had +your supper?" + +"No," answered Ralph, "and I hope you have not." + +"Your hopes are realized. I have not, and if you do not mind letting me +sup with you, I will do it." + +The brother and sister, who both liked the hearty doctor, assured him +that they would be delighted to have him stay. + +"The reason of my extending an invitation to myself is this: I have been +making a visit in the country, where I was detained much longer than I +expected, and as I drove homeward, I said to myself, 'Good sir, you are +hungry, and where are you going to get your evening meal? You cannot +reach home until long after the dinner hour, and moreover you have a +patient beyond Cobhurst, whom you ought to see this evening. It would be +a great pity to drive all the way to Thorbury, and then back again, +to-night. Now there are those young Cobhurst people, who, you know, have +supper at the end of the day, instead of dinner, like the regular farmers +that they are, and as you want to see them, anyway, and find out how they +are getting on, it will be well to stop there, and ten to one, you will +find that they have not yet sat down to the table.'" + +"A most excellent conclusion," said Ralph, "and I will call Mike, and +have him take your horse." + +Having left the doctor in the charge of her brother, Miriam hurried +downstairs to apprise Dora of the state of affairs. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but we will have to give up the trick we were +going to play on Ralph, for Dr. Tolbridge has come, and will stay to +supper, and so, while you go upstairs and put on your own dress, I will +finish getting these things ready. I will see Ralph before we sit down, +and tell him all about it." + +Dora made no movement toward the stairs. + +"I knew it was the doctor," she said, "for I went out and looked around +the corner of the house, and saw his horse. But I do not see why we +should give up our trick. Let us play it on the doctor as well as on +your brother." + +Miriam stood silent a few moments. + +"I do not know how that would do," she said. "That is a very different +thing. And besides, I do not believe Ralph would let you come to the +table. You ought to have seen how angry he was when I told him the new +cook must eat with us." + +"Oh, that was splendid!" cried Dora. "I will not come to the table. That +will make it all the funnier when we tell him. I can eat my supper +anywhere, and I will go upstairs and wait on you, which will be better +sport than sitting down at the table with you." + +"But I do not like that," said Miriam. "I will not have you go without +your supper until we have finished." + +"My dear Miriam!" exclaimed Dora, "what is a supper in comparison with +such a jolly bit of fun as this? Let me go on as the new cook. And now +we must hurry and get these things on the table. It will make things a +great deal easier for me, if they can eat before it is time to light +the lamps." + +When Miriam went to call the gentlemen to supper, the doctor said to +her:-- + +"Your brother has told me that you have a new servant, and that she is so +preposterous as to wish to take her meals with you, but that he does not +intend to allow it. Now, I say to you, as I said to him, that if she +expected to sit at the table before I came, she must do it now. I am used +to that sort of thing, and do not mind it a bit. In the families of the +farmers about here, with whom I often take a meal, it is the custom for +the daughter of the family to cook, to wait on the table, and then sit +down with whomever may be there, kings or cobblers. I beg that you will +not let my coming make trouble in your household." + +Miriam looked at her brother. + +"All right," said Ralph, with a smile, "if the doctor does not mind, I +shall not. And now, do let us have something to eat." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DORA'S NEW MIND + + +When Ralph Haverley made up his mind to agree to anything, he did it with +his whole soul, and if he had had any previous prejudices against it, he +dismissed them; so as he sat at supper with the doctor and his sister he +was very much amused at being waited upon by a woman in a pink sunbonnet. +That she should wear such a head-covering in the house was funny enough +in itself, but the rest of her dress was also extremely odd, and she kept +the front of her dark projecting bonnet turned downward or away, as if +she had never served gentlemen before, and was very much overpowered by +bashfulness. But for all that she waited very well, and with a light +quickness of movement unusual in a servant. + +"I am afraid, doctor," said Miriam, when the pink figure had gone +downstairs to replenish the plate of rolls, "that you will miss your +dinner. I have heard that you have a most wonderful cook." + +"She is indeed a mistress of her art," replied the doctor; "but you do +very well here, I am sure. That new cook of yours beats Phoebe utterly. I +know Phoebe's cooking." + +"But you must not give her all the credit," exclaimed Miriam; "I made +that bread, although she shaped it into rolls. And I helped with the +beefsteak, the potatoes, and the coffee." + +"Which latter," said Ralph, "is as strong as if six or seven women had +made it, although it is very good." + +The meal went on until the two hungry men were satisfied, Miriam being so +absorbed in Dora's skilful management of herself that she scarcely +thought about eating. There was a place for the woman in pink, if she +chose to take it, but she evidently did not wish to sit down. Whenever +she was not occupied in waiting upon those at the table, she bethought +herself of some errand in the kitchen. + +"Well," said Ralph, "those rolls are made up so prettily, and look so +tempting, that I wish I had not finished my supper." + +"You are right," said the doctor, "they are aesthetic enough for La +Fleur," and then pushing back his chair a little, he looked steadfastly, +with a slight smile on his face, at the figure, with bowed sunbonnet, +which was standing on the other side of the table. + +"Well, young woman," he said, "how is your mind by this time?" + +For a moment there was silence, and then from out of the sunbonnet there +came, clearly and distinctly, the words:-- + +"That is very well. How is your kitten?" + +At this interchange of remarks, Ralph sat up straight in his chair, +amazement in his countenance, while Miriam, ready to burst into a roar of +laughter, waited convulsively to see what would happen next. Turning +suddenly toward Ralph, Dora tore off her sunbonnet and dashed it to the +floor. Standing there with her dishevelled hair, her flushed cheeks, her +sparkling eyes and her quaint gown, Ralph thought her the most beautiful +creature he had ever gazed upon. + +"How do you do, Mr. Haverley?" said Dora, advancing and extending her +hand; "I know you are not willing to eat with cooks, but I do not believe +you will object to shaking hands with one, now and then." + +Ralph arose, and took her hand, but she gave him no opportunity to +say anything. + +"Your sister and I got up this little bit of deception for you, Mr. +Haverley," she continued, "and we intended to carry it on a good deal +further, but that gentleman has spoiled it all, and I want you to know +that I stopped here to see your sister, and finding she had not a soul to +help her, I would not leave her in such a plight, and we had a royal good +time, getting the supper, and were going to do ever so many more +things--I should like to know, doctor, how you knew me. I am sure I did +not look a bit like myself." + +"You did not look like yourself, but you walked like yourself," replied +Dr. Tolbridge. "I watched you when you first tried to toddle alone, and I +have seen you nearly every day since, and I know your way of stepping +about as well as I know anything. But I must really apologize for having +spoiled the fun. I discovered you, Dora, before we had half finished +supper, but I thought the trick was being played on me alone. I had no +idea that Mr. Haverley thought you were the new cook." + +"I certainly did think so," cried Ralph, "and what is more, I intended to +discharge you to-morrow morning." + +There was a lively time for a few minutes, after which Dora explained +what had been said about her mind and a kitten. + +"He was just twitting me with having once changed my mind--every one +does that," she said; "and then I gave him a kitten. That is all. And +now, before I change my dress, I will go and get some wood for the +kitchen fire. I think you said, Mr. Haverley, that the woodhouse was not +far away." + +"Wood!" cried Ralph; "don't you think of it!" + +Miriam burst into a laugh. + +"Oh, you ought to have heard the lord of the manor declare that he would +not carry fuel for the cook," she cried. + +Ralph joined in the laugh that rose against him, but insisted that Dora +should not change her dress. + +"You could not wear anything more becoming," he said, "and you do not +know how much I want to treat the new cook as one of the family." + +"I will wear whatever the lord of the manor chooses," said Dora, +demurely, and was about to make reference to his concluding remark, but +checked herself. + +When the two girls joined the gentlemen on the porch, which they did with +much promptness, having delegated the greater part of their household +duties to Mike, who could take a hand at almost any kind of work, Dr. +Tolbridge announced that he must proceed to visit his patient. + +"Are you coming back this way, doctor?" asked Dora. "Because if you are, +would it be too much trouble for you to look for our buggy on the side of +the road, and to bring back the cushions and the whip with you? Herbert +may think that in this part of the country the people are so honest that +they would not steal anything out of a deserted buggy, but I do not +believe it is safe to put too much trust in people." + +"A fine, practicable mind," said the doctor; "cuts clean and sharp. I +will bring the cushions and the whip, if they have not been stolen before +I reach them. And now I will go to the barn and get my horse. We need +not disturb the industrious Mike." + +"If you are going to the barn, doctor," cried Miriam, seizing her hat, "I +will go with you and put the mosquito net over my calf, which I entirely +forgot to do. Perhaps, if it is light enough, you will look at its eye." + +The doctor laughed, and the two went off together, leaving Dora and Ralph +on the piazza. + +Dora could not help thinking of herself as a very lucky girl. When she +had started that afternoon to make a little visit at Cobhurst, she had +had no imaginable reason to suppose that in the course of a very few +hours she would be sitting alone with Mr. Haverley in the early +moonlight, without even his sister with them. She had expected to see +Ralph and to have a chat with him, but she had counted on Miriam's +presence as a matter of course; so this tete-a-tete in the quiet beauty +of the night was as delightful as it was unanticipated. More than that, +it was an opportunity that ought not to be disregarded. + +The new mind of Miss Dora Bannister was clear and quick in its +perceptions, and prompt and independent in action. It not only showed +what she wanted, but indicated pretty clearly how she might get it. Since +she had been making use of this fresh intellect, she had been impressed +very strongly by the belief that in the matter of matrimonial alliance, a +girl should not neglect her interest by depending too much upon the +option of other people. Her own right of option she looked upon as a +sacred right, and one that it was her duty to herself to exercise, and +that promptly. She had just come from the seaside, where she had met some +earnest young men, one or two of whom she expected to see shortly at +Thorbury. Also Mr. Ames, their young rector, was a very persevering +person, and a great friend of her brother. + +Of course it behooved her to act with tact, but for all that she must be +prompt. It was easy to see that Ralph Haverley could not be expected to +go very soon into the society of Thorbury, to visit ladies there, and as +she wanted him to learn to know her as rapidly as possible, she resolved +to give him every opportunity. + +Miriam was gone a long time, because when she reached the barn, the calf +was not to be found where she had left it, and she had been obliged to go +for Mike and a lantern. After anxious search the little fellow had been +found reclining under an apple tree, having gained sufficient strength +from the ministrations of its fair attendants to go through the open +stable door and to find out what sort of a world it had been born into. +It required time to get the truant back, secure it in its stall, and make +all the arrangements for its comfort which Miriam thought necessary. +Therefore, before she returned to the piazza, Miss Bannister and Ralph +had had a long conversation, in which the latter had learned a great deal +about the disposition and tastes of his fair companion, and had been much +interested in what he learned. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GOOD-NIGHT + + +When the three young people had been sitting for half an hour on the wide +piazza of Cobhurst, enjoying the moonlight effects and waiting for the +return of Dr. Tolbridge, Miriam, who was reclining in a steamer chair, +ceased making remarks, but very soon after she became silent she was +heard again, not speaking, however, but breathing audibly and with great +regularity. Ralph and Dora turned toward her and smiled. + +"Poor little thing," said the latter in a low voice; "she must be +tired out." + +"Yes," said Ralph, also speaking in an undertone, "she was up very early +this morning, and has been at some sort of work ever since. I do not +intend that this shall happen again. You must excuse her, Miss +Bannister,--she is a girl yet, you know." + +"And a sweet one, too," said Dora, "with a perfect right to go to sleep +if she chooses. I should be ashamed of myself if I felt in the least +degree offended. Do not let us disturb her until the doctor comes; the +nap will do her good." + +"Suppose, then," said Ralph, "that we take a little turn in the +moonlight. Then we need not trouble ourselves to lower our voices." + +"That will be very well," said Dora, "but I am afraid she may take cold, +although the night air is so soft. I think I saw a lap robe on a table +in the hall; I will spread that over her." + +Ralph whispered that he would get the robe, but motioning him back, and +having tiptoed into the hall and back again, Dora laid the light covering +over the sleeping girl so gently that the regular breathing was not in +the least interrupted. Then they both went quietly down the steps, and +out upon the lawn. + +"She is such a dear girl," said Dora, as they slowly moved away, "and +although we only met to-day, I am really growing very fond of her, and I +like her the better because there is still so much of the child left in +her. Do not you like her the better for that, Mr. Haverley?" + +Ralph did agree most heartily, and it made him happy to agree on any +subject with a girl who was even more beautiful by moonlight than by +day; who was so kind, and tended to his sister, and whose generous +disposition could overlook little breaches of etiquette when there was +reason to do so. + +As they walked backward and forward, not very far away from the piazza, +and sometimes stopping to admire bits of the silver-tinted landscape, +Dora, with most interesting deftness, gave Ralph further opportunity of +knowing her. With his sister as a suggesting subject, she talked about +herself; she told him how she, too, had lost her parents early in life, +and had been obliged to be a very independent girl, for her stepmother, +although just as good as she could be, was not a person on whom she could +rely very much. As for her brother, the dearest man on earth, she had +always felt that she was more capable of taking care of him, at least in +all matters in home life, than he of her. + +"But I have been very happy," she went on to say, "for I am so fond of +country life, and everything that belongs to it, that the more I have to +do with it, the better I like it, and I really begrudge the time that I +spend in the city. You do not know with what pleasure I look forward to +helping Miriam get breakfast to-morrow morning. I consider it a positive +lark. By the way, Mr. Haverley, do you like rolled omelets?" + +Ralph declared that he liked everything that was good, and had no doubt +that rolled omelets were delicious. + +"Then I shall make some," said Dora, "for I know how to do it. And I +think you said, Mr. Haverley, that the coffee to-night was too strong." + +"A little so, perhaps," said Ralph, "but it was excellent." + +"Oh, it shall be better in the morning. I am sure it will be well for one +of us to do one thing, and the other another. I will make the coffee." + +"You are wonderfully kind to do anything at all," said Ralph, and as he +spoke he heard the clock in the house strike ten. It was agreeable in the +highest degree to walk in the moonlight with this charming girl, but he +felt that it was getting late; it was long past Miriam's bedtime, and he +wondered why the doctor did not come. + +Dora perceived the perturbations of his mind; she knew that he thought it +was time for the little party to break up, but did not like to suggest +it. She knew that the natural and proper thing for her to do was to wake +up Miriam, and that the two should bid Ralph good-night, and leave him to +sit up and wait for the doctor as long as he felt himself called upon to +do so, but she was perfectly contented with the present circumstances, +and did not wish to change them just yet. It was a pleasure to her to +walk by this tall, broad-shouldered young fellow, who was so handsome and +so strong, and in so many ways the sort of man she liked, and to let him +know, not so much by her words, as by the incited action of his own +intelligence, that she was fond of the things he was fond of, and that +she loved the life he led. + +As they still walked and talked, the thought came to Dora, and it was a +very pleasing one, that she might act another part with this young +gentleman; she had played the cook, now for a while she could play the +mistress, and she knew she could do it so gently and so wisely that he +would like it without perceiving it. She turned away her face for a +moment; she felt that her pleasure in acting the part of mistress of +Cobhurst, even for a little time, was flushing it. + +"Suppose," she said, "we walk down to the road, and if we see or hear the +doctor coming, we can wait there and save him the trouble of driving in." + +They went out of the Cobhurst gateway, but along the moonlighted highway +they saw no approaching spot, nor could they hear the sounds of wheels. + +"I really think, Mr. Haverley," said Dora, turning toward the house, +"that I ought to go and arouse Miriam, and then we will retire. It is a +positive shame to keep her out of her bed any longer." + +This suggestion much relieved Ralph, and they walked rapidly to the +porch, but when they reached it they found an empty steamer chair and no +Miriam anywhere. They looked at each other in much surprise, and +entering the house they looked in several of the rooms on the lower +floor. Ralph was about to call out for his sister, but Dora quickly +touched him on the arm. + +"Hush," she said, smiling, "do not call her. Do you see that lap robe on +the table? I will tell you exactly what has happened; while we were down +at the road she awoke, at least enough to know that she ought to go to +bed, and I really believe that she was not sufficiently awake to remember +that I am here, and that she simply got up, brought the robe in with her, +and went to her room. Isn't it funny?" + +Ralph was quite sure that Dora's deductions were correct, for when Miriam +happened to drop asleep in a chair in the evening, it was her habit, when +aroused, to get up and go to bed, too sleepy to think about anything +else; but he did not think it was funny now. He was mortified that Miss +Bannister should have been treated with such apparent disrespect, and he +began to apologize for his sister. + +"Now, please stop, Mr. Haverley," interrupted Dora. "I am so glad to have +her act so freely and unconventionally with me, as if we had always been +friends. It makes me feel almost as if we had known each other always, +and it does not make the slightest difference to me. Miriam wanted to +give me another room, but I implored her to let me sleep with her in that +splendid high-posted bedstead, and so all that I have to do is to slip up +to her room, and, if I can possibly help it, I shall not waken her. In +the morning I do not believe she will remember a thing about having gone +to bed without me. So good-night, Mr. Haverley. I am going to be up very +early, and you shall see what a breakfast the new cook will give you. I +will light this candle, for no doubt poor Miriam has put out her lamp, if +she did not depend entirely on the moonlight. By the way, Mr. Haverley," +she said, turning toward him, "is there anything I can do to help you in +shutting up the house? You know I am maid of all work as well as cook. +Perhaps I should go down and see if the kitchen fire is safe." + +"Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Ralph; "I attend to all those things,--at least, +when we have no servant." + +"But doesn't Miriam help you?" asked Dora, taking up the candle which she +had lighted. + +"No," said he; "Miriam generally bids me good-night and goes upstairs an +hour before I do." + +"Very well," said Dora; "I will say only one more thing, and that is that +if I were the lord of the manor, who had been working in the hay-field +all day, I would not sit up very long, waiting for a wandering doctor." + +Ralph laughed, and as she approached the door of the stairway, he opened +it for her. + +"Suppose," she said, stopping for a moment in the doorway, and shielding +the flame of the candle from a current of air with a little hand that +was so beautifully lighted that for a moment it attracted Ralph's eyes +from its owner's face, "you wait here for a minute, and I will go up and +see if she is really safe in her own room. I am sure you will be better +satisfied if you know that." + +Ralph looked his thanks, and softly, but quickly, she went up the stairs. +At a little landing she stopped. + +"Do you know," she whispered, looking back, with the candle throwing her +head and hair into the prettiest lights and shadows, "I think this +stairway is lovely;" and then she went on and disappeared. + +In a few minutes she leaned over the upper part of the banisters and +softly spoke to him. + +"She is sleeping as sweetly and as quietly as the dearest of angels. I do +not believe I shall disturb her in the least. Good-night, Mr. Haverley." +And with her face thrown into a new light,--this time by the hall lamp +below,--she smiled ever so sweetly, and then drew back her head. In half +a minute it reappeared. She was right; he was still looking up. + +"I forgot to say," she whispered, "that all the windows in Miriam's room +are open. Do you think she was too sleepy to notice that, or is she +accustomed to so much night air?" + +"I really do not know," said Ralph, in reply. + +"Very well, then," said Dora; "I will attend to all that in my own way. +Good-night again, Mr. Haverley;" and with a little nod and a smile, she +withdrew her face from his view. + +If she had come back within the next minute, she would have found him +still looking up. She felt quite sure of this, but she could think of no +good reason for another reappearance. + +Ralph lighted a pipe and sat down on the piazza. He looked steadily in +front of him, but he saw no grass, no trees, no moonlighted landscape, no +sky of summer night. He saw only the face of a young girl, leaning over +and looking down at him from the top of a stairway. It was the face of a +girl who was so gentle, so thoughtful for others, so quick to perceive, +so quick to do; who was so fond of his sister, and so beautiful. He sat +and thought of the wondrous good fortune that had brought this girl +beneath his roof, and had given him these charming hours with her. + +And when his pipe was out, he arose, declared to himself that, no matter +what the doctor might think of it, he would not wait another minute for +him, and went to bed,--his mind very busy with the anticipation of the +charming hours which were to come on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER + + +When Dr. Tolbridge returned from the visit to the patient who lived +beyond Cobhurst, he did not drive into the latter place, for seeing +Mike by the gate near the barn, he gave the cushions and whip to him +and went on. + +As it was yet early in the evening, and bright moonlight, he concluded +to go around by the Wittons'. It was not far out of his way, and he +wanted to see Miss Panney. What he wanted to say to the old lady was not +exactly evident to his own mind, but in a general way he wished her to +know that Dora was at Cobhurst. + +Dora was a great favorite with the doctor. He had known her all her life, +and considered that he knew, not only her good points, of which there +were many, but also those that were not altogether desirable, and, of +which, he believed, there were few. One of the latter was her disposition +to sometimes do as she pleased, without reference to tradition or +ordinary custom. He had seen her acting the part of cook, disguised by a +pink sunbonnet and an old-fashioned calico gown. And what pranks she and +the Haverleys--two estimable young people, but also lively and +independent--might play, no one could tell. The duration of Dora's visit +would depend on her brother Herbert, and he was a man of business, whose +time was not at all at his own disposal, and so, the doctor thought, it +would not be a bad thing if Miss Panney would call at Cobhurst the next +day, and see what those three youngsters were about. + +The Wittons had gone to bed, but Miss Panney was in the parlor, reading. +"Early to bed and early to rise," was not one of her rules. + +"Well, really!" she exclaimed, as she rose to greet her visitor, "this is +amazing. How many years has it been since you came to see me without +being sent for?" + +"I do not keep account of years," said the doctor, "and if I choose to +stop in and have a chat with you, I shall do it without reference to +precedent. This is a purely social call, and I shall not even ask you +how you are." + +"I beg you will not," said the old lady, "and that will give me a good +reason for sending for you when you ought to be informed on that point." + +"This is not my first social call this evening," said he. "I took supper +at Cobhurst, where Dora Bannister waited on the table." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed Miss Panney, and then the doctor told his +tale. As the old lady listened, her spirits rose higher and higher. What +extraordinary good luck! She had never planned a match that moved with +such smoothness, such celerity, such astonishing directness as this. She +did not look upon Dora's disregard of tradition and ordinary custom as an +undesirable point in her character. She liked that sort of thing. It was +one of the points in her own character. + +"I wish I could have seen her!" she exclaimed. "She must have been +charming." + +"Don't you think there is danger that she may be too charming?" the +doctor asked. + +"No, I don't," promptly answered Miss Panney. + +The doctor looked at her in some surprise. + +"We should remember," said he, "that Dora is a girl of wealth; that +one-third of the Bannister estate belongs to her, besides the sixty +thousand dollars that came to her from her mother." + +"That does not hurt her," said Miss Panney. + +"And Ralph Haverley was a poor young man when he came here, and Cobhurst +will probably make him a good deal poorer." + +"I do not doubt it," said Miss Panney. + +"Do you believe," said the doctor, after a moment's pause, "that it is +wise or right in a girl like Dora Bannister, accustomed to fine living, +good society, and an atmosphere of opulence, to allow a poor man like +Ralph Haverley to fall in love with her? And he will do it, just as sure +as the world turns round." + +"Well, let him do it," replied the old lady. "I did not intend to give my +opinion on this subject, because, as you know, I am not fond of obtruding +my ideas into other people's affairs, but I will say, now, that Dora +Bannister will have to travel a long distance before she finds a better +man for a husband than Ralph Haverley, or a better estate on which to +spend her money than Cobhurst. I believe that money that is made in a +neighborhood like this ought to be spent here, and Thomas Bannister's +money could not be better spent than in making Cobhurst the fine estate +it used to be. I do not believe in a girl like Dora going off and +marrying some city fellow, and perhaps spending the rest of her life at +the watering-places and Paris. I want her here; don't you?" + +"I certainly do, but you forget Mr. Ames." + +"I do, and I intend to forget him," she replied, "and so does Dora." + +The doctor shook his head. "I do not like it," he said; "young Haverley +may be all very well,--I have a high opinion of him, already, but he is +not the man for Dora. If he had any money at all, it would be different, +but he has not. Now she would not be content to live at Cobhurst as it +is, and he ought not to be content to have her do everything to make it +what she would have it." + +"Doctor," said Miss Panney, "if there is anything about all this in your +medicine books, perhaps you know more than I do, and you can go on and +talk; but you know there is not, and you know, too, that I was a very +sensible middle-aged woman when you were toddling around in frocks and +running against people. I believe you are trying to run against somebody +now. Who is it?" + +"Well," said the doctor, "if it is anybody, it is young Haverley." + +Miss Panney smiled. "You may think so," she said, "but I want you to know +that you are also running against me, and I say to you, confidentially, +and with as much trust in you as I used to have that you would not tell +who it was who spread your bread with forbidden jam, that I have planned +a match between these two; and if they marry, I intend to make pecuniary +matters more nearly even between them, than they are now." + +The doctor looked at her earnestly. + +"Do you suppose," said he, "that he would take money from you?" + +"What I should do for him," she answered, "could not be prevented by him +or any one else." + +"But there is no reason," urged the other. + +The old lady smiled, took off her glasses, wiped them with her +handkerchief, and put them on again. + +"There is so little in medicine books," she said. "His grandfather was +my cousin." + +"The one--?" asked the startled doctor. + +"Yes, that very one," she answered quickly; "but he does not know it, +and now we will drop the subject. I will try to get to Cobhurst +to-morrow before Dora leaves, and I will see if I cannot help matters +along a little." + +The doctor laughed. "I was going to ask you to interfere with matters." + +"Well, don't," she said. "And now tell me about your cook. Is she as +good as ever?" + +"As good?" said the doctor. "She is better. The more she learns about our +tastes, the more perfectly she gratifies them. Mrs. Tolbridge and I look +upon her as a household blessing, for she gives us three perfect meals a +day, and would give us more if we wanted them; the butcher reverences +her, for she knows more about meat and how to cut it than he does. Our +man and our maid either tremble at her nod or regard her with the deepest +affection, for I am told that they spend a great deal of their time +helping her, when they should be attending to their own duties. She has, +in fact, become so necessary to our domestic felicity, and I may say, to +our health, that I do not know what will become of us if we lose her." + +"Is there any chance of that?" eagerly asked the old lady. + +"I fear there is," was the answer. + +Miss Panney sprang to her feet, her eyes flashing. + +"Now look here, Dr. Tolbridge," she said, "don't tell me that that woman +is going to leave you because she wants higher wages and you will not pay +them. I beg you to remember that I got you that woman. I saw she was what +you needed, and I worked matters so that she came to you. She has proved +to be everything that I expected. You are looking better now than I have +seen you look for five years. You have been eating food that you like, +and food that agrees with you, and a chance to do that comes to very few +people in your circumstances. There is no way in which you could spend +your money better than--" + +The doctor raised his hand deprecatingly. + +"There is no question of money," he said. "She has not asked for higher +wages, and if she had, I should pay anything in reason. The trouble is +more serious. You may remember that when she first came to this country, +she lived with the Dranes, and she left them because they could no longer +afford to employ her. She has the greatest regard for that family, and +has lately heard that they are becoming poorer and poorer. There are only +two of them,--mother and daughter,--and on account of some sort of unwise +investment they are getting into a pretty bad way. I used to know Captain +Drane, and was slightly acquainted with his family. I heard of their +misfortune through a friend in Pennsylvania, and as I knew that La Fleur +took such an interest in the family, I mentioned it to her. The result +was disastrous; she has been in a doleful mood ever since, and yesterday +assured Mrs. Tolbridge that if it should prove that Mrs. Drane and her +daughter, who had been so good to her, had become so poor that they +could not afford to employ a servant, she must leave us and go to them. +She would ask no wages and would take no denial. She would stay with them +and serve them for the love she bore them, as long as they needed her. I +know she is in earnest, for she immediately wrote to Mrs. Drane, and +asked me to put the letter in the post-office; and, by the way, she +writes a great deal better hand than I do." + +Miss Panney, who had reseated herself, gazed earnestly at the floor. + +"Doctor," she said, "this is very serious. I have not yet met La Fleur, +but I very much want to. I am convinced that she is a woman of character, +and when she says she intends to do a thing, she will do it. That is, +unless somebody else of character, and of pretty strong character too, +gets in her way. I do not know what advice to give you just now, but she +must not leave you. That must be considered as settled. I am coming to +your house to-morrow afternoon, and please ask Mrs. Tolbridge to be at +home. We shall then see what is to be done." + +"There is nothing to be done," said the doctor, rising. "We cannot +improve the circumstances of the Dranes, and we cannot prevent La Fleur +from going to them if her feelings prompt her to do it." + +"Stuff!" said the old lady. "There is always something to be done. The +trouble is, there is not always some one to do it; but, fortunately for +some of my friends, I am alive yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" + + +It was about ten o'clock the next morning when Miss Panney drove over to +Cobhurst in her phaeton. She did not go up to the house, but tied her +roan mare behind a clump of locust trees and bushes, where the animal +might stand in peace and shade. Then she walked around the house, and +hearing the clatter of crockery in the basement, she looked down through +a kitchen window, and saw Mike washing the breakfast dishes. + +Going on toward the back of the house, she heard voices and laughter over +in the garden. Behind a tangled mass of raspberries, she saw a pink +sunbonnet and a straw hat with daisies in it. She knew, then, that Dora +and Miriam were picking berries, and then her eyes and ears began to +search for Ralph. + +She went up on the back piazza and looked over toward the barn, which +appeared to be closed, and around and about the house, but saw nothing +of the young man. But she would wait; it was scarcely likely that he was +at work in the fields by himself. He would probably appear soon, and, if +possible, she wanted to speak to him before she saw any one else. She +went into the house, and took a seat in the hall, where, through a +narrow window by the side of the door, she had a good view of the garden +and the grounds at the back, and could also command the front entrance +of the house. + +Miss Panney had been seated but a very few minutes when the two girls +emerged from the bosky intricacies of the garden. + +"Upon my word!" exclaimed the old lady, "she has got on Judith Pacewalk's +teaberry gown. I could never forget that!" + +At this moment there was a clatter of hoofs and a rattle of wheels, and a +brown horse, drawing a very loose-jointed wagon, with Ralph Haverley, in +a broad hat and light tennis jacket, driving, dashed up to the back door +and stopped with a jerk. + +"Back so soon!" cried Miriam. "See what a lot of raspberries we have +picked. I will take them into the house, and then come out and get the +things you have brought." + +As Miriam went around toward the kitchen, Ralph sprang to the ground, and +Dora approached him. Miss Panney could see her face under the sunbonnet. +It was suffused with the light of a smiling, beaming welcome. + +"You did go quickly, didn't you?" she said. "You must be a good driver." + +"I didn't want to lose any time," answered Ralph, "and I made Mrs. +Browning step along lively. As it was, I was afraid that your brother +might arrive before I got back and that I might find you were gone." + +"It was a pity," said Dora, "that you troubled yourself to hurry back. +You may have wanted to do other things in Thorbury, and if Herbert missed +seeing you to-day he would have plenty of other opportunities." + +Ralph laughed. "I should like to meet your brother," he said, "but I am +bound to say that I was thinking more of the new cook. I did not want her +to leave before I got back." + +Dora raised her sunbonnet toward him. Miriam's steps were heard +approaching. + +"You might have felt sure," she said, "that she would not have gone +without seeing you again. You have been so kind and good to her that she +would not think of doing that." Then, as Miriam was very near, she +approached the wagon. "Did you get the snowflake flour, as I told you?" +she asked. "Yes, I see you did, and I am glad you listened to my advice, +and bought only a bag of it, for you know you may not like it." + +"If it is the flour you use, I know we shall like it," said Ralph; "but +still I am bound to follow your advice." + +"You would better follow me, now," said Miriam, who had taken some +parcels from the wagon, "and bring that bag into the pantry. I do not +like Mike to come into our part of the house with his boots." + +Ralph shouldered the bag, and Dora stepped up to him. + +"I will stay with the horse until you come out again," she said, not +speaking very loudly. + +Miss Panney, who had heard all that had been said, smiled, and her black +eyes twinkled. "Truly," she said to herself, "for so short an +acquaintance, this is getting on wonderfully." + +Miriam, her arms full of parcels, and her mind full of household economy, +walked rapidly by Miss Panney without seeing her at all, and, entering +the dining-room, passed through it into the pantry. But when Ralph +appeared in the open doorway, the old lady rose and confronted him, her +finger on her lip. + +"I have just popped in to make a little call on your sister," she +whispered; "but I saw she was pretty well loaded as she passed, and I did +not wish to embarrass her--I do not mind embarrassing you. Don't put down +the bag, I beg. I shall step into the drawing-room, and you can say I am +there. By the way, who is that young woman standing by the horse?" + +"It is Miss Bannister," answered Ralph, his face unreasonably flushing as +he spoke. "She is visiting Miriam and helping her." + +When Miss Panney wished to influence a person in favor of or against +another person, she was accustomed to go about the business in a very +circumspect way, and to accommodate the matter and the manner of her +remarks to the disposition of the person addressed, and to the occasion. +She wished very much to influence Ralph in favor of Miss Bannister, and +if she had had the opportunity of a conversation with him, she knew she +could have done this in a very easy and natural way. But there was no +time for conversation now, and she might not again have the chance of +seeing him alone, so she adopted a very different course, and with as +much readiness and quickness as Daniel Boone would have put a rifle-ball +into the head of an Indian the moment he saw it protrude from behind a +tree, so did Miss Panney concentrate all she had to say into one shot, +and deliver it quickly. + +"Help Miriam, eh?" she whispered; "take my advice, my boy, and keep her +to help you." And without another word she proceeded to the drawing-room, +where she seated herself in the most comfortable chair. + +Ralph stood still a minute with the bag on his shoulder. He scarcely +understood what had been said to him, but the words had been so well +aimed and sent with such force that before he reached Miriam and the +pantry his mind was illumined by the shining apparition of Dora as his +partner and helpmate. Two minutes before there had been no such +apparition. It is true that his mind had been filled with misty, +cloudlike sensations, entirely new to it, but the words of the old lady +had now condensed them into form. + +When Miriam was informed of the visitor in the drawing-room, she frowned +a little, and made up a queer face, and then, taking off her long apron, +went to perform her duty as lady of the house. + +Ralph returned to Dora, and as he looked at the girl who was patting the +neck of the brown mare, she seemed to have changed, not because she was +different from what she had been a few minutes before, but because he +looked upon her differently. As he approached, every word that she had +spoken to him that day crowded into his memory. The last thing she had +said was that she would wait until he returned to her, and here she was, +waiting. When he spoke, his manner had lost the free-heartedness of a +little while before; there was a slight diffidence in it. + +Hearing that Miss Panney was in the house, Dora turned her bonnet +downward, and she also frowned a little. + +"Why should that old person come in this very morning?" she thought. + +But in an instant the front of the bonnet was raised toward Ralph, and +upon the young face under it there was not a shadow of dissatisfaction. + +"Of course I must go in and see her," she said, and then, speaking as if +Ralph were one on whom she had always been accustomed to rely for +counsel, "do you think I need go upstairs and change my dress? If this is +good enough for you and Miriam, isn't it good enough for Miss Panney?" + +As Ralph gazed into the blue eyes that were raised to his, it was +impossible for him to think of anything for which their owner was not +good enough. This impression upon him was so strong that he said, with +blurting awkwardness, that she looked charming as she was, and needed not +the slightest change. The value of this impulsive remark was fully +appreciated by Dora, but she gave no sign of it, and simply said that if +he were suited, she was. + +They were moving toward the house when Dora suddenly laid her hand +upon his arm. + +"You have forgotten the horse, Mr. Ralph," she said. + +The touch and the name by which she called him for the first time made +the young man forget, for an instant, everything in the world, but the +girl who had touched and spoken. + +"Have you anything to tie her with? Oh, yes, there is a chain on +that post." + +As Ralph turned the horse toward the hitching-post, Dora ran before him, +and stood ready with the chain in her hand. + +"Oh, no," she said, as he motioned to take it from her, "let me hook it +on her bridle. Don't you want to let me help you at all?" + +As side by side Dora and Ralph entered the drawing-room, Miss Panney +declared in her soul that they looked like an engaged couple, coming to +ask for her blessing. And when Dora saluted her with a kiss, and, drawing +up a stool, took a seat at her feet, the old lady gave her her blessing, +though not audibly. + +As Miss Panney was in a high good humor, she wanted everybody else to be +so, and in a few minutes even the sedate Miriam was chatting freely and +pleasantly. + +"And so that graceless Phoebe has left you," said the old lady; "to board +the minister, indeed! I will see that minister, and give him a text for a +sermon. But you cannot keep up this sort of thing, my young friends; not +even with Dora's help." And she stroked the soft hair of Miss Bannister, +from which the sunbonnet had been removed. + +"I will see Mike before I go, and send him for Molly Tooney. Molly is a +good enough woman, and if I send for her, she will come to you until you +have suited yourselves with servants. And now, my dear child, where did +you find that gay dress? Upstairs in some old trunk, I suppose. Stand +over there and let me look at you. It is a good forty years since I have +seen that gown. Do you know to whom it used to belong? But of course you +do not. It was Judith Pacewalk's teaberry gown." + +"And who was Judith Pacewalk?" asked Dora; "and why was it teaberry? It +is not teaberry color." + +"No," said Miss Panney; "the color had nothing to do with it, but I must +say it has kept very well. Let me see," taking out her watch, "it is not +yet eleven o'clock, and if you young people have time enough, I will tell +you the story of that gown. What does the master say?" + +Ralph declared that they must have the story, and that time must not be +considered. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN + + +"Judith Pacewalk," said Miss Panney, "was Matthias Butterwood's cousin. +Before Matthias got rich and built this house, he lived with his Aunt +Pacewalk on her farm. That was over at Pascalville, about thirty miles +from here. He superintended the farm, and Judith and he were very good +friends, although he never showed any signs of caring anything for her +except in the way of a cousin; but she cared for him. There was no doubt +about that. I lived in Pascalville, then, and used to be a great deal at +their house, and it was as plain as daylight to me that Judith was in +love with her cousin, although she was such a quiet girl that few people +suspected it, and I know he did not. + +"The Pacewalks were poor, and always had been; and it could not be +expected that a man like Matthias Butterwood could stay long on that +little farm. He had a sharp business head, and was a money-maker, and as +soon as he was able he bought a farm of his own, and this is the farm; +but there was no house on it then, except the little one that Mike now +lives in. But Matthias had grand ideas about an estate, and in the course +of five years he built this house and the great barn, and made a fine +estate of it. + +"When this was going on, he still lived with his Aunt Pacewalk. He did +not want to go to his own house until everything was finished and ready. +Of course, everybody supposed he would take a wife there, but he never +said anything about that, and gave a sniff when the subject was +mentioned. During the summer in which Cobhurst was finished--he named the +place himself--he told his aunt that in the fall he was going there to +live, and that he wanted her and Judith to come there and make him a +visit of a month. He said he intended to have his relations visit him by +turns, and that was the sort of family he would have. Now it struck me +that if Judith went there and played her cards properly, she could stay +there as mistress. Although she was a girl very much given to keeping her +own counsel, I knew very well that she had something of the same idea. + +"As I said before, the Pacewalks were poor, and although they lived well +enough, money was scarce with them, and it was seldom that they were able +to spend any of it for clothes. But about this time Judith came to me--I +was visiting them at the time--and talked a little about herself, which +was uncommon. She said that if she went to Matthias' fine new house, and +sat at the head of his table,--and of course that would be her place +there, as it was at her mother's table,--she thought that she ought to +dress better than she did. 'I do not mean,' she said, 'that I want any +fine clothes for company; but I ought to have something neat and proper +for everyday wear, and I want you to help me to think of some way to buy +it.' So we talked the matter over, and came to the conclusion that the +best way to do was to try to gather teaberries enough to pay for the +material for a chintz gown. + +"In those days--I don't know how it is now--Pascalville was the greatest +place for teaberries. They used them as a flavor for candy, ice-cream, +puddings, cakes, and I don't know what else. They made summer drinks of +it, and it was used as a perfume for home-made hair-washes and +tooth-powder. So Judith and I and a girl named Dorcas Stone, who was a +friend of ours, went to work gathering teaberries in the woods. We worked +early and late, and got enough to trade off at the store for the ten +yards of chintz with which that gown is made. + +"As for the making of it, Judith and I did all that ourselves. Dorcas +Stone might be willing enough to go with us to pick berries, but when +she found what was to be bought with them, she drew out of the business. +She was not a girl who was particularly sharp about seeing things +herself, or keeping people from seeing through her; but she wanted to +marry Matthias Butterwood, and when she found Judith was to have a new +gown she would have nothing to do with it, which was a pity, for she was +a very fine sewer, especially as to gathers. + +"We cut the gown from some patterns we got from a magazine; I fitted it, +and we both sewed. When it was done, and Judith tried it on, it was very +pretty and becoming, and she looked better in it than in the gown she +wore when she went to a party. When we had seen that everything was all +right, Judith took off the dress, folded it up, and put it away in a +drawer. 'Now,' said she, 'I shall not wear that until I go to Cobhurst.' + +"Well, as everybody knows, houses are never finished at the time they are +expected to be, and that was the way with this house, and as Matthias +would not go into it until everything was quite ready, the moving was put +off and put off until it began to be cold weather, and then he said he +would not go into it until spring, for it would be uncomfortable to live +in the new house in the winter. + +"I was very sorry for this, for I thought that the sooner Judith got here +the better her chance would be for staying here the rest of her life. +Judith did not say much, but I am sure she was sorry too, and Matthias +seemed a little out of spirits, as if he were getting a little tired of +living with the Pacewalks, and wanted to be in his own house. I think he +began to feel more like seeing people, and I know he visited the Stones a +good deal. + +"One day when I was at the Pacewalks' and we were sitting alone, he +looked at me and my clothes, and then he said, 'I wish Judith cared more +for clothes than she does. I do not mean getting herself up for high days +and holidays, but her everyday clothes. I like a woman to wear neat and +becoming things all the time.' 'I am sure,' I said, 'Judith's clothes are +always very neat!' + +"'If you mean clean,' he said, 'I will agree to that, but when the color +is all washed out of a thing, or it is faded in streaks like that blue +gown she wears, the wearing of it day after day is bound to make a person +think that a young woman does not care how she looks to her own family, +and I do not like young women not to care how they look to their +families, especially when calico is only twelve cents a yard, and needles +and thread cost almost nothing.' 'Matthias,' said I, 'I expect you have +been to see Dorcas Stone, and are comparing her clothes with Judith's. +Now, Dorcas' father is a well-to-do man, and Judith hasn't any father, +and she does the best she can with the clothes she has.' 'It is not money +I am talking about,' he said, 'it is disposition. If a young woman wants +to look well in her own family, she will find some way to do it. At any +rate, she could let it be seen that she is not satisfied to look like a +dowdy.' And then he went away. + +"This was the first time that Matthias had ever spoken to me about +Judith, and I knew just as well as if he had told me that it was Dorcas +Stone's clothes that had got him into that way of thinking. + +"More than that, I knew he would never have taken the trouble to say that +much about Judith if he had not been taking more interest in her than he +ever had before. He was a practical, businesslike man, and I believed +then, and I believe now, that he was looking for some one to be mistress +of Cobhurst, and if Judith had suited his ideas of what such a woman +ought to be, he would have preferred her to any one else. I think that +was about as far as he was likely to go in such matters at that time, +though of course if he had gotten a loving wife, he might have become a +loving husband, for Matthias was a good fellow at bottom, though rather +hard on top. + +"When he had gone, I went straight upstairs to Judith, and said to her, +if she knew what was good for her, she would get out that teaberry gown +and put it on for supper, and wear it regularly at meals and at all times +when it would be suitable as a house gown. 'I shall do nothing of the +sort,' she said; 'I got it to wear when I go to Cobhurst, and I shall +keep it until then. If I put it on now, it will be a poor-looking thing +by spring.' I told her that was all nonsense, and she could wear that and +get another in the spring, but she shook her head and was not to be +moved. Now, I would have been glad enough to give her the stuff to make a +new gown, but I had hinted at that sort of thing before, and did not +intend to do it again, for she was a good deal prouder than she was poor. +Nor could I think of telling her what Matthias had said, for not only +was she very sensitive, and would have been hurt that he should have +talked to me in that way about her, but she would not have consented to +dress herself on purpose to please a man's fancy. + +"I could not do anything more then, but I have always been a matchmaker, +and I did not give up this match. I did everything I could to make Judith +look well in the eyes of Matthias, and I said everything I could to make +his eyes look favorably on her, but it was all of no use. Judith went to +a Christmas party, and she wore a purple silk gown that had belonged to +her mother. It was rather large for her, and a good deal heavier than +anything she had been accustomed to wear, and she got very warm in the +crowded room, and coming home in a sleigh, she caught cold, and died in +less than a month. + +"So you see, my dears, Judith Pacewalk never wore her teaberry gown, in +which, I believe, she would have been mistress of Cobhurst. When her +mother died, not long afterward, everything they owned went to Matthias +and his brother Reuben. The Pacewalk farm was sold, and all the personal +property of both brothers, including that disastrous box of bones, was +brought here, where it is yet, I suppose; and so, my good young people, I +imagine you will not wonder that I was surprised to see that pink gown +again, having helped, as I did, with every seam, pleat, and gather of it. +If you will look at it closely, you will see that there is good work on +it, for Judith and I knew how to use our needles a good deal better than +most ladies do nowadays." + +Miriam now spoke with much promptness. + +"I am ever so glad to hear that story, Miss Panney," she said, "and as +that teaberry gown should have been worn by the mistress of Cobhurst, I +intend to wear it myself, every day, as long as it lasts, and if it does +not fit me, I can alter it." + +Whether this remark, which was delivered with considerable spirit, was +occasioned by the young girl's natural pride, or whether a little +jealousy had been aroused by the evident satisfaction with which the +old lady gazed at Dora, arrayed in this significant garment, Miss +Panney could not know, but she took instant alarm. Nothing could be +more fatal to her plans than to see the sister opposed to them. She +had been delighted at the intimacy that had evidently sprung up +between her and Dora, but she knew very well that if this sedate +school-girl should resent any interference with her prerogatives, the +intimacy would be in danger. + +Miss Panney had no doubt that Dora and Ralph were on the right road, and +would do very well if left to themselves, but she scarcely believed that +the young man was yet sufficiently in love to brave the opposition of his +sister, which would be all the more wild and unreasonable because she was +yet a girl, and in a position of which she was very proud. + +For Dora and Ralph to marry, Dora and Miriam should be the best of +friends, so that both brother and sister should desire the alliance, +and in furtherance of this happy result, Miss Panney determined to +take Dora away with her. She had been at Cobhurst long enough to +produce a desirable impression upon Ralph, and if she stayed longer, +there was no knowing what might happen between her and Miriam. Dora, as +well as the other, was high-spirited and young, and it was as likely as +not that as she showed an inclination to continue to wear the teaberry +gown, there would be a storm in which matrimonial schemes would be +washed out of sight. + +"Dora," said Miss Panney, "I am now going to drive to Thorbury, and it +will be a great deal better for you to go with me than to wait for your +brother, for it may be very late in the day before he can come for you. +And more than that, it is ten to one that by this time he has forgotten +all about you, especially if his office is full of clients. So please +get yourself ready as soon as possible. And, Miriam, if you will come +over to see me some morning, and bring that teaberry gown with you, I +will alter it to fit you, and arrange it so that you can do the sewing +yourself. It is very appropriate that the little lady of the house +should wear that gown." + +Into the minds of Dora and Miss Panney there came, simultaneously, this +idea: that no matter how much or how often Miriam might wear that gown, +she would not be the first one whom it had figuratively invested with the +prerogatives of the mistress of Cobhurst. + +Miss Bannister, who well knew her brother's habits, agreed to the old +lady's suggestion, and it was well she did so, for when she got home, +Herbert declared that he had been puzzling his mind to devise a plan for +sending for his sister and the broken buggy on the same afternoon. As +for going himself, it was impossible. + +When Dora came downstairs arrayed in her proper costume, Ralph thought +her a great deal prettier than when she wore the pink chintz. Miss +Panney thought so, too, and she managed to leave them together, while +she went with Miriam to get pen and paper with which to write a note to +Molly Tooney. + +"Molly cannot read," said the old lady, "but if Mike will take that to +her, she will come to you and stay as long as you like," and then she +went on to talk about the woman until she thought that Ralph and Dora had +had about five minutes together, which she considered enough. + +"You must both come and see me," cried Miss Bannister, as, leaning from +the phaeton, she stretched out her hand to Miriam. + +"Indeed we shall do so," said Ralph, and as his sister relinquished the +hand of the visitor he took it himself. + +Miss Panney was not one of those drivers who start off with a jerk. Had +she been such a one, Miss Bannister might have been pulled against the +side of the phaeton, for the grasp was cordial. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BLARNEY FLUFF + + +About three o'clock that afternoon, La Fleur, Mrs. Tolbridge's cook, sat +in the middle of her very pleasant kitchen, composing the dinner. Had she +been the chef of a princely mansion, she could not have given the +subject more earnest nor intelligent consideration. It is true the +materials at hand were not those from which a dinner for princes would +have been prepared. But what she had was sufficient for the occasion, and +this repast for a country gentleman in moderate circumstances and his +wife was planned with conscientiousness as well as skill. From the first +she had known very well that it would be fatal to her pretensions to +prepare for the Tolbridges an expensive and luxurious meal, but she had +determined that they should never sit down to any but a good one. + +Her soup had been determined upon and was off her mind, and she had +prepared that morning, from some residuary viands, which would have been +wasted had she not used them in this way, the little entree which was to +follow. Her filet, which the butcher had that morning declared he never +separated from the contiguous portions for any one, but had very soon +afterward cut out for her, lay in the refrigerator, awaiting her pleasure +and convenience. The vegetables had been chosen, and her thoughts were +now intent upon a "sweet" which should harmonize with the other courses. + +On a chair, by the door opening into the garden, sat George, the +doctor's man, who was coachman, groom, and gardener, and who, having +picked a basket of peas, had been requested to shell them. By an open +window, Amanda, the chambermaid, was extracting the stones from a little +dish of olives. + +George was working rapidly and a little impatiently. + +"Madam," said he, "do you want all these peas shelled?" + +La Fleur turned and looked at him with a pleasant smile. + +"I want enough to surround my filet, but whether you shell enough for us +to have any, depends entirely on your good will, George." + +"Of course I'll shell as many as you want," said he, "but I've got a lot +to do this afternoon. There is the phaeton to be washed, that I don't +want the doctor to come home and find muddy yet; and I ought to have done +it this morning, madam, when I was walking about the garden with you, a +tellin' you what I had and a hearin' what I ought to have." + +"I was so glad to have you go with me, and show me everything," said La +Fleur, "because I do not yet exactly understand American gardens. It is +such a nice garden, too, and you do not know how pleased I was, after you +left me and I was coming to the house, to see that fine bed of +aubergines. When will any of them be ripe, do you think, George?" + +The man looked up in surprise. + +"There is nothing of that sort in my garden," said he. "I never +heard of them." + +"Oh, yes, you have," said La Fleur, "you call them egg-plants. You see, +I am learning your American names for things. And now, Amanda, if you +have finished the olives I'll get you to make a fine powder of those +things which I have put into the mortar. Thump and grind them well with +the pestle; they are to make the stuffing for the olives." + +"But, madam, what is to become of the sewing Mrs. Tolbridge wants me to +do? I have only hemmed two of the dozen napkins she gave me to do day +before yesterday." + +"Now, Amanda," said La Fleur, "you ought to know very well, that without +a meal on the table, napkins are of no use. You might have the meals +without napkins, but it wouldn't work the other way. And I am sure those +napkins are not to be used for a week, or perhaps several weeks, and this +dinner must be eaten to-day. So you can see for yourself--" + +At this moment there was a knock at the inner door of the kitchen. + +"Who can that be!" exclaimed La Fleur. "Come in." + +The door opened, and Miss Panney entered the kitchen. La Fleur rose from +her seat, and for a moment the two elderly women stood and looked at +each other. + +"And this is La Fleur," said Miss Panney; "Mrs. Tolbridge has been +talking about you, and I asked her to let me come in and see you. I want +to speak to you for a few minutes, and I will sit down here. Don't you +stand up." + +La Fleur liked people to come and talk to her, provided they were the +right sort of people, and came in the right way. Miss Panney's salutation +pleased her; she had a respect for people who showed a proper recognition +of differences of position. If Miss Panney had been brought into the +kitchen by Mrs. Tolbridge and in a manner introduced to La Fleur, the +latter would have regarded her as something of an equal, and would not +have respected her. Had the old lady accosted her in a supercilious +manner, La Fleur would have disliked her, even if she had supposed she +were a person to be respected. But Miss Panney had filled all the +requirements necessary for the cook's favorable opinion. In the few words +she had spoken, she had shown that she was a friend of the mistress of +the house; that she had heard interesting things of the cook, and +therefore wished to see her; that she knew this cook was a woman of +sense, who understood what was befitting to her position, and would +therefore stand when talking to a lady, and, moreover, in consequence of +the fact that this cook was superior to her class, she would waive the +privileges of her class, and request the cook to sit, while talking to +her. To have waived this privilege without first indicating that she knew +La Fleur would acknowledge her possession of it, would have been damaging +to Miss Panney. + +Upon the features of La Fleur, which were inclined to be bulbous, there +now appeared a smile, which was very different from that with which she +encouraged and soothed her conscripted assistants. It was a smile that +showed that she was pleasurably honored, and it was accompanied by a +slight bow and a downward glance. Then turning to the man and the maid, +she told them in a low voice that they might go, a permission of which +they instantly availed themselves. + +Miss Panney now sat down, and La Fleur, pushing her chair a little away +from the table, availed herself of the permission to do likewise. + +"I have eaten some of your cooking, La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "and I +liked it so much that I wished to ask you something about it. For one +thing, where did you get that recipe for that delicious ice, flavored +with raspberry?" + +The cook smiled with a new smile--one of genuine pleasure. + +"To make that ice," she answered, "one must have more than a recipe: one +must be educated. Tolati, my first husband, invented that ice, and no +chef in Europe could make it but himself. But he taught me, and I make it +for Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge. It has a quality of cream, though there is no +cream in it." + +"I never tasted anything of the kind so good," said Miss Panney, "and +I am a judge, for I have lived long and eaten meals prepared by the +best cooks." + +"French, perhaps," said La Fleur. + +"Oh, yes," was the reply, "and those of other nations. I have travelled." + +"I could see that," said La Fleur, "by your appreciation of my work. +French cooking is the best in the world, and if you have an English cook +to do it, then there is nothing more to be desired. It is like the French +china, with the English designs, which they make now. I once visited +their works, and was very proud of my countrymen." + +"The conceited old body," thought Miss Panney; but she said, "Very +true, very true. It is delightful to me to think that my friends here +have a cook who can prepare meals which are truly fit, not only to +nourish the body without doing it any harm, but to gratify the most +intelligent taste. I have noticed, La Fleur, that there is always +something about your dishes that pleases the eye as well as the palate. +When we say that cooking is thoroughly wholesome, delicious, and +artistic, we can say no more." + +"You do me proud," said La Fleur, "and I hope, madam, that you may eat +many a meal of my cooking. I want to say this, too: I could not cook for +Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge as I do, if I did not feel that they appreciate my +work. I know they do, and so I am encouraged to do my best." + +"Not only does the doctor appreciate you," said Miss Panney, "but his +health depends upon you. He is a man who is peculiarly sensitive to bad +cooking. I have known him all his life, and known him well. He was +getting in a bad way, La Fleur, when you came here, and you are already +making a new man of him." + +"I like to hear that," said La Fleur. "I have a high opinion of Dr. +Tolbridge. I know what he is and what he needs. I often sit up late at +night, thinking of things that will be good for him, and which he will +like. We all work here: every one of the household is industrious, but +the doctor and I are the only ones who must work with our brains. The +others simply work with their bodies and hands." + +Miss Panney fixed her black eyes on the bulbous-faced cook. + +"The word conceit," she thought, "is imbecile in this case." + +"I am glad you are both so well able to do it," she said aloud. "And you +like it here? The place suits you?" + +"Oh, yes, madam," replied La Fleur; "it suits me very well. It is not +what I am accustomed to, but I gave up all that of my own accord. Life in +great houses has its advantages and its pleasures, and its ambitions, +too; but I am getting on in years, and I am tired of the worry and bustle +of large households. I came to this country to visit my relatives, and to +rest and enjoy myself; but I soon found that I could not live without +cooking. You might as well expect Dr. Tolbridge to live without reading." + +"That is very true, La Fleur," said Miss Panney; "and it seems to me that +you are in the very home where you can spend the rest of your days most +profitably to others, and most happily to yourself. And yet I hear that +you are considering the possibility of not staying here." + +"Yes," answered La Fleur, "I am considering that; but it is not because I +am dissatisfied with anything here. It is altogether a different +question. I am very much attached to the family I first lived with in +this country. They are in trouble now, and I think they may need me. If +they do, I shall go to them. I have quite settled all that in my mind. I +am now waiting for an answer to a letter I have written to Mrs. Drane." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "if you leave Dr. Tolbridge, I think it +will be a great mistake; and, although I do not want to hurt your +feelings, I feel bound to say that it will be almost a crime." + +The cook's face assumed an expression of firmness. + +"All that may be," she said, "but it makes no difference. If they need +me, I shall go to them." + +"But cannot somebody else be found to go to them? You are not as +necessary there as you are here, nor so highly prized. They let you go of +their own accord." + +"No one else will go to them for nothing," said La Fleur, "and I +shall do that." + +Miss Panney sat with her brows knit. + +"If the Dranes have become poor," she said presently, "it is natural that +you should want to help them; but it may not be at all necessary that you +should go to them. In fact, by doing that, you might embarrass them very +much. There are only two of them, I believe,--mother and daughter. Do +they do anything to support themselves?" + +"Miss Cicely is trying to get a situation as teacher. If she can do that, +she can support her mother. At present they are doing nothing, and I fear +have nothing to live on. I know my going to them would not embarrass +them. I can help them in ways you do not think of." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, "your feelings are highly honorable to +you, but you are not going about this business in the right way. I have +heard of the Drane family, and know what sort of people they are. They +would not have you work for them for nothing, and perhaps buy with your +own money the food you cook. What should be done is to help them to +help themselves. If Miss Drane wishes a position as teacher, one should +be got for her." + +"That is out of my line," said La Fleur, shaking her head, "out of my +line. I can cook for them, but I can't help them to be teachers." + +"But perhaps I can, and I am going to try. What you have told me +encourages me very much. To get a position as teacher for Miss Drane +ought to be easy enough. To get Dr. Tolbridge a cook who could take your +place would be impossible." + +La Fleur smiled. "I believe that," she said. + +"Now what I do is for the sake of the doctor," continued Miss Panney. "I +do not know the Dranes personally, but I have no objection to benefit +them if I can. But for the sake of a friend whom I have known all his +days, I wish to keep you in this kitchen. I am not afraid to say this to +you, because I know you are not a person who would take advantage of the +opinion in which you are held, to make demands upon the family which they +could not satisfy." + +"You need not say anything about that, madam," replied La Fleur. "Nobody +can tell me anything about my work and value which I did not know before, +and as for my salary, I fixed that myself, and there shall be no change." + +Miss Panney rose. "La Fleur," she said, "I am very glad I came here to +talk to you. I did not suppose that I should meet with such a sensible +woman, and I shall ask a favor of you; please do not take any steps in +this matter without consulting me. I am going to work immediately to see +what I can do for Miss Drane, and if I succeed it will be far better for +her and her mother than if you went to them. Don't you see that?" + +"Yes," said La Fleur, "that is reasonable enough, but I must admit that I +should like to see them." + +Miss Panney ignored the latter remark. + +"Now do not forget, La Fleur," she said, "to send me word when you get a +letter, and then I may write to Miss Drane, but I shall go to work for +her immediately. And now I will leave you to go on with your dinner. I +shall dine here to-day, and I shall enjoy the meal so much better because +I know the chef who prepared it." + +La Fleur resumed her seat and the consideration of her "sweet." + +"She is a wheedling old body," she said to herself, "but I suppose I +ought to give her something extra for that speech." + +The next morning Mrs. Tolbridge came into the kitchen. "La Fleur," said +she, "what is the name of that delicious dessert you gave us last night?" + +The cook sighed. "She will always call the 'sweet' a dessert," she +thought; and then she answered, "That was Blarney Fluff, ma'am, with +sauce Irlandaise." + +Mrs. Tolbridge laughed. "Whatever is its name," she said, "we all thought +it was the sweetest and softest, most delightful thing of the kind we had +ever tasted. Miss Panney was particularly pleased with it." + +"I hoped she would be," said La Fleur. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" + + +"I have spoken to Mr. Ames about it," said Dr. Tolbridge to Miss Panney, +as two days later they were sitting together in his office, "and we are +both agreed that teachers in Thorbury are like the vines on the gable +ends of our church; they are needed there, but they do not flourish. You +see, so many of our people send their children away to school, that is, +when they are really old enough to learn anything." + +"I would do it too, if I had children," said the old lady; "but this is a +matter which rises above the ordinary points of view. I do not believe +that you look at it properly, for if you did you would not sit there and +talk so coolly. Do you appreciate the fact that if Miss Drane does not +soon get something to do, you will be living on soggy, half-baked bread, +greasy fried meat, water-soaked vegetables, and muddy coffee, and every +one of your higher sentiments will be merged in dyspepsia?" + +The doctor smiled. "I did not suppose it would be as bad as that," he +said; "but if what you say is true, let us skip about instantly, and do +something." + +"That is the sort of action that I am trying to goad you into," said +the old lady. + +"Oh, I will do what I can," said the doctor, "but I really think there is +nothing to be done here, and at this season. People do not want teachers +in summer, and I see no promise of a later demand of this sort in +Thorbury. We must try elsewhere." + +"Not yet," said the other. "I shall not give up Thorbury yet. It is +easier for us to work for Miss Drane here than anywhere else, because we +are here, and we are not anywhere else. Moreover, she will like to come +here, for then she will not be among strangers; so please let us exhaust +Thorbury before thinking of any other place." + +"Very good," said the doctor, leaning back in his chair, "and now let us +exhaust Thorbury as fast as we can, before a patient comes in. I am +expecting one." + +"If she comes, she can wait," said Miss Panney. "You have a case here +which is acute and alarming, and cannot be trifled with." + +"How do you know I expect a 'she'?" asked the doctor. + +"If it had been a man, he would have been here and gone," said +Miss Panney. + +Miss Panney knew as well as any one that immediate employment as a +teacher could be rarely obtained in summer, and for this reason she +wished to confine her efforts to the immediate neighborhood, where +personal persuasion and influence might be brought into action. +Moreover, she had said to herself, "If we cannot get any teaching for +the girl, we must get her something else to do, for the present. But +whatever is to be done must be done here and now, or the old woman will +be off before we know it." + +She sat for a few moments with her brows knitted in thought. Suddenly +she exclaimed, "Is it Susan Clopsey you expect? Very well, then, I will +make an exception in her favor. She is just coming in at the gate, and I +would not interfere with your practice on her for anything. She has got +money and a spinal column, and as long as they both last she is more to +be depended on than government bonds. If her troubles ever get into her +legs, and I have reason to believe they will, you can afford to hire a +little maid for your cook. Old Daniel Clopsey, her grandfather, died at +ninety-five, and he had then the same doctorable rheumatism that he had +at fifty. I have something to think over, and I will come in again when +she is gone." + +"Depart, O mercenary being!" exclaimed the doctor, "before you abase my +thoughts from sulphate of quinia to filthy lucre." + +"Lucre is never filthy until you lose it," said the old lady as she went +out on the back piazza, and closed the door behind her. + +About twenty minutes later she burst into the doctor's office. "Mercy on +us!" she exclaimed, "are you here yet, Susan Clopsey? I must see you, +doctor; but don't you go, Susan. I won't keep him more than two minutes." + +"Oh, don't mind me," cried Miss Clopsey, a parched maiden of twoscore. "I +can wait just as well as not. Where is the pain, Miss Panney? Were you +took sudden?" + +"Like the pop of a jackbox. Come, doctor, I must see you in the parlor." + +"Can I do anything?" asked Miss Clopsey, rising. "How dreadful! Shall I +go for hot water?" + +"Oh, don't be alarmed," said Miss Panney, hurrying the amazed doctor out +of the room; "it is chronic. He will be back in no time." + +Miss Clopsey, left alone in the office, sank back in her chair. + +"Chronic by jerks," she sighed; "there can be few things worse than that; +and at her age, too!" + +"What can be the matter?" asked the doctor, as the two stood in +the parlor. + +"It is an idea," said Miss Panney; "you cannot think with what violence +it seized me. Doctor, what became of that book you wrote on the +'Diagnosis of Sympathy'?" + +The doctor opened his eyes in astonishment. + +"Nothing has become of it. It has been in my desk for two years. I have +not had time even to copy it." + +"And of course your writing could not be trusted to a printer. Now what +you should do is this: employ that Drane girl to copy your manuscript. +She can do it here, and if she comes to a word she cannot make out, she +can ask you. That will keep her going until autumn, and by that time we +can get her some scholars." + +"Miss Panney," said the doctor, "are you going crazy? I cannot afford +charity on that scale." + +"Charity!" repeated the old lady, sarcastically. "A pretty word to use. +By that sort of charity you give yourself one of the greatest of +earthly blessings, in the shape of La Fleur, and you get out a book +which will certainly be a benefit to the world, and will, I believe, +bring you fame and profit. And you are frightened by the paltry sum +that will be necessary to pay the board of the girl and her mother for +perhaps two months. Now do not condemn this plan until you have had +time to consider it. Go back to your Clopsey; I am going to find Mrs. +Tolbridge and talk to her." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE + + +When Dora Bannister had gone away in Miss Panney's phaeton, Miriam walked +gravely into the house, followed by her brother. + +"Now," said she, "I must go to work in earnest." + +"Work!" exclaimed Ralph. "I think you have been working a good deal +harder than you ought to work, and certainly a good deal harder than I +intend you to work. As soon as he has had his dinner, Mike shall take the +wagon, and go after the woman Miss Panney told us of." + +"Of course I have been working," said Miriam, "but while Dora Bannister +was here, what we did was not like straightforward work; it all seemed to +mean something that was not just plain housekeeping. For one thing, the +dough I intended to bake into bread was nearly all used up in making +those rolls that Dora worked up into such pretty shapes; and now, if the +new woman comes, I shall not have another chance to try my hand at +making bread until she leaves us, for I am not going to do anything of +the sort with a servant watching me. And there are all those raspberries +we picked this morning. I am sure I do not know what to do with them, for +there are ever so many more than we shall want to eat with cream. What +was it, Ralph, that you said you liked, made of raspberries?" + +Ralph looked a little puzzled. + +"I think," he said, "it must have been something of the tart order. What +did I tell you?" + +"You did not tell me anything," said Miriam, "and I do not believe that +tarts are ever made of raspberries. Dora Bannister said she wanted to +cook something for you that you told her you liked, but as you have +forgotten what it was, I suppose it does not make much difference now." + +Ralph had said so many things to Dora that he could not remember what +remark he had made about cooked raspberries; but it delighted him to +think that, whatever it was, Dora had wished to make it for him. + +After dinner Miriam went up to her room, where upon the bed lay Judith +Pacewalk's teaberry gown. She took off her own school-girl dress, and put +on the pink gown. It was the first time she had ever worn the clothes of +a woman. When she had attired herself in the silken robe which had been +so fatal to the fortunes and life of Judith Pacewalk, it had been slipped +on in masquerade fashion, debased from its high position to a mere +protection from spilt milk. Miriam had thought of the purple silk when +Miss Panney was telling her story, and had said to herself that if the +stall in the cow-stable had been ever so much darker and dirtier, and if +the milk stains had been more and bigger, the career of that robe would +have ended all the more justly. + +The teaberry gown was too long for Miriam, and too large in every way. +She knew that for herself; but hearing Ralph's footsteps outside, she had +a longing to know what he would say on the subject, so, holding up her +skirt to keep herself from tripping, she ran downstairs and called him +into the big hall. + +"How do you like me in the teaberry gown?" she asked. + +Without a thought of any figurative significance connected with the +dress, Ralph only saw that it was as unsuitable to his sister as it had +been well suited to Dora. + +"You will have to grow a good deal bigger and older before you are able +to fill that gown, my little one," he said. + +"That is not the way I do things," said Miriam, severely. "I shall make +the gown fit me." + +Ralph was about to say that it would be a pity to cut down and alter that +picturesque piece of old-fashioned attire into an ordinary garment, and +that it would be well to keep it as a family relic, or to give it away to +some one who could wear it as it was, but Miriam's manner assured him +that she was extremely sensitive on the subject of this gown, and he +considered it wise to offer no further opinion about it. So he went about +his affairs, and Miriam, having resumed her ordinary dress, went out with +her cook-book to a bench under a tree on the lawn. She never stayed in +the house when it was possible to be out of doors. + +"I wish I could find out," she said to herself, "what Dora Bannister +intended to make for Ralph out of raspberries. Whatever it is, I know I +can make it just as well, and I want to do it all myself before the new +cook comes. It could not have been jam," she said, as she turned over +the leaves; "for Ralph does not care much for jam, and he would not have +told her he liked that. And then there is jelly; but it must take a long +time to make jelly, and I do not believe she would undertake to give him +that for dinner, made from raspberries picked this morning. Besides, I +cannot imagine Ralph saying he wanted jelly for his dinner. Well, well!" +she exclaimed aloud, as she stopped to read a recipe, "they do make +tarts out of raspberries! That must have been it, for Ralph is +desperately fond of every kind of pastry. I will go into the house this +minute, and make him some raspberry tarts. We shall have them for +supper, even if they give him the nightmare. I am not going to have him +say again that he wished the new cook, as he kept calling Dora +Bannister, had stayed a little longer." + +Alas! at dinner time Ralph had been guilty of that indiscretion. Without +exactly knowing it, he had missed in the meal a certain very pleasant +element, which had been put into the supper and breakfast by Dora's +desire to gratify his especial tastes. While he missed their visitor in +many other ways, he alluded to her premature departure only in connection +with their domestic affairs. + +But so far as Miriam was concerned, he could have done nothing worse +than this. To have heard her brother say that Dora Bannister was the most +lovely girl he had ever seen, and that he was filled with grief at losing +the delights of her society, might have been disagreeable to her, or it +might not. But to have him even in the lightest way intimate that her +housekeeping was preferable to that of his own sister nettled her +self-esteem. + +"I will show him," she said, "that he is mistaken." + +In the pleasant coolness of the great barn, Ralph stretched himself on a +pile of new-made hay to think. He was a farmer, and he intended to try +to be a good farmer, and he knew that good farmers, during working +hours, do not lie down on piles of hay to think. But notwithstanding +that, in this hay-scented solitude, looking out of the great door upon +the quiet landscape with the white clouds floating over it, he thought +of Dora. He had been thinking of her in all sorts of irregular and +disjointed ways ever since he had risen in the morning; but now he +wished to think definitely, and lay down here for that purpose. One +cannot think definitely and single-mindedly when engaged in farm work, +especially if he sometimes finds himself a little awkward at said work +and is bothered by it. + +Whenever he could do it, Ralph Haverley liked to get things clear and +straightforward in his mind. He had applied this rule to all matters of +his former business, and he now applied it to the affairs of his present +estate. But how much more important was it to apply the rules to Dora +Bannister! Nothing had ever put his mind into a condition less clear and +straightforward than the visit of that young lady. The main point to be +decided upon was: what should he do about seeing her again? He was filled +by an all-pervading desire to do that; but how should he set about it? +The simplest plan would be to go and see her; but if he did so, he knew +he ought to take his sister with him, and he had no reason to believe +that Miriam would be in any hurry to return Miss Bannister's visit. If he +had been acquainted with the brother, the case would have been different, +but that gentleman had not yet called upon him. + +Having thought some time on this subject, Ralph sat upright, and +rearranged his reflections. + +"Why is it," he said to himself, "that I am so anxious to see her again, +and to see her as soon as possible?" + +To the solution of this question, Ralph applied the full force of his +intellectual powers. The conclusion that came to him after about six +seconds of deliberation was not well defined, but it indicated that if +almost any young man had had in his house--actually living with him and +taking part in his household affairs--an unusually handsome young woman, +who, not only by her appearance, but by her gentle and thoughtful desire +to adapt herself to the tastes and circumstances of himself and his +sister, seemed to belong in the place into which she had so suddenly +dropped, that young man would naturally want to see that young woman just +as soon as he could. This would be so in any similar case, and there was +no use in trying to find out why it was so in this case. + +He rose to his feet, and at that moment he heard Miriam calling to him. + +"Ralph," she said, running into the barn, "I have been looking all over +for you. The new woman cannot come to-day." + +"I do not see why you should appear so delighted about it," said Ralph; +"I am very sorry to hear it." + +"And I am not," replied Miriam. "There are some things I want to do +before she comes, and I am very glad to have the chance. Mike brought +back word from her that if you send the wagon in the cool of the morning, +she will come over with her trunk." + +"You are a funny girl," said Ralph, "to be actually pleased at the +prospect of cooking and doing housework a little longer." And as he said +that, he congratulated himself that his sister had not had the chance of +thinking him a funny fellow for lying stretched on the hay when he ought +to have been at work. + +Miriam was now in good spirits again. She walked to the great open +window, and, leaning on the bar, looked out. + +"What a lovely air," she said, and then she turned to her brother. "It is +nice to have visitors, and to have plenty of people to do your work, but +it is a hundred times jollier for just us two to be here by ourselves. +Don't you think so, Ralph?" And, without waiting for her brother's +answer, she went on. "You see, we can do whatever we please. We can be +as free as anything--as free as cats. Here, puss, puss," she called to +the gray barn cat in the yard below. "No, she will not even look at me. +Cats are the freest creatures in the world; they will not come to you if +they do not want to. If you call your dog, he feels that he has to come +to you. Ralph, do you know I think it is the most absurd thing in the +world that in a place like this we should have no dog." + +"I have been waiting for somebody to give me one," said Ralph, taking up +a pitchfork and preparing to throw some hay into the stable below. + +"That will be the nicest way of getting one," said Miriam, as she came +and stood by him, and watched him thrust the hay into the yawning hole. +"We do not want a dog that people are willing to sell. We want one that +is the friend of the family, and which the owners are obliged to part +with because they are going to Europe, or something of that sort. Such a +dog we should prize. Don't you think so, Ralph?" + +"Yes," said he, and went on taking up forkloads of hay and thrusting them +into the hole. He was wondering if this were a good time to tell Miriam +that that very morning Dora Bannister had been talking about there being +no dog at Cobhurst, and had asked him if he would like to have one; for +if he would, she had a very handsome black setter, which had been given +to her when it was a little puppy, and of which she was very fond, but +which had now grown too big and lively to be cooped up in the yard of +their house. He had said that he would be charmed to have the dog, and +had intended to tell Miriam about it, but now a most excellent +opportunity had come to do so, he hesitated. Miriam's soul did not seem +to incline toward their late visitor, and perhaps she might not care for +a gift from her. It might be better to wait awhile. Then there came a +happy thought to Ralph; here was a good reason for going to see Dora. It +would be no more than polite to take an interest in the animal which had +been offered him, and even if he did not immediately bring it to +Cobhurst, he could go and look at it. Miriam now returned to the house, +leaving her brother pondering over the question whether or not the next +morning would be too soon to go and look at the dog. + +The sun had set, and Ralph, having finished his day's work, and having +helped his sister as much as she and Mike would let him, sat on the +piazza, gazing between the tall pillars upon the evening landscape, and +still trying to decide whether or not it would be out of the way to go +the next morning to Dora Bannister. The evening light grew less and less, +and Ralph's healthy instincts drew his mind from thoughts of Dora to +thoughts of supper. It certainly was very late for the evening meal, but +he would not worry Miriam with any signs of impatience. That would be +unkind indeed, when she was slaving away in the kitchen, while he sat +here enjoying the evening coolness. + +In a few minutes he heard his sister's step in the hall, and then a sob. +He had scarcely time to turn, when Miriam ran out, and threw herself down +on the wide seat beside him. Her face, as he could see it in the dim +light, was one of despair, and as sob after sob broke from her, tears ran +down her cheeks. Tenderly he put his arm around her and urged her to tell +him what had happened. + +"Oh, Ralph," she sobbed, "it is very hard, but I know it is true. I have +been just filled with vanity and pride, and after all I am nothing like +as good as she is, nor as good as anybody, and the best I can do is to go +back to school." + +"What is the matter?" exclaimed Ralph. "You poor little thing, how came +you to be so troubled?" + +Miriam gave a long sigh and dropped her head on her brother's shoulder. + +"Oh, Ralph," she said, "they are six inches high." + +"What are?" cried Ralph, in great amazement. + +"The tarts," she said; "the raspberry tarts I was making for you, because +you like them, and because Dora Bannister was going to make them for you, +and I determined that I could do it just as well as she could, and that I +would do it and that you would not have to miss her for anything. But it +is of no use; I cannot do things as well as she can, and those tarts are +not like tarts at all; they are like chimneys." + +"I expect they are very good indeed. Now do not drop another tear, and +let us go in and eat them." + +"No," said Miriam, "they are not good. I know what is the matter with +them. I have found out that I have no more idea of making pie crust than +I have about the nebulous part of astronomy, and that I never could +comprehend. I wanted to make the lightest, puffiest pastry that was +possible, and I used some self-raising flour, the kind that has the yeast +ground up with it, and when I put those tarts in the oven to bake, they +just rose up, and rose up, until I thought they would reach up the +chimney. They are perfectly horrid." + +Ralph sprang to his feet, and lifted his sister from her seat. "Come +along, little one," he cried, "and I shall judge for myself what sort of +a pastry-cook you are." + +"The pigs shall judge that," said Miriam, who had now dried her eyes, +"but fortunately there are other things to eat." + +The tarts, indeed, were wonderful things to look at, resembling, as +Miriam had said, a plateful of little chimneys, with a sort of swallow's +nest of jam at the top, but Ralph did not laugh at them. + +"Wait until their turn comes," said Ralph, "and I will give my opinion +about them." + +When he had finished the substantial part of the meal, he drew the plate +of tarts toward him. + +"I will show you how to eat the Cobhurst tart. You cut it down from top +to bottom: then you lay the two sections on their rounded sides: then you +get a lot more of jam, which I see you have on the side table, and you +spread the cut surfaces with it: then you put it together as it was +before, and slice it along its shorter diameter. Good?" said he; "they +are delicious." + +Miriam took a piece. "It is good enough," she said, "but it is not a +tart. If Dora Bannister had made them, they would have been real tarts." + +"It is very well I said nothing about the dog," thought Ralph; and then +he said aloud, "It is not Dora Bannister that we have to consider; it is +Molly Tooney. She is to save you from the tears and perplexities of flour +and yeast, and to make you the happy little lady of the house that you +were before the wicked Phoebe went away. But one thing I insist upon: I +want the rest of those tarts for my breakfast." + +Miriam looked at her brother with a smile that showed her storm was over. + +"You are eating those things, dear Ralph," she said, "because I made +them, and that is the only good thing about them." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS + + +In a small room at the back of Dr. Tolbridge's house there sat a young +woman by the window, writing. This was Cicely Drane; and although it was +not yet ten days since Miss Panney broached her plan of the employment of +Miss Drane as the doctor's secretary, or rather copyist, here she was, +hard at work, and she had been for two days. + +The window opened upon the garden, and in the beds were a great many +bright and interesting flowers, but paying no heed to these, Cicely gave +her whole attention to her task, which, indeed, was not an easy one. With +knitted brows she bent over the manuscript of the "Diagnosis of +Sympathy," and having deciphered a line or two, she wrote the words in a +fair hand on a broad sheet before her. Then she returned to the study of +the doctor's caligraphy, and copied a little more of it, but the +proportion of the time she gave to the deciphering of the original +manuscript to that occupied in writing the words in her own hand was +about as ten is to one. An hour had elapsed since she had begun to write +on the page, which she had not yet filled. + +Miss Cicely Drane was a small person, nearing her twenty-second year. She +had handsome gray eyes, tastefully arranged brown hair, and a vivacious +and pleasing face. Her hands were small, her feet were small, and she did +not look as if she weighed a hundred pounds, although, in fact, her +weight was considerably more than that. Her dress was a simple one, on +which a great deal of thought had been employed to make it becoming. + +For a longer time than usual she now bent over the doctor's manuscript, +endeavoring to resolve a portion of it into comprehensible words. Then +she held up the page to the light, replaced it on the table, stood up and +looked at it, and finally sat down again, her elbows on the paper, and +her tapering fingers in the little brown curls at the sides of her head. +Presently she raised her head, with a sigh. "It is of no use," she said. +"I must go and ask him what this means; that is, if he is at home." + +With the page in her hand, she went to the office door, and knocked. + +"Come in," said Dr. Tolbridge. + +Miss Drane entered; the doctor was alone, but he had his hat in his hand +and was just going out. + +"I am glad I caught you," said she, "for there is a part of this page in +which I can see no meaning." + +"What is it?" said the doctor. "Read it." + +Slowly and distinctly she read:-- + +"'The cropsticks of flamingo bicrastus quack.'" + +The doctor frowned, laid his hat on the table, and seating himself took +the paper from Cicely Drane. + +"This is strange," said he. "It does seem to be 'cropsticks of flamingo,' +but what can that mean?" + +"That is what I came to ask you," said she. "I have been puzzling over it +a good while, and I supposed, of course, you would know what it is." + +"But I do not," said the doctor. "It is often very hard for me to read my +own writing, and this was written two years ago. You can leave this sheet +with me, and this evening I will look over it and try to make something +out of it." + +Cicely Drane was methodical in her ways; she could not properly go on +with the rest of her work without this page, and so she told the doctor. + +"Oh, never mind any more work for today," said he. "It is after four +o'clock now, and you ought to go out and get a little of this pleasant +sunshine. By the way, how do you like this new business?" + +"I should like it very well," said Cicely, as she stood by the table, "if +I could get on faster with it, but I work so very, very slowly. I made a +calculation this morning, that if I work at the same rate that I have +been working since I came here, it will take me thirteen years and eleven +months to copy your manuscript." + +The doctor laughed. "If a child should walk to school," he said, "at the +same rate of speed that he takes his first toddling step on the nursery +floor, it might take him about thirteen years to get there. That is, if +his school were at the average distance. You will get on fast enough when +you become acquainted with my writing." + +She was on the point of saying that surely he had had time to get +acquainted with it, and yet he could not read it; but she considered that +she did not yet know the doctor well enough for that. + +The doctor rose and took up his hat; then he suddenly turned toward Miss +Drane and said, "La Fleur, our cook, came to speak to me this morning +about your mother. She says she thinks that you are not well lodged; that +the street is in the hottest part of the town, and that Mrs. Drane's +health will suffer if you stay there. Does your mother object to your +present quarters?" + +Cicely, who had been half way to the door, now came back and stood by +the table. + +"Mother never objects to anything," she said. "She thinks our rooms are +very neat and comfortable, and that Mrs. Brinkly is a kind landlady, +but she has complained a great deal of the heat. You know our house was +very airy." + +"I am sorry," said the doctor, "that Mrs. Brinkly's house is not likely +to prove pleasant. It is in a closely built portion of the town, but it +seemed the only place where we could find suitable accommodations for +your mother and you." + +"Oh, it is a nice place," exclaimed Cicely, "and I am sure we shall like +it, except in hot weather, such as we are having now. I have no doubt we +shall get used to it after a little while." + +"La Fleur does not think so," said the doctor. "She is very much +dissatisfied with the Brinkly establishment. I think I saw signs of +mental disturbance in our luncheon to-day." + +Cicely laughed. She was a girl who was pleasant to look at when she +laughed, for her features accommodated themselves so naturally to +mirthful expression. + +"It is almost funny," she said, "to see how fond La Fleur is of mother. +She lived with us less than a year, and yet one might suppose she had +always been a servant of the family. I think one reason for her feeling +is that mother never does anything. You know she has never been used to +do anything, and of late years she has not been well enough. La Fleur +likes all that; she thinks it is a mark of high degree. She told me once +that my mother was a lady who was born to be served, and who ought not to +be allowed to serve herself." + +"She does not seem to object to your working," remarked the doctor. + +"I am sure she does not like that, but then she considers it a thing that +cannot be helped. You know," continued Cicely, with a smile, "she is not +so particular about me, for I have some trade blood. Father's father was +a merchant." + +"So you are only a grade aristocrat," said the doctor; "but I must go. I +will talk to Mrs. Tolbridge about this affair of lodgings." + +That evening Mrs. Tolbridge and the doctor held a conference in regard to +the quarters of the Dranes. + +"I think La Fleur concerns herself entirely too much in the matter," said +the lady. "She first came to me, and then she went to you. You have done +a good deal for Mrs. Drane in giving her daughter employment, and we +cannot be expected to attend to her every need. I do not consider Mrs. +Brinkly's house a very pleasant one in hot weather, and I would be glad +to do anything I could to establish them more pleasantly, but I know of +nothing to do, at least at present; and then you say they have not +complained. From what I have seen of Mrs. Drane, I think she is a very +sensible woman, and under the circumstances probably expects some +discomforts." + +"But that is not all that is to be considered," said her husband. "La +Fleur's dissatisfaction, which is very evident, must be taken into the +question. She has a scheming mind. Before she left this morning she asked +me if I thought a little house could be gotten outside the town, for a +moderate rent. I believe she would not hesitate to take such a house, and +board and lodge the Dranes herself." + +"Doctor!" exclaimed Mrs. Tolbridge, "whatever happens, I hope we are not +going to be the slaves of a cook." + +The doctor laughed. + +"Whatever happens," he said, "we are always that. All we can do is to try +and be the slaves of a good one." + +"I am not altogether sure that that is the right way to look at it," +said Mrs. Tolbridge; and then she went on with her sewing, not caring to +expatiate on the subject. Her husband appreciated only the advantages of +La Fleur, but she knew something of her disadvantages. The work on which +she was engaged at that moment would have been done by the maid, had not +that young woman's services been so frequently required of late by the +autocrat of the kitchen. + +The doctor sat silent for a few minutes. He had a kindly feeling for Mrs. +Drane, and was willing to do all he could for her, but his thoughts were +now principally occupied with plans for the continuance of good living in +his own home. + +"I suppose it would not be practicable," he said presently, "to invite +them to stay with us during the heated term." + +Mrs. Tolbridge dropped her work into her lap. + +"That is not to be thought of for a moment," she said. "We have no +room for them, unless we give up having any more friends this summer; +and besides that, you would see La Fleur, with the other servants at +her heels, devoting herself to the gratification of every want and +notion of Mrs. Drane, and thinking no more of me than if I were a +chair in a corner." + +"We shall not have that," said the doctor, rising, and placing his hand +on his wife's head. "You may be sure we shall not have that. And now I +will go and get a bit of my handwriting, and see if you can help me +decipher it." + +He left the room, but in an instant returned. + +"A happy thought has just struck me!" he exclaimed. "I wonder if those +young Haverley people would take Mrs. Drane into their house for the rest +of the summer? It would be an excellent thing for them, for their +household needs the presence of an elderly person, and I am sure that no +one could be quieter, or more pleasant, and less troublesome, than Mrs. +Drane would be. What do you think of that idea?" + +Mrs. Tolbridge looked up approvingly. + +"It is not a bad one," she said; "but what would the daughter do? She +could not come into town every day to do your work. It is too long a walk +for her, and she could not afford a conveyance." + +"No," said the doctor, "of course she could not go back and forwards +every day, but it would not be necessary. She could take the work out +there and do it as well as here, and she could come in now and then, when +a chance offered, and ask me about the hard words, for which she could +leave blanks. Or, if I happen to be in the neighborhood, I could stop in +there and see how she was getting on. I would much rather arrange the +business in that way, than have her pop into my office at any moment to +ask me about my illegible words." + +"I should think the work could be done just as well out of the house as +in it," said the doctor's wife, who would be willing to have again the +use of the little room that she had cheerfully given up to the copyist of +her husband's book, which she, quite as earnestly as Miss Panney, desired +to be given to the world. + +"The first thing to do," said she, "is to make them acquainted. At first +the Haverleys would not be likely to favor the plan. They no doubt +consider themselves sufficient company for each other, and although a +slight addition to their income would probably be of advantage, I think +they are too young and unpractical to care much about that." + +"How would it do to have the Dranes and the Haverleys here, and give them +a first-class La Fleur dinner?" asked the doctor. + +"I do not like that," said his wife. "The intention would be too obvious. +The thing should be done more naturally." + +"Well," said the doctor, "I wish we had Miss Panney here. She has a great +capacity for rearranging and simplifying the circumstances of a +complicated case." + +Mrs. Tolbridge made no answer, but very intently examined her sewing. + +"But if we can think of no deeply ingenious plan," continued the doctor, +"we will go about it in a straightforward way. I will see Ralph Haverley, +and if I can win him over to the idea I will let him talk to his sister. +He can do it better than we can. If they utterly reject the whole scheme, +we will wait a week or so, and propose it again, just as if we had never +done it before. I have found this plan work very well with persons who, +on account of youth, or some other reason, are given to resentment of +suggestions and to quick decisions. When a rejected proposition is laid +before them a second time, the disposition to resent has lost its force, +and they are as likely to accept it as not." + +"You are right," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "for I have tried that plan +with you." + +The doctor looked at her and laughed. + +"It is astonishing," he exclaimed, "what coincidences we meet with in +this world," and with that he left the room. + +As soon as her husband had gone, Mrs. Tolbridge leaned back in her chair +and laughed quietly. + +"To think of asking Miss Panney to aid in a plan like that!" she said to +herself. "Why, when the old lady hears of it she will blaze like fury. To +send that pretty Cicely to live in the house for which she herself has +selected a mistress, will seem to her like high treason. But the +arrangement suits me perfectly, and I can only hope that Miss Panney may +not hear of it until everything is settled." + +The more Dr. Tolbridge thought of the plan to establish Mrs. and Miss +Drane, for a time, at Cobhurst, the better he liked it. Not only did he +think the arrangement would be a desirable one on the Drane side, but +also on the Haverley side. From the first, he had taken a lively interest +in Miriam, and he considered that her life of responsibility and +independence in that lonely household was as likely to warp her mind in +some directions as it was to expand it in others. Suitable companionship +would be a great advantage to her in this regard, and he fancied that +Cicely Drane would be as congenial and helpful a chum, and Mrs. Drane as +unobjectionable a matronly adviser, as could be found. If the plan suited +all concerned, it might perhaps be continued beyond the summer. He would +see Ralph as soon as possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A TRESPASS + + +Having received permission to stop work at four o'clock on a beautiful +summer afternoon, Cicely Drane put away her papers and walked rapidly +home. She found her mother on Mrs. Brinkly's front piazza, fanning +herself vigorously and watching some children, who, on the other side of +the narrow street, were feeding a tethered goat with clippings from a +newspaper. + +After a few words to explain her early return, Cicely went up to her own +room, and took from a drawer a little pocketbook, and opening it, +examined the money contained therein. Apparently satisfied with the +result, she went downstairs, wallet in hand. + +"Mother," said she, "you must find it dreadfully hot and stupid here, and +as this is a bit of a holiday, I intend we shall take a drive." + +Mrs. Drane was about to offer some sort of economic objection, but before +she could do so, Cicely was out of the little front yard, and hurrying +toward the station, where there were always vehicles to be hired. + +She engaged the man who had the best-looking horse, and in a little open +phaeton, a good deal the worse for wear, she returned to her mother. + +Andy Griffing, the driver, was a grizzled little man with twinkling eyes +and a cheery air that seemed to indicate that an afternoon drive was as +much a novelty and pleasure to him as it could possibly be to any two +ladies; which was odd, considering that for the last forty years Andy had +been almost constantly engaged in taking morning, afternoon, evening, and +night drives. + +The only direction given him by Cicely was to take them along the +prettiest country roads that he knew of, and this suited him well, for he +not only considered himself a good judge of scenery, but he knew which +roads were easiest for his horse. + +As they travelled leisurely along, the ladies enjoying the air, the +fields, the sweet summer smells, the stretches of woods, the blue and +white sky, and everything that goes to make a perfect summer afternoon. +Andy endeavored to add to their pleasure by giving them information +regarding the inhabitants of the various dwellings they passed. + +"That whitish house back there among the trees," said he, "with the green +blinds, is called the Witton place. The Wittons themselves are nuthin' +out o' the common; but there's an old lady lives there with 'em, who if +you ever meet, you'll know agin, if you see her agin. Her name's +Panney,--Miss Panney,--and she's a one-er. What she don't know about me, +I don't know, and what she won't know about you, three days after she +gits acquainted with you, you don't know. That's the kind of a person +Miss Panney is. There's a lot of very nice people, some rich and some +poor, and some queer and some not quite so queer, that lives in and +around Thorbury, and if you like it at Mrs. Brinkly's and conclude to +stay there any length of time, I don't doubt you'll git acquainted with a +good many of 'em; but take my word for it, you'll never meet anybody who +can go ahead of Miss Panney in the way of turnin' up unexpected. I once +had a sick hoss, who couldn't do much more than stand up, but I had to +drive him one day, 'cause my other one was hired out. 'Now' says I, as I +drew out the stable, 'if I can get around town this mornin' without +meetin' Miss Panney, I think old Bob can do my work, and to-morrow I'll +turn him out to grass.' And as I went around the first corner, there was +Miss Panney a drivin' her roan mare. She pulled up when she seed me, and +she calls out, 'Andy, what's the matter with that hoss?' I told her he +was a little under the weather, but I had to use him that day, 'cause my +other hoss was out. Then she got straight out of that phaeton she drives +in, and come up to my hoss, and says she, 'Andy, you ought to be ashamed +of yourself to make a hoss work when he is in a condition like that. Take +him right back to your stable, or I'll have you up before a justice.' +'Now look here, Miss Panney,' says I, 'which is the best, for a hoss to +jog a little round town when he ain't feeling quite well, or for a man to +sit idle on his front doorstep and see his family starve?' 'Now, Andy,' +says she, 'is that the case with you?' and havin' brought up the pint +myself, I was obliged to say that it was. 'Very good, then,' said she, +and she took her roan mare by the head and led it up to the curbstone. +'Now then,' said she, 'you can take your hoss out of the cab and put this +hoss in, and you can drive her till your hoss gets well, and durin' that +time I'll walk.' + +"Well, of course I didn't do that, and I took my hoss back to the stable, +and my family didn't starve nuther; but I just tell you this to show you +what sort of a woman Miss Panney is." + +"I should think she was a very estimable person," said Mrs. Drane. + +"Oh, there's nothin' the matter with her estimation," said Andy. "That's +level enough. I only told you that to show you how you can always expect +her to turn up unexpected." + +"Mrs. Brinkly spoke of Miss Panney," said Cicely; "she said that she was +the first one to come and see her about rooms for us." + +"That was certainly very kind," said Mrs. Drane, "considering that she +does not know us at all, except through Dr. Tolbridge. I remember his +speaking of her." + +"That place over there," said Andy, "you can jest see the tops of the +chimneys, that's called Cobhurst; that's where old Matthias Butterwood +used to live. It was an awful big house for one man, but he was queer. +There's nobody livin' there now but two young people, sort of temporary, +I guess, though the place belongs to 'em. I don't think they are any too +well off. They don't give us hack-drivers much custom, never havin' any +friends comin' or goin', or trunks or anything. He's got no other +business, they say, and don't know no more about farmin' than a potato +knows about preachin'. There's nothin' on the place that amounts to +anything except the barn. There's a wonderful barn there, that old +Butterwood spent nobody knows how much money on, and he a bachelor. You +can't see the barn from here, but I'll drive you where you can get a good +look at it." + +In a few minutes, he made a turn, and whipped up his horse to a better +speed, and before Mrs. Drane and her daughter could comprehend the state +of affairs, they were rolling over a not very well kept private road, and +approaching the front of a house. + +"Where are you going, driver?" exclaimed Mrs. Drane, leaning forward in +astonishment. + +Andy turned his beaming countenance upon her, and flourished his whip. + +"Oh, I'm just goin' to drive round the side of the house," he said; "at +the back there's a little knoll where we can stop, and you can see the +whole of the barn with the three ways of gittin' into it, one for each +story." At that moment they rolled past the front piazza on which were +Miriam and Ralph, gazing at them in surprise. The latter had risen when +he had heard the approaching carriage, supposing they were to have +visitors. But as the vehicle passed the door he looked at his sister in +amazement. + +"It can't be," said he, "that those people have come to visit Mike?" + +"Or Molly Tooney?" said Miriam. + +As for Mrs. Drane and Cicely, they were shocked. They had never been +in the habit of driving into private grounds for the sake of seeing +what might be there to see, and Mrs. Drane sharply ordered the +driver to stop. + +"What do you mean," said she, "by bringing us in here?" + +"Oh, that's nuthin'," said Andy, with a genial grin; "they won't mind +your comin' in to look at the barn. I've druv lots of people in here to +look at that barn, though, to be sure, not since these young people has +been livin' here, but they won't mind it an eighth of an inch." + +"I shall get out and apologize," said Mrs. Drane, "for this shameful +intrusion, and then you must drive us out of the grounds immediately. We +do not wish to stop to look at anything," and with this she stepped from +the little phaeton and walked back to the piazza. + +Stopping at the bottom of the steps, she saluted the brother and sister, +whose faces showed that they were in need of some sort of explanation of +her arrival at their domestic threshold. + +In a few words she explained how the carriage had happened to enter the +grounds, and hoped that they would consider that the impropriety was due +entirely to the driver, and not to any desire on their part to intrude +themselves on private property for the sake of sight-seeing. Ralph and +Miriam were both pleased with the words and manner of this exceedingly +pleasant-looking lady. + +"I beg that you will not consider at all that you have intruded," said +Ralph. "If there is anything on our place that you would care to look at, +I hope that you will do so." + +"It was only the barn," said Mrs. Drane, with a smile. "The man told us +it was a peculiar building, but I supposed we could see it without +entering your place. We will trespass no longer." + +Ralph went down the steps, and Miriam followed. + +"Oh, you are perfectly welcome to look at the barn as much as you wish +to," he said. "In fact, we are rather proud to find that this is anything +of a show place. If the other lady will alight, I will be pleased to have +you walk into the barn. The door of the upper floor is open, and there is +a very fine view from the back." + +Mrs. Drane smiled. + +"You are very good indeed," she said, "to treat intrusive strangers with +such kindness, but I shall be glad to have you know that we are not mere +tourists. We are, at present, residents of Thorbury. I am Mrs. Drane, and +my daughter is engaged in assisting Dr. Tolbridge in some literary work." + +"If you are friends of Dr. Tolbridge," said Ralph, "you are more than +welcome to see whatever there is to see on this place. The doctor is one +of our best friends. If you like, I will show you the barn, and perhaps +my sister will come with us." + +Miriam, who for a week or more had been beset by the very unusual desire +that she would like to see somebody and speak to somebody who did not +live at Cobhurst, willingly agreed to assist in escorting the strangers, +and Cicely having joined the group, they all walked toward the barn. + +There were no self-introductions, Ralph merely acting as cicerone, and +Miriam bringing up the rear in the character of occasional commentator. +Mrs. Drane had accepted the young gentleman's invitation because she felt +that the most polite thing to do under the circumstances was to gratify +his courteous desire to put them at their ease, and, being a lover of +fine scenery, she was well rewarded by the view from the great window. + +The pride of possession began to glow a little within Ralph as he pointed +out the features of this castle-like barn. Mrs. Drane agreed to his +proposition to descend to the second floor. But as these two were going +down the broad stairway, Cicely drew back, and suddenly turning, +addressed Miriam. + +"I have been wanting to ask a great many questions," she said, "but I +have felt ashamed to do it. I have nearly always lived in the country, +but I know hardly anything about barns and cows and stables and hay and +all that. Do the hens lay their eggs up there in your hay?" + +Miriam smiled gravely. + +"It is very hard to find out," she said, "where they do lay their eggs. +Some days we do not get any at all, though I suppose they lay them, just +the same. There is a henhouse, but they never go in there." + +Cicely moved toward the stairway, and then she stopped; she cast her +eyes toward the mass of hay in the mow above, and then she gave a little +sigh. Miriam looked at her and understood her perfectly, moreover she +pitied her. + +"How is it," said she as they went down the stairs, "that you lived in +the country, and do not know about country things?" + +"We lived in suburbs," she said. "I think suburbs are horrible; they are +neither one thing nor the other. We had a lawn and shade trees, and a +croquet ground, and a tennis court, but we bought our milk and eggs and +most of our vegetables. There isn't any real country in all that, you +know. I was never in a haymow in my life. All I know about that sort of +thing is from books." + +When, with many thanks for the courtesies offered them, Mrs. Drane and +her daughter had driven away, Miriam sat by herself on the piazza and +thought. She had a good deal of time, now, to think, for Molly Tooney was +a far more efficient servant than Phoebe had been, and although her +brother gave her as much of his time as he could, she was of necessity +left a good deal to herself. + +She began by thinking what an exceedingly gentlemanly man her brother +was; in his ordinary working clothes he had been as much at his ease with +those ladies as though he had been dressed in a city costume, which, +however, would not have been nearly so becoming to him as his loose +flannel shirt and broad straw hat. She then began to regret that her mind +worked so slowly. If it had been quicker to act, she would have asked +that young lady to come some day and go up in the haymow with her. It +would be a positive charity to give a girl with longings, such as she saw +that one had, a chance of knowing what real country life was. It would +be pleasant to show things to a girl who really wanted to know about +them. From this she began to think of Dora Bannister. Dora was a nice +girl, but Miriam could not think of her as one to whom she could show or +tell very much; Dora liked to do the showing and telling herself. + +"I truly believe," said Miriam to herself, and a slight flush came on her +face, "that if she could have done it, she would have liked to stay here +a week, and wear the teaberry gown all the time and direct +everything,--although, of course, I would never have allowed that." With +a little contraction of the brows, she went into the hall, where she +heard her brother's step. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON + + +"It bothers the head off of me," said Molly Tooney to Mike, as she sat +eating her supper in the Cobhurst kitchen, "to try to foind out what thim +two upstairs is loike, anyway, 'specially her. I've been here nigh onto +two weeks, now, and I don't know her no betther than when I fust come. +For the life of me I can't make out whether she's a gal woman or a woman +gal. Sometimes she's one and sometimes t'other. And then there's he. Why +didn't he marry and settle before he took a house to himself? And in the +two Sundays I've been here, nather of thim's been to church. If they +knowed what was becomin' to thim, they'd behave like Christians, if they +are heretics." + +Mike sat at a little table in the corner of the kitchen with his back to +Molly, eating his supper. He had enough of the Southern negro in him to +make him dislike to eat with white people or to turn his face toward +anybody while partaking of his meals. But he also had enough of a son of +Erin in him to make him willing to talk whenever he had a chance. Turning +his head a little, he asked, "Now look a here, Molly; if a man's a +heretic, how can he be a Christian?" + +"There's two kinds of heretics," said Molly, filling her great tea-cup +for the fourth time, and holding the teapot so that the last drop of the +strong decoction should trickle into the cup; "Christian heretics and +haythen heretics. You're one of the last koind yoursilf, Mike, for you +never go nigh a church, except to whitewash the walls of it. And you'll +never git no benefit to your own sowl, from Phoebe's boardin' the +minister, nather. Take my word for that, Mike." + +Mike allowed himself a sort of froggy laugh. "There's nobody gets no good +out of that, but him," said he; "but you've got it crooked about their +not goin' to church. They did go reg'lar at fust, but the gig's at the +wheelwright's gettin' new shaf's." + +"Gig, indeed!" ejaculated Molly. "No kirridge, but an auld gig! There's +not much quality about thim two. I wouldn't be here working for the likes +o' thim, if it was not for me wish to oblige Miss Panney, poor old woman +as she's gittin' to be." + +Mike shrewdly believed that it was due to Miss Panney's knowledge of +some of Molly's misdeeds, and not to any desire to please the old lady, +that the commands of the latter were law to the Irishwoman, but he would +not say so. + +"Kerridge or no kerridge," said he, "they're good 'nough quality for me, +and I reckon I knows what quality is. They hain't got much money, that's +sure, but there's lots of quality that ain't got money; and he's got +sense, and that's better than money. When he fust come here, I jes' goes +to him, and ses I, 'How's you goin' to run this farm, sir,--ramshackle or +reg'lar?' He looked at me kinder bothered, and then I 'splained. 'Well,' +said he, 'reg'lar will cost more money than I've got, and I reckon we'll +have to run it ramshackle.' That's what we did, and we're gittin' along +fust rate. He works and I work, and what we ain't got no time to do, we +let stand jes' thar till we git time to 'tend to it. That's ramshackle. +We don't spend no time on fancy fixin's, and not much money on nuthin'." + +"That's jes' what I've been thinkin' mesilf," said Molly. "I don't +see no signs of money bein' spint on this place nather for one thing +or anuther." + +"You don't always have to spend money to get craps," said Mike; "look at +our corn and pertaters. They is fust rate, and when we sends our craps to +market, there won't be much to take for 'spenses out of what we git." + +"Craps!" said Molly, with a sneer. "If you hauls your weeds to market, +it'll take more wagons than you can hire in this country, and thim's the +only craps my oi has lit on yit." + +This made Mike angry. He was, in general, a good-natured man, but he had +a high opinion of himself as a farm manager, and on this point his +feelings were very sensitive. As was usual with him when he lost his +temper, he got up without a word and went out. + +"Bedad!" said Molly, looking about her, "I wouldn't have sid that to him +if I'd seed there wasn't no kindlin' sphlit." + +As Mike walked toward his own house, he was surprised to see, entering a +little-used gateway near the barn, a horse and carriage. It was now so +dark he could not see who occupied it, and he stood wondering why it +should enter that gateway, instead of coming by the main entrance. As he +stood there, the equipage came slowly on, and presently stopped in front +of his little house. By the time he reached it, Phoebe, his wife, had +alighted, and was waiting for him. + +"Reckon you is surprised to see me," said she, and then turning to the +negro man who drove the shabby hired vehicle, she told him that he might +go over to the barn and tie his horse, for she would not be ready to go +back for some time. She then entered the house with Mike, and, a candle +having been lighted, she explained her unexpected appearance. She had met +Miss Dora Bannister, and that young lady had engaged her to go to +Cobhurst and take a note to Miss Miriam. + +"She tole me," said Phoebe, "that she had wrote two times already to Miss +Miriam, and then, havin' suspected somethin', had gone to the +pos'-office and found they was still dar. Don't your boss ever sen' to +the pos'-office, Mike?" + +"He went hisself every now an' then, till the gig was broke," said Mike, +"but I don't believe he ever got nuthin', and I reckon they thought it +was no use botherin' about sendin' me, special, in the wagon." + +"Well, they're uncommon queer folks," said Phoebe. "I reckon they've got +nobody to write to, or git letters from. Anyway, Miss Dora wanted her +letter to git here, and so she says to me that if I'd take it, she'd pay +the hire of a hack, and so, as I wanted to see you anyway, Mike, I 'greed +quick enough." + +Before delivering the letter with which she had been entrusted, Phoebe +proceeded to attend to some personal business, which was to ask her +husband to lend her five dollars. + +"Bless my soul," said Mike, "I ain't got no five dollars. I ain't asked +for no wages yit, and don't expect to, till the craps is sold." + +"I can't wait for that!" exclaimed Phoebe; "I's got to have money to +carry on the house." + +"Whar's the money the preacher pays you?" asked her husband. + +"Dat's a comin'," said Phoebe, "dat's a comin' all right. Thar's to be a +special c'lection next Sunday mornin', and the money's goin' to pay the +minister's board. I'm to git every cent what's owin' to me, and I reckon +it'll take it all." + +"He ain't paid you nuthin' yit, thin?" + +"Not yit; there was another special c'lection had to be tuk up fust, but +the next one's for me. Can't you go ask your boss for five dollars?" + +"Oh, yes," said Mike, "he'll give it to me if I ask him. Look here, +Phoebe, we might's well git all the good we kin out of five dollars, and +I reckon I'll come to chu'ch next Sunday, and put the five dollars in the +c'lection. I'll git the credit of givin' a big lot of money, and that'll +set me up a long time wid the congregation, and you git the five dollars +all the same." + +"Mike," said Phoebe, solemnly, "don't you go and do dat; mind, I tell +you, don't you do dat. You give me them five dollars, and jes' let that +c'lection alone. No use you wearin' youself out a walkin' to chu'ch, and +all the feedin' and milkin' to do besides." + +Mike laughed. "I reckon you think five dollars in th' pahm of th' hand is +better than a whole c'lection in the bush. I'll see th' boss before you +go, and if he's got the money, he'll let me have it." + +Satisfied on this point, Phoebe now declared that she must go and deliver +her letter; but she first inquired how her husband was getting on, and +how he was treated by Molly Tooney. + +"I ain't got no use for that woman;" and he proceeded to tell his wife of +the insult that had been passed on his crops. + +"That's brazen impidence," said Phoebe, "and jes' like her. But look +here, Mike, don't you quarrel with the cook. No matter what happens, +don't you quarrel with the cook." + +"I ain't goin' to quarrel with nobody," said Mike; "but if that Molly +'spects me to grease her wagon wheels for her, she's got hold of the +wrong man. If she likes green wood for the kitchen fire, and fotchin' it +mos' times for herself, that's her business, not mine." + +"If you do that, Mike, she'll leave," said Phoebe. + +Mike gave himself a general shrug. + +"She can't leave," said he, "till Miss Panney tells her she kin." + +Phoebe laughed and rose. + +"Reckon I'll go in and see Miss Miriam," she said, "and while I'm doin' +that you'd better ask the boss about the money." + +Having delivered the letter, and having, with much suavity, inquired into +the health and general condition of the Cobhurst family since she had +walked off and left it to its own resources, and having given Miriam +various points of information in regard to the Bannister and the +Tolbridge families, Phoebe gracefully took leave of the young mistress of +the house and proceeded to call upon the cook. + +"Hi, Phoebe!" cried Molly, who was engaged in washing dishes, "how did +you git here at this time o' night?" + +"I'd have you know," said the visitor, with lofty dignity, "that my name +is Mrs. Robinson, and if you want to know how I got here, I came in a +kerridge." + +"I didn't hear no kirridge drive up," said Molly. + +"Humph!" said Mrs. Robinson, "I reckon I know which gate is proper for my +kerridge to come in, and which gate is proper for the Bannister coachman +to drive in. I suppose there is cooks that would drive up to the front +door if the governor's kerridge was standin' there." + +Molly looked at the colored woman, with a grin. + +"You're on your high hoss, Mrs. Robinson," said she. "That's what comes +o' boardin' the minister. That's lofty business, Mrs. Robinson, an' I +expect you're afther gittin' rich. Is it the gilt-edged butter you give +him for his ash-cakes?" + +"A pusson that's pious," said Phoebe, "don't want to get rich onter a +minister of the gospel--" + +"Which would be wearin' on their hopes if they did," interrupted Molly. + +"But I can tell you this," continued Phoebe, more sharply, "that it isn't +as if I was a Catholic and boardin' a priest, and had to go on Wednesdays +and confess back to him all the money he paid me on Tuesdays." + +Molly laughed aloud. "We don't confess money, Mrs. Robinson, we confess +sins; but perhaps you think money is a sin, and if that's so, this house +is the innocentest place I ever lived in. Sit down, Mrs. Robinson, and be +friendly. I want to ax you a question. Has thim two, upstairs, got any +money? What made you pop off so sudden? Didn't they pay your wages?" + +Phoebe seated herself on the edge of a chair, and sat up very straight. +She felt that the answer to this question was a very important one. She +herself cared nothing for the Haverleys, but Mike lived with them, and +was their head man, and it was not consistent with her position among +the members of the congregation and in the various societies to which she +belonged, that her husband should be in the employ of poor and +consequently unrespected people. + +"My wages was paid, every cent," she said, "and as to their money, I can +tell you one thing, that I heard him say to his sister with my own ears, +that he was goin' to build a town on them meaders, with streets and +chu'ches, and stores on the corners of the block, and a libr'y and a +bank, and she said she wouldn't object if he left the trees standin' +between the house and the meaders, so that they could see the steeples +and nothin' else. And more than that, I can tell you," said Phoebe, +warming as she spoke, "the Bannister family isn't and never was intimate +with needy and no-count families, and nobody could be more sociable and +friendly with this family than Miss Dora is, writin' to her four or five +times a week, and as I said to Mike, not ten minutes ago, if Mr. Haverley +and Miss Dora should git married, her money and his money would make this +the finest place in the county, and I tol' him to mind an' play his cards +well and stay here as butler or coachman--I didn't care which; and he +said he would like coachman best, as he was used to hosses." + +Now, considering that the patience of her own coachman must be pretty +nearly worn out, and believing that what she had said would inure to her +own reputation, and probably to Mike's benefit as well, and that its +force might be impaired by any further discussion of the subject, Phoebe +arose and took a dignified leave. + +Molly stood some moments in reflection. + +"Bedad," she said aloud, "to-morrer I'll clane thim lamp-chimbleys and +swape the bidrooms." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE DOCTOR'S MISSION + + +The letter which Phoebe brought was a long and cordial one, in which Dora +begged that Miriam would come and make her a visit of a few days. She +said, moreover, that her brother was intending to call on Mr. Haverley +and urge him to come to their house as frequently as he could during his +sister's visit. Dora said that she would enjoy having Miriam with her so +very, very much; and although the life at the dear old farm must be +always charming, she believed that Miriam would like a little change, and +she would do everything that she could to make the days pass pleasantly. + +There could not have been a more cordial invitation, but its acceptance +was considered soberly and without enthusiasm. + +During the past fortnight, there had been no intercourse between the +Bannister and Haverley families. Dora, it is true, had written, but her +letters had not been called for, and Ralph had not been to her house to +inquire about the dog. The reason for this was that, turning over the +matter in his mind for a day or two, he thought it well to mention it to +Miriam in a casual way, for he perceived that it would be very unwise +for him to go to Dora's house without informing his sister and giving her +his reasons for the visit. To his surprise, Miriam strenuously opposed +his going to the Bannister house on any pretence until Mr. Bannister had +called upon him, and showed so much earnest feeling on the subject that +he relinquished his intention. He could see for himself that it would not +be the proper thing to do; and so he waited, with more impatience on +rainy days than others, for Mr. Herbert Bannister to call upon him. + +On nearly every morning of the two weeks, Dora asked her brother at +breakfast time if he were going that day to call at Cobhurst; and every +time she asked him, Herbert answered that he would go that day, if he +possibly could; but on each evening he informed her that at the hour he +had intended to start for Cobhurst a client or clients had come into the +office, or a client or clients had been in the office and had remained +there. A very busy man was Mr. Bannister. + +Miriam's opinion on the subject had been varied. She frequently felt in +her lonely moments that it would be a joy to see Dora Bannister drive in +at the gate. + +"If only," thought Miriam, with a sigh, "she would content herself to be +a visitor to me, just as I would be to her, and not go about contriving +things she thinks Ralph would like,--as if it were necessary that any +one should come here and do that! As for going to her house, that would +leave poor Ralph here all by himself, or else he would be there a good +deal, and--" + +Here a happy thought struck Miriam. + +"I can't go, anyway," she said aloud, "for the gig is broken;" and, her +brother coming in at that moment, she informed him, with an air of much +relief, how the matter had settled itself. + +"But I don't like matters to settle themselves in that way," said Ralph. +"The gig should certainly be in order by this time. I will go myself and +see the man about it, and if the new shafts are not finished, I can hire +a carriage for you. There is no need of your giving up a pleasant visit +for the want of means of conveyance." + +"But even if the gig were all ready for us to use, you know that you +could not go until Mr. Bannister has called," said the cruel-minded +sister. + +Ralph was of the opinion that there were certain features of social +etiquette which ought to be ruthlessly trodden upon, but he could think +of nothing suitable to say in regard to the point so frequently brought +up by Miriam, and, walking somewhat moodily to the front door, he saw Dr. +Tolbridge approaching in his buggy. + +The good doctor had come out of his way, and on a very busy morning, to +lay before the Haverleys his project concerning Mrs. Drane and her +daughter. Having but little time, he went straight to the point, and +surprised Miriam and Ralph as much as if he had proposed to them to open +a summer hotel. But, without regard to the impression he had made, he +boldly proceeded in the statement of his case. + +"You couldn't find pleasanter ladies than Mrs. Drane and her daughter," +he said. "The latter is copying some manuscript for me, which she could +do just as well here as at my house--" + +"Are you talking about the two ladies who were here yesterday afternoon?" +interrupted Miriam. + +"Here, yesterday afternoon!" cried the doctor, and now it was his turn to +be surprised. + +When he had heard the story of the trespass on private grounds, the +doctor laughed heartily. + +"Well," said he, "Mistress Fate has been ahead of me. The good lady is in +the habit of doing that sort of thing. And now that you know the parties +in question, what have you to say?" + +Miriam's blood began to glow a little, and as she gazed out of the open +door without looking at anything, her eyes grew very bright. In her +loneliness, she had been wishing that Dora Bannister would drive in at +the gate, and here was a chance to have a very different sort of a girl +drive in--a girl to whom she had taken a great fancy, although she had +seen her for so short a time. + +"Would they want to stay long?" she asked, without turning her head. + +The doctor saw his opportunity and embraced it. + +"That would be your affair entirely," he said. "If they came for only a +week, it would be to you no more than a visit from friends, and to +breathe this pure country air, for even that time, would be a great +pleasure and advantage to them both." + +Miriam turned her bright eyes on her brother. + +"What do you say, Ralph?" she asked. + +The lord of Cobhurst, who had allowed his sister to tell of the visit of +the Dranes, had been thinking what a wonderful piece of good luck it +would have been, if, instead of these strangers, Dora Bannister and her +family had desired to find quarters in a pleasant country house for a few +summer weeks. He did not know her family, nor did he allow himself to +consider the point that said family was accustomed to an expensive style +of living and accommodation, entirely unlike anything to be found on a +ramshackle farm. He only thought how delightful it would be if it were +Dora who wanted to come to Cobhurst. + +As Ralph looked upon the animated face of his sister, it was easy enough +to see that the case as presented by the doctor interested her very much, +and that she was awaiting his answer with an eagerness that somewhat +surprised him. + +"And you, little one, would you like to have these ladies come to us?" + +"Yes, I would," said Miriam, and then she stopped. There was much more +she could have said, which crowded itself into her mind so fast that she +could scarcely help saying it, but it would have been contrary to the +inborn spirit of the girl to admit that she ever felt lonely in this dear +home, or that, with a brother like Ralph, she ever craved the +companionship of a girl. But it was not necessary to say any more. + +"If you want them, they shall come," said Ralph, and if it had been the +Tolbridges or Miss Panney whose society his sister desired, his assent +would have been given just as freely. + +In fifteen minutes everything was settled and the doctor was driving +away. He was in good spirits over the results of his mission, for that +morning La Fleur had waylaid him as he went out and again had spoken to +him about the possibility of hiring a little house in the suburbs. + +"I am sure this arrangement will suit our good cook," he thought; "but as +for its continuance, we must let time and circumstances settle that." + +The doctor reached home about eleven o'clock. + +"What do you think it would be better to do," he said to his wife, when +he had made his report, "to stop at Mrs. Drane's as I go out this +afternoon, or to tell Cicely about our Cobhurst scheme, and let her tell +her mother?" + +"The thing to do," said Mrs. Tolbridge, closing her desk, at which she +was writing, "is for me to go and see Mrs. Drane immediately, and for you +to send Cicely home and give her a lot of work to do at Cobhurst. They +should go there this afternoon." + +"Yes," said the doctor; "of course, the sooner the better; but it has +struck me perhaps it might be well to mention the matter to Miss Panney +before the Dranes actually leave Mrs. Brinkly. You know she was very +active in procuring that place for them." + +Mrs. Tolbridge looked at her husband, gave a little sigh, and then +smiled. + +"What is your opinion of a bird," she asked, "who, flying to the shelter +of the woods, thinks it would be a good idea to stop for a moment and +look down the gun-barrel of a sportsman, to see what is there?" + +The doctor looked at her for a moment and then, catching her point, gave +her a hearty laugh for answer, and walking to his table, took up a sheet +of manuscript and carried it to the room where Miss Drane was working. + +"The passage which so puzzled you," he said, "has been deciphered by Mrs. +Tolbridge and myself, and reads thus: 'The philosophy of physiological +contrasts grows.'" + +"Why, yes," said Cicely, looking at the paper; "now that you tell me +what it is, it is as plain as can be. I will write it in the blank space +that I have left, and here are some more words that I would like to ask +you about." + +"Not now, not now," said the doctor. "I want you to stop work and run +home. As soon as I can I will talk with you about what you have written, +and give you some more of the manuscript. But no more work for to-day. +You must hurry to your mother. You will find Mrs. Tolbridge there, +talking to her about a change of quarters." + +"Another holiday!" exclaimed Cicely, in surprise. + +She was a girl who worked earnestly and conscientiously with the +intention of earning every cent of the money which was paid to her, and +these successive intermissions of work seemed to her unbusiness-like. But +she made no objections, and, putting away her papers, with a sigh, for +she had a list of points about which she was ready and anxious to consult +the doctor,--she went to join the consultation, which she presumed +concerned their removal from one street in Thorbury to another. But when +she discovered the heavenly prospect which had opened before her mother +and herself, her mind bounded from all thoughts of the manuscript of the +"Diagnosis of Sympathy," as if it had been a lark mounting to the sky. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE + + +About noon on the next day, Mrs. Tolbridge sat down at her desk to +finish the writing of the letter which had been so abruptly broken off +the day before. She had been very busy that afternoon and a part of this +morning, assisting Mrs. Drane and her daughter in their removal from a +hot street in a little town to the broad freedom and fine air of a +spacious country home. + +And this change had given so much pleasure to all parties concerned that +it was natural that so good a woman as Mrs. Tolbridge should feel a glow +of satisfaction in thinking of the part she had taken in it. + +She was satisfied in more ways than one: it was agreeable to her to +assist in giving pleasure to others, but besides this, she had a little +satisfaction which was peculiarly her own; she was pleased that that very +pretty and attractive Cicely would now work for the doctor, instead of +working so much with him. Of course she was willing to give up the little +room if it were needed, but it was a great deal pleasanter not to have +it needed. + +"It is so seldom," she thought, as she lifted the lid of her desk, "that +things can be arranged so as to please everybody." + +At this moment she glanced through the open window and saw Miss Panney at +the front gate. Closing her desk, Mrs. Tolbridge pushed back her chair, +her glow of satisfaction changing into a little chill. + +"Is the doctor at home?" she inquired of the servant who was passing the +door, and on receiving the negative reply, the chilly feeling increased. + +Miss Panney was in a radiant humor. She seated herself in her favorite +rocking-chair; she laid her fan on the table near her and her reticule by +it, and she pushed back from her shoulders a little India shawl. + +"I am treating myself," she said, "to a regular gala day; in the first +place, I intend to stay here to luncheon. People who have a La Fleur must +expect to see their friends at their table much oftener than if they had +a Biddy in the kitchen. That is one of the penalties of good fortune. I +have my cap in my bag, and as soon as I have cooled a little I will take +off my bonnet and shawl. This afternoon I am going to see the Bannisters, +and after that I intend to call on Mrs. Drane and her daughter. I put off +that until the last in order that Miss Drane may be at home. I ought to +have called on them before, considering that I did so much in getting +them established in Thorbury,--I am sure Mrs. Brinkly would not have +taken them if I had not talked her into it,--but one thing and another +has prevented my going there. But I have seen Miss Drane; I came to town +yesterday in the Witton carriage, and saw her in the street. She is +certainly a pretty little thing, and dresses with much taste. We all +thought her face was very sweet and attractive. We had a good look at +her, for she was waiting for our carriage to pass, in order to cross the +street. I told Jim, the driver, to go slowly, for I like to have a good +look at people before I know them. And by the way, Kitty, an idea comes +into my head," and as she said this, the old lady's eyes twinkled, and a +little smile stole over the lower part of her wrinkled face. "Perhaps you +may not like the doctor to have such an extremely pretty secretary. +Perhaps you may have preferred her to have a stubby nose and a freckled +face. How is that, Kitty?" + +"Nonsense," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "It makes no manner of difference what +sort of a face a secretary has; her handwriting is much more important." + +"Oh," said Miss Panney, "I am glad to hear that. And how does she get +on?" + +"Very well indeed," was the answer; "the doctor seems satisfied with +her work." + +"That is nice," said Miss Panney, "and how do they like it at Mrs. +Brinkly's? I saw their rooms, which are neatly furnished, and Mrs. +Brinkly keeps a very good table. I have taken many a meal at her house." + +Had there been a column of mercury at Mrs. Tolbridge's back, it would +have gone down several degrees, as she prepared to answer Miss Panney's +question. She did not exactly hesitate, but she was so slow in beginning +to speak, that Miss Panney, who was untying her bonnet-strings, had time +to add, reflectively, "Yes, they are sure to find her a good landlady." + +"The Dranes are not with Mrs. Brinkly now," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "They +left yesterday afternoon, although some of their things were not sent +away until this morning." + +The old lady's hands dropped from her bonnet-strings to her lap. + +"Left Mrs. Brinkly!" she exclaimed. "And where have they gone?" + +"To Cobhurst, where they will board for a while, during the hot weather. +They found it very close and uncomfortable in that part of the town, with +the mercury in the eighties." + +Miss Panney sat up tall and straight. Her eyes grew bigger and blacker as +with her mental vision she glared upon the situation. Presently she +spoke, and her voice sounded as if she were in a great empty cask, with +her mouth at the bunghole. + +"Who did this?" she asked. + +Mrs. Tolbridge was glad to talk; it suited her much better at this time +to do the talking than for her companion to do it, and she proceeded +quite volubly. + +"Oh, we all thought the change would be an excellent thing for them, +especially for Mrs. Drane, who is not strong; and as they had seen +Cobhurst and were charmed with the place, and as the Haverleys were quite +willing to take them for a little while, it seemed an excellent thing all +round. It was, however, our cook, La Fleur, who was the chief mover in +the matter. She was very much opposed to their staying with Mrs. +Brinkly,--you see she had lived with them and has quite an affection for +them,--and actually went so far as to talk of taking a house in the +country and boarding them herself. And you know, Miss Panney, how bad it +would be for the doctor to lose La Fleur." + +"Did the doctor have anything to do with this?" asked Miss Panney. + +Now Mrs. Tolbridge did hesitate a little. + +"Yes," she said, "he spoke to the Haverleys about it; he thought it would +be an excellent thing for them." + +Miss Panney rose, with her face as hard as granite. She drew her shawl +about her shoulders, and took up her fan and bag. Mrs. Tolbridge also +rose, much troubled. + +"You must not imagine for a minute, Miss Panney," she said, "that the +doctor had the slightest idea that this removal would annoy you. In fact, +he spoke about consulting you in regard to it, and had he seen you before +the affair was settled, I am sure he would have done so. And you must not +think, either, that the doctor urged the Haverleys to take these ladies, +simply because he wished to keep La Fleur. He values her most highly, but +he thought of others than himself. He spoke particularly of the admirable +influence Mrs. Drane would have on Miriam." + +The old lady turned her flashing eyes on Mrs. Tolbridge, and, slightly +lowering her head, she almost screamed these words: "Blow to the top of +the sky Mrs. Drane's influence on Miriam! That is not what I care for." + +Then she turned and walked out of the parlor, followed by Mrs. Tolbridge. +At the front door she stopped and turned her wrathful and inexorable +countenance upon the doctor's wife; then she deliberately shook her +skirts, stamped her feet, and went out of the door. + +When Dr. Tolbridge heard what had happened, he was sorely troubled. "I +must go to see her," he said. "I cannot allow her to remain in that state +of mind. I think I can explain the affair and make her look at it more as +we do, although, I must admit, now that I recall some things she recently +said to me, that she may have some grave objections to Cicely's residence +at Cobhurst. But I shall see her, and I think I can pacify her." + +Mrs. Tolbridge was not so hopeful as her husband; he had not seen Miss +Panney at the front door. But she could not bring herself to regret the +advice she had given him when he proposed consulting Miss Panney in +regard to the Dranes' removal. + +"I shall never object to La Fleur," she said to herself. "I will bear all +her impositions and queernesses for the sake of his health and pleasure, +but I cannot give up my little room to Cicely Drane." + +And that very hour she caused to be replaced in the said room the desk +and other appurtenances which had been taken out when the room had been +arranged for the secretary. + +These changes had hardly been made, when Dora Bannister called. + +"Miss Panney was at our house to-day," said the girl, "and I cannot +imagine what was the matter with her. I never saw anybody in such a +state of mind." + +"What did she say?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. + +"She said very little, and that was one of the strangest things about +her. But she sat and stared and stared and stared at me, as if I were +some sort of curiosity on exhibition, and did not answer anything I said +to her. I was awfully nervous, though I knew from the few words she had +said that she was not angry with me; but she kept on staring and staring +and staring, and then she suddenly leaned forward and put her arms around +me and kissed me. Then she sat back in her chair again, slapped her two +hands upon her knees, and said, speaking to herself, 'It shall be done. I +am a fool to have a doubt about it.' And then she went without another +word. Now was not that simply amazing? Did she come here, and did she act +in that way?" + +"She was here," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "but she did not do anything so +funny as that." + +"Well, I suppose I shall find out some day what she means," said Dora. +"And now, Mrs. Tolbridge, I did not come altogether to see you this +afternoon. I hope Miss Drane has not gone home yet, for I thought it +would be nice to meet her here. Mother and I are going to call on them, +but I do not know when that will be; and I have heard so much about the +doctor's secretary that I am perishing to see her. They say she is very +pretty and bright. I wanted mother to go there to-day, but we have had a +long drive this morning, and to-morrow she and I and Herbert are going +to call at Cobhurst; and you know mother will never consent to crowd +things. And so I thought I would come here this afternoon by myself. It +won't be like a call, you know." + +"Miss Drane is not here," said Mrs. Tolbridge; "but if you want to see +her, you can do it to-morrow, if you go to Cobhurst. She and her mother +are now living there, boarding with the Haverleys." + +"Living at Cobhurst!" exclaimed Dora; and as she uttered these words, the +girl turned pale. + +"Heavens!" mentally ejaculated the doctor's wife. "I do nothing this day +but explode bombshells." + +In a moment Dora recovered nearly all her color, and laughed. + +"It is so funny," she said, "that all sorts of things happen in this town +without our knowing it. Is she still going to be the doctor's secretary?" + +"Yes, she can do her work out there as well as here." + +Dora looked out of the window as if she saw something in the garden, and +Mrs. Tolbridge charitably took her out to show her some new dahlias. + +Early the next morning, Dr. Tolbridge drove into the Witton yard. No +matter who waited for him, he would not delay this visit. When he asked +for Miss Panney, he had a strong idea that the old lady would refuse to +see him. But in an astonishingly short space of time, she marched into +the parlor, every war-flag flying, and closed the door behind her. + +Without shaking hands or offering the visitor any sort of salutation, she +seated herself in a chair in the middle of the room. "Now," said she, +"don't lose any time in saying what you have got to say." + +Not encouraged by this reception, the doctor could not instantly arrange +what he had to say. But he shortly got his ideas into order, and +proceeded to lay the case in its most favorable light before the old +lady, dwelling particularly on the reasons why she had not been consulted +in the affair. + +Miss Panney heard him to the end without a change in the rigidity of her +face and attitude. "Very well, then," she said, when he had finished, "I +see exactly what you have done. You have thrown me aside for a cook." + +"Not at all!" exclaimed the doctor. "I had no idea of throwing you aside. +In fact, Miss Panney, I never thought of you in the matter at all." + +"Exactly, exactly," said the old lady, with emphatic sharpness; "you +never thought of me at all. That is the sum and substance of what you +have done. I gave you my confidence. I told you my intentions, my hopes, +the plan which was to crown and finish the work of my life. I told you I +would make the grandson of the only man I ever loved my heir, and I would +do this, because I wished him to marry the daughter of the man who was my +best friend on earth. The marriage of these two and the union of the +estate of Cobhurst with the wealth of the Bannisters was a project which, +as I told you, had grown dear to my heart, and for which I was thinking +and dreaming and working. All this you knew, and without a word to me, +and if you speak the truth, all for the sake of your wretched stomach, +you clap into Cobhurst a girl who will be engaged to Ralph Haverley in +less than a month." + +The doctor moved impatiently in his chair. + +"Nonsense, Miss Panney. Cicely Drane will not harm your plans. She is a +sensible, industrious girl, who attends to her own business, and--" + +"Precisely," said Miss Panney; "and her own business will be to settle +for life at Cobhurst. She may not be courting young Haverley to-day, +but she will begin to-morrow. She will do it, and what is more, she +would be a fool if she did not. It does not matter what sort of a girl +she is;" and now Miss Panney began to speak louder, and stood up; "it +does not matter if she had five legs and two heads; you have no right +to thrust any intruder into a household which I had taken into my +charge, and for which I had my plans, all of which you knew. You are a +false friend, Dr. Tolbridge, and at your doorstep I have shaken the +dust from my skirts and my feet." And with a quick step and a high +head, she marched out of the room. + +The doctor took a little book out of his pocket, and on a blank leaf +wrote the following:-- + +Rx. + Potass. Bromid. 3iij + Tr. Dig. Natis. m. xxx + Tr. Lavand. Comp. ad 3iij +M.S. teaspoonful every three hours. +H. D. + +Having sent this to Miss Panney by a servant, he went his way. Driving +along, his conscience stung him a little when he thought of the fable his +wife had told him; but the moral of the fable had made but little +impression upon him, and as an antidote to the sting he applied his +conviction that matchmaking was a bad business, and that in love affairs, +as well as in many diseases, the very best thing to do was to let nature +take its course. + +When Miss Panney read the paper which had been sent to her, her eyes +flashed, and then she laughed. + +"The wretch!" she exclaimed; "it is just like him." And in the afternoon +she sent to her apothecary in Thorbury for the medicine prescribed. "If +it cools me down," she said to herself, "I shall be able to work better." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +DORA COMES AND SEES + + +The call by the Bannisters at Cobhurst was made as planned. Had storm or +sudden war prevented Mrs. Bannister and Herbert from going, Dora would +have gone by herself. She did not appear to be in her usual state of +health that day, and Mrs. Bannister, noticing this, and attributing it to +Dora's great fondness for fruit at this season and neglect of more solid +food, had suggested that perhaps it might be well for her not to take a +long drive that afternoon. But this remark was added to the thousand +suggestions made by the elder lady and not accepted by the younger. + +Miriam was in the great hall when the Bannister family drove up, and she +greeted her visitors with a well-poised affability which rather surprised +Mrs. Bannister. Dora instantly noticed that she was better dressed than +she had yet seen her. + +When they were seated in the parlor, Mrs. Bannister announced that their +call was intended to include Mrs. Drane and her daughter, and Herbert +hoped that this time he would be able to see Mr. Haverley. + +Mrs. Drane was sent for, but Miriam did not know where her brother and +Miss Drane should be looked for. She had seen them walk by the back +piazza, but did not notice in what direction they had gone. At this +moment there ran through Dora a sensation similar to that occasioned by a +mild galvanic shock, but as she was looking out of the open door, the +rest of the company saw no signs of this. + +"Excuse me," said Mrs. Bannister, in a low voice, and speaking rather +rapidly, "but I thought that Miss Drane was working for Dr. Tolbridge, +copying, or something of that kind." + +"She is," answered Miriam, "but she has her regular hours, and stops at +five o'clock, just as she did when she was in the doctor's house." + +When Mrs. Drane had appeared and the visitors had been presented, Miriam +said that she would go herself and look for Ralph and Miss Drane. She +thought now that it was very likely they were in the orchard. + +"Let me go with, you," exclaimed Dora, springing to her feet, and in a +moment she and Miriam had left the house. + +"I heard her say," said Miriam, "that she wanted some summer apples, +fresh from the tree, and that is the reason why I suppose they are in the +orchard. You never knew anybody so wild about country things as Miss +Drane is. And she knows so little about them too." + +"Do you like her?" asked Dora. + +"Ever so much. I think she is as nice as can be. She is a good deal older +than I am, but sometimes it seems as if it were the other way. I suppose +one reason is that she wants to know so much, and I think I must like to +tell people things--nice people, I mean." + +Dora's mind was in a state of lively receptivity, and it received an +impression from Miriam's words that might be of use hereafter. But now +they had reached the orchard, and there, standing on a low branch of a +tree, was Ralph, and below was Miss Drane. Her laughing face was turned +upward, and she was holding her straw hat to catch an apple, but it was +plain that she was not skilled in that sort of exercise, and when the +apple dropped, it barely touched the rim of the hat and rolled upon the +ground, and then they both laughed as if they had known each other for +twenty years. + +"What a little thing," said Miss Bannister. + +"She is small," answered Miriam, "but isn't she pretty and graceful? And +her clothes fit her so beautifully. I am sure you will like her." + +Ralph came down from the tree, the straw hat was replaced on the head of +Miss Drane, and then came introduction and greeting. Never before had +Dora Bannister found it so hard to meet any one as she found it to meet +these two. She was only eighteen, and had had no experience in comporting +herself in an ordinary way when her every impulse prompted her to do or +say something quite extraordinary. But she was a girl who could control +herself, and she now controlled herself so well, that had Miss Panney or +Mrs. Tolbridge been there they would instantly have suspected what was +meant by so much self-control. She greeted Miss Drane with much suavity, +and asked her if she liked apples. + +As the party started for the house, Dora, who was a quick walker, was not +so quick as usual, and Ralph naturally slackened his pace a little. In a +few moments Miriam and Miss Drane were hurrying toward the house, +considerably in advance of the others. + +"It is so nice," said Dora, "for your sister to have ladies in the house +with her. I have been wanting to see her ever so much, and was afraid +something was the matter with her, especially as you did not come for +your dog." + +As Ralph was explaining his apparent ungraciousness, Dora's soul was +roughly shaken. She was angry with him and wanted to show it, but she saw +clearly that this would be unsafe. Her hold upon him was very slight, and +a few unwise words now might make him no more than a mere acquaintance. +She did not wish to say words that would do that, but if she held him by +a cord ever so slender, she would obey the promptings of her soul and +endeavor to draw him a little toward her. She would take the risks of +that, for if he drifted away from her, the cord would be as likely to +break as if she drew upon it. + +"Oh yes," she said, "I knew all the time why you and Miriam did not come +to make a regular society call, but I did suppose that you would drop in +to see about Congo. As soon as I got home, after I promised him to you, I +began to educate him to cease to care for me, and to care for you. If you +had been there, all this would have been easy enough, but as it was, I +had to get Herbert or the coachman to take him out walking at the times I +used to take him, and when he was tied up I kept away from his little +house altogether, so that he should become accustomed to do without me. I +stopped feeding him, and made Herbert do that whenever he had time, and I +insisted that he should wear a big straw hat, which he does not like, but +which is a good deal like the one you wear, and which I thought might +have an influence on the mind of Congo." + +This touched Ralph, and he did not wish that Miss Bannister should +suppose that he thought so little of a gift of which she thought so much. +And in order to entirely remove any suspicion of ungratefulness, he +endeavored to make her understand that he had wished very much to go to +see the dog, but wished much more to go to see her. + +"I hate a great many of these social rules," he said, "and although I did +not know any of the rest of your family, I knew you, and felt very much +inclined to call on you and let the customs take care of themselves." + +"I wish you had!" exclaimed Dora; "I like to see people brave enough to +trample on customs." + +Her spirits were rising, and she walked still slower. This tete-a-tete +was very delightful to Ralph, but he had no desire to trample on all +social customs, and his feelings of courteous hospitality urged him to go +as rapidly as possible to greet the special visitor who was waiting for +him; but to desert that gentleman's sister, or make her walk quickly when +she did not wish to, was equally opposed to his ideas of courtesy, and so +it happened that Dora and Ralph entered the parlor so much later than the +others that a decided impression was made on the minds of Mrs. and Miss +Drane. And this was what Dora wished. She felt that it would be a very +good thing in this case to assert some sort of a preemption claim. It +could do no harm, and might be of great service. + +After the manner of the country gentlemen who in mixed society are apt to +prefer their own sex for purposes of converse, Herbert Bannister +monopolized Ralph. His sister talked with Cicely Drane, and in spite of +her natural courage and the reasons for self-confidence which she had +just received, Dora's spirits steadily fell as she conversed with this +merry, attractive girl, who knew so well how to make herself +entertaining, even to other girls, and who was actually living in Ralph +Haverley's house. + +Dora made the visit shorter than it otherwise would have been. She had +come, she had seen, and she wanted to go home and think about the rest of +the business. The drive home was, in a degree, pleasant because Herbert +had a great deal to say about Mr. Haverley, whom he had found most +agreeable, and because Mrs. Bannister spoke in praise of Ralph's manly +beauty, but it would depend upon future circumstances whether or not +remarks of this kind could be considered entirely satisfactory. + +That evening, in her own room, in a loose dressing-gown, and with her +hair hanging over her shoulders, Dora devoted herself to an earnest +consideration of her relations with Ralph Haverley. At first sight it +seemed odd that there should be any relations at all, for she had known +him but a short time, and he had made few or no advances toward her--not +half so many or such pronounced ones as other men had made, during her +few visits to fashionable resorts. But she settled this part of the +question very promptly. + +"I like him better than anybody I have ever seen," she said to herself. +"In fact, I love him, and now--" and then she went on to consider the +rest of the matter, which was not so easy to settle. + +Cicely Drane was terribly hard to settle. There was that girl,--all the +more dangerous because, being charming and little, a man would be more +apt to treat her as a good comrade than if she were charming and +tall,--who was with him all the time. And how she would be with him, +Dora's imagination readily perceived, because she knew how she herself +would be with him under the circumstances. Before breakfast in the dewy +grass, gathering apples; during work hours, talking through the open +window as he chanced to pass; after five o'clock, walks in the orchard, +walks over the farm, in the woods everywhere, and always those two +together, because there were four of them. How much worse it was that +there were four of them! And the evenings, moonlight, starlight; on the +piazza; good-night on the stairs--it was maddening to think of. + +But, nevertheless, she thought of it hour after hour, with no other +result than to become more and more convinced that she was truly in love +with a man who had never given any sign that he loved her, and that there +was every reason to believe that when he gave a sign that he loved, it +would be to another woman, and not to her. + +She rose and looked out of the window. A piece of the moon, far gone in +the third quarter, was rising above a mass of evergreens. She had a +courageous young soul, and the waning brightness of the lovers' orb did +not affect her as a disheartening sign. + +"It is not right," she said to herself. "I will not do it. I will not +hang like an apple on a tree for any one to pick who chooses, or if +nobody chooses, to drop down to the chickens and pigs. A woman has as +much right to try to do the best for herself as a man has to try to do +the best for himself. I can't really trample on customs as a man can, but +I can do it in my mind, and I do it now. I love him, and I will get him +if I can." + +With this Dora sat down, and left the bit of moon to shed what +luminousness it could over the landscape. + +Her resolution shed a certain luminousness over Dora's soul. To +determine to do a thing is nearly always inspiriting. + +"Yes," she thought, "I will do what I can. He has promised to come very +soon, and he shall not have Congo the first time he comes. He shall come, +and I shall go, and I shall be great friends with Miriam. There will be +nothing false in that, for I like her ever so much, and I shall remember +to think more of what she likes. No one shall see me break down any +customs of society,--especially, he shall not,--but out of my mind they +are swept and utterly gone." + +Having thus shaped her course, Dora thought she would go to bed. But +suddenly an idea struck her, and she stood and pondered. + +"I believe," she said, speaking aloud in her earnestness, "I believe +that that is what Miss Panney meant. She has spoken so well of him to +me; she has heard about that girl, and she said, yes, she certainly did +say, 'It shall be done.' She wants it, I truly believe; she wants me to +marry him." + +For a few minutes she stood gazing at her ring, and then she said,-- + +"I will go to her; I will tell her everything. It will be a great thing +to have Miss Panney on my side. She does not care for customs, and she +will never breathe a word to a soul." + +Dr. Tolbridge was not mistaken in his estimate of the sort of mind Dora +Bannister would have when she should shed her old one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +"IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" + + +The Haverleys could not expect that the people of Thorbury would feel any +general and urgent desire to recognize them as neighbors. They did not +live in the town, and moreover newcomers, even to the town itself, were +usually looked upon as "summer people," until they had proved that they +were to be permanent residents, and the leading families of Thorbury made +it a rule not to call on summer people. + +But the example of the Tolbridges and Bannisters had a certain effect on +Thorbury society, and people now began to drive out to Cobhurst; not very +many of them, but some of them representative people. Mr. Ames, the +rector of Grace Church, came early because the Haverleys had been to his +church several times, and Mr. Torry, the Presbyterian minister, came +afterwards because the Haverleys had stopped going to Grace Church, and +he did not know that it was on account of the gig shafts. + +Mr. Hampton, the Methodist, who was a pedestrian, walked out to Cobhurst +one day, but as neither the brother or sister could be found, he +good-humoredly resolved to postpone a future call until cooler weather. + +Lately, when a lady had called, it happened that there had been no one to +receive her but Mrs. Drane; and although there could be no doubt that +that lady performed the duties of hostess most admirably, Miriam +resolved that that thing should never happen again. She did not wish the +people to think that there was a regent in rule at Cobhurst, and she now +determined to make it a point to be within call during ordinary visiting +hours. Or, if she felt strongly moved to a late afternoon ramble, she +would invite the other ladies to accompany her. She still wore her hair +down her back, and her dresses did not quite touch the tops of her boots, +and it was therefore necessary to be careful in regard to her +prerogatives as mistress of the house. + +Early one afternoon, much sooner than there was reason to expect +visitors, a carriage came in at the Cobhurst gate, driven by our friend +Andy Griffing. Miriam happened to be at a front window, and regarded +with some surprise the shabby equipage. It came with a flourish to the +front of the house, and stopped. But instead of alighting, its occupant +seemed to be expostulating with the driver. Andy shook his head a great +deal, but finally drove round at the back, when an elderly woman got +out, and came to the hall door. Miriam, who supposed, of course, that +she would be wanted, was there to meet her, and there was no necessity +for ringing or knocking. + +"My name," said the visitor, "is La Fleur, if you please. I came to see +Mrs. Drane and Miss Drane, if you please. Thank you very much, I will +come in. I will wait here, or, if you will be so good as to tell me where +I can find Mrs. Drane, I will go to her. I used to live with her: I was +her cook." + +Miriam had been gazing with much interest on the puffy face and +shawl-enwrapped body of the old woman who addressed her with a smiling +obsequiousness to which she was not at all accustomed. + +The thought struck her that with servants like this woman, it would be +easy to feel herself a mistress. She had heard from the Dranes a great +deal about their famous cook, and she was glad of the opportunity to look +upon this learned professor of kitchen lore. + +"What would she have said to my tall raspberry tarts?" involuntarily +thought the girl. + +But it was when La Fleur had gone to Mrs. Drane's room, and Cicely, +wildly delighted when informed who had come to see them, had run to meet +the dear old woman, that Miriam pondered most seriously upon this visit +from a cook. She had not known anything of the ties between families and +old family servants. At school, servants had been no more than machines; +she was nothing to them, and they were nothing to her; and now she felt +that the ignorance of these ties was one of the deprivations of her life. +That old woman upstairs had not lived very long with the Dranes, and yet +she regarded them with a positive affection. Miriam knew this from what +she had heard. If they were in trouble, and needed her, she would come to +them and serve them wherever they were. This she had told them often. How +different was such a woman from Phoebe or Molly Tooney! How happy would +she be if there had been such a one in her mother's family, and were she +with her now! + +"But I have only Ralph," thought Miriam; "no one else in the world." +Ralph was good,--no human being could be better; but he was only one +person, and knew nothing of many things she wanted to know, and could not +help her in many ways in which she needed to be helped. + +With a feeling that from certain points of view she was rather solitary +and somewhat forsaken, she went to look for her brother. It would be +better to talk to what she had than to think about what she had not. + +As she walked toward the barn and pasture fields, Ralph came up from the +cornfield by the woods on the other side of the house. As he went in he +met Mrs. Drane and La Fleur, who had just come downstairs. Cicely had +already retired to her work. At the sight of the gentleman, who, she was +informed, was the master of the house, La Fleur bowed her head, cast down +her eyes, smiled and courtesied. + +Mrs. Drane drew Ralph aside. + +"That is La Fleur, who used to be our cook. She is a kind old body, who +takes the greatest interest in our welfare. She is greatly pleased to +find us in such delightful quarters, but she has queer notions, and now +she wants very much to call on your cook. I don't know that this is the +right thing, and I have been looking for your sister, to ask her if she +objects to it, but I think she is not in the house." + +"Oh, bless me!" exclaimed Ralph, "she will not mind in the least. Let the +good woman go down and see Molly Tooney, and if she can give her some +points about cooking, I am sure we shall all be delighted." + +"Oh, she would not do that," said Mrs. Drane. "She is a very considerate +person; but I suppose, in any house, her instincts would naturally draw +her toward the cook." + +When Ralph turned to La Fleur, and assured her that his sister would be +glad to have her visit the kitchen, the old woman, who had not taken her +eyes from him for an instant, thanked him with great unction, again +bowed, courtesied, smiled, and, being shown the way to the kitchen, +descended. + +Molly Tooney, who was sitting on a low stool, paring potatoes, looked up +in amazement at the person who entered her kitchen. It was not an +obsequious old woman she saw, but a sedate, dignified, elderly person, +with her brows somewhat knitted. Throwing about her a glance, which was +not one of admiration, La Fleur remarked,-- + +"I suppose you are the cook of the house." + +"Indade, an' I am," said Molly, still upon the stool, with a knife in one +hand, and a potato, with a long paring hanging from it, in the other; +"an' the washer-woman, an' the chambermaid, an' the butler, too, as loike +as may be. An' who may you be, an' which do you want to see?" + +"I am Madame La Fleur," said the other, with a stateliness that none of +her mistresses ever supposed that she possessed. "I came to see Mrs. +Drane, in whose service I was formerly engaged, and I wish to know for +myself what sort of a person was cooking for the ladies whose meals I +used to prepare." + +Molly put down her knife and her half-pared potato, and arose. She had +heard of La Fleur, whose fame had spread through and about Thorbury. + +"Sit down, mum," said she. "This isn't much of a kitchen, for I +haven't had time to clane it up, an' as for me, I'm not much of a +cook, nather; for when ye have to be iverything, ye can't be anything +to no great ixtent." + +La Fleur, still standing, looked at her severely. + +"How often do you bake?" she asked. + +"Three times a week," answered Molly, lying. + +"The ladies upstairs," said La Fleur, "have been accustomed to fresh +rolls every morning for their breakfast." + +"An' afther this, they shall have 'em," said Molly, "Sundays an' weekday, +an' sorry I am that I didn't know before that they was used to have 'em." + +"How do you make your coffee?" asked La Fleur. + +Molly looked at her hesitatingly. + +"I am very keerful about that," she said. "I niver let it bile too +much--" + +"Ugh!" exclaimed La Fleur, raising her hand. "Tell your mistress to get +you a French coffee-pot, and if you don't know how to use it, I'll come +and teach you. I shall be here off and on as long as Mrs. Drane stops in +this house." And then, seating herself, La Fleur proceeded to put Molly +through an elementary domestic service examination. + +"Well," said the examiner, when she had finished, "I think you must be +the worst cook in this part of the country." + +"No, mum, I'm not," said Molly. "There was one here afore me, a nager +woman named Phoebe, that must have been worse, from what I'm told." + +"Where I have lived," said La Fleur, "they have such women to cook for the +farm laborers." + +"Beggin' your pardon, mum," said Molly, "that's what they are here, or +th' same thing. Mr. Haverley, he works on the farm with a pitchfork, jest +like the nager man." + +"Don't talk to me like that!" exclaimed La Fleur. "Mr. Haverley is a +gentleman. I have lived enough among gentlemen to know them when I see +them, and they can work and they can play and they can do what they +please, and they are gentlemen still. Don't you ever speak that way, +again, of your master." + +"I thought I had heard, mum," said Molly, "that you looked down on +tradespeople and the loike." + +"Tradespeople!" said the other, scornfully. "A gentleman farmer is very +different from a person in trade; but I can't expect anything better from +a woman who boils coffee, and never heard of bouillon. But remember the +things I have told you, and thank your stars that a cook as high up in +the profession as I am is willing to tell you anything. Are you the only +servant in this house?" + +"There's a man by the name of Mike," said Molly, "a nager, though you +wouldn't think it from his name. He helps me sometimes, an' he helps +iverybody else other times." + +"Is that the man?" said La Fleur, looking out of the window. + +"That's him, mum," said Molly; "he's jest goin' to the woodpile +with his axe." + +"I wish to speak to him," said La Fleur, and with a very slight nod of +the head she left the kitchen by the door that led into the grounds. + +Looking after her, Molly exclaimed,-- + +"Drat you, for a stuck-up, cross-grained, meddlin', bumble-bee-backed +old hag of a soup-slopper; to come stickin' yer big nose into other +people's kitchens! If there was a rale misthress to the house instead +of the little gal upstairs, you'd be rowled down the front steps afore +you'd been let come into my kitchen." And with this she returned to +her potatoes. + +La Fleur stopped at the woodpile, as if in passing she had happened to +notice a good man splitting logs. In her blandest voice she accosted Mike +and bade him good-day. + +"I think you must be Michael," she said. "The cook has been speaking of +you to me. My name is La Fleur." + +Mike, who had struck his axe into a log, touched his flattened hat. + +"Yes, mum," he said; "Mr. Griffing has been tellin' me that. Are you +lookin' for any of the folks?" + +"Oh no, no," said La Fleur; "I am just walking about to see a little of +this beautiful place. You don't mind that, do you, Michael? You keep +everything in such nice order. I haven't seen your garden, but I know it +is a fine one, because I saw some of the vegetables that came out of it." + +Mike grinned. "I reckon it ain't the same kind of a garden that you've +been used to, mum. I've heerd that you cooked for Queen Victoria." + +"Oh no, no," said La Fleur, dropping her head on one side so that her +smile made a slight angle with the horizon; "I never cooked for the +queen, no indeed; but I have lived with high families, lords, ladies, and +ambassadors, and I don't remember that any of them had better potatoes +than I saw to-day. Is this a large farm, Michael?" + +"It's considerable over a hundred acres, though I don't 'xactly know how +much. Not what you'd call big, and not what you'd call little." + +"But you grow beautiful crops on it, I don't doubt," remarked La Fleur. + +"Can't say about that," said Mike, shaking his head a little. "I 'spects +we'll git good 'nough craps for what we do for 'em. This ain't the kind +of farm your lords and ladies has got. It's ramshackle, you know." + +"Ramshackle?" repeated La Fleur. "Is that a sort of sheep farm?" + +Mike grinned. "Law, no, we ain't got no sheep, and I'm glad of it. +Ramshackle farmin' means takin' things as you find 'em, an' makin' 'em +do, an' what you git you've got, but with tother kind of farmin' most +times what you git, ye have to pay out, an' then you ain't got nuthin'." + +This was more than La Fleur could comprehend, but she inferred in a +general way that Mr. Haverley's farm was a profitable one. + +"All so pretty, so pretty," she said, looking from side to side; "such a +grand barn, and such broad acres. Is it the estate as far as I can see?" + +"Yes, mum," said Mike, "an' a good deal furder. The woods cuts it off +down thataway." + +"It is a lordly place," said La Fleur, "and it does you honor, Michael, +for the cook told me you were Mr. Haverley's head man." + +"I reckon she's about right there," said Mike. + +"And I am very glad indeed," continued the old woman, "that Mrs. and Miss +Drane are living here. And now, Michael, if either of them is ever taken +ill, and you're sent for the doctor, I want you to come straight to me, +and I'll see that he goes to them. If you knock at the back door of the +kitchen, I'll hear you, whether I am awake or asleep. And when you are +coming to town, Michael, you must drop in and see me. I can give you a +nice bit of a lunch, any day. I daresay you like good things to eat as +well as any-body." + +Mike stood silent for a moment, and his eyes began to brighten. + +"Indeed I do, mum," said he. "If I was to carry in a punkin to you when +they're ripe, I wonder if you'd be willin' to make me a punkin pie, same +kind as Queen Victoria has in the fall of the year." + +La Fleur beamed on him most graciously. + +"I will do that gladly, Michael: you may count on me to do that. And I +will give you other things that you like. Wait till we see, wait till we +see. Good-day, Michael; I must be going now, or the doctor will be kept +waiting for his dinner. Where's my cabby?" + +"Mr. Griffing has drove round to the front of the house, mum," said Mike. + +"Just like the stupid American," muttered the old woman as she hurried +away, "as if I'd get in at the front of the house." + +Andy Griffing talked a good deal on the drive back to Thorbury, but La +Fleur heard little and answered less. She was in a state of great mental +satisfaction, and during her driver's long descriptions of persons and +places, she kept saying to herself, "It couldn't be better than that. It +couldn't be better than that." + +This mental expression she applied to Mr. Haverley, whom she considered +an extraordinarily fine-looking young man; to the broad acres and fine +barn; to the fact that the Dranes were living with him; to the +probability that he would fall in love with the charming Miss Cicely, and +make her mistress of the estate; and to the strong possibility, that +should this thing happen, she herself would be the cook of Cobhurst, and +help her young mistress put the establishment on the footing that her +station demanded. + +"It couldn't be better than that," she muttered over and over again as +she busied herself about the Tolbridge dinner, and she even repeated the +expression two or three times after she went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE GAME IS CALLED + + +In her notions and schemes regarding the person and estate of Ralph +Haverley, the good cook, La Fleur, lacked one great advantage possessed +by her rival planner and schemer Miss Panney; for she whose cause was +espoused by the latter old woman was herself eager for the fray and +desirous of victory, whereas Cicely Drane had not yet thought of marrying +anybody, and outside of working hours was devoting herself to getting all +the pleasure she could out of life, not regarding much whether it was her +mother or Miriam or Mr. Haverley who helped her get it. Moreover, the +advantages of co-residence, which La Fleur naturally counted upon, were +not so great as might have been expected; for Mrs. Drane, having +perceived that Ralph was fond of the society of young ladies to a degree +which might easily grow beyond her ideas of decorous companionship +between a gentleman of the house and a lady boarder, gently interfered +with the dual apple gatherings and recreations of that nature. For this, +had she been aware of it, Dora Bannister would have been most grateful. + +Ralph had gone twice to see Congo, and to talk to Miss Bannister about +him, but he had not taken the dog home. Dora said she would take him to +Cobhurst the first time she drove over there to see Miriam. Congo would +follow her and the carriage anywhere, and this would be so much +pleasanter than to have him forced away like a prisoner. + +The gig shafts had now been repaired, and Ralph urged his sister to go +with him to Thorbury and attend to her social duties; but Miriam disliked +the little town and loved Cobhurst. As to social duties, she thought they +ought to be attended to, of course, but saw no need to be in a hurry +about them; so Ralph, one day, having business in Thorbury, prepared to +go in again by himself. He had been lately riding Mrs. Browning, who was +still his only available horse for family use; but she was not very +agreeable under the saddle, and he now proposed to take the gig. He had +thought it might be a good idea to take a little drive out of the town, +and see if Congo would follow him. Perhaps Miss Bannister would accompany +him, for she was very anxious that the dog should become used to Ralph +before leaving his present home; and her presence would help very much in +teaching the animal to follow. + +But although Miriam declined to go with her brother, she took much +interest in his expedition, and came out to the barn to see him harness +Mrs. Browning. + +"Are you going to Dora Bannister's again?" she asked. + +"Yes," said Ralph; "at least I think I shall stop in to see the dog. You +know the oftener I do that, the better." + +"I think it is a shame," said Miriam, "that you should be driving to town +alone, when there are other people who wish so much to go, and you have +no use at all for that empty seat." + +"Who wants to go?" asked Ralph, quickly. + +"Cicely Drane does. She has got into trouble over the doctor's +manuscript, and says she can't go on properly without seeing him. She has +been expecting him here every day, but it seems as if he never intended +to come. She asked me this morning how far it was to Thorbury, and I +think she intends to walk in, if he does not come to-day." + +"Why didn't you tell me this before?" asked Ralph. "I would have sent her +into town or taken her." + +"I had not formulated it in my mind," said Miriam. "Will you take her +with you to-day? I know that she has made up her mind she cannot wait any +longer for the doctor to come." + +"Of course I will take her," said Ralph. "Will you ask her to get ready? +Tell her I shall be at the door in ten or fifteen minutes." + +Ralph's tone was perfectly good-humored, but Miriam fancied that she +perceived a trace of disappointment in it. She was sorry for this, for +she could not imagine why any man should object to have Cicely Drane as a +companion on a drive, unless his mind was entirely occupied by some other +girl; and if Ralph's mind was thus occupied, it must be by Dora +Bannister, and that did not please her. So she resolutely put aside all +Cicely's suggestions that it might be inconvenient for Mr. Haverley to +take her with him, and deftly overcame Mrs. Drane's one or two impromptu, +and therefore not very well constructed, objections to the acceptance of +the invitation; and in the gig Cicely went with Ralph to Thorbury. + +After having left the secretary to attend to her business at the +doctor's house, Ralph drove to the Bannister's; but Dora would not see +him, and technically was not at home. Alas! She had seen him driving past +with Miss Drane, and she was angry. This was contrary to the plan of +action she had adopted; but her eighteen-year-old spirit rebelled, and +she could not help it. A more hideous trap than that old gig could not be +imagined, but she had planned a drive in it with Ralph on some of the +quiet country roads beyond Cobhurst. They would take Congo with them, and +that would be such a capital plan to teach the dog to follow his new +master. And now it was the Drane girl who was driving with him in his +gig. She could not go down and see him and meet him in the way she liked +to meet him. + +Miss Panney, on the other side of the street, had been passing the +Tolbridge house at the moment when Ralph and Cicely drove up. She +stopped for a moment, her feelings absolutely outraged. It was not +uncommon for her to pass places at times when people were doing things +in those places which she thought they ought not to do; but this was a +case which roused her anger in an unusual manner. Whatever else might +happen at Cobhurst, she did not believe that that girl would begin so +soon to go out driving with him. + +She had left her phaeton at a livery stable, and was on her way to the +Bannister house to have a talk with Dora on a subject in which they were +now both so much interested. She had been very much surprised when the +girl had come to her and freely avowed her feelings and hopes, but she +had been delighted. She liked a spirit of that sort, and it was a joy to +her to work with one who possessed it. But she knew human nature, and she +was very much afraid that Dora's purpose might weaken. It was quite +natural that a young person, in a moment of excitement and pique, should +figuratively raise her sword in air and vow a vow; but it was also quite +natural, when the excitement and pique had cooled down, that the young +person should experience what might be called a "vow-fright," and feel +unable to go through with her part. In a case such as Dora's, this was +very possible indeed, and all that Miss Panney had planned to say on her +present visit was intended to inspire the girl, if it should be needed, +with some of her own matured inflexibility and fixedness of purpose. But +if the man were doing this sort of thing already and Dora should know it, +she would have a right to be discouraged. + +Before the old lady reached the Bannisters' gate, she saw Mr. Haverley, +in his gig, drive away. This brightened her up a little. + +"He comes here, anyway," she thought; "what a pity Dora is not in." + +Nevertheless, she went on to the Bannister house; and when she found Dora +was in, she began to scold her. + +"This will never do, will never do," she said. "Get angry with him if you +choose, but don't show it. If you do that, you may crash him too low or +bounce him too high, and, in either case, he may be off before you know +it. It is too early in the game to show him that he has made you angry." + +"But if he doesn't want me, I don't want him," said Dora, sulkily. + +"If you think that way, my dear," said Miss Panney, "you may as well make +up your mind to make a bad match, or die an old maid. The right man very +seldom comes of his own accord; it is nearly always the wrong one. If you +happen to meet the right man, you should help him to know that he ought +to come. That is the way to look at it. That young Haverley does not know +yet who it is that he cares for. He is just floating along, waiting for +some one to thrust out a boat-hook and pull him in." + +"I shall marry no floating log," said Dora, stiffly. + +The old lady laughed. + +"Perhaps that was not a very good figure of speech," she said; "but +really, my dear, you must not interfere with your own happiness by +showing temper; and if you look at the affair in its proper light, you +will see it is not so bad, after all. Ten to one, he brought her to town +because she wanted to come with him,--probably on some patched-up errand; +but he came here because he wanted to come. There could be no other +reason; and, instead of being angry with him, you should have given him +an extraordinary welcome. For the very reason that she has so many +advantages over you, being so much with him, you should be very careful +to make use of the advantages you have over her. And your advantages are +that you are ten times better fitted to be his wife than she is; and the +great thing necessary to be done is to let him see it. But her chances +must come to an end. Those Dranes must be got away from Cobhurst." + +"I don't like that way of looking at it," said Dora, leaning back in her +chair, with a sigh. "It's the same thing as fishing for a man, though I +suppose it might have been well to see him when he came." + +Now Miss Panney felt encouraged; her patient was showing good symptoms. +Let her keep in that state of mind, and she would see that the lover +came. She had made a mistake in speaking so bluntly about getting the +Dranes out of Cobhurst. Although she would not say anything more to Dora +about that important piece of work, she would do it all the same. + +This little visit had been an important one to Miss Panney; it had +enabled her to understand Dora's character much better than she had +understood it before; and she perceived that in this case of matchmaking +she must not only do a great deal of the work herself, but she must do it +without Dora's knowing anything about it. She liked this, for she was not +much given to consulting with people. + +Miss Panney had another call to pay in the neighborhood, and she had +intended, for form's sake, to spend a little time with Mrs. Bannister; +but she did neither. She went back by the way she had come, wishing to +learn all she could about the movements of the Cobhurst gig. + +Approaching the Tolbridge house, she saw that vehicle standing before +the door, with the sleepy Mrs. Browning tied to a post, and as she drew +nearer, she perceived Ralph Haverley sitting alone on the vine-shaded +piazza. The old lady would not enter the Tolbridge gate, but she stood on +the other side of the street, and beckoned to Ralph, who, as soon as he +saw her, ran over to her. + +Ralph walked a little way with Miss Panney, and after answering her most +friendly inquiries about Miriam, he explained how he happened to be +sitting alone on the piazza; the doctor and Miss Drane, whom he had +brought to town, were at work at some manuscript, and he had preferred to +wait outside instead of indoors. + +"I called on Miss Bannister," he said, "but she was not at home, so I +came back here." + +"It is a pity she was out," said Miss Panney, carelessly, "and now that +you have mentioned Miss Bannister, I would like to ask you something; why +does not your sister return her visits? I saw Dora not very long ago, and +found that her feelings had been a little hurt--not much, perhaps, but a +little--by Miriam's apparent indifference to her. Dora is a very +sensitive girl, and is slow to make friends among other girls. I never +knew any friendship so quick and lively as that she showed for Miriam. +You know that Dora is still young; it has not been long since she left +school; there is not a girl in Thorbury that she cares anything about, +and her life at home must necessarily be a lonely one. Her brother is +busy, even in the evenings, and Mrs. Bannister is no companion for a +lively young girl." + +"I had thought," said Ralph, "that Miss Bannister went a good deal +into society." + +"Oh, no," answered Miss Panney; "she sometimes visits her relatives, who +are society people; but in years and disposition she is too young for +that sort of thing. Society women and society men would simply bore her. +At heart she is a true country girl, and I think it was because Miriam +had country tastes, and loved that sort of life, that Dora's affections +went out so quickly to her. I wish your sister had the same feelings +toward her." + +"Oh, Miriam likes her very much," exclaimed Ralph, "and is always +delighted to see her; but my little sister is wonderfully fond of staying +at home. I have told her over and over again that she ought to return +Miss Bannister's calls." + +"Make her do it," said the old lady. "It is her duty, and I assure you, +it will be greatly to her advantage. Miriam is a most lovely girl, but +her character has not hardened itself into what it is going to be, and +association with a thoroughbred girl, such as Dora Bannister, admirably +educated, who has seen something of the world, with an intelligence and +wit such as I have never known in any one of her age, and more than all +with a soul as beautiful as her face, cannot fail to be an inestimable +benefit to your sister. What Miriam most needs, at this stage of her +life, is proper companionship of her own age and sex." + +Ralph assented. "But," said he, "she is not without that, you know. Miss +Drane, who with her mother now lives with us, is a most--" + +Miss Panney's face grew very hard. + +"Excuse me," she interrupted, "I know all about that. Of course the +Dranes are very estimable people, and there are many things, especially +in the way of housekeeping, which Mrs. Drane could teach Miriam, if she +chose to take the trouble. But while I respect the daughter's efforts to +support herself and her mother, it must be admitted that she is a +working-girl--nothing more or less--and must continue to be such. Her +present business, of course, can only last for a little while, and she +will have to adopt some regular calling. This life she expects, and is +preparing herself for it. But a mind such as hers is, or must speedily +become, is not the one from which Miriam's young mind should receive its +impressions. The two will move in very different spheres, and neither can +be of any benefit to the other. More than that I will not say; but I will +say that your sister can never find any friend so eager to love her, and +so willing to help and be helped by her in so many ways in which girls +can help each other, as my dear Dora. Now bestir yourself, Mr. Haverley, +and make Miriam look at this thing as she ought to. I don't pretend to +deny that I have spoken to you very much for Dora's sake, for whom I have +an almost motherly feeling; but you should act for your sister's sake. +And please don't forget what I have said, young man, and give Miriam my +best love." + +When Ralph walked back to the Tolbridge piazza he found the working-girl +sitting there, waiting for him. His mind was not in an altogether +satisfactory condition; some things Miss Panney had said had pleased and +even excited him, but there were other things that he resented. If she +had not been such an old lady, and if she had not talked so rapidly, he +might have shown this resentment. But he had not done so, and now the +more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling grew. + +As for Cicely Drane, she was a great deal more quiet during the drive +home, than she had been when going to Thorbury. Her mind was in an +unsatisfactory condition, and this had been occasioned by an interview +with La Fleur, who had waylaid her in the hall as she came out of the +doctor's office. + +The good cook had been in a state of enthusiastic delight, since, looking +out of the kitchen window where she had been sitting, with a manuscript +book of recipes in her lap, planning the luncheon and dinner, she had +seen the lord of Cobhurst drive up to the gate with dear Miss Cicely. It +was a joy like that of listening to a party of dinner guests, who were +eating her favorite ice. With intense impatience she had awaited the +appearance of Cicely from the doctor's office; and, having drawn her to +one side, she hastily imparted her sentiments. + +"It's a shabby gig, Miss Cicely," she said, "such as the farmers use in +the old country, but it's his own, and not hired, and the big house is +his own, and all the broad acres. And he's a gentleman from head to heel, +living on his own estate, and as fine a built man as ever rode in the +Queen's army. Oh, Miss Cicely, your star is at the top of the heavens +this time, and I want you to let me know if there is anything you want in +the way of hats or wraps or clothes, or anything of that kind. It +doesn't make the least difference to me, you know, just now, and we'll +settle it all after a while. It is the Christian duty for every young +lady to look the smartest, especially at a time like this." + +Cicely, her face flushed, drew herself away. + +"La Fleur," she said, speaking quickly and in a low voice, "you ought to +be ashamed of yourself." And she hurried away, fearing that Mr. Haverley +was waiting for her. + +La Fleur was not a bit ashamed of herself; she chuckled as she went back +to the kitchen. + +"She's a young thing of brains and beauty," said she to herself, "and I +don't doubt that she had the notion in her own mind. But if it wasn't +there, I have put it there, and if it was there, I've dished it and +dressed it, and it will be like another thing to her. As for the rest of +it, he'll attend to that. I haven't a doubt that he is the curly-headed, +brave fellow to do that; and I'll find out from her mother if she needs +anything, and not hurt her pride neither." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO + + +To say that Cicely Drane had not thought of Ralph Haverley as an +exceedingly agreeable young man would be an injustice to her young +womanly nature, but it would be quite correct to state that she had not +thought him a whit more agreeable than Miriam. She was charmed with them +both; they had taken her into their home circle as if they had adopted +her as a sister. It was not until her mother began to put a gentle +pressure upon her in order to prevent her gathering too many apples, and +joining in too many other rural recreations with Mr. Haverley, that she +thought of him as one who was not to be considered in the light of a +brother. There could be no doubt that she would have come to the same +conclusion if left to herself, but she would not have reached it so soon. + +But the effect that her mother's precautionary disposition had had upon +her was nothing compared to that produced by the words of La Fleur. For +the first time she looked upon Ralph as one on whom other persons looked +as her lover, and to sit by the side of the said young man, immediately +after being informed of said fact, was not conducive to a free and +tranquil flow of remark. + +Her own sentiments on the subject, so far as she had put them into +shape,--and it was quite natural that she should immediately begin to +do this,--were neither embarrassing nor disagreeable. She liked him +very much, and there was no reason why she should object to his liking +her very much, and if they should ever do more than this, she should +not be ashamed of it, and perhaps should be glad of it. But she was +sorry that before either of them had thought of this, some one else +should have done so. + +This might prove to be embarrassing, and the only comfort she could give +herself was that La Fleur was such an affectionate old body, always +talking of some bit of good fortune for her, that if she had seen her in +company with a king or an emperor, she would immediately set herself to +find some sort of throne-covering which would suit her hair and +complexion. + +The definite result of her reflections, made between desultory questions +and answers, was that she regarded the young gentleman by her side in a +light very different from that in which she had viewed him before she had +met La Fleur in the doctor's hall. It was not that she looked upon him as +a possible lover--she had sense enough to know that almost any man might +be that--he was a hypothetic lover, and in view of the assumption it +behooved her to give careful observation to everything in him, herself, +or others, which might bear upon the ensuing argument. + +As for Ralph, it angered him to look at the young lady by his side, who +was as handsome, as well educated and cultured, as tastefully dressed, as +intelligent and witty, of as gentle, kind, and winning a disposition, +and, judging from what the doctor had told him when he first spoke of the +Dranes, of as good blood, family, and position, as any one within the +circle of his acquaintance, and then to remember that she had been called +a working-girl, and spoken of in a manner that was almost contemptuous. + +Ralph always took the side of the man who was down, and, consequently, +very often put himself on the wrong side; and although he did not +consider that Miss Drane was down, he saw that Miss Panney had tried to +put her down, and therefore he became her champion. + +"There could not be any one," he said to himself, "better fitted to be +the friend and companion of Miriam than Cicely Drane is, and the next +time I see that old lady, I shall tell her so. I have nothing to say +against Miss Bannister, but I shall stand up for this one." + +And now, feeling that it was not polite to treat a young lady with +seeming inattention, because he happened to be earnestly thinking about +her, he began to talk to Cicely in his liveliest and gayest manner, and +she, not wishing him to think that she thought that there was anything +out of the way in this, or in his previous preoccupation, responded +just as gayly. + +Ralph delivered Miss Panney's message to his sister, and Miriam, giving +much more weight to the advice and opinion of the old lady, whom she knew +very slightly and cared for very little, than to that of her brother, +whom she loved dearly, said she would go to see Miss Bannister the next +afternoon if it happened to be clear. + +It was clear, and she went, and Ralph drove her there in the gig, and +Dora was overwhelmed with joy to see her, and scolded Ralph in the most +charming way for not bringing her before; Miriam was taken to see Congo, +because Dora wanted her to begin to love him, and they were shown into +the library, because Dora said that she knew they both loved books, and +her father had gathered together so many. In ten minutes, Miriam was in +the window seat, dipping, which ended in her swimming, far beyond her +depth in Don Quixote, which she had so often read of and never seen, and +Dora and Ralph sat, heads together, over a portfolio of photographs of +foreign places where the Bannisters had been. + +There were very few books at Cobhurst, and Miriam had read all of them +she cared for, and consequently it was an absorbing delight to follow the +adventures of the Knight of La Mancha. + +Ralph had not travelled in Europe, and there were very few pictures at +Cobhurst, and he was greatly interested in the photographs, but this +interest soon waned in the increasing delight of having Dora seated so +close to him, of seeing her fair fingers point out the things he should +look at, and listening to her sweet voice, as she talked to him about the +scenes and buildings. There was an element of gentle and sympathetic +interest in Dora's manner, which reminded him of her visit to Cobhurst, +and the good-night on the stairs, and this had a very charming effect +upon Ralph, and made him wish that the portfolio were at least double its +actual size. + +The Haverleys stayed so long that Mrs. Bannister, upstairs, began to +be nervous, and wondered if Dora had asked those young people to +remain to tea. + +On the way home Ralph was in unusually good spirits, and talked much +about Dora. She must have seen a great deal of the world, he said, for +one so young, and she talked in such an interesting and appreciative way +about what she had seen, that he felt almost as if he had been to the +places himself. + +With this for a text, he dilated upon the subject of Dora and foreign +travel, but Miriam was not a responsive hearer. + +"I wish you knew Mr. Bannister better," she said in a pause in her +brother's remarks. "He must have been everywhere that his sister has +been, and probably saw a great deal more." + +"No doubt," said Ralph, carelessly, "and probably has forgotten most of +it; men generally do that. A girl's mind is not crammed with business and +all that sort of stuff, and she can keep it free for things that are +worth remembering." + +Miriam did not immediately answer, but presently she said, speaking with +a certain air of severity:-- + +"If my soul ached for the company of anybody as Miss Panney told you Dora +Bannister's soul ached for my company, I think I should have a little +more to say to her when she came to see me, than Dora Bannister had to +say to me to-day." + +"My dear child!" exclaimed Ralph, "that was because you were so busy with +your book. She saw you were completely wrapped up in it, and so let you +take your own pleasure in your own way. I think that is one of her good +points. She tries to find out what pleases people." + +"Bother her good points!" snapped Miriam. "You will make a regular +porcupine of her if you keep on. I wish Mr. Bannister had given +you the dog." + +Ralph was very much disturbed; it was seldom that his sister snapped at +him. He could see, now that he considered the matter, that Miriam had +been somewhat neglected. She was young and a little touchy, and this +ought to be considered. He thought it might be well, the next time he saw +Miss Bannister by herself, to explain this to her. He believed he could +do it without making it appear a matter of any great importance. It was +important, however, for he should very much dislike to see ill will grow +up between Miriam and Miss Bannister. What Miss Panney had said about +this young lady was very, very true, although, of course, it did not +follow that any one else need be disparaged. + +Early in the forenoon of the next day, Miss Panney drove to Cobhurst. She +had come, she informed Miriam, not only to see her, dear girl, but to +make a formal call upon the Dranes. + +The call was very formal; Miss Drane left her work to meet the visitor, +but having been loftily set aside by that lady during a stiff +conversation with her mother about old residents in the neighborhood in +which they had lived, she excused herself, after a time, and went back to +her table and her manuscripts. + +Then Miss Panney changed the conversational scene, and began to talk +about Thorbury. + +"I do not know, madam," she said, "that you are aware that I was the +cause of your coming to this neighborhood." + +Mrs. Drane was a quiet lady, and the previous remarks of her visitor had +been calculated to render her more quiet, but this roused her. + +"I certainly did not," she said. "We came on the invitation and through +the kindness of Dr. Tolbridge, my old friend." + +"Yes, yes, yes," said Miss Panney, "that is all true enough, but I told +him to send for you. In fact, I insisted upon it. I did it, of course, +for his sake; for I knew that the arrangement would be of advantage to +him in various ways, but I was also glad to be of service to your +daughter, of whom I had heard a good report. Furthermore, I interested +myself very much in getting you lodgings, and found you a home at Mrs. +Brinkly's that I hoped you would like. If I had not done so, I think you +would have been obliged to go to the hotel, which is not pleasant and +much more expensive than a private house. I do not mention these things, +madam, because I wish to be thanked, or anything of that sort; far from +it. I did what I did because I thought it was right; but I must admit, if +you will excuse my mentioning it, that I was surprised, to say the least, +that I was not consulted, in the slightest degree, on the occasion of +your leaving the home I had secured for you." + +"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Drane, "that I should appear to have been +discourteous to one who had done us a service, for which, I assure you, +we are both very much obliged, but Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge managed the +whole affair of our removal from Mrs. Brinkly's house, and I did not +suppose there was any one, besides them and ourselves, who would take the +slightest interest in the matter." + +"Oh, I find no fault," said Miss Panney. "It is not an affair of +importance, but I think you will agree, madam, that after the interest I +had shown in procuring you suitable accommodation, I might have been +spared what some people might consider the mortification of being told, +when I stated to Mrs. Tolbridge that I intended to call upon you, that +you were not then living with the lady whose consent to receive you into +her family I had obtained, after a great deal of personal solicitation +and several visits." + +Upon this presentation of the matter, Mrs. Drane could not help thinking +that the old lady had been treated somewhat uncivilly, and expressed her +regret in the most suitable terms she could think of, adding that she +was sure that Miss Panney would agree that the change had been an +excellent one. + +"Of course, of course," said Miss Panney. "For a temporary country +residence, I suppose you could not have found a better spot, though it +must be a long walk for your daughter when she goes to submit her work to +Dr. Tolbridge." + +"That has not yet been necessary," said Mrs. Drane; "Mr. Haverley is +very kind--" + +At this point Miss Panney rose. She had said all she wanted to say, and +to decline to hear anything about Ralph Haverley's having been seen +driving about with a young woman who had been engaged as Dr. Tolbridge's +secretary, was much better than speaking of it, and she took her leave +with a prim politeness. + +Mrs. Drane was left in an uncomfortable state of mind. It was not +pleasant to be reminded that this delightful country house was only a +temporary home, for that implied a return to Thorbury, a town she +disliked; and although she had, of course, expected to go back there, she +had not allowed the matter to dwell in her mind at all, putting it into +the future, without consideration, as she liked to do with things that +were unpleasant. + +Moreover, there was something, she could not tell exactly what, about +Miss Panney's words and manner, which put an unsatisfactory aspect upon +the obvious methods of Cicely's communications with her employer. + +Mrs. Drane's mind had already been slightly disturbed on this subject, +but Miss Panney had revived and greatly increased the disturbance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT + + +Having finished her visit of ceremony, Miss Panney asked permission of +Miriam to see Molly Tooney. That woman was, in a measure, her protege, +and she had some little business with her. Declining to have the cook +sent for, Miss Panney descended to the kitchen. + +She had not talked with Molly more than five minutes, and had not +approached the real subject of the interview, which concerned the social +relations between the Haverleys and the Dranes, when the Irishwoman +lifted up her hands, and opened wide her eyes. + +"The Saints an' the Sinners!" she exclaimed, "if here isn't that auld +drab of a sausage, that cook of the docther's, a comin' here again to +tell me how to cook for them Dranes. Bad luck to them, they don't pay me +nothin', an' only give me trouble." + +Miss Panney turned quickly, and through the window she saw La Fleur +approaching the kitchen door. + +"She comes here to tell you how to cook for those people?" said Miss +Panney, quickly. + +"Indade she does, an' it's none of her business, nather, the meddlin' +auld porpoise." + +"Molly," said Miss Panney, "go away and leave me here. I want to talk to +this woman." + +"Which is more than I do," said the cook, and straightway departed to the +floor above. + +La Fleur had come to see Mrs. Drane, but perceiving Miss Panney's phaeton +at the door, she had concluded that there was company in the house, and +had consequently betaken herself to the kitchen to make inquiries. When +she found there Miss Panney, instead of Molly Tooney, La Fleur was +surprised, but pleased, for she remembered the old lady as one who +appreciated good cookery and a good cook. + +"How do you do, La Fleur," said Miss Panney. "I am glad to see you. I +suppose you still keep up your old interest in Mrs. Drane and her +daughter. Do you often find time to come out here to see them?" + +"Not often, madam, but sometimes. I can always find time for what I +really want to do. If I like to be away for an hour or two, I'll sit up +late the night before, long after midnight sometimes, planning the meals +and the courses for the next day, and when I go away, I leave everything +so that I can take it right up, the minute I get back, and lose nothing +in time or in any other way." + +"It is only a born chef who could do that," said Miss Panney, "and it is +very pleasant to see your affection for your former employers. Do you +suppose that they will remain here much longer?" + +"Remain!" exclaimed La Fleur; "they've never said a word to me, madam, +about going away, and I don't believe they have thought of it. I am sure +I haven't." + +Miss Panney shook her head. + +"It's none of my business," she said, "but I've lived a long time in this +world, and that gives me a right to speak my mind to people who haven't +lived so long. It may have been all very well for the Dranes to have come +here for a little vacation of a week or ten days, but to stay on and on +is not the proper thing at all, and if you really have a regard for them, +La Fleur, I think it is your duty to make them understand this. You might +not care to speak plainly, of course, but you can easily make them +perceive the situation, without offending them, or saying anything which +an old servant might not say, in a case like this." + +"But, madam," said La Fleur, "what's to hinder their stopping here? +There's no spot on earth that could suit them better, to my way of +thinking." + +"La Fleur," said Miss Panney, regarding the other with moderate severity, +"you ought to know that when people see a young woman like Miss Drane +brought to live in a house with a handsome young gentleman, who, to all +intents and purposes, is keeping a bachelor's hall,--for that girl +upstairs is entirely too young to be considered a mistress of a +house,--and when they know that the young lady's mother is a lady in +impoverished circumstances, the people are bound to say, when they talk, +that that young woman was brought here on purpose to catch the master of +the house, and I don't think, La Fleur, that you would like to hear that +said of Mrs. Drane." + +As she listened, the bodily eyes of La Fleur were contracted until they +were almost shut, but her mental eyes opened wider and wider. She +suspected that there was something back of Miss Panney's words. + +"If I heard anybody say that, madam, meaning it, I don't think they would +care to say it to me again. But leaving out all that and looking at the +matter with my lights, it does seem to me that if Mr. Haverley wanted a +mistress for his house, and felt inclined to marry Miss Cicely Drane, he +couldn't make a better choice." + +"Choice!" repeated Miss Panney, sarcastically. "He has no choice to make. +That is settled, and that is the very reason why people will talk the +more and sharper, and nothing you can say, Madam Jane La Fleur, will stop +them. Not only does this look like a scheme to marry Mr. Haverley to a +girl who can bring him nothing, but to break off a most advantageous +match with a lady who, in social position, wealth, and in every way, +stands second to no one in this county." + +"And who may that be, please?" asked La Fleur. + +Miss Panney hesitated. It would be a bold thing to give the answer that +was on her tongue, but she was no coward, and this was a crisis of +importance. A proper impression made upon this woman might be productive +of more good results than if made upon any one else. + +"It is Miss Dora Bannister," she said, "and of course you know all about +the Bannister family. I tell you this, because I consider that, under the +circumstances, you ought to know it, but I expect you to mention it to no +one, for the matter has not been formally announced. Now, I am sure that +a woman of your sense can easily see what the friends of Mr. Haverley, +who know all about the state of affairs, will think and say when they see +Mrs. Drane's attempt to get for her daughter what rightfully belongs to +another person." + +If it had appeared to the mind of La Fleur that it was a dreadful thing +to get for one's daughter a lifelong advantage which happened to belong +to another, she might have greatly resented this imputation against Mrs. +Drane. But as she should not have hesitated to try and obtain said +advantage, if there was any chance of doing it, the imputation lost +force. She did not, therefore, get angry, but merely asked, wishing to +get as deep into the matter as possible, "And then it is all settled that +he's to marry Miss Bannister?" + +"Everything is not yet arranged, of course," said Miss Panney, speaking +rapidly, for she heard approaching footsteps, "and you are not to say +anything about all this or mention me in connection with it. I only +spoke to you for the sake of the Dranes. It is your duty to get them +away from here." + +She had scarcely finished speaking when Miriam entered the kitchen. La +Fleur had never seen her before, for on her previous visit it had been +Ralph who had given her permission to interview Molly Tooney, and she +regarded her with great interest. La Fleur's long years of service had +given her many opportunities of studying the characters of mistresses, in +high life as well as middle life, but never had she seen a mistress like +this school-girl, with her hair hanging down her back. + +Miriam advanced toward La Fleur. + +"My cook told me that you were here, and I came down, thinking that you +might want to see me." + +"This is Madam La Fleur," interpolated Miss Panney, "the celebrated chef +who cooks for Dr. Tolbridge. She came, I think, to see Mrs. Drane." + +"Not altogether. Oh, no, indeed," said La Fleur, humbly smiling and +bowing, with her eyes downcast and her head on one side. "I wished, very +much, also, to pay my respects to Miss Haverley. I am only a cook, and I +am much obliged to this good lady--Miss Panic, I think is the name--" + +"Panney," sharply interpolated the old lady. + +"Beg pardon, I am sure, Miss Panney--for what she has said about me; but +when I come to pay my respects to Mrs. Drane, I wish to do the same to +the lady of the house." + +There was a gravity and sedateness in Miriam's countenance, which was not +at all school-girlish, and which pleased La Fleur; in her eyes it gave +the girl an air of distinction. + +"I am glad to see you," said Miriam, and turned to Miss Panney, as if +wondering at that lady's continued stay in the kitchen. Miss Panney +understood the look. + +"I am getting points from La Fleur, my dear," she said, "cooking +points,--you ought to do that. She can give you the most wonderful +information about things you ought to know. Now, La Fleur, as you want to +see Mrs. Drane, and it is time I had started for home, it will be well +for us to go upstairs and leave the kitchen to Molly Tooney." + +Miss Panney was half way up the stairs when La Fleur detained Miriam by a +touch on the arm. + +"I will give you all the points you want, my dear young lady," she said. +"You have brains, and that is the great thing needful in overseeing +cooking. And I will come some day on purpose to tell you how the dishes +that your brother likes, and you like, ought to be cooked to make them +delicious, and you shall be able to tell any one how they should be done, +and understand what is the matter with them if they are not done +properly. All this the lady of the house ought to know, and I can tell +you anything you ask me, for there is nothing about cooking that I do not +thoroughly understand; but I will not go upstairs now, and I will not +detain you from your visitor. I will take a turn in the grounds, and when +the lady has gone, I will ask leave to speak with Mrs. Drane." + +With her head on one side, and her smile and her bow, La Fleur left the +kitchen by the outer door. She stepped quickly toward the barn, looking +right and left as she walked. She wished very much to see Mike, and +presently she had that pleasure. He had just come out of the barnyard, +and was closing the gate. She hurried toward him, for, although somewhat +porpoise-built, she was vigorous and could walk fast. + +"I am so pleased to see you, Michael," she said. "I have brought you +something which I think you will like," and, opening a black bag which +she carried on her arm, she produced a package wrapped in brown paper. + +"This," she said, opening the wrapping, "is a pie--a veal and 'am +pie--such as you would not be likely to find in this country, unless you +got me to make it for you. I baked it early this morning, intending to +come here, and being sure you would like it; and you needn't have any +scruples about taking it. I bought everything in it with my own money. I +always do that when I cook little dishes for people I like." + +The pie had been brought as a present for Mrs. Drane, but, feeling that +it was highly necessary to propitiate the only person on the place who +might be of use to her, La Fleur decided to give the pie to Mike. + +The face of the colored man beamed with pleasure. + +"Veal and ham. Them two things ought to go together fust rate, though +I've never eat 'em in that way. An' in a pie, too; that looks mighty +good. An' how do ye eat it, Mrs.--'scuse me, ma'am, but I never can +rightly git hold of yer name." + +"No wonder, no wonder," said the other; "it is a French name. My second +husband was a Frenchman. A great cook, Michael,--a Frenchman. But the +English of the name is flower, and you can call me Mrs. Flower. You can +surely remember that, Michael." + +Mike grinned widely. + +"Oh, yes indeed, ma'am," said he; "no trouble 'bout that, 'specially when +I think what pie crust is made of, an' that you's a cook." + +"Oh, it isn't that kind of flower," said La Fleur, laughing; "but it +doesn't matter a bit,--it sounds the same. And now, Michael, you must +warm this and eat it for your dinner. Have you a fire in your house?" + +"I can make one in no time," said Mike. "Then you think I'd better not +let the cook warm it for me?" + +"You are quite right," said La Fleur. "I don't believe she's half as good +a cook as you are, Michael, for I've heard that all colored people have a +knack that way; and like as not she'd burn it to a crisp." + +Wrapping up the pie and handing it to the delighted negro, La Fleur +proceeded to business, for she felt she had no time to lose. + +"And how are you getting on, Michael?" said she. "I suppose everybody is +very busy preparing for the master's wedding." + +"The what!" exclaimed Mike, his eyebrows elevating themselves to such a +degree that his hat rose. + +"Mr. Haverley's marriage with Miss Dora Bannister. Isn't that to take +place very soon, Michael?" + +Mike put his pie on the post of the barn gate, took off his hat, and +wiped his brow with his shirt-sleeve. + +"Bless my evarlastin' soul, Mrs. Flower! who on this earth told +you that?" + +"Is it then such a great secret? Miss Panney told it to me not twenty +minutes ago." + +Mike put on his hat; he took his pie from the post, and held it, +first in one hand and then in the other. He seemed unable to express +what he thought. + +"Look a here, Mrs. Flower," he said presently, "she told you that, did +she?" + +"She really did," was the answer. + +"Well, then," said Mike, "the long an' the short of it is, she lies. +'Tain't the fust time that old Miss Panney has done that sort of thing. +She comes to me one day, more than six year ago, an' says, 'Mike,' says +she, 'why don't you marry Phoebe Moxley?' ''Cause I don't want to marry +her, nor nobody else,' says I. 'But you ought to,' said she, 'for she's +a good woman an' a nice washer an' ironer, an' you'd do well together.' +'Don't want no washin' nor ironin', nor no Phoebe, neither,' says I. +But she didn't mind nothin' what I said, an' goes an' tells everybody +that me an' Phoebe was goin' to be married; an' then it was we did git +married, jest to stop people talkin' so much about it, an' now look at +us. Me never so much as gittin' a bite of corn-bread, an' she a +boardin' the minister! Jes' you take my word for it, Mrs. Flower, old +Miss Panney wants Miss Dora to marry him, an' she's goin' about tellin' +people, thinkin' that after a while they'll do it jes' 'cause everybody +'spects them to." + +"But don't you think they intend to marry, Mike?" forgetting to address +him by his full name. + +Mike was about to strike the pie in his right hand with his left, in +order to give emphasis to his words, but he refrained in time. + +"Don't believe one cussed word of it," said he. "Mr. Haverley ain't the +man to do that sort of thing without makin' some of his 'rangements p'int +that way, an' none of his 'rangements do p'int that way. If he'd been +goin' to git married, he'd told me, you bet, an' we'd laid out the farm +work more suitable for a weddin' than it is laid out. I ain't goin' to +believe no word about no weddin' till I git it from somebody better nor +Miss Panney. If he was goin' to marry anybody, he'd be more like to marry +that purty little Miss Drane. She's right here on the spot, an' she ain't +pizen proud like them Bannisters. She's as nice as cake, an' not stuck up +a bit. Bless my soul! She don't know one thing about nothin'." + +"You're very much mistaken, Michael," exclaimed La Fleur. "She is very +well educated, and has been sent to the best schools." + +"Oh, I don't mean school larnin'," said Mike; "I mean 'bout cows an' +chickens. She'll come here when I'm milkin', an' ask me things about the +critters an' craps that I knowed when I was a baby. I reckon she's the +kind of a lady that knows all about what's in her line, an' don't know +nothin' 'bout what's not in her line. That's the kind of young lady I +like. No spyin' around to see what's been did, an' what's hain't been +did. I've lived with them Bannisters." + +La Fleur gazed reflectively upon the ground. + +"I never thought of it before," she said, "but Miss Cicely would make a +very good wife for a gentleman like Mr. Haverley. But that's neither +here nor there, and none of our business, Michael. But if you hear +anything more about this marriage between Mr. Haverley and Miss +Bannister, I wish you'd come and tell me. I've had a deal of curiosity to +know if that old lady's been trying to make a fool of me. It isn't of any +consequence, but it is natural to have a curiosity about such things, and +I shall be very thankful to you if you will bring me any news that you +may get. And when you come, Michael, you may be sure that you will not go +away hungry, be it daytime or night." + +"Oh, I'll come along, you bet," said Mike, "an' I am much obleeged to +you, Mrs. Flower, for this here pie." + +When the good cook had gone to speak with Mrs. Drane, Mike repaired +to the woodshed, where, picking up an axe, he stood for some moments +regarding a short, knotty log on end in front of him. His blood +flowed angrily. + +"Marry that there Bannister girl," he said to himself. "A pretty piece of +business if that family was to come here with their money an' their +come-up-ence. They'd turn everythin' upside down on this place. No use +for ramshackle farmin' they'd have, an' no use for me, nuther, with their +top boots an' stovepipe hats." + +Mike had been discharged from the Bannisters' service because of his +unwillingness to pay any attention to his personal appearance. + +"If that durned Miss Panney," he continued, "keeps on tellin' that to the +people, things will be a cussed sight worse than me a livin' here without +decent vittles, an' Phoebe a boardin' that minister that ain't paid no +board yit. Blast them all, I say." And with that he lifted up his axe and +brought it down on the end of the upturned log with such force that it +split into two jagged portions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED + + +When Miss Panney had driven herself away from Cobhurst and Dr. +Tolbridge's cook had finished her conference with Mrs. Drane and had gone +out to the barn to look for her carriage, Miriam Haverley was left with +an impression upon her mind. This was to the effect that there was a good +deal of managing and directing going on in the house with which she had +nothing to do. + +Miss Panney went into her kitchen to talk to Molly Tooney, and when she +did not want to talk to her any more she sent her upstairs, in order that +she might talk to Dr. Tolbridge's cook, which latter person had come into +her kitchen, as Molly had informed her after La Fleur's departure, for +the purpose of finding fault with the family cooking. Whether or not the +old woman had felt herself called upon to instruct Mike in regard to his +duty, she did not know, but when Miriam went into the orchard for some +apples, she had seen her talking to him at the barn gate, and when she +came out again, she saw her there still. Even Ralph took a little too +much on himself, though of course he did not mean anything by it, but he +had told Molly Tooney that she ought to have breakfast sooner in order +that Miss Drane and he might get more promptly to their work. While +considering her impression, Molly Tooney came to Miriam, her face red. + +"What do you think, miss," said she, "that old bundle of a cook that was +here this mornin' has been doin'? She's been bringin' cauld vittles from +the docther's kitchen to that nager Mike, as if you an' Mr. Haverley +didn't give him enough to eat. I looked in at his winder, a wonderin' +what he wanted wid a fire in summer time, an' saw him heatin' the stuff. +It's an insult to me an' the family, miss, that's what it is." And the +irate woman rested her knuckles on her hips. + +Miriam's face turned a little pink. + +"I will inquire about that, Molly," she said, and her impression became a +conviction. + +Toward the close of the afternoon, Miriam went up to her room, and +spreading out on the bed the teaberry gown of Judith Pacewalk, she stood +looking at it. She intended to put on that gown and wear it. But it did +not fit her. It needed all sorts of alterations, and how to make these +she did not know; sewing and its kindred arts had not been taught in the +schools to which she had been sent. It is true that Miss Panney had +promised to cut and fit this gown for her, but Miriam did not wish Miss +Panney to have anything to do with it. That old lady seemed entirely too +willing to have to do with her affairs. + +While Miriam thus cogitated, Cicely Drane passed the open door of her +room, and seeing the queer old-fashioned dress upon the bed, she +stopped, and asked what it was. Miriam told the whole story of Judith +Pacewalk, which greatly interested Cicely, and then she stated her desire +to alter the dress so that she could wear it. But she said nothing about +her purpose in doing this. She was growing very fond of Cicely, but she +did not feel that she knew her well enough to entirely open her heart to +her, and tell her of her fears and aspirations in regard to her position +in the home so dear to her. + +"Wear it, my dear?" exclaimed Cicely. "Why, of course I would. You may +not have thought of it, but since you have told me that story, it seems +to me that the fitness of things demands that you should wear that gown. +As to the fitness of the dress itself, I'll help you about that. I can +cut, sew, and do all that sort of thing, and together we will make a +lovely gown of it for you. I do not think we ought to change the style +and fashion of it, but we can make it smaller without making it anything +but the delightful old-timey gown that it is. And then let me tell you +another thing, dear Miriam: you must really put up your hair. You will +never be treated with proper respect by your cook until you do that. +Mother and I have been talking about this, and thought that perhaps we +ought to mention it to you, because you would not be likely to think of +it yourself, but we thought we had no right to be giving you advice, and +so said nothing. But now I have spoken of it, and how angry are you?" + +"Not a bit," answered Miriam; "and I shall put up my hair, if you will +show me how to do it." + +So long as the Dranes admitted that they had no right to give her +advice, Miriam was willing that they should give her as much as +they pleased. + +For several days Cicely and Miriam cut and stitched and fitted and took +in and let out, and one morning Miriam came down to breakfast attired in +the pink chintz gown, its skirt touching the floor, and with her long +brown hair tastefully done up in a knot upon her head. + +"What a fine young woman has my little sister grown into!" exclaimed +Ralph. "To look at you, Miriam, it seems as if years must have passed +since yesterday. That is the pink dress that Dora Bannister wore when she +was here, isn't it?" + +This remark irritated Miriam a little; Ralph saw the irritation, and was +sorry that he had made the remark. It was surprising how easily Miriam +was irritated by references to Dora. + +"I lent it once," said his sister, as she took her seat at the table, +"but I shall not do it again." + +That day Mike was interviewed in regard to what might be called his +foreign maintenance. The ingenuous negro was amazed. His Irish and his +African temperaments struggled together for expression. + +"Bless my soul, Miss Miriam," he said; "nobody in this world ever +brought me nuthin' to eat, 'cause they know'd I didn't need it, an' +gittin' the best of livin' right here in your house, Miss Miriam, an' if +they had brought it I wouldn't have took it an' swallowed the family +pride; an' what's more, the doctor's cook didn't bring that pie on +purpose for me. She just comed down here to ax me how to make real good +corn-cakes, knowin' that I was a fust-rate cook, an' could make +corn-cakes, an' she wanted to know how to do it. When I tole her jes' +how to do it,--ash-cakes, griddle-cakes, batter-cake, every kin' of +cake,--she was so mighty obligated that she took a little bit of a pie, +made of meat, out of the bag what she'd brought along to eat on the way +home, not feelin' hungry at lunch time, an' give it to me. An' not +wantin' to hurt her feelin's, I jes' took it, an' when I went to my +house I het it an' eat it, an' bless your soul, Miss Miriam, it did +taste good; for that there woman in the kitchen don't give me half +enough to eat, an' never no corn-bread an' ham fat, which is mighty +cheap, Miss Miriam, an' a long sight better for a workin' pusson than +crusts of wheat bread a week old an'--" + +"You don't mean to say," interrupted Miriam, "that Molly does not give +you enough to eat? I'll speak to her about that. She ought to be ashamed +of herself." + +"Now look here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, speaking more earnestly, "don't +you go an' do that. If you tell her that, she'll go an' make me the +biggest corn-pone anybody ever seed, an' she'll put pizen into it. Oh, +it'd never do to say anythin' like that to Molly Tooney, if she's got me +to feed. Jes' let me tell you, Miss Miriam, don't you say nothin' to +Molly Tooney 'bout me. I never could sleep at night if I thought she was +stirrin' up pizen in my vittles. But I tell you, Miss Miriam, if you was +to say Molly, that you an' Mr. Haverley liked corn-cakes an' was always +used to 'em before you come here, an' that they 'greed with you, then in +course she'd make 'em, an' there'd be a lot left over for me, for I don't +'spect you all could eat the corn-bread she'd make, but I'd eat it, bein' +so powerful hungry for corn-meal." + +"Mike," said Miriam, "you shall have corn-bread, but that is all +nonsense about Molly. I do not see how you could get such a notion into +your head." + +Mike gave himself a shrug. + +"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," he said; "I've heard before of red-headed +cooks, an' colored pussons as wasn't satisfied with their victuals, an' +nobody knows what they died of, an' the funerals was mighty slim, an' no +'count, the friends an' congregation thinkin' there might be somethin' +'tagious. Them red-headed kind of cooks is mighty dangerous, Miss Miriam, +an' lemme tell you, the sooner you git rid of them, the better." + +Miriam's previous experiences had brought her very little into contact +with negroes, and although she did not care very much about what Mike was +saying, it interested her to hear him talk. His intonations and manner of +expressing himself pleased her fancy. She could imagine herself in the +sunny South, talking to an old family servant. This fancy was novel and +pleasant. Mike liked to talk, and was shrewd enough to see that Miriam +liked to listen to him. He determined to take advantage of this +opportunity to find out something in regard to the doleful news brought +to him by La Fleur and which, he feared, might be founded upon fact. + +"Now look here, Miss Miriam," said he, lowering his voice a little, but +not enough to make him seem disrespectfully confidential, "what you want +is a first-class colored cook--not Phoebe, she's no good cook, an' won't +live in the country, an' is so mighty stuck up that she don't like +nuthin' but wheat bread, an' ain't no 'count anyway. But I got a sister, +Miss Miriam. She's a number one, fust-class cook, knows all the northen +an' southen an' easten an' westen kind of cookin', an' she's only got two +chillun, what could keep in the house all day long an' not trouble +nobody, 'side bringin' kindlin' an' runnin' errands; an' the husband, +he's dead, an' that's a good sight better, Miss Miriam, than havin' him +hangin' round, eatin' his meals here, an' bein' no use, 'cause he had +rheumatism all over him, 'cept on his appetite." + +This suggestion pleased Miriam; here was a chance for another old +family servant. + +"I think I should like to have your sister, Mike," she said; "what is her +name? Is she working for anybody now?" + +"Her name is Seraphina--Seraphina Paddock. Paddock was his name. She's +keepin' house now, an' takin' in washin', down to Bridgeport. I reckon +she's like to come here an' live, mighty well." + +"I wish you'd tell her to come and see me," said Miriam. "I think it +would be a very good thing for us to have a colored cook." + +"Mighty good thing. There ain't nothin' better than a colored cook; but +jus' let me tell you, Miss Miriam, my sister's mighty particular 'bout +goin' to places an' takin' her family, an' furniture, an' settin' herself +up to live when she don't know whether things is fixed an' settled +there, or whether the fust thing she knows is she's got to pull up stakes +an' git out agin." + +"I am sure everything is fixed and settled here," said Miriam, in +surprise. + +"Well, now look a here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, "'spose you was clean +growed up, an' you're near that now, as anybody can see, an' you was +goin' to git married to somebody, or 'spose Mr. Haverley was goin' to +git married to somebody, why don' you see you'd go way with your +husband, an' your brother he'd come here with his new wife, an' +everything would be turned over an' sot upside down, an' then Seraphina, +she'd have to git up an' git, for there'd sure to be a new kin' of cook +wanted or else none, an' Seraphina, she'd fin' her house down to +Bridgeport rented to somebody who had gone way without payin' the rent, +an' had been splittin' kindlin' on the front steps an' hacking 'em all +up, and white-washin' the kitchen what she papered last winter to hide +the grease spots what they made through living like pigs, an' Seraphina, +she can't stand nothing like that." + +Miriam burst out laughing. + +"Mike," she cried, "nobody is going to get married here." + +Mike's eyes glistened. + +"That so, sure?" he said. "You see, Miss Miriam, you an' your brother is +both so 'tractive, that I sort o' 'sposed you might be thinkin' of +gittin' married, an' if that was so, I couldn't go to Seraphina, an' git +her to come here when things wasn't fixed an' settled." + +"If that is all that would keep your sister from coming," said Miriam, +"she need not trouble herself." + +"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," said Mike, quickly, "of course everything +in this world depends on sarcumstances, an' if it happened that Mr. +Hav'ley was the one to git married, an' he was to take some lady that was +livin' here anyway an' was used to the place, an' the ways of the house, +an' didn't want to go anywheres else an' wanted to stay here an' not to +chance nothin' an' have the same people workin' as worked before, like +Miss Drane, say, with her mother livin' here jes' the same, an' you +keepin' house jes' as you is now, an' all goin' on without no upsottin', +of course Seraphina, she wouldn't mind that. She'd like mighty well to +come, whether your brother was married or not; but supposin' he married a +lady like Miss Dora Bannister. Bless my soul, Miss Miriam, everything in +this place would be turned heels up an' heads down, an' there wouldn't be +no colored pussons wanted in this 'stablishment, Seraphina nor me nuther, +an' I reckon you wouldn't know the place in six months, Miss Miriam, with +that Miss Dora runnin' it, an' old Miss Panney with her fingers in the +pie, an' nobody can't help her doin' that when Miss Dora is concerned, +an' you kin see for yourself, Miss Miriam, that Seraphina, an' me, too, +is bound to be bounced if it was to come to that." + +"I will talk to you again about your sister," said Miriam, and she went +away, amused. + +Mike was delighted. + +"It's all a cussed old lie, jes' as I thought it wuz," said he to +himself; "an' that old Miss Panney'll fin' them young uns is harder nuts +to crack than me an' Phoebe wuz. I got in some good licks fur dat purty +Miss Cicely, too." + +Miriam's amusement gradually faded away as she approached the house. At +first it had seemed funny to hear any one talk about Ralph or herself +getting married, but now it did not appear so funny. On the contrary, +that part of Mike's remarks which concerned Ralph and Dora was +positively depressing. Suppose such a thing were really to happen; it +would be dreadful. She had thought her brother overfond of Dora's +society, but the matter had never appeared to her in the serious aspect +in which she saw it now. + +She had intended to find Ralph, and speak to him about Mike's sister; but +now she changed her mind. She was wearing the teaberry gown, and she +would attend to her own affairs as mistress of the house. If Ralph could +be so cruel as to marry Dora, and put her at the head of everything,--and +if she were here at all, she would want to be at the head of +everything,--then she, Miriam, would take off the teaberry gown, and lock +it up in the old trunk. + +"But can it be possible," she asked herself, as a tear or two began to +show themselves in her eyes, "that Ralph could be so cruel as that?" + +As she reached the door of the house, Cicely Drane was coming out. +Involuntarily Miriam threw her arms around her and folded her close to +the teaberry gown. + +Miriam was not in the habit of giving away to outbursts of this sort, +and as she released Cicely she said with a little apologetic blush,-- + +"It is so nice to have you here. I feel as if you ought not ever +to go away." + +"I am sure I do not want to go, dear," said Cicely, with the smile of +good-fellowship that always went to the heart of Miriam. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS + + +Molly Tooney waited with some impatience the result of Miriam's interview +with Mike. If the "nager" should be discharged for taking cold victuals +like a beggar, Molly would be glad of it; it would suit her much better +to have a nice Irish boy in his place. + +But when Miriam told her cook that evening that Mike had satisfactorily +explained the matter of the pie, and also remarked that in future she +would like to have bread or cakes made of corn-meal, and that she +couldn't see any reason why Mike, who was accustomed to this sort of +food, should not have it always, Molly's soul blazed within her; it would +have burst out into fiery speech; but the girl before her, although +young, was so quiet and sedate, so suggestive of respect, that Molly, +scarcely knowing why she did it, curbed herself; but she instantly gave +notice that she wished to quit the place on the next day. + +When Ralph heard this, he was very angry, and wanted to go and talk to +the woman. + +"Don't you do anything of the kind," said Miriam. "It is not your +business to talk to cooks. I do that. And I want to go to-morrow to +Thorbury and get some one to come to us by the day until the new +cook arrives. If I can get her, I am going to engage Seraphina, +Mike's sister." + +Ralph looked at her and laughed. + +"Well, well, Miss Teaberry," he said, "you are getting on bravely. +Putting up your hair and letting down your skirts has done wonders. You +are the true lady of the house now." + +"And what have you to say against that?" asked Miriam. + +"Not a word!" he cried. "I like it, I am charmed with it, and I will +drive you into Thorbury to-morrow. And as to Mike's sister, you can have +all his relations if you like, provided they do not charge too much. If +we had a lot of darkies here, that would make us more truly ramshackle +and jolly than we are now." + +"Ralph," said Miriam, with dignity, "stop pulling my ears. Don't you see +Mrs. Drane coming?" + +The next day Miriam and Ralph jogged into Thorbury. Miriam, not wearing +the teaberry gown, but having its spirit upon her, had planned to inquire +of the grocer with whom she dealt, where she might find a woman such as +she needed, but Ralph did not favor this. + +"Let us first go and see Mrs. Tolbridge," he said. "She is one of our +first and best friends, and probably knows every woman in town, and if +she doesn't, the doctor does." + +This last point had its effect upon Miriam. She wanted to see Dr. +Tolbridge to ask if he could not stop in and quiet the mind of Cicely, +who really wanted to see him about her work, but who did not like, as +Miriam easily conjectured, to ask Ralph to send her to town. Miriam +wished to make things as pleasant as possible for Cicely, and Mrs. +Tolbridge had not, so far, meddled in the least with her concerns. If, +inadvertently, Ralph had proposed a consultation with Mrs. Bannister, +there would have been a hubbub in the gig. + +The doctor and his wife were both at home, and when the business of the +Haverleys had been stated to them, Mrs. Tolbridge clapped her hands. + +"Truly," she cried, "this is a piece of rare good fortune; we will lend +them La Fleur. Do you know, my dear girl," she said to Miriam, "that the +doctor and I are going away? He will attend a medical convention at +Barport, and I will visit my mother, to whom he will come, later. It will +be a grand vacation for us, for we shall stay away from Thorbury for two +weeks, and the only thing which has troubled us is to decide what we +shall do with La Fleur while we are gone. We want to shut up the house, +and she does not want to go to her friends, and if she should do so, I am +afraid we might lose her. I am sure she would be delighted to come to +you, especially as the Dranes are with you. Shall I ask her?" + +Miriam jumped to her feet, with an expression of alarm on her +countenance, which amused the doctor and her brother. + +"Oh, please, Mrs. Tolbridge, don't do that!" she exclaimed. "Truly, I +could not have a great cook like La Fleur in our kitchen. I should be +frightened to death, and she would have nothing to do anything with. You +know, Mrs. Tolbridge, that we live in an awfully plain way. We are not in +the least bit rich or stylish or anything of the sort. If Cicely had not +told me that she and her mother lived in the same way, we could not have +taken them. We keep only a man and a woman, you know, and we all do a lot +of work ourselves, and Molly Tooney was always growling because there +were not enough things to cook with, and what a French cook would do in +our kitchen I really do not know. She would drive us crazy!" + +"Come now," said the doctor, laughing, "don't frighten yourself in that +way, my little lady. If La Fleur consents to go to you for a couple of +weeks, she will understand the circumstances, and will be perfectly +satisfied with what she finds. She is a woman of sense. You would better +let Mrs. Tolbridge go and talk with her." + +Miriam sat down in a sort of despair. Here again, her affairs were being +managed for her. Would she ever be able to maintain her independence? She +had said all she could say, and now she hoped that La Fleur would treat +the proposition with contempt. + +But the great cook did nothing of the kind. In five minutes, Mrs. +Tolbridge returned with the information that La Fleur would be overjoyed +to go to Cobhurst for a fortnight. She wanted some country air; she +wanted to see the Dranes; she had a great admiration for Miss Haverley, +being perfectly able to judge, although she had met her but once, that +she was a lady born; she looked upon her brother as a most superior +gentleman; and she would be perfectly content with whatever she found in +the Cobhurst kitchen. + +"She says," added Mrs. Tolbridge, "that if you give her a gridiron, a +saucepan, and a fire, she will cook a meal fit for a duke. With brains, +she says, one can make up all deficiencies." + +Ralph took his sister aside. + +"Do go out and see her, Miriam," he said. "If we take her, we shall +oblige our friends here, and please everybody. It will only be for a +little while, and then you can have your old colored mammy and the +pickaninnies, just as you have planned." + +When Miriam came back from the kitchen, she found that the doctor had +left the house and was going to his buggy at the gate. + +"Oh, Ralph!" she exclaimed, "you do not know what a nice woman she is. +She is just like an old family nurse." And then she ran out to catch the +doctor, and talk to him about Cicely. + +"Your sister is a child yet," remarked Mrs. Tolbridge, with a smile. + +"Indeed she is," said Ralph; "and she longs for what she never +had--old family servants, household ties, and all that sort of thing. +And I believe she would prefer a good old Southern mammy to a fine +young lover." + +"Of course she would," said Mrs. Tolbridge. "That would be natural to any +girl of her age, except, perhaps," she added, "one like Dora Bannister. I +believe she was in love when she was fifteen." + +It seemed strange to Ralph that the mention of a thing of this sort, +which must have happened three or four years ago, and to a lady whom he +had known a very short time, should send a little pang of jealousy +through his heart, but such was the fact. + +There were picnic meals at Cobhurst that day; for La Fleur was not to +arrive until the morrow, and they were all very jolly. + +Mike was in a state of exuberant delight at the idea of having that good +Mrs. Flower in the place of Molly Tooney. He worked until nearly twelve +o'clock at night to scour and brighten the kitchen and its contents for +her reception. + +Into this region of bliss there descended, about the middle of the +afternoon, a frowning apparition. It was that of Miss Panney, to whom +Molly had gone that morning, informing her that she had been discharged +without notice by that minx of a girl, who didn't know anything more +about housekeeping than she did about blacksmithing, and wanted to put +"a dirty, hathen nager" over the head of a first-class Christian cook. + +When she heard this news, the old lady was amazed and indignant; and she +soundly rated Molly for not coming to her instantly, before she left her +place. Had she known of the state of affairs, she was sure she could +have pacified Miriam, and arranged for Molly to retain her place. It was +very important for Miss Panney, though she did not say so, to have some +one in the Cobhurst family who would keep her informed of what was +happening there. If possible, Molly must go back; and anyway the old lady +determined to go to Cobhurst and look into matters. + +Miss Panney was glad to find Miriam alone on the front piazza, training +some over-luxuriant vines upon the pillars; and the moment her eyes fell +upon the girl, she saw that she was dressed as a woman, and not in the +youthful costume in which she had last seen her. This strengthened the +old lady's previous impression that Ralph's sister was rapidly becoming +the real head of this house, and that it would be necessary to be very +careful in her conduct toward her. It might be difficult, even +impossible, to carry out her match-making plans if Miriam should rise up +in opposition to them. + +The old lady was very cordial, and entreated that Miriam should go on +with her work, while she sat in an armchair near by. After a little +ordinary chat, Miss Panney mentioned that she had heard that Molly Tooney +had been discharged. Instantly Miriam's pride arose, and her manner +cooled. Here again was somebody meddling with her affairs. In as few +words as possible, she stated that the woman had not been discharged, but +had left of her own accord without any good reason; that she did not like +her, and was glad to get rid of her; that she had an excellent cook in +view, and that until this person could come to her, she had engaged, +temporarily, a very good woman. + +All this she stated without question or remark from Miss Panney; and when +she had finished, she began again to tie the vines to their wires. Miss +Panney gazed very steadily through her spectacles at the resolute side +face of the girl, and said only that she was very glad that Miriam had +been able to make such a good arrangement. It was plain enough to her +that Molly Tooney must be dropped, but in doing this, Miss Panney would +not drop her plans. They would simply be changed to suit circumstances. + +Had Miss Panney known who it was who was coming temporarily to the +Cobhurst kitchen, it is not likely that she could have glided so quietly +from the subject of household service to that of the apple prospect and +Miriam's success with hens, and from these to the Dranes. + +"Do you expect to have them much longer with you?" she asked. "The +work the doctor gave the young lady must be nearly finished. When that +is done, I suppose she will go back to town to try to get something to +do there." + +"Oh, they have not thought of going," said Miriam; "the doctor's book is +a very long one, and when I saw him yesterday, he told me that he had +ever so much more work for her to do, and he is going to bring it out +here before he goes to Barport. I should be very sorry indeed if Cicely +had to leave here, and I don't think I should let her do it, work or no +work. I like her better and better every day, and it is the greatest +comfort and pleasure to have her here. It almost seems as if she were my +sister, and Mrs. Drane is just as nice as she can be. She is so good and +kind, and never meddles with anything." + +Miss Panney listened with great attention. She now saw how she must +change her plans. If Ralph were to marry Dora, Miriam must like Dora. As +for his own liking, there would be no trouble about that, after the Drane +girl should be got rid of. In regard to this riddance, Miss Panney had +intended to make an early move and a decided one. Now she saw that this +would not do. The Drane girl, that alien intruder, whom Dr. Tolbridge's +treachery had thrust into this household, was the great obstacle to the +old lady's schemes, but to oust her suddenly would ruin everything. +Miriam would rise up in opposition, and at present that would be fatal. +Miriam was not a girl whose grief and anger at the loss of one thing +could be pacified by the promise of another. Having lost Cicely, she +would turn her back upon Dora, and what would be worse, she would +undoubtedly turn Ralph's back in that direction. + +To this genial young man, his sister was still his chief object on earth. +Later, this might not be the case. + +When Miriam began to like Dora,--and this must happen, for in Miss +Panney's opinion the Bannister girl was in every way ten times more +charming than Cicely Drane,--then, cautiously, but with quick vigor, Miss +Panney would deliver the blow which would send the Dranes not only from +Cobhurst, but back to their old home. In the capacity of an elderly and +experienced woman who knew what everybody said and thought, and who was +able to make her words go to the very spinal marrow of a sensitive +person, she was sure she could do this. And when she had done it, it +would cheer her to think that she had not only furthered her plans, but +revenged herself on the treacherous doctor. + +Now was heard from within, the voice of Cicely, who had come downstairs +from her work, and who, not knowing that Miriam had a visitor, was +calling to her that it was time to get dinner. + +"My dear," said Miss Panney, "go in and attend to your duties, and if you +will let me, I shall like ever so much to stay and take dinner with you, +and you need not put yourself to the least trouble about me. You ought to +have very simple meals now that you are doing your own work. I very much +want to become better acquainted with your little friend Cicely and her +good mother. Now that I know that you care so much for them, I feel +greatly interested in them both, and you know, my dear, there is no way +of becoming acquainted with people which is better than sitting at table +with them." + +Miriam was not altogether pleased, but said the proper things, and went +to call Mike to take the roan mare, who was standing asleep between the +shafts of her phaeton. + +Miss Panney now had her cues; she did not offer to help in any way, and +made no suggestions in any direction. At luncheon she made herself +agreeable to everybody, and before the meal was over they all thought +her a most delightful old lady with a wonderful stock of good stories. On +her side Miss Panney was also greatly pleased; she found Ralph even a +better fellow than she had thought him. He had not only a sunny temper, +but a bright wit, and he knew what was being done in the world. Cicely, +too, was satisfactory. She was a most attractive little thing, pretty to +a dangerous extent, but in her treatment of Ralph there was not the least +sign of flirtation or demureness. She was as free and familiar with him +as if she had known him always. + +"Men are not apt to marry the girls they have known always," said Miss +Panney to herself, "and Dora can do better than this one if she has but +the chance; and the chance she must have." + +While listening with the most polite attention to a reminiscence related +by Mrs. Drane, Miss Panney earnestly considered this subject. She had +thought of many plans, some of them vague, but all of the same general +character, for bringing Dora and Miriam together and promoting a sisterly +affection between them, for her mind had been busy with the subject since +Miriam had left her alone on the piazza, but none of the plans suited +her. They were clumsy and involved too much action on the part of Dora. +Suddenly a satisfying idea shot into the old lady's mind, and she smiled +so pleasantly that Mrs. Drane was greatly encouraged, and entered into +some details of her reminiscence which she had intended to omit, thinking +they might prove tiresome. + +"If they only could go away together, somewhere," said Miss Panney to +herself, "that would be grand; that would settle everything. It would not +be long before Dora and Miriam would be the dearest of chums, and with +Ralph's sister away, that Drane girl would have to go. It would all be so +natural, so plain, so beautiful." + +When Miss Panney drove home, about the middle of the afternoon, she was +still smiling complacently at this good idea, and wondering how she might +carry it out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD + + +According to his promise, Dr. Tolbridge came to Cobhurst on the morning +of his intended departure for Barport, bringing with him more of his +manuscript and some other copying which he wished Cicely to do. He had +never known until now how much he needed a secretary. He saw only the +ladies, Ralph having gone off to try to shoot some woodcock. The young +man was not in a good humor, for he had no dog, and his discontent was +increased by the reflection that a fine setter had been presented to him, +and he had not yet come into possession of it. He wanted the dog, Congo, +because he thought it was a good dog, and also because Dora Bannister had +given it to him, and he was impatient to carry out the plan which Dora +had proposed to get the animal to Cobhurst. + +But this plan, which included a visit from Dora, in order that the dog +might come to his new home without compulsion, and which, as modified by +Ralph, included a drive or a walk through the woods with the donor in +order that the dog might learn to follow him, needed Miriam's +cooeperation. And this cooeperation he could not induce her to give. She +seemed to have all sorts of reasons for putting off the invitation for +which Miss Bannister was evidently waiting. Of course there was no reason +for waiting, but girls are queer. A word from Miriam would bring her, but +Miriam was very unresponsive to suggestions concerning said word. + +"It is not only ourselves," said the doctor, in reply to some questions +from Mrs. Drane in regard to the intended journey, "who are going this +afternoon. We take with us Mrs. Bannister and Dora. This is quite a +sudden plan, only determined upon last night. They both want a little +Barport life before the season closes, and thought it would be pleasant +to go with us." + +Mrs. Drane and Cicely were not very much interested in the Bannisters, +and received this news tranquilly, but Miriam felt a little touch of +remorse, and wished she had asked Dora to come out some afternoon and +bring her dog, which poor Ralph seemed so anxious to have. She asked the +doctor how long he thought the Bannisters would stay away. + +"Oh, we shall pick them up as we come back," he said "and that will be in +about two weeks." And with this the busy man departed. + +Since the beginning of his practice, Dr. Tolbridge had never gone away +from Thorbury for an absence of any considerable duration without first +calling on Miss Panney to see if she needed any attention from him before +he left, and on this occasion he determined not to depart from this +custom. It is true, she was very angry with him, but so far as he could +help it, he would not allow her anger to interfere with the preservation +of a life which he considered valuable. + +When the old lady was told that the doctor had called and had asked for +her, she stamped her foot and vowed she would not see him. Then her +curiosity to know what brought him there triumphed over her resentment, +and she went down. Her reception of him was cold and severe, and she +answered his questions regarding her health as if he were a census-taker, +exhibiting not the slightest gratitude for his concern regarding her +physical well-being, nor the slightest hesitation in giving him +information which might enable him to further said well-being. + +The doctor was as cool as was his patient; and, when he had finished his +professional remarks, informed her that the Bannisters were to go with +him to Barport. When Miss Panney heard this she sprang from her chair +with the air of an Indian of the Wild West bounding with uplifted +tomahawk upon a defenceless foe. The doctor involuntarily pushed back his +chair, but before he could make up his mind whether he ought to be +frightened or amused, Miss Panney sat down as promptly as she had risen, +and a grim smile appeared upon her face. + +"How you do make me jump with your sudden announcements," she said. "I +am sure I am very glad that Dora is going away. She needed a change, and +sea air is better than anything else for her. How long will they stay?" + +The slight trace of her old cordiality which showed itself in Miss +Panney's demeanor through the few remaining minutes of the interview +greatly pleased Dr. Tolbridge. + +"She is a good old woman at heart," he said to himself, "and when she +gets into one of her bad tempers, the best way to bring her around is +to interest her in people she loves, and Dora Bannister is surely one +of those." + +When the doctor had gone, Miss Panney gave herself up to a half minute of +unrestrained laughter, which greatly surprised old Mr. Witton, who +happened to be passing the parlor door. Then she sat down to write a +letter to Dora Bannister, which she intended that young lady to receive +soon after her arrival at Barport. + +That afternoon the good La Fleur came to Cobhurst, her soul enlivened by +the determination to show what admirable meals could be prepared from the +most simple materials, and with the prospect of spending a fortnight with +Mrs. Drane and Cicely, and with that noble gentleman, the master of the +estate, and to pass these weeks in the country. She was a great lover of +things rural: she liked to see, pecking and scratching, the fowls with +which she prepared such dainty dishes. In her earlier days, the sight of +an old hen wandering near a bed of celery, with a bed of beets in the +middle distance, had suggested the salad for which she afterwards became +somewhat famous. + +She knew a great deal about garden vegetables, and had been heard to +remark that brains were as necessary in the culling of fruits and roots +and leaves and stems as for their culinary transformation into +attractions for the connoisseur's palate. She was glad, too, to have the +opportunity of an occasional chat with that intelligent negro Mike, and +so far as she could judge, there were no objections to the presence of +Miriam in the house. + +Ralph did not come back until after La Fleur had arrived, and he returned +hungry, and a little more out of humor than when he started away. + +"I had hoped," he said to Miriam, "to get enough birds to give the new +cook a chance of showing her skill in preparing a dish of game for +dinner; but these two, which I may say I accidentally shot, are all I +brought. It is impossible to shoot without a dog, and I think I shall go +to-morrow morning to see Miss Bannister and ask her to let me take Congo +home with me. He will soon learn to know me, and the woodcock season does +not last forever." + +"But Dora will not be at home," said Miriam; "she goes to Barport to-day +with the Tolbridges." + +Ralph opened his mouth to speak, and then he shut it again. It was of no +use to say anything, and he contented himself with a sigh as he went to +the rack to put up his gun. Miriam sighed, too, and as she did so, she +hoped that it was the dog and not Dora that Ralph was sighing about. + +The next morning there came to Cobhurst a man, bringing a black setter +and a verbal message from Miss Bannister to the effect that if Mr. +Haverley would tie up the dog and feed him himself for two or three +days and be kind to him, she had no doubt Congo would soon know him as +his master. + +"Now that is the kind of a girl I like," said Ralph to his sister. "She +promises to do a thing and she does it, even if the other party is not +prompt in stepping forward to attend to his share of the affair." + +There was nothing to say against this, and Miriam said nothing, but +contented herself with admiring the dog, which was worthy of all the +praise she could give him. Congo was tied up, and Mike and Mrs. Drane and +Cicely, and finally La Fleur, came to look at him and to speak well of +him. When all had gone away but the colored man and the cook, the latter +asked why Miss Bannister had been mentioned in connection with this dog. + +"'Cause he was her dog," said Mike. "She got him when he was a little +puppy no bigger nor a cat, an' you'd a thought, to see her carry him +about an' put him in a little bed an' kiver him up o' night an' talk to +him like a human bein', that she loved him as much as if he'd been a +little baby brother; an' she's thought all the world of him, straight +'long until now, an' she's gone an' give him to Mr. Hav'ley." + +La Fleur reflected for a moment. + +"Are you sure, Mike," she asked, "that they are not engaged?" + +"I'm dead sartain sure of it," he said. "His sister told me so with her +own lips. Givin' dogs don't mean nothin', Mrs. Flower. If people married +all the people they give dogs to, there'd be an awful mix in this world. +Bless my soul, I'd have about eight wives my own self." + +La Fleur smiled at Mike's philosophy, and applied his information to the +comfort of her mind. + +"If his sister says they are not engaged," she thought, "it's like they +are not, but it looks to me as if it were time to take the Bannister pot +off the fire." + +La Fleur now retired to a seat under a tree near the kitchen door, and +applied her intellect to the consideration of the dinner, and the future +of the Drane family and herself. The present state of affairs suited her +admirably. She could desire no change in it, except that Mr. Haverley +should marry Miss Cicely in order to give security to the situation. For +herself, this was the place above all others at which she would like to +live, and a mistress such as Miss Cicely, who knew little of domestic +affairs, but appreciated everything that was well done, was the mistress +she would like to serve. She would be sorry to leave the good doctor, for +whom, as a man of intellect, she had an earnest sympathy, but he did not +live in the country, and the Dranes were nearer and dearer to her than he +was. He should not be deserted nor neglected. If she came to spend the +rest of her life on this fine old estate, she would engage for him a good +young cook, who would be carefully instructed by her in regard to the +peculiarities of his diet, and who should always be under her +supervision. She would get him one from England; she knew of several +there who had been her kitchen maids, and she would guarantee that the +one she selected would give satisfaction. + +Having settled this part of her plan, she now began to ponder upon that +important feature of it which concerned the marriage of Miss Cicely with +Ralph Haverley. Why, under the circumstances, this should not take place +as a mere matter of course and as the most natural thing in the world, +she could not imagine. But in all countries young people are very odd, +and must be managed. She had not yet had any good opportunity of judging +of the relations between these two; she had noticed that they were on +very easy and friendly terms with each other, but this was not enough. It +might be a long time before people who were jolly good friends came to +look upon each other from a marrying point of view. Things ought to be +hurried up; that Miss Bannister would be away for two weeks; she, La +Fleur, would be here for two weeks. She must try what she could do; the +fire must be brightened,--the draught turned on, ashes raked out, +kindling-wood thrust in if necessary, to make things hotter. At all +events the dinner-bell must ring at the appointed time, in a fortnight, +less one day. + +Ralph came striding across the lawn, and noticing La Fleur, +approached her. + +"I am glad to see you," he said, "for I want to tell you how much I +enjoyed your beefsteak this morning. One could not get anything +better cooked than that at Delmonico's. The dinner last night was +very good, too." + +"Oh, don't mention that, sir," said La Fleur, who had risen the moment +she saw him, and now stood with her head on one side, her eyes cast +down, and a long smile on her face. "That dinner was nothing to what I +shall give you when Miss Miriam has sent for some things from the town +which I want. And as for the steak, I beg you will not judge me until I +have got for myself the cuts I want from the butcher. Then you shall see, +sir, what I can do for you. In a beautiful home like this, Mr. Haverley, +the cooking should be of the noblest and best." + +Ralph laughed. + +"So long as you stay with us, La Fleur," he said, "I am sure Cobhurst +will have all it deserves in that respect." + +"Thank you very much, sir," she said, dropping a little courtesy. Then, +raising her eyes, she cast them over the landscape and bent them again +with a little sigh. + +"You are a gentleman of feeling, Mr. Haverley," she said, "and can +understand the feelings of another, even if she be an old woman and a +cook, and I know you can comprehend my sentiments when I find myself +again serving my most gracious former mistress Mrs. Drane, and her lovely +daughter, whose beautiful qualities of mind and soul it does not become +me to speak of to you, sir. They were most kind to me when I first came +to this country, she and her daughter, two angels, sir, whom I would +serve forever. Do not think, sir, that I would not gladly serve you and +your lady sister, but they are above all. It was last night, sir, as I +sat looking out of my window at the beautiful trees in the moonlight, and +I have not seen such trees in the moonlight since I lived in the Isle of +Wight at Lord Monkley's country house there; La Fleur was his chef, and I +was only there on a visit, because at that time I was attending to the +education of my boy, who died a year afterward; and I thought then, sir, +looking out at the moonlight, that I would go with the Dranes wherever +they might go, and I would live with them wherever they might live; that +I would serve them always with the best I could do, and that none could +do better. But I beg your pardon, sir, for standing here, and talking in +this way, sir," and with a little courtesy and with her head more on one +side and more bowed down, she shuffled away. + +"Now then," said she to herself, as she entered the kitchen, "if I have +given him a notion of a wife with a first-class cook attached, it is a +good bit of work to begin with." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY + + +Since her drive home from Thorbury with Ralph Haverley, Cicely Drane had +not ceased to consider the hypothesis which had been suggested to her +that day by La Fleur; but this consideration was accompanied by no plan +of action, no defined hopes, no fears, no suspicions, and no change in +her manner toward the young man, except that in accordance with her +mother's prudential notions, which had been indicated to her in a +somewhat general way, she had restricted herself in the matter of +tete-a-tetes and dual rambles. + +She looked upon the relations between Ralph and herself in the most +simple and natural manner possible. She was enjoying life at Cobhurst. It +delighted her to see her mother so contented and so well. She was greatly +interested in her work, for she was a girl of keen intelligence, and +thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed the novel theories and reflections of +Dr. Tolbridge. She thought it the jolliest thing in the world to have La +Fleur here with them. She was growing extremely fond of Miriam, who, +although a good deal younger than herself, appeared to be growing older +with wonderful rapidity, and every day to be growing nearer and dearer to +her, and she liked Ralph better than any man she had ever met. She knew +but little of Dora Bannister and had no reason to suppose that any +matrimonial connection between her and Mr. Haverley had ever been thought +of; in fact, in the sincerity and naturalness of her disposition, she +could see no reason why she should not continue to like Mr. Haverley, to +like him better and better, if he gave her reason to do so, and more than +that, not to forget the hypothesis regarding him. + +La Fleur was not capable of comprehending the situation with the sagacity +and insight of Miss Panney, but she was a woman of sense, and was now +well convinced that it would never do to speak again to Miss Cicely in +the way she had spoken to her in Dr. Tolbridge's hall. In her affection +and enthusiasm, she had gone too far that time, and she knew that any +further suggestions of the sort would be apt to make the girl fly away +like a startled bird. Whatever was to be done must be done without the +cooeperation of the young lady. + +Miss Panney's letter to Dora Bannister contained some mild reproaches +for the latter's departure from Thorbury without notice to her oldest +friend, but her scolding was not severe, and there was as much pleasant +information and inquiry as the writer could think of. Moreover, the +epistle contained the suggestion that Dora should invite Miriam +Haverley to come down and spend some time with her while she was at the +seashore. This suggestion none but a very old friend would be likely to +make, but Miss Panney was old enough for anything, in friendship or in +any other way. + +"My mind was on Miriam Haverley," the old lady wrote, "at the moment I +heard that you had gone to Barport, and it struck me that a trip of the +sort is exactly what that young person needs. She is shut up in the +narrowest place in which a girl can be put, with responsibilities +entirely beyond her years, and which help to cramp her mind and her +ideas. She should have a total change; she should see how the world, +outside of her school and her country home, lives and acts--in fact, she +needs exactly what Barport and you and Mrs. Bannister can give her. I do +not believe that you can bestow a greater benefit upon a fellow-being +than to ask Miriam to pay you a visit while you are at the seaside. Think +of this, I beg of you, my dear Dora." + +This letter was read and re-read with earnest attention. Dora was fond +of Miriam in a way, and would be very glad to give her a glimpse of +seaside life. Moreover, Miriam's companionship would be desirable; for +although Miss Bannister did not expect to lack acquaintances, there +would be times when she could not call upon these, and Miriam could +always be called upon. + +After a consultation with Mrs. Bannister, who was pleased with the idea +of having some one to go about with Dora, when she did not feel like +it,--which was almost all the time,--Dora wrote to Miriam, asking her to +come and visit her during the rest of her stay at Barport. While +writing, Dora was not at all annoyed by the thought which made her stop +for a few minutes and look out of the window,--that possibly Miriam +might not like to make the journey alone, and that her brother might +come with her. She did not, however, mention this contingency, but +smiled as she went on writing. + +Miriam, attired in her teaberry gown, came up from the Cobhurst kitchen, +and walked out toward the garden. She was not in good spirits. She had +already found that La Fleur was a woman superior to influences from any +power derived from the wearing of Judith Pacewalk's pink chintz dress. +She was convinced that at this moment that eminent cook was preparing a +dinner for the benefit of the Dranes, without any thought of the tastes +or desires of the mistress of the house or its master. And yet she could +find nothing to say in opposition to this; consequently, she had walked +away unprotesting, and that act was so contrary to her disposition that +it saddened her. If she had supposed that a bad meal would be the result +of the bland autocracy she had just encountered, she would have been +better satisfied; but, as she knew the case would be quite otherwise, her +spirits continued to fall. Even the meat, that morning, had been ordered +without consultation with her. + +As Miriam walked dolefully toward the garden gate, Ralph came riding from +Thorbury with the mail-bag, and in it was the letter from Dora. + +"Oh, Ralph!" cried Miriam, when, with her young soul glowing in her face, +she thrust the open letter into her brother's hand, "may I go? I never +saw the sea!" + +Of Ralph's decision there could be no question, and the Cobhurst family +was instantly in a flurry. Mrs. Drane, Cicely, and Miriam gave all their +thoughts and every available moment of time to the work necessary on the +simple outfit that was all that Miriam needed or desired; and in two days +she was ready for the journey. Ralph was glad to do anything he could to +help in the good work, but, as this was little, he was obliged to content +himself with encomiums upon the noble character of Dora Bannister. That +she should even think of offering such an inexpressible delight and +benefit to his sister was sufficient proof of Miss Bannister's solid +worth and tender, gracious nature. These remarks made to the ladies in +general really did help in the good work, for, while Ralph was talking in +this way, Cicely bent more earnestly over her sewing and stitched faster. +Until now, she had never thought much about Miss Bannister; but, without +intending it, or in the least desiring it, she began to think a good deal +about her, even when Ralph was not there. + +Miriam herself settled the manner of her journey. She had thought for a +moment of Ralph as an escort, but this would cause him trouble and loss +of time, which was not at all necessary, and--what was very +important--would at least double the expenses of the trip; so she wrote +to Miss Pender, the head teacher in her late school, begging that she +might come to her and be shipped to Barport. Miss Pender had great skill +and experience in the shipping of girls from the school to destinations +in all parts of the country. Despatched by Miss Pender, the wildest or +the vaguest school-girl would go safely to her home, or to whatever spot +she might be sent. + +As this was vacation, and she happened to be resting idly at school, +Miss Pender gladly undertook the congenial task offered her; and +welcomed Miriam, and then shipped her to Barport with even more than her +usual success. + +When the dear girl had gone, everybody greatly missed her,--even La +Fleur, for of certain sweets the child had eaten twice as much as any one +else in the house. But all were happy over her great pleasure, including +the cook, who hated to have even the nicest girls come into her kitchen. + +Thus far Miss Panney's plan worked admirably, but one idea she had in +regard to Miriam's departure never came into the mind of any one at +Cobhurst. That the Dranes should go away because Miriam, as mistress +of the establishment, was gone, was not thought of for an instant. +With La Fleur and Mrs. Drane in the house, was there any reason why +domestic and all other affairs should not go on as usual during +Miriam's brief absence? + +Everything did indeed go on pretty much as it had gone on before, +although it might have been thought that Ralph was now living with the +Dranes. La Fleur expanded herself into all departments of the household, +and insisted upon doing many little things that Cicely had been in the +habit of doing for herself and her mother; and, with the assistance of +Mike, who was always glad to help the good Mrs. Flower whenever she +wanted him--which was always--and did it whenever he had a chance--which +was often--the household wheels moved smoothly. + +In one feature of the life at Cobhurst there was a change. The absence of +Miriam threw Cicely and Ralph much more together. For instance, they +breakfasted by themselves, for Mrs. Drane had always been late in coming +down in the morning, and it was difficult for her to change her habits. +Moreover, it now happened frequently that Cicely and Ralph found that +each must be the sole companion of the other; and in this regard more +than in any other was Miriam missed. But to say that in this regard more +than any other her absence was regretted would be inaccurate. + +Cicely felt that she ought to regret it, but she did not. To be so much +with Ralph was contrary to her own plans of action, and to what she +believed to be her mother's notions on the subject; but she could not +help it without being rude to the young man, and this she did not intend +to be. He was lonely and wanted a companion; and in truth, she was glad +to fill the position. If he had not talked to her so much about Dora +Bannister's great goodness, she would have been better pleased. But she +could nearly always turn this sort of conversation upon Miriam's virtues, +and on that subject the two were in perfect accord. + +Mrs. Drane intended now to get up sooner in the morning, but she did not +do it; and she resolved that she would not drop asleep in her chair early +in the evening, as she had felt perfectly free to do when Miriam was with +them; but she calmly dozed all the same. + +There was another obstacle to Mrs. Drane's good intentions, of which she +knew nothing. This was the craft of La Fleur, who frequently made it a +point to call upon the good lady for advice or consultation, and who was +most apt to do this at times when her interview with Mrs. Drane would +leave Ralph and Cicely together. It was wonderful how skilfully this +accomplished culinary artist planned some of these situations. + +Ralph was surprised to find that he could so well bear the absence of +his sister. He would not have believed it had he been told it in +advance. He considered it a great piece of luck that Miriam should be +able to go to the seashore, but it was also wonderful luck that Miss +Drane should happen to be here while Miriam was away. Had both gone, he +would have had a doleful time of it. As it was, his time was not at all +doleful. All the chickens, hens, cats, calves, and flowers that Miriam +had had under her especial care were now attended to most sedulously by +Cicely, and in these good works Ralph gave willing and constant +assistance. In fact, he found that he could do a great deal more for +Cicely than Miriam had been willing he should do for her. This +cooeperation was very pleasing to him, for Cicely was a girl who knew +little about things rural but wanted to know much, and Ralph was a young +fellow who liked to teach such girls as Cicely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH + + +After her recent quick pull and strong pull, Miss Panney rested +placidly on her oars. She knew that Miriam had gone, but she had not +yet heard whether the Dranes had returned to their former lodging in +Thorbury, or had left the neighborhood altogether. She presumed, +however, that they were in the town; for the young woman's work for Dr. +Tolbridge was probably not completed. She intended to call on Mrs. +Brinkly and find out about this; and she also determined to drop in at +Cobhurst, and see how poor Ralph was getting on by himself. But for +these things there was no hurry. + +But jogging into town one morning, she was amazed to meet Ralph and Mrs. +Drane returning to Cobhurst in the gig. Both vehicles stopped, and Ralph +immediately began to tell the old lady of Miriam's good fortune. He told, +also, of his own good fortune in having Mrs. Drane and her daughter to +run the house during Miriam's absence, and was in high good spirits and +glad to talk. + +Miss Panney listened with rigid attention; but when Ralph had finished, +she asked Mrs. Drane if she had left her daughter alone at Cobhurst, +while she and Mr. Haverley came to town. + +"Oh, yes," answered the other lady; "Cicely is there, and hard at work; +but she is not alone. You know our good La Fleur is with us, and will +remain as long as the doctor and Mrs. Tolbridge are away." + +When Miss Panney received this last bit of information, she gazed +intently at Mrs. Drane and then at Ralph, after which she bade them good +morning, and drove off. + +"The old lady is not in such jolly good humor as when she lunched with us +the other day," said Ralph. + +"That is true," said Mrs. Drane; "but I have noticed that very elderly +people are apt to be moody." + +Twice in the course of a year Miss Panney allowed herself to swear, if +there happened to be occasion for it. In her young days a lady of fashion +would sometimes swear with great effect; and Miss Panney did not entirely +give up any old fashion that she liked. Now, there being good reason for +it, and no one in sight, she swore, and directed her abjurations against +herself. Then her mind, somewhat relieved from the strain upon it, took +in the humorous points of the situation, and she laughed outright. + +"If the Dranes had hired some sharp-witted rogue to help them carry out +their designs, he could not have done it better than I have done it. I +have simply put the whole game into their hands; I have given them +everything they want." + +But before she reached Thorbury, she saw that the situation was not +hopeless. There was one thing that might be done, and that successfully +accomplished the game would be in her hands. Ralph must be made to go to +Barport. A few days with Dora at the seaside, with some astute person +there to manage the affair, would settle the fate of Mr. Ralph Haverley. +At this thought her eyes sparkled, and she began to feel hungry. At this +important moment she did not wish to occupy her mind with prattle and +chat, and therefore departed from her usual custom of lunching with a +friend or acquaintance. Hitching her roan mare in front of a +confectionery shop, she entered for refreshment. + +Seated at a little table in the back room, with a cup of tea and some +sandwiches before her, Miss Panney took more time over her slight meal +than any previous customer had ever occupied in disposing of a similar +repast, at least so the girl at the counter believed and averred to the +colored man who did outside errands. The girl thought that the old lady's +deliberate method of eating proceeded from her want of teeth; but the man +who had waited at dinners where Miss Panney was a guest contemptuously +repudiated this assumption. + +"I've seen her eat," said he, "and she's never behind nobody. She's got +all the teeth she wants for bitin'." + +"Then why doesn't she get through?" asked the girl. "When is she ever +going to leave that table?" + +"When she gits ready," answered the man; "that's the time Miss Panney +does everything." + +Sipping her tea and nibbling her sandwich, Miss Panney considered the +situation. It would be, of course, a difficult thing to get that young +man to visit his sister at Barport. It would cost money, and there would +seem to be no good reason for his going. Of course no such influence +could be brought to bear upon him at this end of the line. Whatever +inducement was offered, must be offered from Barport. And there was no +one there who could do it, at least with the proper effect. The girls +would be glad to have him there, but nothing that either of them could, +with propriety, be prompted to say, would draw him into such extravagant +self-gratification. But if she were at Barport, she knew that she could +send him such an invitation, or sound such a call to him, that he would +be sure to come. + +Accordingly Miss Panney determined to go to Barport without loss of time; +and although she did not know what sort of summons she should issue to +Ralph after she got there, she did not in the least doubt that +circumstances would indicate the right thing to do. In fact, she would +arrange circumstances in such a way that they should so indicate. + +Having arrived at this conclusion, Miss Panney finished eating her +sandwich with an earnestness and rapidity which convinced the astonished +girl at the counter that she had all the teeth she needed to bite with; +and then she went forth to convince other people of the same thing. On +the sidewalk she met Phoebe. + +"How d'ye do, Miss Panney?" said that single-minded colored woman. "I +hain't seen you for a long time." + +Miss Panney returned the salutation, and stood for a moment in thought. + +"Phoebe," said she, "when did you last see Mike?" + +"Well, now, really, Miss Panney, I can't say, but it's been a mighty long +time. He don't come into town to see me, and I's too busy to go way out +thar. I does the minister's wash now, besides boardin' him an' keepin' +his clothes mended. An' then it's four or five miles out to that farm. I +can't 'ford to hire no carriage, an' Mike ain't no right to expect me to +walk that fur." + +"Phoebe," said Miss Panney, "you are a lazy woman and an undutiful wife. +It is not four miles to Cobhurst, and you walk two or three times that +distance every day, gadding about town. You ought to go out there and +attend to Mike's clothes, and see that he is comfortable, instead of +giving up the little time you do work to that minister, and everybody +knows that the reason you have taken him to board is that you want to set +yourself up above the rest of the congregation." + +"Good laws, Miss Panney!" exclaimed Phoebe, "I don't see as how anybody +can think that!" + +"Well, I do," replied the old lady, "and plenty of other people besides. +But as you won't go out to Cobhurst to attend to your own duty, I want +you to go there to attend to something for me. I was going myself, but I +start for the seashore to-morrow, and have not time. I want to know how +that poor Mr. Ralph is getting along. Molly Tooney has left, and his +sister is away, and of course those two Drane women are temporary +boarders and take no care of him or his clothes. To be sure, there is a +woman there, but she is that English-French creature who gives all her +time to fancy dishes, and I suppose never made a bed or washed a shirt in +her life." + +"That's so, Miss Panney," said Phoebe, eagerly, "an' I reckon it's a lot +of slops he has to eat now. 'Tain't like the good wholesome meals I gave +him when I cooked thar. An' as fur washin', if there's any of that done, +I reckon Mike does it." + +"I should not wonder," said the old lady. "And, Phoebe, I want you to go +out there this afternoon, and look over Mr. Haverley's linen, and see +what ought to be washed or mended, and take general notice of how things +are going on. I shall see his sister, and I want to report the state of +affairs at her home. For all I know, those Dranes and their cook may pack +up and clear out to-morrow if the notion takes them. Then you must meet +me at the station at nine o'clock to-morrow morning, and tell me what you +find out. If things are going all wrong, Mr. Haverley will never write to +his sister to disturb her mind. Start for Cobhurst as soon as you can, +and I will pay your carriage hire--no, I will not do that, for I want +you to make a good long stay, and it will cost too much to keep a hack +waiting. You can walk just as well as not, and it will do you good. And +while you are there, Phoebe, you might take notice of Miss Drane. If she +has finished the work she was doing for the doctor, and is just sitting +about idly or strolling around the place, it is likely they will soon +leave, for if the young woman does not work they cannot afford to stay +there. And that is a thing Miss Miriam ought to know all about." + +"Seems to me, Miss Panney," said the colored woman, "that 'twould be a +mighty good thing for Mr. Hav'ley to get married. An' thar's that Miss +Drane right thar already." + +"What stupid nonsense!" exclaimed Miss Panney. "I thought you had more +sense than to imagine such a thing as that. She is not in any way +suitable for him. She is a poor little thing who has to earn her own +living, and her mother's too. She is not in the least fit to be the +mistress of that place." + +"Don't see whar he'll get a wife, then," said Phoebe. "He never goes +nowhar, and never sees nobody, except p'r'aps Miss Dora Bannister; an' +she's too high an' mighty for him." + +"Phoebe, you are stupider than I thought you were. No lady is too high +and mighty for Mr. Haverley. And if he should happen to fancy Miss Dora, +it will be a capital match. What he needs is to marry a woman of position +and means. But that is not my business, or yours either, and by the way, +Phoebe, since you are here, I will get you to take a letter to the +post-office for me. I will go back into this shop and write it. You can +take these two cents and buy an envelope and a sheet of paper, and bring +them in to me." + +With this Miss Panney walked into the shop, and having asked the loan of +pen and ink, horrified the girl at the counter by proceeding to the table +she had left, which, in a corner favored by all customers, had just been +prepared for the next comer, and, having pushed aside a knife and fork +and plate, made herself ready to write her letter, which was to a friend +in Barport, informing her that the writer intended making her a visit. + +"I shall get there," she thought, "about as soon as it does, but it looks +better to write." + +Before the letter was finished, Phoebe was nearly as angry as the +shop-girl; but at last, with exactly two cents with which to buy a stamp, +she departed for the post-office. + +"The stingy old thing!" she said to herself as she left the shop; "not a +cent for myself, and makes me walk all the way out to that Cobhurst, too! +I see what that old woman is up to. She's afraid he'll marry the young +lady what's out thar, an' she wants him to marry Miss Dora, an' git a lot +of the Bannister money to fix up his old house, an' then she expects to +go out thar an' board with 'em, for I reckon she's gittin' mighty tired +of the way them Wittons live. She's always patchin' up marriages so she +can go an' live with the people when they first begins housekeepin', an' +things is bran-new an' fresh. She did that with young Mr. Witton, but +their furniture is gittin' pretty old an' worn out now. If she tries it +with Mr. Hav'ley an' Dora Bannister, I reckon she'll make as big a botch +of it as she did with Mike an' me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A CRY FROM THE SEA + + +Miss Panney left Thorbury the next morning, but she had to go without +seeing Phoebe, who did not appear at the station. She arrived at Barport +in the afternoon, and went directly to the house of the friend to whom +she had written, and who, it is to be hoped, was glad to see her. She +deferred making her presence known to the Bannister party until the next +morning. When she called at their hotel about ten o'clock, she was +informed that they had all gone down to the beach; and as they could not +be expected to return very soon, Miss Panney betook herself to the +ocean's edge to look for them. + +She found a wide stretch of sand crowded with bathers and spectators. It +had been a long time since she had visited the seashore, and she +discovered that seaside customs and costumes had changed very much. She +was surprised, amused, and at times indignant; but, as she had come to +look for the Bannisters, she confined herself to that business, +postponing reflections and judgments. + +Her search proved to be a difficult one. She walked up and down the beach +until she assured herself that the Bannisters and Miriam were not among +those who had come as lookers-on, or merely to breathe the salt air and +enjoy the ocean view. When she came to scrutinize the bathers, whether +they were disporting themselves in the sea or standing or lying about on +the sand, she found it would be almost impossible to recognize anybody in +that motley crowd. + +"I can scarcely make out," she said to herself, "whether they are men or +women, much less whether I know them or not. But if the Bannisters and +Miriam are among those water-monkeys, I shall know them when I see their +faces, and then I shall take the first chance I get to tell them what I +think of them." + +It was not long before Miss Panney began to grow tired. She was not used +to trudging through soft sand, and she had walked a good deal before she +reached the beach. She concluded, therefore, to look for a place where +she might sit down and rest, and if her friends did not show themselves +in a reasonable time she would go back to their hotel and wait for them +there; but she saw no chairs nor benches, and as for imitating the +hundreds of well-dressed people who were sitting down in the dirt,--for +to Miss Panney sand was as much dirt as any other pulverized portion of +the earth's surface,--she had never done such a thing, and she did not +intend to. + +Approaching a boat which was drawn up high and dry, she seated herself +upon, or rather leaned against, its side. The bathing-master, a burly +fellow in a bathing-costume, turned to her and informed her courteously +but decidedly that she must not sit upon that boat. + +"I do not see why," said Miss Panney, sharply, as she rose "for it is +not of any use in any other way, lying up here on the sand." + +She had scarcely finished speaking when the bathing master sprang to his +feet so suddenly that it made Miss Panney jump. For a moment the man +stood listening, and then ran rapidly down the beach. Now Miss Panney +heard, coming from the sea, a cry of "Help! Help!" + +Other people heard it, too, and began hurrying after the bathing master. +The cry, which was repeated again and again, came from a group of bathers +who were swimming far from shore, opposite a point on the beach a hundred +yards or more from where Miss Panney was standing. The spectators now +became greatly excited, and crowds of them began to run along the beach, +while many people came out of the sea and joined the hurrying throng. + +Still the cries came from the ocean, but they were feebler. Those +experienced in such matters saw what had happened, a party of four +bathers, swimming out beyond the breakers, had been caught in what is +called a "seapuss," an eccentric current, too powerful for them to +overcome, and they were unable to reach the shore. + +As he ran, the bathing master shouted to some men to bring him the +lifeline, and this, which was coiled in a box near the boat, was soon +seized by two swift runners and carried out to the man. + +"Fool!" exclaimed Miss Panney, who, with flushed face, was hurrying after +the rest, "why didn't he take it with him?" + +When the bathing master reached a point opposite the imperilled +swimmers, he was obliged to wait a little for the life-line, but as soon +as it reached him he tied one end of it around his waist and plunged into +the surf. The men who had brought the line did not uncoil it nor even +take it out of the box, and very soon it was seen that the bathing-master +was not only making his way bravely through the breakers, but was towing +after him the coil of rope, and the box in which it had been entangled. +As soon as he perceived this, the man stopped for an instant, jerked the +line from his waist and swam away without it. + +Meanwhile a party of men had seized the life-boat, and had pushed it over +the sand to the water's edge, where they launched it, and with much +difficulty kept it from grounding until four young men, all bathers, +jumped in and manned the oars. But before the excited oarsmen had begun +to pull together, an incoming wave caught the bow of the boat, turned it +broadside to the sea, and rolled it over. A dozen men, however, seized +the boat and quickly righted her; again the oarsmen sprang in, and having +been pushed out until the water reached the necks of the men who ran +beside her, she was vigorously pulled beyond the breakers. + +The excitement was now intense, not only on the beach, but in the hotels +near the spot, and the shore was black with people. The cries had +entirely ceased, but now the bathing-master was seen making his way +toward the shore, and supporting a helpless form; before he could touch +bottom, however, he was relieved of his burden by some of the men who +were swimming out after him, and he turned back toward a floating head +which could just be seen above the water. He was a powerful swimmer, but +without a line by which he and any one he might rescue could be pulled to +shore, his task was laborious and dangerous. + +The boat had now pulled to the bather who, though farthest out to sea, +was the best swimmer, and he, just as his strength was giving way, was +hauled on board. The lifeline had been rescued and disentangled, and the +shore end of it having been taken into proper charge, a man, with the +other end about him, swam to the assistance of the bathing master. +Between these two another lifeless helpless body was borne in. + +As might have been supposed, Miss Panney was now in a state of intense +agitation. Not only did she share in the general excitement, but she was +filled with a horrible dread. In ordinary cases of sickness and danger, +it had been her custom to offer her services without hesitation, but then +she knew who were in trouble and what she must do. Now there was a +sickening mystery hanging over what was happening. She was actually +afraid to go near the two lifeless figures stretched upon the sand, each +surrounded by a crowd of people eager to do something or see something. + +But her anxious questioning of the people who were scattered about +relieved her, for she found that the two unfortunate persons who had +been brought in were men. Nobody knew whether they were alive or not, +but everything possible was being done to revive them. Several doctors +had made their appearance, and messengers were running to the hotels +for brandy, blankets, and other things needed. In obedience to an +excited entreaty from a physician, one of the groups surged outward and +scattered a little, and Miss Panney saw the form of a strongly built man +lying on his back on the sand, with men kneeling around him, some +working his arms backward and forward to induce respiration, and others +rubbing him vigorously. It was difficult for her to restrain herself +from giving help or advice, for she was familiar with, and took a great +interest in, all sorts of physical distress, but now she turned away and +hurried toward the sea. + +She had heard the people say there was another one out there, and her +sickening feeling returned. She walked but a little way, and then she +stopped and eagerly watched what was going on. The bathing-master had +been nearly exhausted when he reached the shore the second time, but he +had rallied his strength and had swum out to the boat which was pulling +about the place where the unfortunate bathers had been swimming. Suddenly +the oarsmen gave a quick pull, they had seen something, a man jumped +overboard, there was bustling on the boat, something was pulled in, then +the boat was rapidly rowed shoreward, the man in the water holding to the +stern until his feet touched ground. + +The people crowded to the water's edge so that Miss Panney could scarcely +see the boat when it reached shore, but presently the crowd parted, and +three men appeared, carrying what seemed to be a very light burden. + +"Oh, dear," said a woman standing by, "that one was in the water a long +time. I wonder if it is a girl or a boy." + +Miss Panney said nothing, but made a few quick steps in the direction of +the limp figure which the crowd was following up the beach; then she +stopped. Her nature prompted her to go on; her present feelings +restrained her. She could not help wondering at this, and said to herself +that she must be aging faster than she thought. Her distant vision was +excellent, and she knew that the inanimate form which was now being laid +on the dry sand was not a boy. + +She turned and looked out over the sea, but she could not stand still; +she must do something. On occasions like this it was absolutely necessary +for Miss Panney to do something. She walked up the beach, but not toward +the ring of people that had now formed around the fourth unfortunate. She +must quiet herself a little first. + +Suddenly the old lady raised her hands and clasped them. It was a usual +gesture when she thought of something she ought to do. + +"If it is one of them," she said to herself, "he ought to know it +instantly! And even if it isn't, he ought to know. They will be in a +terrible state; somebody should be here, and Herbert has gone to the +mountains. There is no one else." She now began to walk more rapidly. +"Yes," she said, speaking aloud in the intensity of her emotion, "he +ought to come, anyway. I can't be left here to take any chances. And if +he does not know immediately, he cannot get here today." + +She now directed her steps toward one of the hotels, where she knew there +was a telegraph office. + +"No matter what has happened, or what has not happened," she said to +herself as she hurried along, "he ought to be here, and he must come!" + +The old lady's hand trembled a good deal as she wrote a telegram to Ralph +Haverley, but the operator at the window could read it. It ran: "A +dreadful disaster here. Come on immediately." + +When she had finished this business, Miss Panney stood for a few moments +on the broad piazza of the hotel, which was deserted, for almost +everybody was on the beach. In spite of her agitation a grim smile came +over her face. + +"Perhaps that was a little strong," she thought, "but it has gone now. +And no matter how he finds things, I can prove to him he is needed. I do +not believe he will be too much frightened; men never are, and I will see +to it that he has a blessed change in his feelings when he gets here." + +Miss Panney was now allowing to enter her mind the conviction, previously +denied admittance, that no one of her three friends would be likely to be +swimming far from shore with a party of men. And, having thus restored +herself to something of her usual composure, she went down to the beach +to find out who had been drowned. On the way she met Mrs. Bannister and +the two girls, and from them she got her information that two of the +persons were believed to be beyond any power of resuscitation, and one of +these was a young lady from Boston. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES + + +It was toward the middle of the afternoon that the good La Fleur sat +upon a bench under a tree by the side of the noble mansion of +Cobhurst. She was enjoying the scene and allowing her mind to revel in +the future she had planned for herself. She was not even thinking of +the dinner. Presently there drove into the grounds a boy in a +bowl-shaped trotting-wagon, bringing a telegram for Mr. Haverley. La +Fleur went to meet him. + +"He is not at home," she said. + +"Well," said the boy, "there is seventy-five cents to pay, and perhaps +there is an answer." + +"Are you sure the message was not prepaid?" asked La Fleur, suspiciously. + +"Oh, the seventy-five cents is for delivery," said the boy. "We deliver +free in town, but we can't come way out here in the country for nothing. +Isn't there somebody here who can 'tend to it?" + +La Fleur drew a wallet from her pocket. "I will pay you," she said; +"but if there is an answer you should take it back with you. Can't you +wait a bit?" + +"No," said the boy, "I can't. I shall be away from the office too long +as it is." + +La Fleur was in a quandary; there was no one at home but herself; a +telegram is always important; very likely an immediate answer was +required; and here was an opportunity to send one. If the message were +from his sister, there might be something which she could answer. At any +rate, it was an affair that must not be neglected, and Mr. Haverley had +gone off with his fishing-rod, and no one knew when he would get back. + +"Wait one minute," she said to the boy, and she hurried into the kitchen +with the telegram. She put on her spectacles and looked at it; the +envelope was very slightly fastened. No doubt this was something that +needed attention, and the boy would not wait. Telegrams were not like +private letters, anyway, and she would take the risk. So she opened the +envelope without tearing it, and read the message. First she was +frightened, and then she was puzzled. + +"Well, I can't answer that," she said, "and I suppose he will go as soon +as he gets it." + +She laid the telegram on the kitchen table and went out to the impatient +boy, and told him there was no answer. Whereupon he departed at the top +of his pony's speed. + +La Fleur returned to the kitchen and reread the telegram. The signature +was not very legible, and in her first hasty reading she had not made it +out, but now she deciphered it. + +"Panney!" she exclaimed, "R. Panney! I believe it is from that tricky old +woman!" And with her elbows on the table she gave herself up to the study +of the telegram. "I never saw anything like it," she thought. "It looks +exactly as if she wanted to frighten him without telling him what has +happened. It could not be worse than it is, even if his sister is dead, +and if that were so, anybody would telegraph that she was very ill, so as +not to let it come on him too sudden. Nothing can be more dreadful than +what he'll think when he reads this. One thing is certain: she meant him +to go when he got it. Yes, indeed!" And a smile came upon her face as she +thought. "She wants him there; that is as plain as daylight." + +At this moment a step was heard outside, and the telegram was slipped +into the table drawer. La Fleur arose and approached the open door; there +she saw Phoebe. + +"How d'ye do, ma'am?" said that individual. "Do let me come in an' sit +down, for I'm nearly tired to death, an' so cross that I'd like to +fight a cat." + +"What has happened to you?" asked La Fleur, when she and her visitor had +seated themselves. + +"Nothin'," replied Phoebe, "except that I've been sent on a fool's +errand, an' made to walk all the way from Thorbury, here, an' a longer +an' a dirtier an' a rockier road I never went over. I thought two or +three times that I should just drop. If I'd knowed how stiff my j'ints +would be, I wouldn't 'a' come, no matter what she said." + +"She said," repeated La Fleur. "Who?" + +"That old Miss Panney!" said Phoebe, with a snap. "She sent me out +here to look after Mike, an' was too stingy even to pay my hack fare. +She wanted me to come day before yesterday, but I couldn't get away +'til to-day." + +"Where is Miss Panney?" asked La Fleur, quickly. + +"She's gone to the seashore, where the Bannisters an' Miss Miriam is. She +said she'd come here herself if it hadn't been for goin' thar." + +"To look after Mike?" asked the other. + +"Not 'zactly," said Phoebe, with a grin. "There's other things here she +wanted to look after." + +"Upon my word!" exclaimed La Fleur, "I can't imagine what there is on +this place that Miss Panney need concern herself about." + +"There isn't no place," said Phoebe, "where there isn't somethin' that +Miss Panney wants to consarn herself in." + +La Fleur looked at Phoebe, and then dropped the subject. + +"Don't you want a cup of tea?" she asked, a glow of hospitality suddenly +appearing on her face. "That will set you up sooner than anything else, +and perhaps I can find a piece of one of those meat pies your husband +likes so much." + +Phoebe was not accustomed to being waited upon by white people, and to +have a repast prepared for her by this cook of high degree flattered her +vanity and wonderfully pleased her. Her soul warmed toward the good woman +who was warming and cheering her body. + +"I say it again," remarked La Fleur, "that I cannot think what that old +lady should want to look after in this house." + +"Now look here, madam," said Phoebe, "it's jes' nothin' at all. It's +jes' the most nonsensical thing that ever was. I don't mind tellin' you +about it; don't mind it a bit. She wants Mr. Hav'ley to marry Miss Dora +Bannister, an' she's on pins an' needles to know if the young woman here +is likely to ketch him. That's all there is 'bout it. She don't care two +snaps for Mike, an' I reckon he don't want no looking after anyway." + +"No, indeed," answered the other; "I take the best of care of him. Miss +Panney must be dreadful afraid of our young lady, eh?" + +"That's jes' what she is," said Phoebe. "I wonder she didn't take Mr. +Hav'ley along with her when she went to the seashore." + +La Fleur's eyes sparkled. + +"Now come, Phoebe," said she; "what on earth did she want you to do +here?" + +Phoebe took a long draught of tea, and put down the cup, with a sigh +of content. + +"Oh, nothin'," said she. "She jes' wanted me to spy round, an' see if Mr. +Hav'ley an' Miss Drane was fallin' in love with each other, an' then I +was to go an' tell her about it the mornin' before she started. Now I'll +have to keep it 'til she comes back, but I reckon thar ain't nothin' to +tell about." + +La Fleur laughed. "Nothing at all," said she. "You might stay here a week +and you wouldn't see any lovemaking between those two. They don't as much +as think of such a thing. So you need not put yourself to any trouble +about that part of Miss Panney's errand. Here comes your good Michael, +and I think you will find that he is doing very well." + +About ten minutes after this, when Phoebe and Mike had gone off to talk +over their more than semi-detached domestic affairs, La Fleur took the +telegram from the drawer, replaced it in its envelope, which she closed +and fastened so neatly that no one would have supposed that it had been +opened. Then she took from a shelf a railroad time-table, which lay in +company with her cookbook and a few other well-worn volumes; for the good +cook cared for reading very much as she cared for her own mayonnaise +dressing; she wanted but little at a time, but she liked it. + +"The last train to the city seems to be seven-ten," she said to herself. +"No other train after that stops at Thorbury. If he had been at home he +would have taken an early afternoon train, which was what she expected, I +suppose. It will be a great pity for him to have to go tonight, and for +no other reason than for that old trickster's telegram. If anything has +really happened, he'll get news of it in some sensible shape." + +At all events, there was nothing now to be done with the telegram, so she +put it on the shelf, and set about her preparations for dinner, which had +been very much delayed. + +Ralph had gone off fishing; but, before starting, he had put Mrs. +Browning to the gig and had told Cicely that as soon as her work was +finished, she must take her mother for a drive. The girl had been +delighted, and the two had gone off for a long jog through the +country lanes. + +It was late in the afternoon when Ralph came striding homeward +across the fields. He was still a mile from Cobhurst, and on a bit of +rising ground when, on the road below him, he saw Mrs. Browning and +the gig, and to his surprise the good old mare was demurely trotting +away from Cobhurst. + +"Can it be possible," he exclaimed, "that they have just started!" And +he hurried down toward the road. He now saw that there was only one +person in the gig, and very soon he was near enough to perceive that +this was Cicely. + +"I expect you are wondering what I am doing here by myself, and where I +am going," she said, when she stopped and he stood by the gig. "I shall +tell you the exact truth, because I know you will not mind. We started +out a long time ago, but mother had a headache, and the motion of the gig +made it worse. She was trying to bear it so that I might have a drive, +but I insisted upon turning back. I took her as far as the orchard, where +I left her, and since then I have been driving about by myself and having +an awfully good time. Mother did not mind that, as I promised not to go +far away. But I think I have now gone far enough along this road. I like +driving ever so much! Don't you want me to drive you home?" + +"Indeed I do!" said Ralph, and in he jumped. + +"I expect Miriam must be enjoying this lovely evening," she said. "And +she will see the sun set from the beach, for Barport faces westward, and +I never saw a girl enjoy sunsets as she does. At this moment I expect her +face is as bright as the sky." + +"And wouldn't you like to be standing by her?" asked Ralph. + +Cicely shook her head. "No," she said. "To speak truly, I should rather +be here. We used to go a good deal to the seashore, but this is the first +time that I ever really lived in the country, and it is so charming I +would not lose a day of it, and there cannot be very many more days of +it, anyway." + +"Why not?" asked Ralph. + +"I am now copying chapter twenty-seventh of the doctor's book, and there +are only thirty-one in all. And as to his other work, that will not +occupy me very long." + +Ralph was about to ask a question, but, instead, he involuntarily grasped +one of the little gloved hands that held the reins. + +"Pull that," he said quickly. "You must always turn to the right when you +meet a vehicle." + +Cicely obeyed, but when they had passed a wagon, drawn by a team of oxen, +she said, "But there was more room on the other side." + +"That may be," replied Ralph, with a laugh, "but when you are driving, +you must not rely too much on your reason, but must follow rules and +tradition." + +"If I knew as much about driving as I like it," said she, "I should be a +famous whip. Before we go, I am going to ask Miriam to take me out with +her, two or three times, and give me lessons in driving. She told me that +you had taught her a great deal." + +"So you would be willing to take your tuition secondhand," said Ralph. "I +am a much better teacher than Miriam is." + +"Would you like to make up a class?" she asked. "But I do not know how +the teacher and the two pupils could ride in this gig. Oh, I see. Miriam +and I could sit here, and you could walk by our side and instruct us, and +when the one who happened to be driving should make a mistake, she would +give up her seat and the reins, and go to the foot of her class." + +"Class indeed!" exclaimed Ralph; "I'll have none of it. I will take you +out tomorrow and give you a lesson." + +So they went gayly on till they came to a grassy hill which shut out the +western view. + +"Do you think I could go through that gate," asked Cicely, "and drive +Mrs. Browning up that hill? There is going to be a grand sunset, and we +should get a fine view of it up there." + +"No," said Ralph, "let us get out and walk up, and as Mrs. Browning can +see the barn, we will not worry her soul by tying her to the fence. I +shall let her go home by herself, and you will see how beautifully she +will do it." + +So they got out, and Ralph having fastened the reins to the dashboard, +clicked to the old mare, who walked away by herself. Cicely was greatly +interested, and the two stood and watched the sober-minded animal as she +made her way home as quietly and properly as if she had been driven. When +she entered the gate of the barnyard, and stopped at the stable door, +Ralph remarked that she would stand there until Mike came out, and then +the two went into the field and walked up the hill. + +"I once had a scolding from Miriam for doing that sort of thing," said +Ralph; "but you do not seem to object." + +"I do not know enough yet," cried Cicely, who had begun to run up the +hill; "wait until I have had my lessons." + +They stood together at the top of the little eminence. + +"I wonder," said Cicely, "if Miriam ever comes upon this hill at sunset. +Perhaps she has never thought of it." + +Ralph did not know; but the mention of Miriam's name caused him to think +how little he had missed his sister, who had seemed to live in his life +as he had lived in hers. It was strange, and he could not believe that he +would so easily adapt himself to the changed circumstances of his home +life. There was another thing of which he did not think, and that was +that he had not missed Dora Bannister. It is true that he had never seen +much of that young lady; but he had thought so much about her, and made +so many plans in regard to her, and had so often hoped that he might see +her drive up to the Cobhurst door, and had had such charming +recollections of the hours she had spent in his home, and of the travels +they had taken together by photograph, her blue eyes lifted to his as if +in truth she leaned upon his arm as they walked through palace and park, +that it was wonderful that he did not notice that for days his thoughts +had not dwelt upon her. + +When the gorgeous color began to fade out of the sky, Cicely said her +mother would be wondering what had become of her, and together they went +down the hill, and along the roadside, where they stopped to pick some +tall sprays of goldenrod, and through the orchard, and around by the +barnyard, where Mike was milking, and where Ralph stopped while Cicely +went on to the house. + +Phoebe was standing down by the entrance gate. She was waiting for an +oxcart, whose driver had promised to take her with him on his return to +Thorbury. She had arranged with a neighbor to prepare the minister's +supper, but she must be on hand to give him his breakfast. As there was +nothing to interest her at Cobhurst, and nothing to report, she was glad +to go, and considered this oxcart a godsend, for her plan of getting Mike +to drive her over in the spring cart had not been met with favor. + +Waiting at the gateway, she had seen Ralph and Cicely walk up the hill, +and watched them standing together, ever and ever so long, looking at the +sky, and she had kept her eyes on them as they came down the hill, +stopped to pick flowers which he gave to her, and until they had +disappeared among the trees of the orchard. + +"Upon my word an' honor!" ejaculated Mrs. Robinson, "if that old French +slop-cook hasn't lied to me, wus than Satan could do hisself! If them +two ain't lovers, there never was none, an' that old heathen sinner +thought she could clap a coffee bag over my head so that I couldn't see +nothin' nor tell nothin'. She might as well a' slapped me in the face, +the sarpent!" + +And unable, by reason of her indignation, to stand still any longer, she +walked up the road to meet the returning oxcart, whose wheels could be +heard rumbling in the distance. + +La Fleur had seen the couple standing together on the little hill, but +she had thought it a pity to disturb their tete-a-tete. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT + + +Just before Cicely reached the back piazza, La Fleur came out of the +kitchen door with the telegram in her hand. + +"Do you know," she said, "if Mr. Haverley has come home, and where I can +find him? Here is a message for him, and I have been looking for him, +high and low." + +"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely. "He is at the barn. I will take it to +him. I can get there sooner than you can, La Fleur," and without further +word, she took the yellow missive and ran with it toward the barn. She +met Ralph half way, and stood by him while he read the message. + +"I hope," she cried as she looked into his pale face, "that nothing has +happened to Miriam." + +"Read that," he said, his voice trembling. "Do you suppose--" but he +could not utter the words that were in his mind. + +Cicely seized the telegram and eagerly read it. She was on the point of +screaming, but checked herself. + +"How terrible!" she exclaimed. "But what can it mean? It is from Miss +Panney. Oh! I think it is wicked to send a message like that, which does +not tell you what has happened." + +"It must be Miriam," cried Ralph. "I must go instantly," and at the top +of his voice he shouted for Mike. The man soon appeared, running. + +"Mike!" exclaimed Ralph, "there has been an accident, something has +happened to Miss Miriam. I must go instantly to Barport. I must take the +next train from Thorbury. Put the horse to the gig as quickly as you can. +You must go with me." + +With a face expressing the deepest concern, Mike stood looking at the +young man. + +"Don't stop for a minute," cried Ralph, in great excitement. "Drop +everything. Take the horse, no matter what he has been doing; he can go +faster than the mare. I shall be ready in five minutes!" + +"Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "there ain't no down train stops at Thorbury +after the seven-ten, and it's past seven now. That train'll be gone +before I can git hitched up." + +"No train tonight!" Ralph almost yelled, "that cannot be. I do not +believe it." + +"Now look here, Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "I wouldn't tell you nothin' +that wasn't so, 'specially at a time like this. But I've been driving to +Thorbury trains an' from 'em, for years and years. There's a late train +'bout ten o'clock, but it's a through express and don't stop." + +"I must take that train," cried Ralph, "what is the nearest station where +it does stop?" + +"There ain't none nearer than the Junction, and that's sixteen miles up, +an' a dreadful road. I once druv there in the daytime, an' it tuk me four +hours, an' if you went to-night you couldn't get there afore daylight." + +"Why don't you go to Thorbury and telegraph?" asked Cicely, who was now +almost as pale as Ralph. "Then you could find out exactly what has +happened." + +"Oh, I must go, I must go," said Ralph; "but I shall telegraph. I shall +go to Thorbury instantly, and get on as soon as I can." + +Mike stood looking on the ground. + +"Mr. Hav'ley," he said, as the young man was about to hurry to the house, +"tain't no use, the telegraph office is shet up, right after that down +train passes." + +"It is barbarous!" exclaimed Ralph. "I will go anyway. I will find the +operator." + +"Mr. Hav'ley," said Mike, "don't you go an' do that. You is tremblin' +like a asp. You'll be struck down sick if you go on so. There's a train a +quarter of six in the mornin', an' I'll git you over to that. If you goes +to Thorbury, you won't be fit to travel in the mornin', an' you won't be +no good when you gits there." + +Tears were now on Cicely's cheeks, in spite of her efforts to +restrain herself. + +"He is right, Mr. Ralph," she said. "I think it will be dreadful for you +to be in Thorbury all night, and most likely for no good. It will be a +great deal better to leave here early in the morning and go straight to +Barport. But let us go into the house and talk to mother. After all, it +may not be Miriam. You cannot tell what it is. It is a cruel message." + +Mrs. Drane was greatly shocked, but she agreed with her daughter that it +would not be wise for Ralph to go to Thorbury until he could start for +Barport. La Fleur was somewhat frightened when she found that her wilful +delay of the telegram might occasion Mr. Haverley an harassing and +anxious night in Thorbury, and was urgent in her endeavors to quiet him +and persuade him to remain at home until morning. But it was not until +Cicely had put in her last plea that the young man consented to give up +his intention of going in search of the telegraph operator. + +"Mr. Ralph," said she, "don't you think it would be awful if you were to +send a message and get a bad answer to it, and have to stay there by +yourself until the morning? I cannot bear to think of it; and telegraphic +messages are always so hard and cruel. If I were you, I would rather go +straight on and find out everything for myself." + +Ralph looked down at her and at the tears upon her cheeks. + +"I will do that," he said, and taking her hand, he pressed it thankfully. + +Every preparation and arrangement was made for an early start, and Ralph +wandered in and out of the house, impatient as a wild beast to break +away and be gone. Cicely, whose soul was full of his sorrow, went out to +him on the piazza, where he stood, looking at the late moon rising above +the treetops. + +"What a different man I should be," he said, "if I could think that +Miriam was standing on the seashore and looking at that moon." + +Cicely longed to comfort him, but she could not say anything which would +seem to have reason in it. She had tried to think that it might be +possible that the despatch might not concern Miriam, but she could not +do it. If it had been necessary to send a despatch and Miriam had been +alive and well, it would have been from her that the despatch would have +come. Cicely's soul was sick with sorrow and with dread, not only for +the brother, but for herself, for she and Miriam were now fast friends. +But she controlled herself, and looking up with a smile, said, "What +time is it?" + +Ralph took out his watch and held the face of it toward the moon, which +was but little past the full. + +"It is a quarter to nine," he said. + +"Well, then," said she, "I will ask Miriam, when I see her, if she was +looking at the moon at this time." + +"Do you believe," exclaimed Ralph, turning suddenly so that they stood +face to face, "do you truly believe that we shall ever see her again?" + +The question was so abrupt that Cicely was taken unawares. She raised her +face toward the eager eyes bent upon her, but the courageous words she +wished to utter would not come, and she drooped her head. With a swift +movement, Ralph put his two hands upon her cheeks and gently raised her +face. He need not have looked at her, for the warm tears ran down upon +his hands. + +"You do not," he said; and as he gazed down upon her, her face became +dim. For the first time since his boyhood, tears filled his eyes. + +At a quick sound of hoofs and wheels, both started; and the next +moment the telegraph boy drove up close to the railing and held up a +yellow envelope. + +"One dollar for delivery," said he; "that's night rates. This come jest +as the office was shetting up, and Mr. Martin said I'd got to deliver it +to-night; but I couldn't come till the moon was up." + +Cicely, who was nearer, seized the telegram before Ralph could get it. + +"Drive round to the back of the house," she said to the boy, "and I will +bring you the money." + +She held the telegram, though Ralph had seized it. + +"Don't be too quick," she said, "don't be too quick. There, you will tear +it in half. Let me open it for you." + +She deftly drew the envelope from his hand, and spread the telegram on +the broad rail of the piazza, on which the moon shone full. Instantly +their heads were close together. + +"I cannot read it," groaned Ralph; "my eyes are--" + +"I can," interrupted Cicely, and she read aloud the message, which +ran thus,-- + +"Fear news of accident may trouble you. We are all well. Have written. +Miriam Haverley." + +Ralph started back and stood upright, as if some one had shouted to him +from the sky. He said not one word, but Cicely gave a cry of joy. Ralph +turned toward her, and as he saw her face, irradiated by the moonlight +and her sudden happiness, he looked down upon her for one moment, and +then his arms were outstretched toward her; but, quick as was his motion, +her thought was quicker, and before he could touch her, she had darted +back with the telegram in her hand. + +"I will show this to mother," she cried, and was in the house in +an instant. + +La Fleur was in the hall, where for some time she had been quietly +standing, looking out upon the moonlight. From her position, which was +not a conspicuous one, at the door of the enclosed stairway, she had been +able to keep her eyes upon Ralph and Cicely; and held herself ready, +should she hear Mrs. Drane coming down the stairs, to go up and engage +her in a consultation in regard to domestic arrangements. She had known +of the arrival of the telegraph boy, had seen what followed, and now +listened with rapt delight to Cicely's almost breathless announcement of +the joyful news. + +After the girl went upstairs, La Fleur walked away; there was no need for +her to stand guard any longer. + +"It isn't only the telegram," she said to herself, "that makes her face +shine and her voice quiver like that." Then she went out to congratulate +Mr. Haverley on the news from his sister. But the young man was not +there; his soul was too full for the restraints of a house or a roof, and +he had gone out, bareheaded, into the moonlight to be alone with his +happiness and to try to understand it. + +When Mrs. Drane returned to her room, having gone down at her daughter's +request to pay the telegraph messenger, she found her daughter lying on a +couch, her face wet with tears. But in ten minutes Cicely was sitting up +and chattering gayly. The good lady was rejoiced to know that there was +no foundation for the evils they had feared, but she could not understand +why her daughter, usually a cool-headed little thing and used to +self-control, should be so affected by the news. And in the morning she +was positively frightened when Cicely informed her that she had not slept +a wink all night. + +Mrs. Drane had not seen Ralph's face when he stretched out his arms +toward her daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +UNDISTURBED LETTUCE + + +When Ralph Haverley came in from his long moonlight ramble, he was so +happy that he went to bed and slept as sound as rock. But before he +closed his eyes he said to himself,-- + +"I will do that to-morrow; the very first thing to-morrow." + +But people do not always do what they intend to do the very first thing +in the morning, and this was the case with Ralph. La Fleur, who knew that +a letter was expected, sent Mike early to the post-office, and soon after +breakfast Ralph had a letter from Miriam. It was a long one; it gave a +full account of the drowning accident and of some of her own experiences, +but it said not one word of the message sent by Miss Panney, to whom +Miriam alluded very slightly. It gave, however, the important information +that Mrs. Bannister had been so affected by the dreadful scene on the +beach that she declared she could not go into the ocean again, nor even +bear the sight of it, and that, therefore, they were all coming home on +the morrow. + +"She will be here to-night," said Ralph, who knew the trains from +Barport. + +As soon as he had read the letter Ralph went to look for Cicely. She had +come down late to breakfast, and he had been surprised at her soberness +of manner. On the other hand, Mrs. Drane had been surprised at Ralph's +soberness of manner, and she found herself in the unusual position of the +liveliest person at the breakfast table. + +"People who have heard such good news ought to be very happy," she +thought, but she made no remark on the subject. + +It was Cicely's custom to spend the brief time she allowed herself +between breakfast and work, upon the lawn, or somewhere out of doors, +but to-day Ralph searched in vain for her. He met La Fleur, however, +and that conscientious cook, in her most respectful manner, asked him, +if he happened to meet Miss Cicely, would he be so good as to give her +a message? + +"But I don't know where she is," said Ralph. "I have a letter to +show her." + +La Fleur wished very much to know what was in the letter, which, she +supposed, explained the mystery of the telegrams, but at a moment like +this she would not ask. + +"She is in the garden, sir," she said. "I asked her to gather me some +lettuce for luncheon. She does it so much more nicely than I could do it, +or Mike. She selects the crispest and most tender leaves of that crimped +and curled lettuce you all like so much, and I thought I would ask you, +sir, if you met her, to be so very kind as to tell her that I would like +a few sprigs of parsley, just a very few. I would go myself, sir, but +there is something cooking which I cannot leave, and I beg your pardon +for troubling you and will thank you, sir, very much if you--" + +It was not worth while for her to finish her sentence, for Ralph had +gone. + +He found Cicely just as she stooped over the lettuce bed. She rose with a +face like a peach blossom. + +"I have a letter from Miriam," he said, "I will give it to you presently, +and you may read the whole of it, but I must first tell you that she, +with Mrs. Bannister and Dora, are coming home to-day. They will reach +Thorbury late this afternoon. Isn't that glorious?" + +All the delicate hues of the peach blossom went out of Cicely's face. +That everlasting person had come up again, and now he called her Dora, +and it was glorious to have her back! She did not have to say anything, +for Ralph went rapidly on. + +"But before they leave Barport," he said, "I want to send Miriam a +telegram. If Mike takes it immediately to Thorbury, she will get it +before her train leaves." + +"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely, but she did not look up at him. + +"Yes," said he; "I want to telegraph to Miriam that you and I are +engaged to be married. I want her to know it before she gets here. Shall +I send it?" + +She raised to him a face more brightly hued than any peach +blossom--rich with the color of the ripe fruit. Ten minutes after this, +two wood doves, sitting in a tree to the east of the lettuce bed, and +looking westward, turned around on their twig and looked toward the +east. They were sunny-minded little creatures, and did not like to be +cast into the shade. + +As they went out of the garden gate, Cicely said, "You have always been a +very independent person and accustomed to doing very much as you please, +haven't you?" + +"It has been something like that," answered Ralph; "but why?" + +"Only this," she said; "would you begin already to chafe and rebel if I +were to ask you not to send that telegram? It would be so much nicer to +tell her after she gets back." + +"Chafe!" exclaimed Ralph, "I should think not. I will do exactly as +you wish." + +"You are awfully good," said Cicely, "but you must agree with me more +prudently now that we are out here, and I will not tell mother until +Miriam knows." + +A gray old chanticleer, who was leading his hens across the yard, +stopped at this moment and looked at Ralph, but it is not certain that +he sniffed. + +Ralph knew very well when people, coming from Barport, should arrive in +Thorbury, but his mind was so occupied that when he went to the barn, he +forgot so many things he should have done at the house, and he ran +backward and forward so often, and waited so long for an opportunity to +say something he had just thought of, to somebody who did not happen to +be ready to listen at the precise moment he wished to speak, that he had +just stepped into the gig to go to the station for his sister, when +Miriam arrived alone in the Bannister carriage. Not finding anybody at +the station to meet her, they had sent her on. + +Mrs. Drane was not the liveliest person at the dinner table, and she +wondered much how Ralph and Cicely, who had been so extremely sober at +breakfast time, should now be so hilarious. The arrival of Miriam seemed +hardly reason enough for such intemperate gayety. + +As for Miriam, she overflowed with delight. The ocean was grand, but +Cobhurst was Cobhurst. "There was nothing better about my trip than the +opportunity it gave me of coming back to my home. I never did that +before, you know, my children." + +This she said loftily from her seat at the head of the table. Dinner was +late and lasted long, and Ralph had gone into the room on the lower +floor, in which he kept his cigars, and which he called his office, when +Miriam followed him. There was no unencumbered chair, and she seated +herself on the edge of the table. + +"Ralph," said she, "I want to say something to you, now, while it is +fresh in my mind. I think we can sometimes understand our affairs better +when we go away from them and are not mixed up in them. I have been +thinking a great deal since I have been at Barport about our affairs +here, not only as they are but as they may be, and most likely will be, +and I have come to the conclusion that some of these days, Ralph, you +will want to be married." + +"Do you mean me?" cried Ralph. "You amaze me!" + +"Oh, you are only a man, and you need not be amazed," said his sister. +"This is the way I have been thinking of it: if you ever do want to get +married, I hope you will not marry Dora Bannister. I used sometimes to +think that that might be a good thing to do, though I changed my mind +very often about it, but I do not think so, now, at all. Dora is an +awfully nice girl in ever so many ways, but since I have been at Barport +with her, I am positive that I do not want you to marry her." + +Ralph heaved a long sigh and put his hands in his pockets. + +"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed, "this is very discouraging; if I do not +marry Dora, who is there that I can marry?" + +"You goose," said his sister, "there is a girl here, under your very +nose, ever so much nicer and more suitable for you than Dora. If you +marry anybody, marry Cicely Drane. I have been thinking ever and ever so +much about her and about you, and I made up my mind to speak to you of +this as soon as I got home, so that you might have a chance to think +about it before you should see Dora. Don't you remember what you used to +tell me about the time when you were obliged to travel so much, and how, +when you had a seat to yourself in a car, and a crowd of people were +coming in, you used to make room for the first nice person you saw, +because you knew you would have to have somebody sitting alongside of +you, and you liked to choose for yourself? Now that is the way I feel +about your getting married; if you marry Cicely Drane, I shall feel safe +for the rest of my life." + +"Miriam!" exclaimed Ralph, "you astonish me by the force of your +statements. Wait here one moment," and he ran into the hall through which +he had seen Cicely passing, and presently reappeared with her. + +"Miss Drane," said he, "do you know that my sister thinks that I ought to +marry you?" + +In an instant Miriam had slipped from the table to the floor. + +"Good gracious, Ralph!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"I am merely stating your advice," he answered; "and now, Miss Drane, how +does it strike you?" + +"Well," said Cicely, demurely, "if your sister really thinks we should +marry, I suppose--I suppose we ought to do it." + +Miriam's eyes flashed from one to the other, then there were two girlish +cries and a manly laugh, and in a moment Miriam and Cicely were in each +other's arms, while Ralph's arms were around them both. + +"Now," said Cicely, when this group had separated itself into its several +parts, "I must run up and tell mother." And very soon Mrs. Drane +understood why there had been sobriety at breakfast and hilarity at +dinner. She was surprised, but felt she ought not to be; she was a little +depressed, but knew she would get over that. + +La Fleur did not hear the news that night, but it was not necessary; she +had seen Ralph and Cicely coming through the garden gate without a leaf +of lettuce or a single sprig of parsley. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +ANGRY WAVES + + +The ocean rolled angrily on the beach, and Miss Panney walked angrily +on the beach, a little higher up, however, than the line to which the +ocean rolled. + +The old lady was angrier than the ocean, and it was much more than mere +wind that made her storm waves roll. Her indignation was directed first +against Mrs. Bannister, that silly woman, who, by cutting short her stay +at the seashore, had ruined Miss Panney's plans, and also against Ralph, +who had not come to Barport as soon as he had received the telegram. If +he had arrived, the party might have stayed a little longer for his sake. +Why he had not come she knew no more than she knew what she was going to +say to him in explanation of her message, and she cared as little for the +one as for the other. + +Her own visit to Barport had been utterly useless. She had spent money +and time, she had tired herself, had been frightened and +disgusted,--all for nothing. She did not remember any of her plans that +had failed so utterly. + +Meeting the bathing-master, she rolled in upon him some ireful waves, +because he did not keep a boat outside the breakers to pick up people who +might be exhausted and in danger of drowning. In vain the man protested +that ten thousand people had said that to him, before, and that the thing +could not be done, because so many swimmers would make for the boat and +hang on to its sides, just to rest themselves until they were ready to go +back. It would simply be a temptation to people to swim beyond the +breakers. She went on, in a voice that the noise of the surf could not +drown, to tell him that she hoped ten thousand more people would say the +same thing to him, and to declare that he ought to have several boats +outside during bathing hours, so that people could cling to some of them, +and so, perhaps, save themselves from exhaustion on their return, and so +that one, at least, could be kept free to succor the distressed. At last +the poor man vowed that he acted under orders, and that, if she wanted to +pitch into anybody, she ought to pitch into the proprietors of the hotel +who employed him, and who told him what he must do. + +Miss Panney accepted this advice; and if the sea had broken into the +private office of that hotel, the owners and managers could not have had +a worse time than they had during the old lady's visit. It may be stated +that for the remainder of the season two or three boats might always be +seen outside the breakers during bathing hours at the Barport beach. + +For the sake of appearances, Miss Panney did not leave Barport +immediately; for she did not wish her friends to think that she was a +woman who would run after the Bannisters wherever they might please to +go. But in a reasonable time she found herself in the Witton household, +and the maid who had charge of her room had some lively minutes after the +arrival of the old lady therein. + +The next day she went to Thorbury to see what had happened, and chanced +to spy Phoebe resting herself on a bench at the edge of the public green. +Instantly the colored woman sprang to her feet, and began to explain to +Miss Panney why she had not made her report before the latter set out on +her journey. + +"You see, ma'am, I hadn't no shoes as was fit for that long walk out in +the country, an' I had to take my best ones to the shoemaker; and though +I did my best to make him hurry, it took him a whole day, an' so I had to +put off going to Cobhurst, an' I've never got over my walk out thar yit. +My j'ints has creaked ever sense." + +"If you used them more, they would creak less," snapped Miss Panney. "How +are things going on at Cobhurst? What did you see there?" + +"I seed a lot, an' I heard a lot," the colored woman answered. "Mike's +purty nigh starved, an' does his own washin'. An' things are in that +state in the house that would make you sick, Miss Panney, if you could +see them. What the rain doesn't wash goes dirty; an' as for that old cook +they've got, if she isn't drunk all the time, her mind's givin' way, an' +I expect she'll end by pizenin' all of them. The vittles she gave me to +eat, bein' nearly tired to death when I got thar, was sich that they give +me pains that I hain't got over yit. And what would have happened if I'd +eat a full meal, nobody knows." + +"Get out with you," cried Miss Panney. "I don't want any more of your +jealousy and spite. If that woman gave you anything to eat, I expect it +was the only decently cooked thing you ever put into your mouth. Did you +see Mr. Haverley? Were the Drane women still there? How were they all +getting on together?" + +Phoebe's eyes sparkled, and her voice took in a little shrillness. + +"I was goin' to git the minister to write you a letter 'bout that, Miss +Panney," said she; "but you didn't tell me whar you was goin', nor give +me no money for stamps nor nothin'. But I kin say to you now that that +woman, which some people may call a cook, but I don't, she told me, +without my askin' a word 'bout nothin', that Mr. Hav'ley an' that little +Miss Drane was to be married in the fall, an' that they was goin' away, +all of them, to the wife's mother's to live, bein' that that old farm +out thar didn't pay to run, an' never would. I reckoned they'd git sick +of it afore this, which I always said." + +"Phoebe!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "I do not believe a word of all that! +How dare you tell me such a lot of lies?" + +Phoebe was getting very angry, though she did not dare to show it; but +instead of taking back anything she had said, she put on more lie-power. + +"You may believe me, Miss Panney, or you needn't; that's just as you +choose," she said "but I can tell you more than I have told you, and that +is, that from what I've seen and heard, I believe Mr. Hav'ley an' Miss +Drane is married already, an' that they was only waitin' for the +Tolbridges to come home to send out the cards." + +Miss Panney glared at the woman. "I tell you what I believe, and that +is that you never went to Cobhurst at all. You must tell me something, +and you are making up the biggest story you can," and with this she +marched away. + +"I reckon the next time she sends me on an arrand," thought Phoebe, +whose face would have been very red if her natural color had not +interfered with the exhibition of such a hue, "she'll send me in a hack, +and pay me somethin' for my time. I was bound to tell her 'zactly what +she didn't want to hear, an' I reckon I done it, an' more'n that if she +gets her back up 'bout this, an' goes out to Cobhurst, that old cook'll +find herself in hot water. It was mighty plain that she was dreadful +skeered for fear anybody would think thar was somethin' goin' on 'twixt +them two." + +If Phoebe had been more moderate in her doubleheaded treachery, Miss +Panney might have been much disturbed by her news, but the story she had +heard was so preposterous that she really believed that the lazy colored +woman had not gone to Cobhurst, and by the time she reached the Bannister +house her mind was cleared for the reception of fresh impressions. + +She was fortunate enough to find Dora alone, and as soon as it was +prudent she asked her what news she had heard from Cobhurst. Dora was +looking her loveliest in an early autumn costume, and answered that she +had heard nothing at all, which surprised Miss Panney very much, for she +had expected that Miriam would have been to see Dora before this time. + +"Common politeness would dictate that," said Miss Panney, "but I expect +that that child is so elated and excited by getting back to the head of +her household that everything else has slipped out of her mind. But if +you two are such close friends, I don't think you ought to mind that sort +of thing. If I were you, I would go out and see her. Eccentric people +must be humored." + +"They needn't expect that from me," said Dora, a little sharply. "If +Miriam lived there by herself, I might go; but as it is, I shall not. It +is their duty to come here, and I shall not go there until they do." + +Miss Panney drummed upon the table, but otherwise did not show her +impatience. + +"We can never live the life we ought in this world, my dear," she said, +"if we allow our sensitive fancies to interfere with the advancement of +our interests." + +"Miss Panney," cried Dora, sitting upright in her chair, "do you mean +that I ought to go out there, and try to catch Ralph Haverley, no matter +how they treat me?" + +"Yes," said Miss Panney, leaning back in her chair, "that is exactly what +I mean. There is no use of our mincing matters, and as I hold that it is +the duty of every young woman to get herself well married, I think it is +your duty to marry Mr. Haverley if you can. You will never meet a man +better suited to you, and who can use your money with as much advantage +to yourself. I do not mean that you should go and make love to him, or +anything of that sort. I simply mean that you should allow him to expose +himself to your influences." + +"I shall do nothing of the kind!" cried Dora, her face in a flush; "if he +wants that sort of exposure, let him come here. I don't know whether I +want him to come or not. I am too young to be thinking of marrying +anybody, and though I don't want to be disrespectful to you, Miss Panney, +I will say that I am getting dreadfully tired of your continual harping +about Ralph Haverley, and trying to make me push myself in front of him +so that his lordship may look at me. If he had been at Barport, or there +had been any chance of his coming there, I should have suspected that you +went there for the express purpose of keeping us up to the work of +becoming attached to each other. And I say plainly that I shall have no +more to do with exerting influence on him, through his sister or in any +other way. There are thousands of other men just as good as he is, and +if I have not met any of them yet, I have no doubt I shall do so." + +"Dora," said Miss Panney, speaking very gently, "you are wrong when you +say that there was no chance of Ralph's coming to Barport. If some things +had not gone wrong, I have reason to believe he would have been there +before you left, and I am quite sure that if you had stayed there until +now, you would have been walking on the sands with him at this minute." + +Dora looked at her in surprise, and the flush on her face subsided a +little. + +"What do you mean?" she asked. "You do not think he would have gone there +on my account?" + +"Yes, I do," said Miss Panney. "That is exactly what I mean, and now, my +dear Dora, do not let--" + +At this moment Mrs. Bannister walked into the room, and was very glad +to see Miss Panney, and to know that she had returned in safety from +the seashore. + +When Dora went up to her room, after the visitor had gone, she shut the +door and sat down to think. + +"After all," she said to herself, "I do not believe much in the thousand +other men. Not one of them is here, and none may ever come, and if Ralph +really did intend to come to me at the seashore, I wish we had stayed +there. It is such a good place to find out just how people feel." + +In this frame of mind she sat and thought and thought, until a servant, +who had been to the post office, came up and brought her a note from +Miriam Haverley. + +The next morning Dora Bannister, in an open carriage, drawn by the +family bays, appeared at the door of the Witton mansion. Miss Panney, +with overshoes on and a little shawl about her, for the mornings were +beginning to be cool, was walking up and down between two rows of +old-fashioned boxwood bushes. She hurried forward, for she knew very well +that Dora had not come to call on the Wittons. + +"Miss Panney," said the young lady, "I am on my way to Cobhurst, and I +thought you might like to go there, and so if you choose, I shall be glad +to take you with me." + +"Now, my dear girl," said Miss Panney, "you are a trump. I always thought +you were, but I will not say anything more about that. I shall be +delighted to go with you, and we can talk on the way. If you will come in +or take a seat on the piazza, I shall be ready in five minutes." + +As Miss Panney busied herself preparing for the drive and the call, her +mind was a great deal more active than her rapid fingers. She had been +intending to go to Cobhurst, but did not wish to do so until she had +decided what she should say to Ralph about the telegram she had sent him. +Until that morning, this had given her very little concern, but as the +time approached when it would be absolutely necessary to speak upon the +subject, she found that she was a good deal concerned about it. She saw +that it was very important that nothing should be said to rouse Ralph +into opposition. + +But now everything seemed bright and clear before her. After Dora, +looking perfectly lovely, as she did this morning, had shone upon Ralph +for half an hour, or even less, the old lady felt that if the young man +asked her any questions about her telegram she would not in the least +mind telling him how she came to send it, giving him, of course, a +version of her motive which would make him understand her anxious +solicitude, in case anything had happened to any one dear to him, that +his arrival should not be delayed an instant, as well as the sympathetic +delight she would have felt in witnessing the joy his presence in Barport +would cause to the dear ones, alive and well. + +This somewhat complicated explanation might need policy and alteration, +but Miss Panney now felt quite ready for anything Ralph might ask about +the telegram. If any one else asked any questions, she would answer as +happened to please her. + +As they drove away Miss Panney immediately began to congratulate Dora on +her return to her senses. She was in high good humor, "You ought to know, +my dear, that if the loveliest woman in the world found herself stuck in +a quagmire, it would be quite foolish for her to expect that the right +sort of man would come and pull her out. In all probability it would be +precisely the wrong sort of man who would do it. Consequently, it would +be wise in her if she saw the right sort of man going by, not only to let +him know that she was there, but to let him understand that she was worth +pulling out. All women are born in a quagmire, and some are so anxious to +get out that they take the first hand that is stretched toward them, and +some, I am sorry to say, never get out at all. But they are the wise +ones who do not leave it to chance, who shall be their liberators. Number +yourself, my dear, among this happy class. I am so glad it is cool enough +this morning for you to wear that lovely costume. It is as likely as not +that by tomorrow it will be too warm. All these little things tell, my +child, and I am glad to know that even the thermometer is your friend." + +"I had a letter from Miriam yesterday afternoon," said Dora, "in which +she told me that her brother Ralph is engaged to Miss Drane." + +Miss Panney turned around like a weather vane struck by a squall. She +seized the girl's arm with her bony fingers. + +"What!" she exclaimed. + +Ordinarily, the pain of the old lady's grasp would have made Dora wince, +but she did not seem to feel it. Without the slightest sign of emotion in +her face, she answered,-- + +"It is so. It happened while I was at Barport." + +"Stop!" cried Miss Panney, in a voice that made the driver pull up his +horses with a jerk. In a moment she had stepped from the low carriage to +the ground, and with quick strides was walking back to the Witton house. +Dora turned in the seat, looked after her, and laughed. It was a sudden, +bitter laugh, which the circumstances made derisive. + +Never before had Miss Panney's soul been so stung, burned, and +lacerated, all at once, as by this laugh. But the sound had scarcely +left Dora Bannister's lips when she bounded out of the carriage and ran +after the old lady. Throwing her arms around her neck, she kissed her +on the cheek. + +"I am awfully sorry I did that," she said, "and I beg your pardon. I +don't mind the thing a bit, and won't you let me take you home in the +carriage?" + +Dora might as well have embraced a milestone and talked to it, for +the moment she could release herself, Miss Panney stalked away +without a word. + +When she was again driving toward Cobhurst, Dora took from the front of +the carriage a little hand mirror, and carefully arranged her hat, her +feathers, her laces and ribbons. Then having satisfied herself that her +features were in perfect order, she put back her glass. + +"I am not going to let any of them see," she said, "that I mind it in +the least." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE + + +Neither Ralph nor his sister nor either of the Drane ladies had the least +reason to believe that Dora minded the news contained in Miriam's note, +except that it had given her a heartfelt delight and joy, and that it had +made her unable to wait a single moment longer than was necessary to come +and tell them all how earnestly she congratulated them, and what a +capital good thing she thought it was. She caught Ralph by himself and +spoke to him so much like a sympathetic sister that he was a little, +just the least little bit in the world, pained. + +As Cicely had never had any objection to Miss Bannister, excepting her +frequent appearances in Ralph's conversation, she received Dora's +felicitations with the same cordiality that she saw in her lovely eyes +and on her lips. And Mrs. Drane thought that if this girl were a sample +of the Haverleys' friends and neighbors, her daughter's lot would be even +more pleasant than she had supposed it would be. As for Miriam, she and +Dora walked together, their arms around each other's waists, up and down +in the garden, and back and forward in the orchard, until the Bannister +coachman went to sleep on his box. + +During this long interview, the younger girl became impressed, not only +with the fact that Dora thought so well of the match, that, if she had +been looking for a wife for Ralph, she certainly would have selected Miss +Drane, but with the stability of Miss Bannister's affection for her, +which did not seem to be affected in the least by the changes which would +take place in the composition of the Cobhurst household. Dora had said, +indeed, that she had no doubt that she and Miriam would be more intimate +than ever, because Mr. Haverley would be so monopolized by his wife. + +This was all very pleasant to Miriam, but it did not in the least cause +her to regret Ralph's choice. Dora was a lovely girl, but it was now +plainer than ever that she was also a very superior one, whereas Cicely +was just like other people and did not pretend to be anything more, and, +moreover, she would not have wished her brother to marry anyone whose +idea of matrimony was the monopoly of her husband, and she knew that +Cicely had no such idea. But Dora was the dearest of good friends, Miriam +was very sure of that. + +The Bannister carriage had scarcely left the Cobhurst gates when the dog, +Congo, came bounding after it. Dora looked at him as his great brown eyes +were turned up towards her, and his tail was wagging with the joy of +following her once more, she knew that his training was so good that she +had only to tell him to go back and he would obey her, sorrowfully, with +his tail hanging down. He was Ralph's dog now, and she ought to send him +back, but would she? She looked at him for a few moments, considering the +question, and then she said,-- + +"Come, Congo" and with a bound he was in the carriage and at her feet. +"You were not an out and out gift, poor fellow," she said, stroking his +head. "I expected you to be partly my dog, all the same, and now we will +see if she will let him claim you." + +The dog heard all this, but Dora spoke so low, the coachman could not +hear it, and she did not intend that any one else should know it unless +the dog told. + +Ralph did not miss Congo until the next morning, and then, having become +convinced that the dog must have followed the Bannister carriage, he +expressed, in the presence of Cicely, his uncertainty as to whether it +would be better for him to go after the dog himself, or to send Mike. + +"If I were you," said Miss Cicely, "I would not send for him at all. If +Miss Bannister really wants to get rid of him, and does not know anybody +else who would take him, she may send him back herself. But it seems to +me that a setter is not the best sort of a dog for a farm like this. I +should think you ought to have a big mastiff, or something of that sort." + +"It is a great pity," said Ralph, musingly, "that he happened to be +unchained." + +"The more I think about it," said Cicely, "the less I like setters. They +are so intimately connected with the death of the beautiful. Did you ever +think of that?" + +Ralph never had, and as a man now came up to talk to him about hay, the +dog and everything connected with it passed out of his mind. + +When Miss Panney reached home after her abrupt parting from Dora +Bannister, she took a dose of the last medicine that Dr. Tolbridge had +prescribed for her. It was against her rules to use internal medicines, +but she made exceptions on important occasions, and as this was a remedy +for the effects of anger, she had taken it before and she took it now. +Then she went to bed and there she stayed until three o'clock the next +afternoon. This greatly disturbed the Wittons, for they had always +believed that this hearty old lady would not be carried off by any +disease, but when her time had come would simply take to her bed and die +there, after the manner of elderly animals. + +About the middle of the afternoon Mrs. Witton came up into her room. She +did not do this often, for the old lady had always made everybody in the +house understand that this room was her castle, and when any one was +wanted there, he or she would be summoned. + +"You must be feeling very badly," said the meek and anxious Mrs. Witton +"don't you think it would be better to send for a doctor?" + +"There is no doctor," said Miss Panney, shortly. + +"Oh yes," said the other, "there are several excellent doctors in +Thorbury, and Dr. Parker takes all of Dr. Tolbridge's practice while +he is away." + +"Stuff!" remarked Miss Panney. "I spanked Dr. Parker, when he wore +little frocks, for running his tin wheelbarrow against me so that I +nearly fell over it." + +"But he has learned a great deal since then," pleaded Mrs. Witton "and if +you do not want any new doctors, isn't there something I can do for you? +If you will tell me how you feel, it may be that some sort of herb +tea--or a mustard plaster--" + +"Gammon and spinach!" cried Miss Panney, throwing off the bedclothes as +if she were about to spring into the middle of the floor. "I want no teas +nor plasters. I have had as much sleep as I care for, and now I am going +to get up. So trot downstairs, if you please, and tell Margaret to bring +me up some hot water." + +For an hour or two before supper time, Miss Panney occupied herself in +clearing out her medicine closet. Every bottle, jar, vial, box, or +package it contained was placed upon a large table and divided into two +collections. One consisted of the lotions and medicines prescribed for +her by Dr. Tolbridge, and the other of those she herself, in the course +of many years, had ordered or compounded,--not only for her own use, but +for that of others. She had long prided herself on her skill in this sort +of thing, and was always willing to prepare almost any sort of medicine +for ailing people, asking nothing in payment but the pleasure of seeing +them take it. + +When everything had been examined and placed on its appropriate end of +the table, Miss Panney called for an empty coalscuttle, into which she +tumbled, without regard to spilling or breakage, the whole mass of +medicaments which had been prepared or prescribed by herself, and she +then requested the servant to deposit the contents of the scuttle in +the ash-hole. + +"After this," she said to herself, "I will get somebody else to do my +concocting," and she carefully replaced her physician's medicines on +the shelves. + +It was three days later when Miss Panney was told that Dr. Tolbridge was +in the parlor and wished to see her. + +"Well," said the old lady, as she entered the parlor, "I supposed that +after your last call here, you would not come again." + +"Oh, bless my soul!" said the doctor, "I haven't any time to consider +what has happened, I must give my whole attention to what is happening or +may happen. How are you? and how have you been during my absence?" + +"Oh, I had medicines enough" said she, "if I had needed them, but +I didn't." + +"Well, I wanted to see for myself, and, besides, I was obliged to come," +said the doctor; "I want to know what has happened since we left. We got +home late last night, and I have not seen anybody who knows anything." + +"And so," said the old lady, "you will swallow an insult in order to +gratify your curiosity." + +"Insult, indeed!" said he. "I have a regular rule about insults. When +anybody under thirty insults me, I give her a piece of my mind if she is +a woman, and a taste of my horsewhip if he is a man. But between thirty +and fifty, I am very careful about my resentments, because people are +then very likely to be cracked or damaged in some way or other, either in +body or mind, and unless I am very cautious, I may do more injury than I +intend. But toward folks over fifty, especially when they are old +friends, I have no resentments at all. I simply button up my coat and +turn up my collar, and let the storm pelt; and when it is fine weather +again, I generally find that I have forgotten that it ever rained." + +"And when a person is in the neighborhood of seventy-five, I suppose you +thank her kindly for a good slap in the face." + +The doctor laughed heartily. + +"Precisely," said he. "And now tell me what has happened. You are all +right, I see. How are the Cobhurst people getting on?" + +"Oh, well enough," said Miss Panney. "The young man and that Cicely Drane +of yours have agreed to marry each other, and I suppose the old lady +will live with them, and Miriam will have to get down from her high horse +and agree to play second fiddle, or go to school again. She is too young +for anything else." + +The doctor stared. "You amaze me!" he cried. + +"Oh, you needn't be amazed," said Miss Panney; "I did it!" + +"You?" said the doctor, "I thought you wanted him to marry Dora." + +"If you thought that," said Miss Panney, flashing her black eyes upon +him, "why did you lend yourself to such an underhanded piece of business +as the sending of that Drane girl there?" + +"Oh, bless my soul!" exclaimed the doctor, "I did not lend myself to +anything. I did not send her there to be married. Let us drop that, and +tell me how you came to change your mind." + +"I have a rule about dropping things," said the old lady, "and with +people of vigorous intellect, I never do it, but when any one is getting +on in years and a little soft-minded, so that he does what he is told to +do without being able to see the consequences of it, I pity him and drop +the subject which worries his conscience. I have not changed my mind in +the least. I still think that Dora would be the best wife young Haverley +could have, and after I found that you had added to your treacheries or +stupidities, or whatever they were, by carrying her off to Barport, I +intended to take advantage of the situation, so I got Dora to invite +Miriam there, feeling sure that the Drane women would have sense enough +to know that they then ought to leave Cobhurst; but they had not sense +enough, and they stayed there. Then I saw that the situation was +critical, and went to Barport myself, and sent the young man a telegram +that would have aroused the heart of a feather-bed and made it be with me +in three hours, but it did not rouse him and he did not come; and before +that silly Mrs. Bannister got back with the two girls, the mischief was +done, and that little Drane had taken advantage of the opportunity I had +given her to trap Mr. Ralph. Oh, she is a sharp one! and with you and me +to help her, she could do almost anything. You take off her rival, and I +send away the interfering sister; and all she has to do is to snap up the +young man, while her mother and that illustrious cook of yours stand by +and clap their hands. But I do not give you much credit. You are merely +an inconsiderate blunderer, to say no more. You did not plan anything; I +did that, and when my plans don't work one way, they do in another. This +one was like a boomerang that did not hit what it was aimed at, but came +banging and clattering back all the same. And now I will remark that I +have given up that sort of thing. I can throw as well as ever, but I am +too old to stand the back-cracks." + +"You are not too old for anything," said the doctor, "and you and I will +do a lot of planning yet. But tell me one thing; do you think that this +Haverley-Drane combination is going to deprive me of La Fleur?" + +"Upon my word!" cried the old lady, springing to her feet, "never did I +see a man so steeped in selfishness. Not a word of sympathy for me! In +all this unfortunate affair, you think of nothing but the danger of +losing your cook! Well, I am happy to say you are going to lose her. That +will be your punishment, and well you deserve it. She will no more think +of staying with you, after the Dranes set up housekeeping at Cobhurst, +than I would think of coming to cook for you. And so you may go back to +your soggy bread, and your greasy fries, and your dishwater coffee, and +get yellow and green in the face, thin in the legs, and weak in the +stomach, and have good reason to say to yourself that if you had let Miss +Panney alone, and let her work out that excellent plan she had confided +to you, you would have lived to a healthy old age, with the best cook in +this part of the country making you happy three times a day, and +satisfied with the world between meals." + +"Deal gently with the erring," said the doctor. "Don't crush me. I want +to go to Cobhurst this morning, to see them all, and find out my fate. +Wouldn't you like to go with me? I have a visit to make, two or three +miles above here, but I shall be back soon, and will drive you over. What +do you say?" + +"Very good," said Miss Panney. "I have been thinking of calling on the +happy family." + +As soon as the doctor had departed Miss Panney ordered her phaeton. + +"I intended going to Cobhurst to-day," she said to herself, "but I do not +propose to go with him. I shall get there first and see how the land +lies, before he comes to muddle up things with his sordid anxieties about +his future victuals and drink." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +AN INTERVIEWER + + +The roan mare travelled well that morning, and Miss Panney was at +Cobhurst before the doctor reached his patient's house. To her regret +she found that Mrs. Drane and Miriam had driven to Thorbury. Miss +Drane was upstairs at her work, and Mr. Haverley was somewhere on the +place, but could easily be found. All this she learned from Mike, whom +she saw outside. + +"And where is the cook?" + +"She's in the kitchen," said Mike. + +"A good place for her," replied the old lady; "let her stay there. I will +see Mr. Haverley, and I will see him out here. Go and find him and tell +him I am sitting under that tree." + +Ralph arrived, bright-eyed. + +"Well, sir," cried the old lady, "and so you have decided to take a wife +to yourself, eh?" + +"Indeed I have," said he, with the air of one who had conquered a +continent, and giving Miss Panney's outstretched hand a hearty shake. + +"Sit down here," said she, "and tell me all about it. I suppose your soul +is hungering for congratulations." + +"Oh yes," he said, laughing; "they are the collateral delights which are +next best to the main happiness." + +"Now," said Miss Panney, "I suppose you feel quite certain that Miss +Drane is a young woman who will suit your temperament and your general +intellectual needs?" + +"Indeed I do," cried Ralph. "She suits me in every possible way." + +"And you have thoroughly investigated her character, and know that she +has the well-balanced mind which will be very much wanted here, and that +she has cut off and swept away all remnants of former attachments to +other young men?" + +Ralph twisted himself around impatiently. + +"One moment," said Miss Panney, raising her hand. "And you are quite +positive that she would have been willing to marry you if you had not +owned this big farm; and that if you had had a dozen other girls to +choose from, you still would have chosen her; and that you really think +such a small person will appear well by the side of a tall fellow like +you; and you are entirely convinced that you will never look around on +other men's wives and wish that your wife was more like this one or that +one; and that--" + +"Miss Panney!" cried Ralph, "do you suppose there was ever a man in the +world who thought about all those things when he really loved a woman?" + +"No," said she, "I do not suppose there ever was one, and it was in the +hope that such a one had at last appeared on earth that I put my +questions to you." + +"Well, I can answer them all in a bunch," said he; "she is exactly the +wife I want, and nobody in the world would suit me as well. And if there +is any one who does not think so--" + +"Stop!" exclaimed Miss Panney; "your face is getting red. Never jump over +a wall when there is a bottomless ditch on the other side. You might miss +the ditch, but it is not likely. You are in love, and when people are +that way, the straight back of a saw is parallel to every line of its +teeth. Don't quarrel, and I will go on with my congratulations." + +"Very queer ones they are so far, I am sure," replied Ralph, his face +still flushed a little. + +"Oh yes," said Miss Panney, rising, "there are a lot of queer things in +this world, and I may be one of them. Now I will go and see your young +lady. I do not know her very well yet, and I must make her better +acquaintance." + +"Miss Panney," said Ralph, quickly, "if you are going to stir her up with +questions such as you put to me, I beg you will not see her." + +"Boy, boy," said the old lady, "don't bubble and boil. I have a great +regard for you, and care a great deal more for you than I do for her, and +it is only people that I care a great deal for that I stir up. Go back to +your grindstone, or whatever you were at work at, and do not worry your +mind about your little Cicely. It may be that I shall like her enough to +wish that I had made the match." + +When Cicely accidentally met Ralph in the garden, a few hours later, she +said to him that she could not have imagined that Miss Panney was such a +dear old lady. + +"Why, Ralph," said the girl, looking up at him with moistened eyes, "she +talked to me so sweetly and gave me such good advice that I actually +cried. And never before, dear Ralph, did good advice make me feel so +happy that I had to cry." + +And at this point the two wood doves, who had become regular detectives, +actually pecked at each other in their despair of emulation. + +Miss Panney's interview with Cicely had not been very long, because the +old lady was anxious to see La Fleur before the doctor got there, and she +went down into the kitchen, where, although she did not know it, the cook +was expecting her. La Fleur's soul was in a state of turbulent triumph, +but her expression was as soft as a dish of jelly. + +Miss Panney sat down on the chair offered her, while the cook +remained standing. + +"I came down to ask you," said the old lady, "if you have heard whether +Dr. Tolbridge and his wife have returned. I suppose you will be going +back to them immediately." + +"Oh no," said La Fleur, her eyes humbly directed toward the floor as she +spoke, "at least not for a permanency. I shall get the doctor a good +cook. I shall make it my business to see that she is a person fully +capable of filling the position. I have my eyes on such a one. As for me, +I shall stay here with my dear Miss Cicely." + +"Good heavens, woman!" exclaimed Miss Panney, "your Miss Cicely isn't +head of this house. What do you mean by talking in that way? Miss +Haverley is mistress of this establishment. Haven't you sense enough to +know that you are in her service, and that Miss Drane and her mother are +merely boarders?" + +Not a quiver or a shake was seen on the surface of the gentle jelly. + +"Oh, of course," said La Fleur, with her head on one side, and her +smile at its angle of humility, "I meant that I would come to her when +she is settled here as Mrs. Haverley, and her dear mother is living +with her, and when Miss Miriam has gone to finish her education at +whatever seminary is decided on. Then this house will seem like my true +home, and begging your pardon, madam, you cannot imagine how happy I am +going to be." + +"You!" exclaimed Miss Panney. "What earthly difference does it make to +anybody whether you are happy or not?" + +The jelly seemed to grow softer and more transparent. + +"I am only a cook," said La Fleur, "but I can be as happy as persons of +the highest quality, and I understand their natures very well, having +lived with them. And words cannot tell you, madam, how it gladdens my old +heart to think that I had so much to do myself with the good fortunes of +us all, for the Dranes and me are a happy family now, and I hope may long +be so, and hold together. I am sure I did everything that my humble mind +could conceive, to give those two every chance of being together, and to +keep other people away by discussing household matters whenever needed; +for I had made up my mind that Miss Cicely and Mr. Haverley were born for +each other, and if I could help them get each other, I would do it. When +your telegram came, madam, it disturbed me, for I saw that it might spoil +everything, by taking him away just at the time when they had nobody but +each other for company, and when he was beginning to forget that he had +ever been engaged to Miss Bannister, as you told me he was, madam, though +I think you must have been a little mistaken, as we are all apt to be +through thinking that things are as we want them to be. But I couldn't +help feeling thankful that nobody but me was home when the telegram was +brought without any envelope on it, and I had no chance to give it to him +until it was too late to take a train that night; for the trouble the +poor gentleman was in on account of his sister, being sure, of course, +that something had happened to her, put him into such a doleful way that +Miss Cicely gave herself up, heart and soul, to comfort him. And when a +beautiful young woman does that for a young man, their hearts are sure to +run together, like two eggs broken into one bowl. Now that's exactly what +theirs did that night, for being so anxious about them I watched them and +kept Mrs. Drane away. The very next morning when I asked her to go into +the garden and pick some lettuce, and then told him where she was, he +offered himself and was accepted. So you see, madam, that without +boasting, or exalting myself above others, I may really claim that I made +this match that I set my heart on. Although, to be sure--for I don't +take away rightful credit from anybody--some of the credit is yours for +having softened up their hearts with your telegram, just at the very +moment when that sort of softening could be of the most use." + +Miss Panney sat up very cold and severe. + +"La Fleur," said she, "I thought you were a cook who prided herself on +attending to her business. Since I have been sitting here, listening to +your twaddle, the cat has been making herself comfortable in that pan of +bread dough that you set by the fire to rise." + +La Fleur turned around; her impulse was to seize a poker and rush at +the cat. But she stood where she was and infused more benignity into +her smile. + +"Poor thing," said she, "she doesn't do any harm. There's a thick +towel over the pan, and I should be ashamed of my yeast if it couldn't +lift a cat." + +When Miss Panney went upstairs she laughed. She did not want to laugh, +but she could not help it. She had scarcely driven out of the gate when +she met Dr. Tolbridge. + +"A pretty trick you have played me!" he cried. + +"Yes, indeed, a very pretty one," replied the old lady, pulling up her +mare. "I thought you knew me better than to think that I would come here +to look into this engagement business with you or anybody else. Or that I +would let you get ahead of me, either. Well, I have got all the points I +want, and more too, and now you can go along, and Mr. Ralph will tell you +that he is the happiest man in the world, and your secretary will tell +you that she is the happiest young woman, and the cook you are going to +lose will vow that she is the happiest old woman, and if you stay until +Mrs. Drane and Miriam come back, the one will tell you that she is the +happiest middle-aged woman, and the other that she is the happiest girl, +and if you give Mike a half dollar, he will tell you that he is the +happiest negro in the world. Click!" + +The doctor went on to Cobhurst, where Mrs. Drane and Miriam soon arrived, +and he heard everything that Miss Panney told him he would hear. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE SIREN AND THE IRON + + +The summer, the Dranes, La Fleur, and Miriam had all left Cobhurst. The +summer had gone south for an eight months' stay; the Dranes had gone to +their old Pennsylvania home to settle up their affairs, and prepare for +the marriage of the younger lady, which was to take place early in the +coming spring; La Fleur had returned to the Tolbridges' to remain until +the new Cobhurst household should be organized; and Miriam, whose +association with Dora and Cicely had aroused her somewhat dormant +aspirations in an educational direction, had gone to Mrs. Stone's school +for the winter term. + +November had come to Cobhurst, and there Ralph remained to get his farm +ready for the winter, and his house in order for the bride who would come +with the first young leaves. He did not regret this period of solitary +bachelorhood, for not having very much money, he required a good deal of +time to do what was to be done. + +He had planned a good deal of refitting for the house, although not so +much as to deprive it of any of those characteristics which made it dear +old Cobhurst. And there were endless things to do on the farm, the most +important of which, in his eyes, was the breaking of the pair of colts, +which task he intended to take into his own hands. Mrs. Browning and the +gig were very well in their places, but something more would be needed +when the green leaves came. + +Seraphina, Mike's sister, now ruled in the kitchen, but Ralph's thoughts +had acquired such a habit of leaving the subject on which he was engaged +and flying southward, that even when he took a meal with the Tolbridges, +which happened not infrequently, he scarcely noticed the difference +between their table and his own. Nothing stronger than this could be said +regarding his present power of abstracting his mind from surrounding +circumstances. + +His income was a limited one, although it had been a good deal helped by +the products of his farm, and he had to do a great deal of calculating +with his pencil before he dared to order work which would oblige him to +draw a check with his pen. But by thus giving two dollars' worth of +thought to every dollar of expenditure, he made his money go a long way, +and the lively and personal interest he took in every little improvement, +made a garden fence to him of as much importance and satisfaction as a +new post-office would have been to the people of Thorbury. + +One day he went into a hardware store of the town to buy some nails, and +there he met Miss Panney, who had just purchased a corkscrew. + +"A thing you will not want for some time," she said, "for you do not look +as if you needed anything to cheer your soul. Now tell me, young man, is +it really the engagement rapture that has lasted all this time?" + +"Oh, yes," said Ralph, laughing, "and besides that I have had all sorts +of good fortune. For instance, one of my hens, setting unbeknown to +anybody in a warm corner of the barn, has hatched out a dozen little +chicks. Think of that at this season! I have put them in a warm room, and +by the time we begin housekeeping we shall have spring chickens to eat +before anybody else. And then there is that black colt, Dom Pedro. I had +great doubts about him, because he showed such decided symptoms of free +will, but now he is behaving beautifully. He has become thoroughly +reconciled to a haycart. I have driven him in a light wagon with his +sister, and he is just as good as she is, and yesterday I drove him +single, and find that he has made up his mind to learn everything I can +teach him. Now isn't that a fine thing?" + +"Oh, yes," said Miss Panney, "it must be such things as those that make +your eyes sparkle! But of course it warms your heart to give her delicate +eating when she first comes to you, and to have a fine pair of horses for +her to drive behind. If your face beams as it does now while she is +away, it will serve as an electric light when she comes back. Good +fortune! Oh, yes, of course, you consider that you have it in full +measure. But we are sometimes apt to look on our friends' good fortune in +an odd way. Now, if I had wanted you to go to Boston to get rich, and +instead of that you had insisted on going to Nantucket, and had become +rich there, I suppose that I should have been satisfied as long as you +were prosperous, but I do not believe I would have been; at least, not +entirely so. In this world we do want people to do what we think they +ought to do." + +"Yes," said Ralph, knowingly, "I see. But now, Miss Panney, don't you +really think that Boston would have been too rich a place for me? That it +would have expected too much of me, and that perhaps it would have done +too much for me? Boston is a good enough place, but if you only knew how +much lovelier Nantucket is--" + +"Stop, stop, boy!" said the old lady. "I am getting so old now, that I am +obliged to stop happy people and disappointed people from talking to me. +If I listened to all they had to say, I should have no time for anything +else. By the way, have you heard any news from the Bannister family? That +sedate Herbert is going to be married, and he intends to live with his +wife in the Bannister mansion." + +"And how will his sister like that?" asked Ralph. + +"She won't like it at all. She has told me she is going away." + +"I am sorry for that," he said. "That is too bad." + +"Not at all. She could not do better. A girl like that in a town such as +Thorbury, with nobody to marry her but the rector, is as much out of +place as a canary bird in a poultry yard. I have advised her to visit her +relatives in town, and go with them to Europe, where I hope she will +marry a prince. Good conscience! Look at her! Imagine that girl in a +sweeping velvet robe with one great diamond blazing on her breast." + +Ralph turned quickly, and as his eyes fell upon Dora, as she entered the +store, it struck him that no royal gowns could make her more beautiful +than she was at that moment. + +"Now, my dear," said Miss Panney, "what did you come here for? Do you +want a saw or a pitchfork?" + +"I came," said Dora, with her most charming smile, "because I saw you two +in here, and I wanted to speak to you. It is a funny place for this sort +of thing, but I do not see either of you very often, now, and I thought I +would like to tell you, before you heard it from any one else, of my +engagement." + +"To whom?" cried Miss Panney, in a voice that made the ox-chains rattle. + +Dora looked around anxiously, but there was no one in the front part of +the store. + +"To Mr. Ames," she replied. + +"The rector!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"Yes," said Dora; "I want to write to Miriam about it, and do you know I +have lost her address." + +"Dora Bannister," interrupted Miss Panney, "it may be a little early to +make bridal presents, but I want to give you this corkscrew. It is a +very good one, and I think that after a while you will have need of it. +Good morning." + +When the old lady had abruptly departed, the two young people laughed, +and Ralph offered his congratulations. + +"I do not know Mr. Ames very well," he said, "but I have heard no end of +good of him. But this is very surprising. It seems--" + +"Seems what?" asked Dora. + +"Well, since you ask me," Ralph answered, hesitating a little, "it seems +odd, not, perhaps, that you should marry the rector, but that you should +marry anybody. You appear to me too young to marry." + +"Oh, indeed!" said Dora; "you think that?" + +"I do not know that you understand me," said Ralph, "but I mean that you +are so full of youth--and all that, and enjoy life so much, that it is +a pity that you should not have more of youthful enjoyment before you +begin any other kind." + +Dora laughed. + +"Truly," said she, "I never looked at the matter in that light. Perhaps I +ought to have done so. You think me too young, and if you had had a +chance, perhaps you would have warned me! You are so kind and so +considerate, but don't you think you ought to speak to Mr. Ames about it? +He does not know you very well, but he has heard no end of good of you, +and perhaps what you say might make him reflect." + +As she spoke she looked at him with her eyes not quite so wide open as +usual. Ralph returned her gaze steadfastly. + +"I know what you are thinking of," he said. "You are thinking of a fable +with an animal in it and some fruit, and the animal was a small one, and +the fruit was on a high trellis." + +"Oh, dear," said Dora. "It must be very nice to have read as much as you +have, and to know fables and all sorts of things to refer to. But my life +hasn't been long enough for all that." + +The more Ralph's mind dwelt upon the matter, the more dissatisfied did he +feel that this beautiful young creature should marry the rector. If, in +truth, she applied the fable to him, this was all the more reason why he +should feel sorry for her. If anything of all this showed itself in his +eyes, he did not know it, but Dora's eyes opened to their full width, and +grew softer. + +"I expect I surprise you," she said, "by talking to you of these things, +but I have so few friends to confide in. Herbert is wrapped up in his +own engagement, and Mrs. Bannister is entirely apart from me. Almost +ever since I have known you two, I have felt that Miriam and you were +friends with whom I could talk freely, and I am now going to tell you, +and I know you will never mention it, that I do not believe I shall ever +marry Mr. Ames." + +"What!" exclaimed Ralph. "Didn't you say you were engaged to him?" + +"Of course I said so; and I am, and I was very glad to be able to say it +to Miss Panney, for she is always bothering me about such things; but +the engagement is a peculiar one. Mr. Ames has been coming to see me for +a long time, and I think it was because he heard that I was planning to +go away that he decided to declare himself at once, before he lost his +opportunity. I told him that I had never thought of anything of the sort; +but he was very insistent, and at last I consented, provided the +engagement should be a long one, and that, if after I had seen more of +the world and knew myself better, I should decide to change my mind, I +must be allowed to do so. He fought terribly against this, but there was +nothing for him to do but agree, and so now we are engaged on +approbation, as it were. This is a great relief to me in various ways, +because I feel as if I were safely anchored, and not drifting about +whichever way the wind blows, while other people are sailing where they +want to; and yet, whenever I please, I can loosen my anchor, and spread +my sails, and skim away over the beautiful sea." + +It is seldom that a siren, leaning lightly against a bright new +hay-cutter, with a background of iron rakes and hoes and spades, sings +her soft song. But it was so now, and Dora, her heart beating quickly, +looked from under her long lashes to note the effect of her words. + +"If he will drop the little Drane," she said to herself, "I will drop +the rector." + +But Ralph stood looking past her. It was as plain as could be that he was +not approaching the rocks; that he did not like the song; and that he was +thinking what he should say about it. + +"Oh, dear," said Dora, suddenly starting. "I have ever so much to do +this morning, and it must be nearly noon. I wonder what made that queer +Miss Panney think of giving me this corkscrew." + +Ralph knew very well that the old lady meant the little implement as a +figurative auxiliary of consolation, but he merely remarked that Miss +Panney did and gave very queer things. He opened the door for her, and +she bade him good-by and went out. + +She crossed the street, and when on the opposite sidewalk, she turned her +luminous eyes back upon the glass doors she had passed through. + +But there was no one looking out after her. Ralph was standing at the +counter, buying nails. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANNEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE + + +Cobhurst never looked more lovely than in the early June of the following +year. With the beauty of the trees, the grass, the flowers, the vines, +and all things natural, it possessed the added attractiveness of a +certain personal equation. To all the happy dwellers therein, the dear +old house appeared like one in which good people had always lived. +Although they used to think that it was as charming as could be, they now +perceived that the old mansion and all its surroundings had shown strong +evidences of that system of management which Mike called ramshackle. No +one said a word against any of the changes that Ralph had made, for in +spite of them Cobhurst was still Cobhurst. + +On a bench under a tree by the side of the house sat La Fleur, shelling +some early spring peas, a tin basin of which she held in her lap. Mrs. +Drane, in a rustic chair near by, was sewing, and Miriam, who had come +laden with blossoms from the orchard, had stopped in the pleasant shade. +Mike, absolutely picturesque in a broad new straw hat, was out in the +sunshine raking some grass he had cut, and Seraphina, who remained in the +household as general assistant, could be seen through the open window of +the kitchen. + +"As I told you before, madam," said La Fleur, "I don't think you need +feel the least fear about the young horses. Their master has a steady +hand, and they know his voice, and as for Mrs. Haverley, she's no more +afraid of them than if they were two sheep. As they drove off this +afternoon, I had a feeling as if I were living with some of those great +families in the old country in whose service I have been. For, said I to +myself, 'Here is the young master of the house, actually going to drive +out with his handsome wife and his spirited horses, and that in the very +middle of the working day, and without the prospect of making a penny of +profit.' You don't see that often in this country, except, perhaps, among +the very, very rich who don't have to work. But it is a good sign when a +gentleman like Mr. Haverley sets such an upper-toned example to his +fellow young men. + +"I spoke of that to Dr. Tolbridge once. 'Begging your pardon, sir,' said +I, 'it seems to me that you never drive out except when you have to.' +'Which is true,' said he, 'because I have to do it so much.' 'You will +excuse me, sir, for saying so,' said I, 'but if you did things for +pleasure sometimes, your mind would be rested, and you would feel more +like comprehending the deliciousness of some of my special dishes, which +I notice you now and again say nothing about, because you are so hungry +when you eat them, you don't notice their savoriness.'" + +"La Fleur," said Mrs. Drane, "I am surprised that you should have spoken +to the doctor in that way." + +"Oh, I have a mind," said La Fleur, "and I must speak it. My mind is like +a young horse--if I don't use it, it gets out of condition; and I don't +fear to speak to the doctor. He has brains, and he knows I have brains, +and he understands me. He said something like that when I left him, and I +am sure I never could have had a night's rest since if I hadn't put a +good woman there in my place. With what Mary Woodyard knows already, and +with me to pop in on her whenever I can coax Michael to drive me to town, +the doctor should never have need for any of his own medicines, so far as +digestion goes." + +"Don't you think," interpolated Miriam, "that there is a great deal more +said and done about eating than the subject is worth?" + +Mrs. Drane looked a little anxiously at La Fleur, but the cook did not in +the least resent the remark. + +"You are young yet, Miss Miriam," she said; "but when you are older, you +will think more of the higher branches of education, the very topmost of +which is cookery. But it's not only young people, but a good many older +ones, and some of them of high station, too, who think that cooking is +not a fit matter for the intellect to work on. When I lived with Lady +Hartleberry, she said over and over to my lord, and me too, that she +objected to the art works I sent up to the table, because she said that +the human soul ought to have something better to do than to give itself +up to the preparation of dishes that were no better to sustain the body +than if they had been as plain as a pike-staff. But I didn't mind her; +and everything that Tolati or La Fleur ever taught me, and everything I +invented for myself, I did in that house. My lady was an awfully serious +woman, and very particular about public worship: and on Sunday morning +she used to send the butler around to every servant with a little book, +and in that he put down what church each one was going to, and at what +time of day they would go. But when he came to me, I always said, 'La +Fleur goes to church when she likes and where she chooses.' And the +butler, being a man of brains, set down any church and time that happened +to suit his fancy, and my lady was never the wiser; and if I felt like +going to church, I went, and if I didn't, I didn't. But when the family +went to their seat in Scotland, they did not take their butler with them, +and the piper was sent round on Sunday morning to find out about the +servants going to church. And when he came to me, I said the same thing +I had always said, and do you know that pink-headed Scotchman put it down +in the book and carried it to my lady. And when she read it, she was in a +great rage, to be sure, and sent for me and wanted to know what I meant +by such a message. Then I told her I meant no offence by it, and that I +didn't think the idiot would put it down, but that I was too old to +change my ways, and that if her ladyship wasn't willing that I should +keep on in them, she would have to dismiss me. And then I curtsied and +left her; and my lord, when he heard of it, got a new piper. 'For,' said +he, 'a fool's a dangerous thing to have in the house,' and I stayed on +two years. So you see, Miss Miriam, that we are getting to the +point,--even my strait-laced lady made her opinions about church-going +give way before high art in her cook. For, as much as she might say +against my creations and compositions, she had gotten so used to 'em, +she couldn't do without 'em." + +"Well," said Miriam, "I suppose when the time comes I do not like +everything as I do now, I shall care more for some things. But I mustn't +sit here; I must go up to my sewing." + +"Miriam!" exclaimed Mrs. Drane, "what on earth are you working at? +Shutting yourself up, day after day, in your room, and at hours, too, +when everything is so pleasant outside. Cannot you bring out here what +you are doing?" + +"No," said Miriam, "because it is a secret; but it is nearly finished, +and as I shall have to tell you about it very soon, I may as well do it +now: I have been altering Judith Pacewalk's teaberry gown for Cicely. It +was altered once for me, and that makes it all the harder to make it fit +her now. I am not very good at that sort of thing, and so it has taken me +a long time. I expected to have it ready for her when she came back from +the wedding trip, but I could not do it. I shall finish it to-day, +however, and to-morrow I am going to invest her with it. She is now the +head of the house, and it is she who should wear the teaberry gown. Don't +tell her, please, until to-morrow; I thought it would be nice to have a +little ceremony about it, and in that case I shall have to have some one +to help me." + +"It is very good of you, my dear," said Mrs. Drane, "to think of such a +thing, and Cicely and your brother will be delighted, I know, to find out +what you think of this change of administration. Ralph said to me the +other day that he was afraid you were not altogether happy in yielding +your place to another. He had noticed that you had gotten into the habit +of going off by yourself." + +Miriam laughed. + +"Just wait until he hears the beautiful speech I am going to make +to-morrow, and then he will see what a wise fellow he is." + +"Mrs. Drane! Miss Miriam!" exclaimed La Fleur, her face beginning to glow +with emotion; "let me help to make this a grand occasion. Let me get up a +beautiful lunch. There isn't much time, it is true, but I can do it. I'll +make Michael drive me to town early in the morning, and I'll have +everything ready in time. A dinner would be all very well, but a +luncheon gives so much better chance to the imagination and the +intellect. There're some things you have to have at a dinner, but at a +lunch there is nothing you are obliged to have, and nothing you may not +have if you want it. And if you don't mind, I'd like you to ask old Miss +Panney. I've been a good deal at odds with her since I have known her, +but I'm satisfied now, and if there is anything I can do to make her +satisfied, I'm more than ready. Besides, when I do get up anything +extraordinary in the way of a meal, I like to have people at the table +who can appreciate it. And as for that, I haven't met anybody in this +country who is as well grounded in good eating as that old lady is." + +Her proposition gladly agreed to, La Fleur rose to a high heaven of +excited delight. She had had no chance to show her skill in a wedding +breakfast, for the young couple had been married very quietly in +Pennsylvania, and she was now elated with the idea of exhibiting her +highest abilities in an Investiture Luncheon. + +She handed the basin of peas through the open window to Seraphina, and +retired to her room, to study, to plan, and to revel in flights of +epicurean fancy. + +"Mike," said Seraphina to her brother, who was now raking the grass near +the kitchen window, "did you hear dat ar ole cook a talkin' jes' now?" + +"No," said Mike, "I hain't got no time to harken to people talkin', 'cept +they're talkin' to me, an' it 'pends on who they is whether I listens +then or not." + +"That fool thinks she made this world," said Seraphina. "I've been +thinkin' she had some notion like dat. She do put on such a'rs." + +"Git out," said Mike. "You never heard her say nothing like that." + +"I didn't hear all she said," replied the colored woman, "but I heard +more'n 'nough, an' I heard her talkin' about her creation. Her creation +indeed! I'll let her know one thing; she didn't make me." + +"Now look a here, Seraphiny," said Mike; "the more you shet up now, now +you's in the prime of life, the gooder you'll feel when you gits old. An' +so long as Mrs. Flower makes them thar three-inch-deep pies for me, I +don't care who she thinks she made, an' who she thinks she didn't make. +Thar now, that's my opinion." + + * * * * * + +The Investiture Luncheon, at which the Tolbridges and Miss Panney were +present, was truly a grand and beautiful affair, to which Dora would +certainly have been invited had she not been absent on her bridal trip +with Mr. Ames. Seldom had La Fleur or either of her husbands prepared for +prince, ambassador, or titled gourmand a meal which better satisfied the +loftiest outreaches of the soul in the truest interests of the palate. + +Cicely appeared in the teaberry gown, and if the spirit of Judith +Pacewalk hovered o'er the scene, and allowed its gaze to wander from the +charming bride, over the happy faces of the rest of the company, to the +half-open door of the dining-room, where shone the radiant face of the +proudest cook in the world, it must have been as well satisfied with the +fate of the pink garment as it could possibly expect to be. + +It was late in the afternoon when the luncheon party broke up, and +although Miss Panney was the last guest to leave, she did not go home, +but drove herself to Thorbury, and tied her roan mare in front of the +office of Mr. Herbert Bannister. When the young lawyer looked up and +perceived his visitor, he heaved a sigh, for he had expected in a few +moments to lock up his desk, and stop, on his way home, at the house of +his lady love. But the presence of Miss Panney at his office meant +business, and business with her meant a protracted session. Miss Panney +did not notice the sigh, and if she had, it would not have affected +her. Her soul had been satisfied this day, and no trifle could disturb +her serenity. + +"Now what I want," said she, after a good deal of prefatory remark, "is +for you to give me my will. I want to alter it." + +"But, madam," said young Bannister, when he had heard the alterations +desired by Miss Panney, "is not this a little quixotic? Excuse me for +saying so. Mr. Haverley is not even related to you, and you are bestowing +upon him--" + +"Herbert Bannister," said the old lady, "if you were your father instead +of yourself, you would know that this young man ought to have been my +grandson. He isn't; but I choose to consider him as such, and as such I +shall leave him what will make him a worthy lord of Cobhurst. Bring me +the new will as soon as it is ready and bring also the old one, with all +the papers I have given you, from time to time, regarding the disposition +of my property. I shall burn them, every one, and although it may set the +Wittons' chimney on fire the conflagration will make me happy." + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Girl at Cobhurst, by Frank Richard Stockton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AT COBHURST *** + +***** This file should be named 11106.txt or 11106.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/1/0/11106/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +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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