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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12334 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 12334-h.htm or 12334-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/3/12334/12334-h/12334-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/3/12334/12334-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+A BICYCLE OF CATHAY
+
+A Novel
+
+By Frank R. Stockton
+
+Author of "The Great Stone of Sardis," "The Associate Hermits" etc.
+
+Illustrated by Orson Lowell
+
+1900
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The doctor's daughter]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+   II. A BAD TWIST
+
+  III. THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+
+   IV. A BIT OF ADVICE
+
+    V. THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+
+   VI. THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+
+  VII. MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+
+ VIII. ORSO
+
+   IX. A RUNAWAY
+
+    X. THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+
+   XI. THE THREE MCKENNAS
+
+  XII. BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+
+ XIII. A MAN WITH A LETTER
+
+  XIV. MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+   XV. MISS WILLOUGHBY
+
+  XVI. AN ICICLE
+
+ XVII. A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+
+XVIII. REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+
+  XIX. BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+
+   XX. BACK FROM CATHAY
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+HALF-TITLE
+
+"I PUT ON MY COAT"
+
+"THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN HARD"
+
+"ON MY RIGHT A LIGHTED DOORWAY"
+
+A FEW THOUGHTS
+
+"THE BEAUTY OF HER TEETH"
+
+"I KICKED OFF MY EMBROIDERED SLIPPERS"
+
+"IT WOULD BE WELL FOR ME TO SWALLOW A CAPSULE"
+
+"AS SOON AS I HAD SPOKEN THESE WORDS"
+
+"I DISMOUNTED AND APPROACHED THE WALL"
+
+"I THOUGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS"
+
+"I WENT OUT FOR A WALK"
+
+MRS. CHESTER
+
+"SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WALFORD"
+
+"BUT WE WERE NOT ALONE"
+
+"TO MY LEFT I SAW A LINE OF TREES"
+
+"HE WAS RUNNING AWAY"
+
+"HE SOON FELT THAT HE WAS UNDER CONTROL"
+
+"A LITTLE ARMY HAD THROWN ITSELF UPON ME"
+
+"'WOULD IT BE EASIER TO MANAGE A BOY OR A BEAR?'"
+
+"I TAPPED MY LEFT PALM"
+
+"THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH UPON HER FACE"
+
+"THE SCENE VIVIDLY RECURRED TO MY MIND"
+
+DECIPHERING THE DAGO'S LETTER
+
+"'I DON'T THINK YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THIS LETTER'"
+
+"'DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HIT IT WITH AN APPLE?'"
+
+"TALKING ABOUT BABY BEARS"
+
+"I HELD THAT PICTURE A GOOD WHILE"
+
+"'NO, SIR,' SHE SAID"
+
+"CUT LIKE THAT"
+
+EUROPA
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+
+It was a beautiful summer morning when slowly I wheeled my way along
+the principal street of the village of Walford. A little valise was
+strapped in front of my bicycle; my coat, rolled into a small compass,
+was securely tied under the seat, and I was starting out to spend my
+vacation.
+
+I was the teacher of the village school, which useful institution had
+been closed for the season the day before, much to the gratification
+of pedagogue and scholars. This position was not at all the summit of
+my youthful ambition. In fact, I had been very much disappointed when
+I found myself obliged to accept it, but when I left college my
+financial condition made it desirable for me to do something to
+support myself while engaged in some of the studies preparatory to a
+professional career.
+
+I have never considered myself a sentimental person, but I must admit
+that I did not feel very happy that morning, and this state of mind
+was occasioned entirely by the feeling that there was no one who
+seemed to be in the least sorry that I was going away. My boys were so
+delighted to give up their studies that they were entirely satisfied
+to give up their teacher, and I am sure that my vacation would have
+been a very long one if they had had the ordering of it. My landlady
+might have been pleased to have me stay, but if I had agreed to pay my
+board during my absence I do not doubt that my empty room would have
+occasioned her no pangs of regret. I had friends in the village, but
+as they knew it was a matter of course that I should go away during
+the vacation, they seemed to be perfectly reconciled to the fact.
+
+As I passed a small house which was the abode of my laundress, my
+mental depression was increased by the action of her oldest son. This
+little fellow, probably five years of age, and the condition of whose
+countenance indicated that his mother's art was seldom exercised upon
+it, was playing on the sidewalk with his sister, somewhat younger and
+much dirtier.
+
+As I passed the little chap he looked up and in a sharp, clear voice,
+he cried: "Good-bye! Come back soon!" These words cut into my soul.
+Was it possible that this little ragamuffin was the only one in that
+village who was sorry to see me depart and who desired my return? And
+the acuteness of this cut was not decreased by the remembrance that on
+several occasions when he had accompanied his mother to my lodging I
+had given him small coins.
+
+I was beginning to move more rapidly along the little path, well worn
+by many rubber tires, which edged the broad roadway, when I perceived
+the doctor's daughter standing at the gate of her father's front yard.
+As I knew her very well, and she happened to be standing there and
+looking in my direction, I felt that it would be the proper thing for
+me to stop and speak to her, and so I dismounted and proceeded to roll
+my bicycle up to the gate.
+
+As the doctor's daughter stood looking over the gate, her hands
+clasped the tops of the two central pickets.
+
+"Good-morning," said she. "I suppose, from your carrying baggage,
+that you are starting off for your vacation. How far do you expect to
+go on your wheel, and do you travel alone?"
+
+"My only plan," I answered, "is to ride over the hills and far away!
+How far I really do not know; and I shall be alone except for this
+good companion." And as I said this I patted the handle-bar of my
+bicycle.
+
+"Your wheel does seem to be a sort of a companion," she said; "not so
+good as a horse, but better than nothing. I should think, travelling
+all by yourself in this way, you would have quite a friendly feeling
+for it. Did you ever think of giving it a name?"
+
+"Oh yes," said I. "I have named it. I call it a 'Bicycle of Cathay.'"
+
+"Is there any sense in such a name?" she asked. "It is like part of a
+quotation from Tennyson, isn't it? I forget the first of it."
+
+"You are right," I said. "'Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle
+of Cathay.' I cannot tell you exactly why, but that seems to suggest a
+good name for a bicycle."
+
+"But your machine has two wheels," said she. "Therefore you ought to
+say, 'Better one hundred years of Europe than two cycles of Cathay.'"
+
+"I bow to custom," said I. "Every one speaks of a bicycle as a wheel,
+and I shall not introduce the plural into the name of my good steed."
+
+"And you don't know where your Cathay is to be?" she asked.
+
+I smiled and shook my head. "No," I answered, "but I hope my cycle
+will carry me safely through it."
+
+The doctor's daughter looked past me across the road. "I wish I were a
+man," said she, "and could go off as I pleased, as you do! It must be
+delightfully independent."
+
+I was about to remark that too much independence is not altogether
+delightful, but she suddenly spoke:
+
+"You carry very little with you for a long journey," and as she said
+this she grasped the pickets of the gate more tightly. I could see the
+contraction of the muscles of her white hands. It seemed as if she
+were restraining something.
+
+"Oh, this isn't all my baggage," I replied. "I sent on a large bag to
+Waterton. I suppose I shall be there in a couple of days, and then I
+shall forward the bag to some other place."
+
+"I do not suppose you have packed up any medicine among your other
+things?" she asked. "You don't look as if you very often needed
+medicine."
+
+I laughed as I replied that in the course of my life I had taken but
+little.
+
+"But if your cycle starts off rolling early in the morning," she said,
+"or keeps on late in the evening, you ought to be able to defend
+yourself against malaria. I do not know what sort of a country Cathay
+may be, but I should not be a bit surprised if you found it full of
+mists and morning vapors. Malaria has a fancy for strong people, you
+know. Just wait here a minute, please," and with that she turned and
+ran into the house.
+
+I had liked the doctor's daughter ever since I had begun to know her,
+although at first I had found it a little hard to become acquainted
+with her.
+
+She was the treasurer of the literary society of the village, and I
+was its secretary. We had to work together sometimes, and I found her
+a very straightforward girl in her accounts and in every other way.
+
+In about a minute she returned, carrying a little pasteboard box.
+
+"Here are some one-grain quinine capsules," she said. "They have no
+taste, and I am quite sure that if you get into a low country it would
+be a good thing for you to take at least one of them every morning.
+People may have given you all sorts of things for your journey, but I
+do not believe any one has given you this." And she handed me the box
+over the top of the gate.
+
+I did not say that her practical little present was the only thing
+that anybody had given me, but I thanked her very heartily, and
+assured her that I would take one every time I thought I needed it.
+Then, as it seemed proper to do so, I straightened up my bicycle as if
+I would mount it. Again her fingers clutched the top of the two
+palings.
+
+"When father comes home," she said, "he will be sorry to find that he
+had not a chance to bid you good-bye. And, by-the-way," she added,
+quickly, "you know there will be one more meeting of the society. Did
+you write out any minutes for the last evening, and would you like me
+to read them for you?"
+
+"Upon my word!" I exclaimed. "I have forgotten all about it. I made
+some rough notes, but I have written nothing."
+
+"Well, it doesn't matter in the least," said she, quickly. "I remember
+everything that happened, and I will write the minutes and read them
+for you; that is, if you want me to."
+
+I assured her that nothing would please me better, and we talked a
+little about the minutes, after which I thought I ought not to keep
+her standing at the gate any longer. So I took leave of her, and we
+shook hands over the gate. This was the first time I had ever shaken
+hands with the doctor's daughter, for she was a reserved girl, and
+hitherto I had merely bowed to her.
+
+As I sped away down the street and out into the open country my heart
+was a good deal lighter than it had been when I began my journey. It
+was certainly pleasant to leave that village, which had been my home
+for the greater part of a year, without the feeling that there was no
+one in it who cared for me, even to the extent of a little box of
+quinine capsules.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A BAD TWIST
+
+
+It was about the middle of the afternoon that I found myself bowling
+along a smooth highway, bordered by trees and stretching itself almost
+upon a level far away into the distance. Had I been a scorcher, here
+would have been a chance to do a little record-breaking, for I was a
+powerful and practised wheelman. But I had no desire to be extravagant
+with my energies, and so contented myself with rolling steadily on at
+a speed moderate enough to allow me to observe the country I was
+passing through.
+
+There were not many people on the road, but at some distance ahead of
+me I saw a woman on a wheel. She was not going rapidly, and I was
+gaining on her. Suddenly, with no reason whatever that I could see,
+her machine gave a twist, and, although she put out her foot to save
+herself, she fell to the ground. Instantly I pushed forward to assist
+her, but before I could reach her she was on her feet. She made a step
+towards her bicycle, which lay in the middle of the road, and then she
+stopped and stood still. I saw that she was hurt, but I could not help
+a sort of inward smile. "It is the old way of the world," I thought.
+"Would the Fates have made that young woman fall from her bicycle if
+there had been two men coming along on their wheels?"
+
+As I jumped from my machine and approached her she turned her head and
+looked at me. She was a pale girl, and her face was troubled. When I
+asked her if she had hurt herself, she spoke to me without the
+slightest embarrassment or hesitation.
+
+"I twisted my foot in some way," she said, "and I do not know what I
+am going to do. It hurts me to make a step, and I am sure I cannot
+work my wheel."
+
+"Have you far to go?" I asked.
+
+"I live about two miles from here," she answered. "I do not think I
+have sprained my ankle, but it hurts. Perhaps, however, if I rest for
+a little while I may be able to walk."
+
+"I would not try to do that," said I. "Whatever has happened to your
+foot or ankle, you would certainly make it very much worse by walking
+such a distance. Perhaps I can ride on and get you a conveyance?"
+
+"You would have to go a long way to get one," she answered. "We do not
+keep a horse and I really--"
+
+"Don't trouble yourself in the least," I said. "I can take you to your
+home without any difficulty whatever. If you will mount your machine I
+can push you along very easily."
+
+"But then you would have to walk yourself," she said, quickly, "and
+push your wheel too."
+
+Of course it would not have been necessary for me to walk, for I could
+have ridden my bicycle and have pushed her along on her own, but under
+the circumstances I did not think it wise to risk this. So I accepted
+her suggestion of walking as if nothing else could be done.
+
+"Oh, I do not mind walking a bit," said I. "I am used to it, and as I
+have been riding for a long time, it would be a relief to me."
+
+She stood perfectly still, apparently afraid to move lest she should
+hurt her foot, but she raised her head and fixed a pair of very large
+blue eyes upon me. "It is too kind in you to offer to do this! But I
+do not see what else is to be done. But who is going to hold up my
+wheel while you help me to get on it?"
+
+"Oh, I will attend to all that," said I, and picking up her bicycle, I
+brought it to her. She made a little step towards it, and then
+stopped.
+
+"You mustn't do that," said I. "I will put you on." And holding her
+bicycle upright with my left hand, I put my right arm around her and
+lifted her to the seat. She was such a childlike, sensible young
+person that I did not think it necessary to ask any permission for
+this action, nor even to allude to its necessity.
+
+"Now you might guide yourself with the handle-bar," I said. "Please
+steer over to that tree where I have left my machine." I easily pushed
+her over to the tree, and when I had laid hold of my bicycle with my
+left hand, we slowly proceeded along the smooth road.
+
+"I think you would better take your feet from the pedals," said I,
+"and put them on the coasters--the motion must hurt you. It is better
+to have your injured foot raised, anyway, as that will keep the blood
+from running down into it and giving you more pain."
+
+She instantly adopted my suggestion, and presently said, "That is a
+great deal more pleasant, and I am sure it is better for my foot to
+keep it still. I do hope I haven't sprained my ankle! It is possible
+to give a foot a bad twist without spraining it, isn't it?"
+
+I assented, and as I did so I thought it would not be difficult to
+give a bad twist to any part of this slenderly framed young creature.
+
+"How did you happen to fall?" I asked--not that I needed to inquire,
+for my own knowledge of wheelcraft assured me that she had tumbled
+simply because she did not know how to ride.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea," she answered. "The first thing I knew
+I was going over, and I wish I had not tried to save myself. It would
+have been better to go down bodily."
+
+As we went on she told me that she had not had much practice, as it
+had been but a few weeks since she had become the possessor of a
+wheel, and that this was the first trip she had ever taken by herself.
+She had always gone in company with some one, but to-day she had
+thought she was able to take care of herself, like other girls.
+Finding her so entirely free from conventional embarrassment, I made
+bold to give her a little advice on the subject of wheeling in
+general, and she seemed entirely willing to be instructed. In fact, as
+I went on with my little discourse I began to think that I would much
+rather teach girls than boys. At first sight the young person under
+my charge might have been taken for a school-girl, but her
+conversation would have soon removed that illusion.
+
+We had not proceeded more than a mile when suddenly I felt a very
+gentle tap on the end of my nose, and at the same moment the young
+lady turned her head towards me and exclaimed: "It's going to rain! I
+felt a drop!"
+
+"I will walk faster," I said, "and no doubt I will get you to your
+house before the shower is upon us. At any rate, I hope you won't be
+much wet."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't matter about me in the least," she said. "I shall be
+at home and can put on dry clothes, but you will be soaked through and
+have to go on. You haven't any coat on!"
+
+If I had known there was any probability of rain I should have put on
+my coat before I started out on this somewhat unusual method of
+travelling, but there was no help for it now, and all I could do was
+to hurry on. From walking fast I began to trot. The drops were coming
+down quite frequently.
+
+"Won't that tire you dreadfully?" she said.
+
+"Not at all," I replied. "I could run like this for a long distance."
+
+[Illustration: "I PUT ON MY COAT"]
+
+She looked up at me with a little smile. I think she must have
+forgotten the pain in her foot.
+
+"It must be nice to be strong like that," she said.
+
+Now the rain came down faster, and my companion declared that I ought
+to stop and put on my coat. I agreed to this, and when I came to a
+suitable tree by the road-side, I carefully leaned her against it and
+detached my coat from my bicycle. But just as I was about to put it on
+I glanced at the young girl. She had on a thin shirt-waist, and I
+could see that the shoulders of it were already wet. I advanced
+towards her, holding out my coat. "I must lay this over you," I said.
+"I am afraid now that I shall not get you to your home before it
+begins to rain hard."
+
+She turned to me so suddenly that I made ready to catch her if her
+unguarded movement should overturn her machine. "You mustn't do that
+at all!" she said. "It doesn't matter whether I am wet or not. I do
+not have to travel in wet clothes, and you do. Please put on your coat
+and let us hurry!"
+
+I obeyed her, and away we went again, the rain now coming down hard
+and fast. For some minutes she did not say anything; but I did not
+wonder at this, for circumstances were not favorable to conversation.
+But presently, in spite of the rain and our haste, she spoke:
+
+"It must seem dreadfully ungrateful and hard-hearted in me to say to
+you, after all you have done for me, that you must go on in the rain.
+Anybody would think that I ought to ask you to come into our house and
+wait until the storm is over. But, really, I do not see how I can do
+it."
+
+I urged her not for a moment to think of me. I was hardy, and did not
+mind rain, and when I was mounted upon my wheel the exercise would
+keep me warm enough until I reached a place of shelter.
+
+"I do not like it," she said. "It is cruel and inhuman, and nothing
+you can say will make it any better. But the fact is that I find
+myself in a very--Well, I do not know what to say about it. You are
+the school-teacher at Walford, are you not?"
+
+This question surprised me, and I assented quickly, wondering what
+would come next.
+
+"I thought so," she said. "I have seen you on the road on your wheel,
+and some one told me who you were. And now, since you have been so
+kind to me, I am going to tell you exactly why I cannot ask you to
+stop at our house. Everything is all wrong there to-day, and if I
+don't explain what has happened, you might think that things are
+worse than they really are, and I wouldn't want anybody to think
+that."
+
+[Illustration: "THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN HARD"]
+
+I listened with great attention, for I saw that she was anxious to
+free herself of the imputation of being inhospitable, and although the
+heavy rain and my rapid pace made it sometimes difficult to catch her
+words, I lost very little of her story.
+
+"You see," said she, "my father is very fond of gardening, and he
+takes great pride in his vegetables, especially the early ones. He has
+peas this year ahead of everybody else in the neighborhood, and it was
+only day before yesterday that he took me out to look at them. He has
+been watching them ever since they first came up out of the ground,
+and when he showed me the nice big pods and told me they would be
+ready to pick in a day or two, he looked so proud and happy that you
+might have thought his peas were little living people. I truly believe
+that even at prayer-time he could not help thinking how good those
+peas would taste.
+
+"But this morning when he came in from the garden and told mother that
+he was going to pick our first peas, so as to have them perfectly
+fresh for dinner, she said that he would better not pick them to-day,
+because the vegetable man had been along just after breakfast, and he
+had had such nice green peas that she had bought some, and therefore
+he had better keep his peas for some other day.
+
+"Now, I don't want you to think that mother isn't just as good as
+gold, for she is. But she doesn't take such interest in garden things
+as father does, and to her all peas are peas, provided they are good
+ones. But when father heard what she had done I know that he felt
+exactly as if he had been stabbed in one of his tenderest places. He
+did not say one word, and he walked right out of the house, and since
+that they haven't spoken to each other. It was dreadful to sit at
+dinner, neither of them saying a word to the other, and only speaking
+to me. It was all so different from the way things generally are that
+I can scarcely bear it.
+
+"And I went out this afternoon for no other reason than to give them a
+chance to make it up between them. I thought perhaps they would do it
+better if they were alone with each other. But of course I do not know
+what has happened, and things may be worse than they were. I could not
+take a stranger into the house at such a time--they would not like to
+be found not speaking to each other--and, besides, I do not know--"
+
+Here I interrupted her, and begged her not to give another thought to
+the subject. I wanted very much to go on, and in every way it was the
+best thing I could do.
+
+As I finished speaking she pointed out a pretty house standing back
+from the road, and told me that was where she lived. In a very few
+minutes after that I had run her up to the steps of her piazza and was
+assisting her to dismount from her wheel.
+
+"It is awful!" she said. "This rain is coming down like a cataract!"
+
+"You must hurry in-doors," I answered. "Let me help you up the steps."
+And with this I took hold of her under the arms, and in a second I had
+set her down in front of the closed front door. I then ran down and
+brought up her wheel. "Do you think you can manage to walk in?" said
+I.
+
+"Oh yes!" she said. "If I can't do anything else, I can hop. My mother
+will soon have me all right. She knows all about such things."
+
+She looked at me with an anxious expression, and then said, "How do
+you think it would do for you to wait on the piazza until the rain is
+over?"
+
+"Good-bye," I said, with a laugh, and bounding down to the front
+gate, where I had left my bicycle, I mounted and rode away.
+
+The rain came down harder and harder. The road was full of little
+running streams, and liquid mud flew from under my whirling wheels. It
+was not late in the afternoon, but it was actually getting dark, and I
+seemed to be the only living creature out in this tremendous storm. I
+looked from side to side for some place into which I could run for
+shelter, but here the road ran between broad open fields. My coat had
+ceased to protect me, and I could feel the water upon my skin.
+
+But in spite of my discomforts and violent exertions I found myself
+under the influence of some very pleasurable emotions, occasioned by
+the incident of the slender girl. Her childlike frankness was charming
+to me. There was not another girl in a thousand who would have told me
+that story of the peas. I felt glad that she had known who I was when
+she was talking to me, and that her simple confidences had been given
+to me personally, and not to an entire stranger who had happened
+along. I wondered if she resembled her father or her mother, and I had
+no doubt that to possess such a daughter they must both be excellent
+people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+
+
+Thinking thus, I almost forgot the storm, but coming to a slight
+descent where the road was very smooth I became conscious that my
+wheel was inclined to slip, and if I were not careful I might come to
+grief. But no sooner had I reached the bottom of the declivity than I
+beheld on my right a lighted doorway. Without the slightest hesitation
+I turned through the wide gateway, the posts of which I could scarcely
+see, and stopped in front of a small house by the side of a driveway.
+Waiting for no permission, I carried my bicycle into a little covered
+porch. I then approached the door, for I was now seeking not only
+shelter but an opportunity to dry myself. I do not believe a sponge
+could have been more thoroughly soaked than I was.
+
+At the very entrance I was met by a little man in short jacket and
+top-boots.
+
+"I heard your step," said he. "Been caught in the rain, eh? Well, this
+is a storm! And now what're we going to do? You must come in. But
+you're in a pretty mess, I must say! Hi, Maria!"
+
+At these words a large, fresh-looking woman came into the little hall.
+
+"Maria," said the man, "here's a gentleman that's pretty nigh drowned,
+and he's dripping puddles big enough to swim in."
+
+The woman smiled. "Really, sir," said she, "you've had a hard time.
+Wheeling, I suppose. It's an awful time to be out. It's so dark that I
+lighted a lamp to make things look a little cheery. But you must come
+in until the rain is over, and try and dry yourself."
+
+"But how about the hall, Maria?" said the man. "There'll be a dreadful
+slop!"
+
+"Oh, I'll make that all right," she said. She disappeared, and quickly
+returned with a couple of rugs, which she laid, wrong side up, on the
+polished floor of the hallway. "Now you can step on those, sir, and
+come into the kitchen. There's a fire there."
+
+I thanked her, and presently found myself before a large stove, on
+which it was evident, from the odors, that supper was preparing. In a
+certain way the heat was grateful, but in less than a minute I was
+bound to admit to myself that I felt as if I were enveloped in a vast
+warm poultice. The little man and his wife--if wife she were, for she
+looked big enough to be his mother, and young enough to be his
+daughter--stood talking in the hall, and I could hear every word they
+said.
+
+[Illustration: "ON MY RIGHT A LIGHTED DOORWAY"]
+
+"It's of no use for him to try to dry himself," she said, "for he's
+wet to the bone. He must change his clothes, and hang those he's got
+on before the fire."
+
+"Change his clothes!" exclaimed the man. "How ever can he do that?
+I've nothing that'll fit him, and of course he has brought nothing
+along with him."
+
+"Never you mind," said she. "Something's got to be got. Take him into
+the little chamber. And don't consider the floor; that can be wiped
+up."
+
+She came into the kitchen and spoke to me. "You must come and change
+your clothes," she said. "You'll catch your death of cold, else.
+You're the school-master from Walford, I think, sir? Indeed, I'm sure
+of it, for I've seen you on your wheel."
+
+Smiling at the idea that through the instrumentality of my bicycle I
+had been making myself known to the people of the surrounding
+country, I followed the man into a small bed-chamber on the
+ground-floor.
+
+"Now," said he, "the quicker you get off your wet clothes and give
+yourself a good rub-down the better it will be for you. And I'll go
+and see what I can do in the way of something for you to put on."
+
+I asked him to bring me the bag from my bicycle, and after doing so he
+left me.
+
+Very soon I heard talking outside of my door, and as both my
+entertainers had clear, high voices, I could hear distinctly what they
+said.
+
+"Go get him the corduroys," said she. "He's a well-made man, but he's
+no bigger than your father was."
+
+"The corduroys?" he said, somewhat doubtfully, I thought.
+
+"Yes," she replied. "Go get them! I should be glad to have them put to
+some use."
+
+"But what for a coat?" said he. "There's nothing in the house that he
+could get on."
+
+"That's true," said she. "But he must have something. You can get him
+the Duke's dressing-gown."
+
+"What!" exclaimed the man. "You don't mean--"
+
+"Yes, I do mean," said she. "It's big enough for anybody, and it'll
+keep him from ketching cold. Go fetch it!"
+
+In a short time there was a knock at my door, and the little man
+handed me in a pair of yellow corduroy trousers and a large and gaudy
+dressing-gown. "There!" said he. "They'll keep you warm until your own
+clothes dry."
+
+With a change of linen from my bag, which had fortunately kept its
+contents dry, the yellow trousers, and a wonderful dressing-gown, made
+of some blue stuff embroidered with gold and lined throughout with
+crimson satin, I made a truly gorgeous appearance. But it struck me
+that it would be rather startling to a beholder were I to appear
+barefooted in such raiment, for my shoes and stockings were as wet as
+the rest of my clothes. I had not finished dressing before the little
+man knocked again, this time with some gray socks and a pair of
+embroidered slippers.
+
+"These'll fit you, I think," said he, "for I'll lay you ten shillings
+that I'm as big in the feet as you are."
+
+I would have been glad to gaze at myself in a full-length mirror, but
+there was no opportunity for the indulgence of such vanity; and before
+leaving the room I sat down for a moment to give a few thoughts to
+the situation. My mind first reverted to the soaked condition of my
+garments and the difficulty of getting them dry enough for me to put
+them on and continue my journey. Then I found that I had dropped the
+subject and was thinking of the slender girl, wondering if she had
+really hurt herself very much, congratulating myself that I had been
+fortunate enough to be on hand to help her in her need, and
+considering what a plight she would have been in if she had been
+caught in that terrible rain and utterly unable to get herself to
+shelter.
+
+Suddenly I stopped short in my thinking, and going to my bag I took
+from it the little box of quinine capsules which had been given to me
+by the doctor's daughter, and promptly proceeded to swallow one of
+them.
+
+"It may be of service to me," I said to myself.
+
+When I made my appearance in the hallway I met the little man, who
+immediately burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Lord, sir!" said he. "You must excuse me, but you look like a king on
+a lark! Walk into the parlor, sir, and sit down and make yourself
+comfortable. She's hurrying up supper to give you something warm after
+your wettin'. Would you like a little nip of whiskey, sir, to keep
+the damp out?"
+
+[Illustration: A Few Thoughts]
+
+I declined the whiskey, and seated myself in the neatly-furnished
+parlor. It was wonderful, I thought, to fall into such a hospitable
+household, and then I began to ask myself whether or not it would be
+the proper thing to offer to pay for my entertainment. I thought I had
+quite properly divined the position in life of the little man. This
+small house, so handsomely built and neatly kept, must be a lodge upon
+some fine country place, and the man was probably the head gardener,
+or something of the kind.
+
+It was not long before my hostess came into the room, but she did not
+laugh at my appearance. She was a handsome woman, erect and broad,
+with a free and powerful step. She smiled as she spoke to me.
+
+"You may think that that's an over-handsome gown for such as us to be
+owning. It was given to my man by the Duke of Radford. That was before
+we were married, and he was an undergardener then. The Duchess
+wouldn't let the Duke wear it, because it was so gay, and there wasn't
+none of the servants that would care to take it, for fear they'd be
+laughed at, until they offered it to John. And John, you must know,
+he'd take anything! But I came in to tell you supper's ready; and, if
+you like, I'll bring you something in here, and you can eat it on that
+table, or--"
+
+Here I interrupted my good hostess, and declared that, while I should
+be glad to have some supper, I would not eat any unless I might sit
+down with her husband and herself; and, as this proposition seemed to
+please her, the three of us were soon seated around a very tastefully
+furnished table in a dining-room looking out upon a pretty lawn. The
+rain had now almost ceased, and from the window I could see beautiful
+stretches of grass, interspersed with ornamental trees and
+flower-beds.
+
+The meal was plain but abundant, with an appetizing smell pervading it
+which is seldom noticed in connection with the tables of the rich.
+When we had finished supper I found that the skies had nearly cleared
+and that it was growing quite light again. I asked permission to step
+out upon a little piazza which opened from the dining-room and smoke a
+pipe, and while I was sitting there enjoying the beauty of the
+sunlight on the sparkling grass and trees I again heard the little man
+and his wife talking to each other.
+
+"It can't be done," said he, speaking very positively. "I've orders
+about that, and there's no getting round them."
+
+"It's got to be done!" said she, "and there's an end of it! The
+clothes won't be dry until morning, and it won't do to put them too
+near the stove, or they'll shrink so he can't get them on. And he
+can't go away to hunt up lodgings wearing the Duke's dressing-gown and
+them yellow breeches!"
+
+"Orders is orders," said the man, "and unless I get special leave, it
+can't be done."
+
+"Well, then, go and get special leave," said she, "and don't stand
+there talking about it!"
+
+There was no doubt that my lodging that night was the subject of this
+conversation, but I had no desire to interfere with the good
+intentions of my hostess. I must stay somewhere until my clothes were
+dry, and I should be glad to stop in my present comfortable quarters.
+
+So I sat still and smoked, and very soon I heard the big shoes of the
+little man grating upon the gravel as he walked rapidly away from the
+house. Now came the good woman out upon the piazza to ask me if I had
+found my tobacco dry. "Because if it's damp," said she, "my man has
+some very good 'baccy in his jar."
+
+I assured her that my pouch had kept dry; and then, as she seemed
+inclined to talk, I begged her to sit down if she did not mind the
+pipe. Down she sat, and steadily she talked. She congratulated herself
+on her happy thought to light the hall lamp, or I might never have
+noticed the house in the darkness, and she would have been sorry
+enough if I had had to keep on the road for another half-hour in that
+dreadful rain.
+
+On she talked in the most cheerful and communicative way, until
+suddenly she rose with a start. "He's coming himself, sir!" she said,
+"with Miss Putney."
+
+"Who is 'he'?" I asked.
+
+"It's the master, sir Mr. Putney, and his daughter. Just stay here
+where you are, sir, and make yourself comfortable. I'll go and speak
+to them."
+
+Left to myself, I knocked out my pipe and sat wondering what would
+happen next. A thing happened which surprised me very much. Upon a
+path which ran in front of the little piazza there appeared two
+persons--one, an elderly gentleman, with gray side-whiskers and a pale
+face, attired in clothes with such an appearance of newness that it
+might well have been supposed this was the first time he had worn
+them; the other, a young lady, rather small in stature, but
+extremely pleasant to look upon. She had dark hair and large blue
+eyes; her complexion was rich, and her dress of light silk was
+wonderfully well shaped.
+
+[Illustration: "The beauty of her teeth"]
+
+All this I saw at a glance, and immediately afterwards I also
+perceived that she had most beautiful teeth; for when she beheld me as
+I rose from my chair and stood in my elevated position before her she
+could not restrain a laugh; but for this apparent impoliteness I did
+not blame her at all.
+
+But not so much as a smile came upon the countenance of the elderly
+gentleman. He, too, was small, but he had a deep voice. "Good-evening,
+sir," said he. "I am told that you are the school-master at Walford,
+and that you were overtaken by the storm."
+
+I assured him that these were the facts, and stood waiting to hear
+what he would say next.
+
+"It was very proper indeed, sir, that my gardener and his wife should
+take you under the protection of this roof, but as I hear that it is
+proposed that you should spend the night here, I have come down to
+speak about it. I will tell you at once, sir, that I have given my man
+the most positive orders that he is not to allow any one to spend a
+night in this house. It is so conveniently near to the road that I
+should not know what sort of persons were being entertained here if I
+allowed him any such privilege."
+
+As he spoke the young lady stood silently gazing at me. There was a
+remnant of a smile upon her face, but I could also see that she was a
+little annoyed. I was about to make some sort of an independent answer
+to the gentleman's remarks, but he anticipated me.
+
+"I do not want you to think, sir, on account of what I have said, that
+I intend to drive you off my property at this hour of the evening, and
+in your inappropriate clothing. I have heard of you, sir, and you
+occupy a position of trust and, to a certain degree, of honor, in your
+village. Therefore, while I cannot depart from my rule--for I wish to
+make no precedent of that kind--I will ask you to spend the night at
+my house. You need not be annoyed by the peculiarity of your attire.
+If you desire to avoid observation you can remain here until it grows
+darker, and then you can walk up to the mansion. I shall have a
+bed-room prepared for you, and whenever you choose you can occupy it.
+I have been informed that you have had something to eat, and it is as
+well, for perhaps your dress would prevent you from accepting an
+invitation to our evening meal."
+
+I still held my brier-wood pipe in my hand, and I felt inclined to
+hurl it at the dapper head of the consequential little gentleman, but
+with such a girl standing by it would have been impossible to treat
+him with any disrespect, and as I looked at him I felt sure that his
+apparent superciliousness was probably the result of too much money
+and too little breeding.
+
+The young lady said nothing, but she turned and looked steadily at her
+father. Her countenance was probably in the habit of very promptly
+expressing the state of her mind, and it now seemed to say to her
+father, "I hope that what you have said will not make him decline what
+you offer!"
+
+My irritation quickly disappeared. I had now entered into my Cathay,
+and I must take things as I found them there. As I could not stay
+where I was, and could not continue my journey, it would be a sensible
+thing to overlook the man's manner and accept his offer, and I
+accordingly did so. I think he was pleased more than he cared to
+express.
+
+"Very good, sir!" said he. "As soon as it grows a little darker I
+shall be glad to have you walk up to my house. As I said before, I am
+sure you would not care to do so now, as you might provoke remarks
+even from the servants. Good-evening, sir, until I see you again."
+
+During all this time the young lady had not spoken, but as the two
+disappeared around the corner of the house I heard her voice. She
+spoke very clearly and distinctly, and she said, "It would have been a
+great deal more gracious if you had asked him to come at once, without
+all that----" The rest of her remarks were lost to me.
+
+The little man and his wife presently came out on the porch. Her
+countenance expressed a sort of resignation to thwarted hospitality.
+
+"It's the way of the world, sir!" she said. "The ups are always up and
+the downs are always down! I expect they will be glad to have company
+at the house, for it must be dreadfully lonely up there--which might
+be said of this house as well."
+
+It soon became dark enough for me to walk through the grounds without
+hurting the sensibilities of their proprietor, and as I arose to go
+the good wife of the gardener brought me my cap.
+
+"I dried that out for you, sir, for I knew you would want it, and
+to-morrow morning my man will take your clothes up to the house."
+
+I thanked her for her thoughtful kindness, and was about to depart,
+but the little man was not quite ready for me to go.
+
+"If you don't mind, sir," said he, "and would step back there in the
+light just for one minute, I would like to take another look at you. I
+don't suppose I'll ever see anybody again wearing the Duke's
+dressing-gown. By George, sir, you do look real royal!"
+
+His wife looked at me admiringly. "Yes, sir," said she, "and I wish it
+was the fashion for gentlemen to dress something like that every day.
+But I will say, sir, that if you don't want people to be staring at
+you, and will just wrap that gown round you so that the lining won't
+be seen, you won't look so much out of the way."
+
+As I walked along the smooth, hard driveway I adopted the suggestion
+of the gardener's wife; but as I approached the house, and saw that
+even the broad piazza was lighted by electric lamps, I was seized with
+the fancy to appear in all my glory, and I allowed my capacious robe
+to float out on each side of me in crimson brightness.
+
+The gentleman stood at the top of the steps. "I have been waiting for
+you, sir," said he. He looked as if he were about to offer me his
+hand, but probably considered this an unnecessary ceremony under the
+circumstances. "Would you like to retire to your room, sir, or would
+you prefer--prefer sitting out here to enjoy the cool of the evening?
+Here are chairs and seats, sir, of all variety of comfort. My family
+and I frequently sit out here in the evenings, but to-night the air is
+a little damp."
+
+I assured the gentleman that the air suited me very well, and that I
+would prefer not to retire so early; and so, not caring any longer to
+stand in front of the lighted doorway, I walked to one end of the
+piazza and took a seat.
+
+"We haven't yet--that is to say, we are still at the table," he
+remarked, as he followed me; "but if there is anything that you would
+like to have, I should be--"
+
+I interrupted him by declaring that I had supped heartily and did not
+want for anything in the world, and then, with some sort of an
+inarticulate excuse, he left me. I knew very well that this nervously
+correct personage had jumped up from his dinner in order that he might
+meet me at the door and thus prevent my unconventional attire from
+shocking any of the servants.
+
+It was very quiet and pleasant on the piazza, but, although I could
+hear that a great deal of talking was going on inside, no words came
+to me. In a short time, however, a man-servant in livery came out
+upon the piazza and approached me with a tray on which were a cup of
+coffee and some cigars. I could not refrain from smiling as I saw the
+man.
+
+"The old fellow has been forced to conquer his prejudices," I said to
+myself, "and to submit to the mortification of allowing me to be seen
+by his butler!"
+
+I think, however, that even had the master been regarding us he would
+have seen no reason for mortification in the manner of his servant.
+The man was extremely polite and attentive, suggesting various
+refreshments, such as wine and biscuits, and I never was treated by a
+lackey with more respect.
+
+Leaning back in a comfortable chair, I sipped my coffee and puffed
+away at a perfectly delightful Havana cigar. "Cathay is not a bad
+place," said I, to myself. "Its hospitality is a little queer, but as
+to gorgeousness, luxury, and----" I was about to add another quality
+when my mind was diverted by a light step on the piazza, and, turning
+my head, I beheld the young lady I had seen before. Instantly I rose
+and laid aside my cigar.
+
+"Please do not disturb yourself," she said. "I simply came out to give
+a little message from my father. Sit down again, and I will take this
+seat for a moment. My father's health is delicate," she said, "and we
+do not like him to be out in the night air, especially after a rain.
+So I came in his stead to tell you that if you would like to come into
+the house you must do so without the slightest hesitation, because my
+mother and I do not mind that dressing-gown any more than if it were
+an ordinary coat. We are very glad to have the opportunity of
+entertaining you, for we know some people in Walford--not very many,
+but some--and we have heard you and your school spoken of very
+highly. So we want you to make yourself perfectly at home, and come in
+or sit out here, just as your own feelings in regard to extraordinary
+fine clothes shall prompt you."
+
+At this she reassured me as to the beauty of her teeth. "As long as
+you will sit out here," said I, to myself, "there will be no in-doors
+for me."
+
+She seemed to read my thoughts, and said: "If you will go on with your
+smoking, I will wait and ask you some things about Walford. I dearly
+love the smell of a good cigar, and father never smokes. He always
+keeps them, however, in case of gentlemen visitors."
+
+She then went on to talk about some Walford people, and asked me if I
+knew Mary Talbot. I replied in the affirmative, for Miss Talbot was a
+member of our literary society, and the young lady informed me that
+Mary Talbot had a brother in my school--a fact of which I was aware to
+my sorrow--and it was on account of this brother that she had first
+happened to see me.
+
+"See me!" I exclaimed, with surprise.
+
+"Yes," said she. "I drove over to the village one day this spring, and
+Mary and I were walking past your school-house, and the door was wide
+open, for it was so warm, and we stopped so that Mary might point out
+her brother to me; and so, as we were looking in, of course I saw
+you."
+
+"And you recognized me," I said, "when you saw me at the gardener's
+house?"
+
+"We call that the lodge," said she. "Not that I care in the least what
+name you give it. And while we are on a personal subject, I want to
+ask you to excuse me for laughing at you when I first saw you in that
+astounding garb. It was very improper, I know, but the apparition was
+so sudden I could not help it."
+
+I had never met a young lady so thoroughly self-contained as this one.
+None of the formalities of society had been observed in regard to our
+acquaintance with each other, but she talked with me with such an easy
+grace and with such a gentle assurance that there was no need of
+introduction or presentation; I felt acquainted with her on the spot.
+I had no doubt that her exceptionally gracious demeanor was due to the
+fact that nobody else in the house seemed inclined to be gracious, and
+she felt hospitality demanded that something of the kind should be
+offered me by some one of the family.
+
+We talked together for some minutes longer, and then, apparently
+hearing something in the house which I did not notice, she rose rather
+abruptly.
+
+"I must go in," she said; "but don't you stay out here a second longer
+than you want to."
+
+She had left me but a very short time when her father came out on the
+piazza, his coat buttoned up nearly to his chin. "I have been
+detained, sir," he said, "by a man who came to see me on business. I
+cannot remain with you out here, for the air affects me; but if you
+will come in, sir, I shall be glad to have you do so, without regard
+to your appearance. My wife is not strong and she has retired, and if
+it pleases you I shall be very glad to have you tell me something of
+your duties and success in Walford. Or, if you are fatigued, your
+room is ready for you, and my man will show you to it."
+
+I snatched at the relief held out to me. To sit in the company of that
+condescending prig, to bore him and to be bored by him, was a doleful
+grievance I did not wish to inflict upon myself, and I eagerly
+answered that the day had been a long and hard one, and that I would
+be glad to go to bed.
+
+This was an assertion which was doubly false, for I was not in the
+least tired or sleepy; and just as I had made the statement and was
+entering the hall I saw that the young lady was standing at the parlor
+door; but it was too late now for me to change my mind.
+
+"Brownster," said Mr. Putney to his butler, "will you give this
+gentleman a candle and show him to his room?"
+
+Brownster quietly bowed, and stepping to a table in the corner, on
+which stood some brass bed-room candlesticks, he lighted one of the
+candles and stood waiting.
+
+The gentleman moved towards his daughter, and then he stopped and
+turned to me. "We have breakfast," he said, "at half-past eight But if
+that is too late for you," he added, with a certain hesitation, "you
+can have--"
+
+At this moment I distinctly saw his daughter punch him with her elbow,
+and as I had no desire to make an early start, and wished very much to
+enjoy a good breakfast in Cathay, I quickly declared that I was in no
+hurry, and that the family breakfast hour would suit me perfectly.
+
+The young lady disappeared into the parlor, and I moved towards the
+butler; but my host, probably thinking that he had not been quite as
+attentive to me as his station demanded, or wishing to let me see what
+a fine house he possessed, stepped up to me and asked me to look into
+the billiard-room, the door of which I was about to pass. After some
+remarks of deprecatory ostentation, in which he informed me that in
+building his house he thought only of comfort and convenience, and
+nothing of show, he carelessly invited my attention to the
+drawing-room, the library, the music-room, and the little
+sitting-room, all of which were furnished with as much stiffness and
+hardness and inharmonious coloring as money could command.
+
+When we had finished the round of these rooms he made me a bow as
+stiff as one of his white and gold chairs, and I followed the butler
+up the staircase. The man with the light preceded me into a room on
+the second floor, and just as I was about to enter after him I saw the
+young lady come around a corner of the hall with a lighted candle in
+her hand.
+
+[Illustration: "I kicked off my embroidered slippers"]
+
+"Good-night," she said, with a smile so charming that I wanted to stop
+and tell her something about Mary Talbot's brother; but she passed on,
+and I went into my room.
+
+It seemed perfectly ridiculous to me that people should carry around
+bed-room candles in a house lighted from top to bottom by electricity,
+but I had no doubt that this was one of the ultra-conventional customs
+from which the dapper gentleman would not allow his family to depart.
+I did not believe for a moment that his daughter would conform to such
+nonsense except to please her parent.
+
+The softly moving and attentive Brownster put the candle on the table,
+blew it out, and touched a button, thereby lighting up a very
+handsomely furnished room. Then, after performing every possible
+service for me, with a bow he left me. Throwing myself into a great
+easy chair, I kicked off my embroidered slippers and put my feet upon
+another chair gay with satin stripes. Raising my eyes, I saw in front
+of me a handsome mirror extending from the floor nearly to the
+ceiling, and at the magnificent personage which therein met my gaze I
+could not help laughing aloud.
+
+I rose, stood before the mirror, folded my gorgeous gown around me,
+spread it out, contrasting the crimson glory of its lining with the
+golden yellow of my trousers, and wondered in my soul how that
+exceedingly handsome girl with the bright eyes could have controlled
+her risibilities as she sat with me on the piazza. I could see that
+she had a wonderful command of herself, but this exercise of it seemed
+superhuman.
+
+I walked around the sumptuously furnished chamber, looking at the
+pictures and bric-à-brac; I wondered that the master of the house was
+willing to put me in a room like this--I had expected a hall bed-room,
+at the best; I sat down by an open window, for it was very early yet
+and I did not want to go to bed, but I had scarcely seated myself when
+I heard a tap at the door. I could not have explained it, but this tap
+made me jump, and I went to the door and opened it instead of calling
+out. There stood the butler, with a tray in his hand on which was a
+decanter of wine, biscuits, cheese, and some cigars.
+
+"It's so early, sir," said Brownster, "that she said--I mean, sir, I
+thought that you might like something to eat, and if you want to enjoy
+a cigar before retiring, as many gentlemen do, you need not mind
+smoking here. These rooms are so well ventilated, sir, that every
+particle of odor will be out in no time." Placing the tray upon a
+table, he retired.
+
+[Illustration: "IT WOULD BE WELL FOR ME TO SWALLOW A CAPSULE"]
+
+For an hour or more I sat sipping my wine, puffing smoke into rings,
+and allowing my mind to dwell pleasingly upon the situation, the most
+prominent feature of which seemed to me to be a young lady with bright
+eyes and white teeth, and dressed in a perfectly-fitting gown.
+
+When at last I thought I ought to go to bed, I stood and gazed at my
+little valise. I had left it on the porch and had totally forgotten
+it, but here it was upon a table, where it had been placed, no doubt,
+by the thoughtful Brownster. I opened it and took out the box of
+capsules. I did not feel that I had taken cold in the night air; this
+was not a time to protect myself against morning mists; but still I
+thought it would be well for me to swallow a capsule, and I did so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A BIT OF ADVICE
+
+
+The next morning I awoke about seven o'clock. My clothes, neatly
+brushed and folded, were on a chair near the bed, with my
+brightly-blackened shoes near by. I rose, quickly dressed myself, and
+went forth into the morning air. I met no one in the house, and the
+hall door was open. For an hour or more I walked about the beautiful
+grounds. Sometimes I wandered near the house, among the flower-beds
+and shrubs; sometimes I followed the winding path to a considerable
+distance; occasionally I sat down in a covered arbor; and then I
+sought the shade of a little grove, in which there were hammocks and
+rustic chairs. But I met no one, and I saw no one except some men
+working near the stables. I would have been glad to go down to the
+lodge and say "Good-morning" to my kind entertainers there, but for
+some reason or other it struck me that that neat little house was too
+much out of the way.
+
+When I had had enough walking I retired to the piazza and sat there,
+until Brownster, with a bow, came and informed me that breakfast was
+served.
+
+The young lady, in the freshest of summer costumes, met me at the door
+and bade me "Good-morning," but the greeting of her father was not by
+any means cordial, although his manner had lost some of the stiff
+condescension which had sat so badly upon him the evening before. The
+mother was a very pleasant little lady of few words and a general air
+which indicated an intimate acquaintance with back seats.
+
+The breakfast was a remarkably good one. When the meal was over, Mr.
+Putney walked with me into the hall. "I must now ask you to excuse me,
+sir," said he, "as this is the hour when I receive my manager and
+arrange with him for the varied business of the day. Good-morning,
+sir. I wish you a very pleasant journey." And, barely giving me a
+chance to thank him for his entertainment, he disappeared into the
+back part of the house.
+
+The young lady was standing at the front of the hall. "Won't you
+please come in," she said, "and see mother? She wants to talk to you
+about Walford."
+
+I found the little lady in a small room opening from the parlor, and
+also, to my great surprise, I found her extremely talkative and
+chatty. She asked me so many questions that I had little chance to
+answer them, and she told me a great deal more about Walford and its
+people and citizens than I had learned during my nine months'
+residence in the village. I was very glad to give her an opportunity
+of talking, which was a pleasure, I imagined, she did not often enjoy;
+but as I saw no signs of her stopping, I was obliged to rise and take
+leave of her.
+
+The young lady accompanied me into the hall. "I must get my valise," I
+said, "and then I must be off. And I assure you--"
+
+"No, do not trouble yourself about your valise," she interrupted.
+"Brownster will attend to that--he will take it down to the lodge.
+And as to your gorgeous raiment, he will see that that is all properly
+returned to its owners."
+
+I picked up my cap, and she walked with me out upon the piazza. "I
+suppose you saw everything on our place," she asked, "when you were
+walking about this morning?"
+
+A little surprised, I answered that I had seen a good deal, but I did
+not add that I had not found what I was looking for.
+
+"We have all sorts of hot-houses and green-houses," she said, "but
+they are not very interesting at this time of the year, otherwise I
+would ask you to walk through them before you go." She then went on to
+tell me that a little building which she pointed out was a
+mushroom-house. "And you will think it strange that it should be there
+when I tell you that not one of our family likes mushrooms or ever
+tastes one. But the manager thinks that we ought to grow mushrooms,
+and so we do it."
+
+As she was talking, the thought came to me that there were some people
+who might consider this young lady a little forward in her method of
+entertaining a comparative stranger, but I dismissed this idea. With
+such a peculiarly constituted family it was perhaps necessary for her
+to put herself forward, in regard, at least, to the expression of
+hospitality.
+
+"One thing I must show you," she said, suddenly, "and that is the
+orchid-house! Are you fond of orchids?"
+
+"Under certain circumstances," I said, unguardedly, "I could be fond
+of apple-cores." As soon as I had spoken these words I would have
+been glad to recall them, but they seemed to make no impression
+whatever on her.
+
+We walked to the orchid-house, we went through it, and she explained
+all its beauties, its singularities, and its rarities. When we came
+out again, I asked myself: "Is she in the habit of doing all this to
+chance visitors? Would she treat a Brown or a Robinson in the way she
+is treating me?" I could not answer my question, but if Brown and
+Robinson had appeared at that moment I should have been glad to knock
+their heads together.
+
+I did not want to go; I would have been glad to examine every building
+on the place, but I knew I must depart; and as I was beginning to
+express my sense of the kindness with which I had been treated, she
+interrupted by asking me if I expected to come back this way.
+
+"No," said I, "that is not my plan. I expect to ride on to Waterton,
+and there I shall stop for a day or two and decide what section of the
+country I shall explore next."
+
+"And to-day?" she said. "Where have you planned to spend the night?"
+
+"I have been recommended to stop at a little inn called the 'Holly
+Sprig,'" I replied. "It is a leisurely day's journey from Walford, and
+I have been told that it is a pleasant place and a pretty country. I
+do not care to travel all the time, and I want to stop a little when I
+find interesting scenery."
+
+[Illustration: "As soon as I had spoken these words"]
+
+"Oh, I know the Holly Sprig Inn," said she, speaking very quickly,
+"and I would advise you not to stop there. We have lunched there two
+or three times when we were out on long drives. There is a much better
+house about five miles the other side of the Holly Sprig. It is really
+a large, handsome hotel, with good service and everything you
+want--where people go to spend the summer."
+
+I thanked her for her information and bade her good-bye. She shook my
+hand very cordially and I walked away. I had gone but a very few steps
+when I wanted to turn around and look back, but I did not.
+
+Before I had reached the lodge, where I had left my bicycle, I met
+Brownster, and when I saw him I put my hand into my pocket. He had
+certainly been very attentive.
+
+"I carried your valise, sir," he said, "to the lodge, and I took the
+liberty of strapping it to your handle-bar. You will find everything
+all right, sir, and the--other clothes will be properly attended to."
+
+I thanked him, and then handed him some money. To my surprise, he did
+not offer to take it. He smiled a little and bowed.
+
+"Would you mind, sir," he said, "if you did not give me anything? I
+assure you, sir, that I'd very much rather that you wouldn't give me
+anything." And with this he bowed and rapidly disappeared.
+
+"Well," said I, to myself, as I put my money back into my pocket, "it
+is a queer country, this Cathay."
+
+As I approached the lodge, I felt that perhaps I had received a
+lesson, but I was not sure. I would wait and let circumstances decide.
+The gardener was away attending to his duties; but his wife was there,
+and when she came forward, with a frank, cheery greeting, I instantly
+decided that I had had a lesson. I thanked her, as earnestly as I knew
+how, for what she had done for me, and then I added:
+
+"You and your husband have treated me with such kind hospitality that
+I am not going to offer you anything in return for what you have
+done."
+
+"You would have hurt us, sir, if you had," said she.
+
+Then, in order to change the subject, I spoke of the honor which had
+been bestowed upon me by being allowed to wear the Duke's
+dressing-gown. She smiled, and replied:
+
+"Honors would always be easy for you, sir, if you only chose to take
+them."
+
+As I rode away I thought that the last remark of the gardener's wife
+seemed to show a mental brightness above her station, although I did
+not know exactly what she meant. "Can it be," I asked myself, "that
+she fancies that good family, six feet of athletic muscle, and no
+money would be considered sufficient to make matrimonial honors easy
+on that estate?" If such an idea had come into her head, it certainly
+was a very foolish one, and I determined to drive it from my mind by
+thinking of something else.
+
+Suddenly I slackened my speed. I stopped and put one foot to the
+ground. What a hard-hearted wretch I thought myself to be! Here I was
+thinking of all sorts of nonsense and speeding away without a thought
+of the young girl who had hurt herself the day before and who had been
+helped by me to her home! She lived but a few miles back, and I had
+determined, the evening before, to run down and see how she was
+getting on before starting on my day's journey.
+
+I turned and went bowling back over the road on which I had been so
+terribly drenched the previous afternoon. In a very little while my
+bicycle was leaning against the fence of the pretty house by the
+road-side, and I had entered the front yard. The slender girl was
+sitting on the piazza behind some vines. When she saw me she quickly
+closed the book she was reading, drew one foot from a little stool,
+and rose to meet me. There was more color on her face than I had
+supposed would be likely to find its way there, and her bright eyes
+showed that she was not only surprised but glad to see me.
+
+"I thought you were ever so far on your journey!" she said. "And how
+did you get through that awful storm?"
+
+"I want to know first about your foot," I said--"how is that?"
+
+"My own opinion is," she answered, "that it is nearly well. Mother
+knew exactly what to do for it; she wrapped it in wet cloths and dry
+cloths, and this morning I scarcely think of it. But there is one
+thing I want to tell you before you meet father and mother--for they
+want to see you, I know. We talked a great deal about you last night.
+You may have thought it strange I told you about the peas, but I had
+to do it to explain why I could not ask you to stop. Now I want to
+tell you that this accident made everything all right. As soon as
+father and mother knew that I was hurt they forgot everything else,
+and neither of them remembered that there was such a thing as a
+pea-vine in the world. It really seems as if my tumble was a most
+lucky thing. And now you must come in. They will never forgive me if I
+let you go away without seeing them."
+
+The mother, a pleasant little woman, full of cheerful gratitude to me
+for having done so much for her daughter, and the father, tall and
+slender, hurrying in from the garden, his face beaming with a friendly
+enthusiasm, apologizing for the mud on his clothes, and almost in the
+same breath telling me of the obligations under which I had placed
+him, both seemed to me at the first glance to be such kind,
+simple-hearted, simple-mannered people that I could not help
+contrasting this family with the one under whose roof I had passed the
+night.
+
+I spent half an hour with these good people, patiently listening to
+their gratitude and to their deep regrets that I had been allowed to
+go on in the storm; but I succeeded in allaying their friendly regrets
+by assuring them that it would have been impossible to keep me from
+going on, so certain had I been that I could reach the little town of
+Vernon before the storm grew violent. Then I was obliged to tell them
+that I did not reach Vernon, and how I had spent the night.
+
+"With the Putneys!" exclaimed the mother. "I am sure you could not
+have been entertained in a finer house!"
+
+They asked me many questions and I told them many things, and I soon
+discovered that they took a generous interest in the lives of other
+people. They spoke of the good this rich family had done in the
+neighborhood during the building of their great house and the
+improvement of their estate, and not a word did I hear of ridicule or
+scandalous comment, although in good truth there was opportunity
+enough for it.
+
+The young lady asked me if I had seen Miss Putney, and when I replied
+that I had, she inquired if I did not think that she was a very pretty
+girl. "I do not know her," she said, "but I have often seen her when
+she was out driving. I do not believe there is any one in this part of
+the country who dresses better than she does."
+
+I laughed, and told her that I thought I knew somebody who dressed
+much finer even than Miss Putney, and then I described the incident
+of the Duke's dressing-gown. This delighted them all, and before I
+left I was obliged to give every detail of my gorgeous attire.
+
+It was about eleven o'clock when at last I tore myself away from this
+most attractive little family. To live as they lived, to be interested
+in the things that interested them--for the house seemed filled with
+books and pictures--to love nature, to love each other, and to think
+well of their fellow-beings, even of the super-rich--seemed to me to
+be an object for which a man of my temperament should be willing to
+strive and thankful to win. After meeting her parents I did not wonder
+that I had thought the slender girl so honest-hearted and so lovable.
+It was true that I had thought that.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+
+
+The day was fine, and the landscape lay clean and sharply defined
+under the blue sky and white clouds. I sped along in a cheerful mood,
+well pleased with what my good cycle had so far done for me. Again I
+passed the open gate of the Putney estate, and glanced through it at
+the lodge. I saw no one, and was glad of it--better pleased, perhaps,
+than I could have given good reason for. When I had gone on a few
+hundred yards I was suddenly startled by a voice--a female voice.
+
+"Well! well!" cried some one on my right, and turning, I saw, above a
+low wall, the head and shoulders of the young lady with the dark eyes
+with whom I had parted an hour or so before. A broad hat shaded her
+face, her eyes were very dark and very wide open, and I saw some of
+her beautiful teeth, although she was not smiling or laughing. It
+was plain that she had not come down there to see me pass; she was
+genuinely astonished; I dismounted and approached the wall.
+
+[Illustration: "I dismounted and approached the wall"]
+
+"I thought you were miles and miles on your way!" said she. It
+occurred to me that I had recently heard a remark very like this, and
+yet the words, as they came from the slender girl and from this one,
+seemed to have entirely different meanings. She was desirous,
+earnestly desirous, to know how I came to be passing this place at
+this time, when I had left their gate so long before, and, as I was
+not unwilling to gratify her curiosity, I told her the whole story of
+the accident the day before, and of everything which had followed it.
+
+"And you went all the way back," she said, "to inquire after that
+Burton girl?"
+
+"Do you know her?" I asked.
+
+"No," she said, "I do not know her; but I have seen her often, and I
+know all about her family. They seem to be of such little consequence,
+one way or the other, that I can scarcely understand how things could
+so twist themselves that you should consider it necessary to go back
+there this morning before you really started on your day's journey."
+
+I do not remember what I said, but it was something commonplace, no
+doubt, but I imagined I perceived a little pique in the young lady. Of
+course I did not object to this, for nothing could be more flattering
+to a young man than the exhibition of such a feeling on an occasion
+such as this.
+
+But if she felt any pique she quickly brushed it out of sight, for, as
+I have said before, she was a young woman who had great command of
+herself. Of course I said to her that I was very glad to have this
+chance of seeing her again, and she answered, with a laugh:
+
+"If you really are glad, you ought to thank the Burton girl. This is
+one of my favorite walks. The path runs along inside the wall for a
+considerable distance and then turns around the little hill over
+there, and so leads back to the house. When I happened to look over
+the wall and saw you I was truly surprised."
+
+The ground was lower on the outside of the wall than on the inside,
+and as I stood and looked almost into the eyes of this girl, as she
+leaned with her arms upon the smooth top of the wall, the idea which
+the gardener's wife put into my head came into it again. This was a
+beautiful face, and the expression upon it was different from
+anything I had seen there before. Her surprise had disappeared, her
+pique had gone, but a very great interest in the incident of my
+passing this spot at the moment of her being there was plainly
+evident. As I gazed at her my blood ran warmer through my veins, and
+there came upon me a feeling of the olden time--of the days when the
+brave cavalier rode up to the spot where, waiting for him, his lady
+sat upon her impatient jennet.
+
+Without the least hesitation, I asked:
+
+"Do you ride a wheel?"
+
+She looked wonderingly at me for a moment, and then broke into a
+laugh.
+
+"Why on earth do you ask such a question as that? I have a bicycle,
+but I am not a very good rider, and I never venture out upon the
+public road by myself."
+
+"You shouldn't think of such a thing," said I; and then I stood
+silent, and my mind showed me two young people, each mounted, not upon
+a swift steed, but upon a far swifter pair of wheels, skimming onward
+through the summer air, still rolling on, on, on, through country
+lanes and woodland roads, laughing at pursuit if they heard the
+trampling of eager hoofs behind them, with never a telegraph wire to
+stretch menacingly above them, and so on, on, on, their eyes
+sparkling, their hearts beating high with youthful hope.
+
+Again, through the tender mists of the afternoon, I saw them returning
+from some secluded Gretna Green to bend their knees and bow their
+heads before the lord of the fair bride's home.
+
+When all this had passed through my brain, I wondered how such a pair
+would be received. I knew the gardener and his wife would welcome
+them, to begin with; Brownster would be very glad to see them; and I
+believe the mother would stand with tears of joy and open arms, in
+whatever quiet room she might feel free to await them. Moreover, when
+the sterner parent heard my tale and read my pedigree, might he not
+consider good name on the one side an equivalent for good money on the
+other?
+
+I looked up at her; she did not ask me what I had been thinking about
+nor remark upon my silence. She, too, had been wrapped in revery; her
+face was grave. She raised her arms from the wall and stood up.
+
+It was plainly time for me to do something, and she decided the point
+for me by slightly moving away from the wall. "Some time, when you are
+riding out from Walford," she said, "we should be glad to have you
+stop and take luncheon. Father likes to have people at luncheon."
+
+"I should be delighted to do so," said I; and if she had asked me to
+delay my journey and take luncheon with them that day I think I should
+have accepted the invitation. But she did not do that, and she was not
+a young lady who would stand too long by a public road talking to a
+young man. She smiled very sweetly and held out her hand over the
+wall. "Good-bye again," she said. As I took her hand I felt very much
+inclined to press it warmly, but I refrained. Her grasp was firm and
+friendly, and I would have liked very much to know whether or not it
+was more so than was her custom.
+
+I was mounting my wheel when she called to me again. "Now, I suppose,"
+she said, "you are going straight on?"
+
+"Oh yes," I replied, with emphasis, "straight on."
+
+"And the name of the hotel where you will stay to-night," said she,
+"it is the Cheltenham. I forgot it when I spoke to you before. I do
+not believe, really, it is more than three miles beyond the other
+little place where you thought of stopping."
+
+Then she walked away from the wall and I mounted. I moved very slowly
+onward, and as I turned my head I saw that a row of straggling bushes
+which grew close to the wall were now between her and me. But I also
+saw, or thought I saw, between the leaves and boughs, that her face
+was towards me, and that she was waving her handkerchief. If I had
+been sure of that, I think I should have jumped over the wall, pushed
+through the bushes, and should have asked her to give me that
+handkerchief, that I might fasten it on the front of my cap as, in
+olden days, a knight going forth to his adventures bound upon his
+helmet the glove of his lady-love.
+
+But I was not sure of it, and, seized by a sudden energetic
+excitement, I started off at a tremendous rate of speed. The ground
+flew backward beneath me as if I had been standing on the platform of
+a railroad car. Not far ahead of me there came from a side road into
+the main avenue on which I was travelling a Scorcher, scorching. As he
+spun away in front of me, his body bent forward until his back was
+nearly horizontal, and his green-stockinged legs striking out behind
+him with the furious rapidity of a great frog trying to push his head
+into the mud, he turned back his little face with a leer of triumphant
+derision at every moving thing which might happen to be behind him.
+
+[Illustration: "I THOUGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS"]
+
+At the sight of this green-legged Scorcher my blood rose, and it was
+with me as if I had heard the clang of trumpets and the clash of arms.
+I leaned slightly forward; I struck out powerfully, swiftly, and
+steadily; I gained upon the Scorcher; I sent into his emerald legs a
+thrill of startled fear, as if he had been a terrified hare bounding
+madly away from a pursuing foe, and I passed him as if I had been a
+swift falcon swooping by a quarry unworthy of his talons.
+
+On, on I sped, not deigning even to look back. The same spirit
+possessed me as that which fired the hearts of the olden knights. I
+would have been glad to meet with another Scorcher, and yet another,
+that for the sake of my fair lady I might engage with each and humble
+his pride in the dust.
+
+"It is true," I said to myself, with an inward laugh, "I carry no
+glove or delicate handkerchief bound upon my visor--" but at this
+point my mind wandered. I went more slowly, and at last I stopped and
+sat down under the shade of a way-side tree. I thought for a few
+minutes, and then I said to myself, "It seems to me this would be a
+good time to take one of those capsules," and I took one. I then
+fancied that perhaps I ought to take two, but I contented myself with
+one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+
+
+In the middle of the day I stopped at Vernon, and the afternoon was
+well advanced when I came in sight of a little way-side house with a
+broad unfenced green in front of it, and a swinging sign which told
+the traveller that this was the "Holly Sprig Inn."
+
+I dismounted on the opposite side of the road and gazed upon the
+smoothly shaven greensward in front of the little inn; upon the pretty
+upper windows peeping out from their frames of leaves; upon the
+queerly-shaped projections of the building; upon the low portico which
+shaded the doorway; and upon the gentle stream of blue smoke which
+rose from the great gray chimney.
+
+Then I turned and looked over the surrounding country. There were
+broad meadows slightly descending to a long line of trees, between
+which I could see the glimmering of water. On the other side of the
+road, and extending back of the inn, there were low, forest-crowned
+hills. Then my eyes, returning to nearer objects, fell upon an
+old-fashioned garden, with bright flowers and rows of box, which lay
+beyond the house.
+
+"Why on earth," I thought, "should I pass such a place as this and go
+on to the Cheltenham, with its waiters in coat tails, its nurse-maids,
+and its rows of people on piazzas? She could not know my tastes, and
+perhaps she had thought but little on the subject, and had taken her
+ideas from her father. He is just the man to be contented with nothing
+else than a vast sprawling hotel, with disdainful menials expecting
+tips."
+
+I rolled my bicycle along the little path which ran around the green,
+and knocked upon the open door of Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+In a few moments a boy came into the hall. He was not dressed like an
+ordinary hotel attendant, but his appearance was decent, and he might
+have been a sub-clerk or a head hall-boy.
+
+"Can I obtain lodging here for the night?" I asked.
+
+The boy looked at me from head to foot, and an expression such as
+might be produced by too much lemon juice came upon his face.
+
+"No," said he; "we don't take cyclers."
+
+This reception was something novel to me, who had cycled over
+thousands of miles, and I was not at all inclined to accept it at the
+hands of the boy. I stepped into the hall. "Can I see the master of
+this house?" said I.
+
+"There ain't none," he answered, gruffly.
+
+"Well, then, I want to see whoever is in charge."
+
+He looked as if he were about to say that he was in charge, but he had
+no opportunity for such impertinence. A female figure came into the
+hall and advanced towards me. She stopped in an attitude of
+interrogation.
+
+"I was just inquiring," I said, with a bow--for I saw that the
+new-comer was not a servant--"if I could be accommodated here for the
+night, but the boy informed me that cyclers are not received here."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, and turned as if she would speak to the boy,
+but he had vanished. "That is a mistake, sir," she said to me. "Very
+few wheelmen do stop here, as they prefer a hotel farther on, but we
+are glad to entertain them when they come."
+
+It was not very light in the hall in which we stood, but I could see
+that this lady was young, that she was of medium size, and
+good-looking.
+
+"Will you walk in, sir, and register?" she said. "I will have your
+wheel taken around to the back."
+
+I followed her into a large apartment to the right of the
+hall--evidently a room of general assembly. Near the window was a desk
+with a great book on it. As I stood before this desk and she handed me
+a pen, her face was in the full light of the window, and glancing at
+it, the thought struck me that I now knew why Miss Putney did not wish
+me to stop at the Holly Sprig Inn. I almost laughed as I turned away
+my head to write my name. I was amused, and at the same time I could
+not help feeling highly complimented. It cannot but be grateful to the
+feelings of a young man to find that a very handsome woman objects to
+his making the acquaintance of an extremely pretty one.
+
+When I laid down the pen she stepped up and looked at my name and
+address.
+
+"Oh," said she, "you are the schoolmaster at Walford?" She seemed to
+be pleased by this discovery, and smiled in a very engaging way as she
+said, "I am much interested in that school, for I received a great
+part of my education there." "Indeed!" said I, very much surprised.
+"But I do not exactly understand. It is a boys' school."
+
+"I know that," she answered, "but both boys and girls used to go
+there. Now the girls have a school of their own."
+
+As she spoke I could not help contrasting in my mind what the school
+must have been with what it was now.
+
+She stepped to the door and told a woman who was just entering the
+room to show me No. 2. The woman said something which I did not hear,
+although her tones indicated surprise, and then conducted me to my
+room.
+
+This was an exceedingly pleasant chamber on the first floor at the
+back of the house. It was furnished far better than the quarters
+generally allotted to me in country inns, or, in fact, in hostelries
+of any kind. There was great comfort and even simple elegance in its
+appointments.
+
+I would have liked to ask the maid some questions, but she was an
+elderly woman, who looked as if she might be the mother of the
+lemon-juice boy, and as she said not a word to me while she made a few
+arrangements in the room, I did not feel emboldened to say anything to
+her.
+
+When I left my room and went out on the little porch, I soon came to
+the conclusion that this was not a house of great resort. I saw
+nobody in front and I heard nobody within. There seemed to be an air
+of quiet greenness about the surroundings, and the little porch was a
+charming place in which to sit and look upon the evening landscape.
+
+After a time the boy came to tell me that supper was ready. He did so
+as if he were informing me that it was time to take medicine and he
+had just taken his.
+
+Supper awaited me in a very pleasant room, through the open windows of
+which there came a gentle breeze which made me know that there was a
+flower-garden not far away. The table was a small one, round, and on
+it there was supper for one person. I seated myself, and the elderly
+woman waited on me. I was so grateful that the boy was not my
+attendant that my heart warmed towards her, and I thought she might
+not consider it much out of the way if I said something.
+
+"Did I arrive after the regular supper-time?" I asked. "I am sorry if
+I put the establishment to any inconvenience."
+
+"What's inconvenience in your own house isn't anything of the kind in
+a tavern," she said. "We're used to that. But it doesn't matter
+to-day. You're the only transient; that is, that eats here," she
+added.
+
+I wanted very much to ask something about the lady who had gone to
+school in Walford, but I thought it would be well to approach that
+subject by degrees.
+
+"Apparently," said I, "your house is not full."
+
+"No," said she, "not at this precise moment of time. Do you want some
+more tea?"
+
+The tone in which she said this made me feel sure she was the mother
+of the boy, and when she had given me the tea, and looked around in a
+general way to see that I was provided with what else I needed, she
+left the room.
+
+After supper I looked into the large room where I had registered; it
+was lighted, and was very comfortably furnished with easy-chairs and a
+lounge, but it was an extremely lonely place, and, lighting a cigar, I
+went out for a walk. It was truly a beautiful country, and, illumined
+by the sunset sky, with all its forms and colors softened by the
+growing dusk, it was more charming to me than it had been by daylight.
+
+As I returned to the inn I noticed a man standing at the entrance of a
+driveway which appeared to lead back to the stable-yards. "Here is
+some one who may talk," I thought, and I stopped.
+
+[Illustration: "WENT OUT FOR A WALK"]
+
+"This ought to be a good country for sport," I said--"fishing, and
+that sort of thing."
+
+"You're stoppin' here for the night?" he asked. I presumed from his
+voice and appearance that he was a stable-man, and from his tone that
+he was disappointed that I had not brought a horse with me.
+
+I assented to his question, and he said:
+
+"I never heard of no fishin'. When people want to fish, they go to a
+lake about ten miles furder on."
+
+"Oh, I do not care particularly about fishing," I said, "but there
+must be a good many pleasant roads about here."
+
+"There's this one," said he. "The people on wheels keep to it." With
+this he turned and walked slowly towards the back of the house.
+
+"A lemon-loving lot!" thought I, and as I approached the porch I saw
+that the lady who had gone to school at Walford was standing there. I
+did not believe she had been eating lemons, and I stepped forward
+quickly for fear that she should depart before I reached her.
+
+"Been taking a walk?" she said, pleasantly. There was something in the
+general air of this young woman which indicated that she should have
+worn a little apron with pockets, and that her hands should have been
+jauntily thrust into those pockets; but her dress included nothing of
+the sort.
+
+The hall lamp was now lighted, and I could see that her attire was
+extremely neat and becoming. Her face was in shadow, but she had
+beautiful hair of a ruddy brown. I asked myself if she were the "lady
+clerk" of the establishment, or the daughter of the keeper of the inn.
+She was evidently a person in some authority, and one with whom it
+would be proper for me to converse, and as she had given me a very
+good opportunity to open conversation, I lost no time in doing so.
+
+"And so you used to live in Walford?" I said.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, and then she began to speak of the pleasant
+days she had spent in that village. As she talked I endeavored to
+discover from her words who she was and what was her position. I did
+not care to discuss Walford. I wanted to talk about the Holly Sprig
+Inn, but I could not devise a courteous question which would serve my
+purpose.
+
+Presently our attention was attracted by the sound of singing at the
+corner of the little lawn most distant from the house. It was growing
+dark, and the form of the singer could barely be discerned upon a
+bench under a great oak. The voice was that of a man, and his song
+was an Italian air from one of Verdi's operas. He sang in a low tone,
+as if he were simply amusing himself and did not wish to disturb the
+rest of the world.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHESTER]
+
+"That must be the Italian who is stopping here for the night," she
+said. "We do not generally take such people; but he spoke so civilly,
+and said it was so hard to get lodging for his bear--"
+
+"His bear!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Oh yes," she answered, with a little laugh, "he has a bear with him.
+I suppose it dances, and so makes a living for its master. Anyway, I
+said he might stay and lodge with our stable-man. He would sing very
+well if he had a better voice--don't you think so?"
+
+"We do not generally accommodate," "I said he might stay"--these were
+phrases which I turned over in my mind. If she were the lady clerk she
+might say "we"--even the boy said "we"--but "I said he might stay" was
+different. A daughter of a landlord or a landlady might say that.
+
+I made a remark about the difficulty of finding lodging for man and
+beast, if the beast happened to be a bear, and I had scarcely finished
+it when from the house there came a shrill voice, flavored with lemon
+without any sugar, and it said, "Mrs. Chester!"
+
+"Excuse me," said the young lady, and immediately she went in-doors.
+
+Here was a revelation! Mrs. Chester! Strange to say, I had not thought
+of her as a married woman; and yet, now that I recalled her manner of
+perfect self-possession, she did suggest the idea of a satisfied young
+wife. And Mr. Chester--what of him? Could it be possible? Hardly.
+There was nothing about her to suggest a widow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+
+
+I sat on that porch a good while, but she did not come out again. Why
+should she? Nobody came out, and within I could hear no sound of
+voices. I might certainly recommend this inn as a quiet place. The
+Italian and the crickets continued singing and chirping, but they only
+seemed to make the scene more lonely.
+
+I went in-doors. On the left hand of the hall was a door which I had
+not noticed before, but which was now open. There was a light within,
+and I saw a prettily-furnished parlor. There was a table with a lamp
+on it, and by the table sat the lady, Mrs. Chester. I involuntarily
+stopped, and, looking up, she invited me to come in. Instantly I
+accepted the invitation, but with a sort of an apology for the
+intrusion.
+
+"Oh, this is the public parlor," she said, "although everything about
+this house seems private at present. We generally have families
+staying with us in the summer, but last week nearly all of them went
+away to the sea-shore. In a few days, however, we expect to be full
+again."
+
+She immediately began to talk about Walford, for evidently the subject
+interested her, and I answered all her questions as well as I could.
+
+"You may know that my husband taught that school. I was his scholar
+before I became his wife."
+
+I had heard of a Mr. Chester who, before me, had taught the school,
+but, although the information had not interested me at the time, now
+it did. I wished very much to ask what Mr. Chester was doing at
+present, but I waited.
+
+"I went to boarding-school after I left Walford," said she, "and so
+for a time lost sight of the village, although I have often visited it
+since."
+
+"How long is it since Mr. Chester gave up the school there?" I asked.
+
+This proved to be a very good question indeed. "About six years," she
+said. "He gave it up just before we were married. He did not like
+teaching school, and as the death of his father put him into the
+possession of some money, he was able to change his mode of life. It
+was by accident that we settled here as innkeepers. We happened to
+pass the place, and Mr. Chester was struck by its beauty. It was not
+an inn then, but he thought it would make a charming one, and he also
+thought that this sort of life would suit him exactly. He was a
+student, a great reader, and a lover of rural sports--such as fishing
+and all that."
+
+[Illustration: "SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WALFORD"]
+
+"Was." Here was a dim light. "Was" must mean that Mr. Chester had
+been. If he were living, he would still be a reader and a student.
+
+"Did he find the new life all that he expected?" I said, hesitating a
+little at the word did, as it was not impossible that I might be
+mistaken.
+
+"Oh yes, and more. I think the two years he spent here were the
+happiest of his life."
+
+I was not yet quite sure about the state of affairs; he might be in an
+insane asylum, or he might be a hopeless invalid up-stairs.
+
+"If he had lived," she continued, "I suppose this would have been a
+wonderfully beautiful place, for he was always making improvements.
+But it is four years now since his death, and in that time there has
+been very little change in the inn."
+
+I do not remember what answer I made to this remark, but I gazed out
+upon the situation as if it were an unrolled map.
+
+"When you wrote your name in the book," she said, "it seemed to me as
+if you had brought a note of introduction, and I am sure I am very
+glad to be acquainted with you, for, you know, you are my husband's
+successor. He did not like teaching, but he was fond of his scholars,
+and he always had a great fancy for school-teachers. Whenever one of
+them stopped here--which happened two or three times--he insisted that
+he should be put into our best room, if it happened to be vacant, and
+that is the reason I have put you into it to-day."
+
+This was charming. She was such an extremely agreeable young person
+that it was delightful for me to think of myself in any way as her
+husband's successor.
+
+There was a step at the door. I turned and saw the elderly servant.
+
+"Mrs. Chester," she said, "I'm goin' up," and every word was flavored
+with citric acid.
+
+"Good-night," said Mrs. Chester, taking up her basket and her work.
+"You know, you need not retire until you wish to do so. There is a
+room opposite, where gentlemen smoke."
+
+I did not enter the big, lonely room. I went to my own chamber,
+which, I had just been informed, was the best in the house. I sat down
+in an easy-chair by the open window. I looked up to the twinkling
+stars.
+
+Reading, studying, fishing, beautiful country, and all that. And he
+did not like school-teaching! No wonder he was happier here than he
+had ever been before! My eyes wandered around the tastefully furnished
+room. "Her husband's successor," I said to myself, pondering. "He did
+not like school-teaching, and he was so happy here." Of course he was
+happy. "Died and left him some money." There was no one to leave me
+any money, but I had saved some for the time when I should devote
+myself entirely to my profession. Profession--I thought. After all,
+what is there in a profession? Slavery; anxiety. And he chose a life
+of reading, studying, fishing, and everything else.
+
+I turned to the window and again looked up into the sky. There was a
+great star up there, and it seemed to wink cheerfully at me as the
+words came into my mind, "her husband's successor."
+
+When I opened my little valise, before going to bed, I saw the box the
+doctor's daughter had given me.
+
+After sitting so long at the open window, thought I, it might be well
+to take one of these capsules, and I swallowed one.
+
+When I was called to breakfast the next morning I saw that the table
+was laid with covers for two. In a moment my hostess entered and bade
+me good-morning. We sat down at the table; and the elderly woman
+waited. I could now see that her face was the color of a shop-worn
+lemon.
+
+As for the lady who had gone to school at Walford--I wondered what
+place in the old school-room she had occupied--she was more charming
+than ever. Her manner was so cordial and cheerful that I could not
+doubt that she considered the entry of my name in her book as a
+regular introduction. She asked me about my plan of travel, how far I
+would go in a day, and that sort of thing. The elderly woman was very
+grim, and somehow or other I did not take very much interest in my
+plan of travel, but the meal was an extremely pleasant one for all
+that.
+
+The natural thing for me to do after I finished my breakfast was to
+pay my bill and ride away, but I felt no inclination for anything of
+the sort. In fact, the naturalness of departure did not strike me. I
+went out on the little porch and gazed upon the bright, fresh morning
+landscape, and as I did so I asked myself why I should mount my
+bicycle and wheel away over hot and dusty roads, leaving all this
+cool, delicious beauty behind me.
+
+What could I find more enjoyable than this? Why should I not spend a
+few days at this inn, reading, studying, fishing? Here I wondered why
+that man told me such a lie about the fishing. If I wanted to exercise
+on my wheel I felt sure there were pretty roads hereabout. I had
+plenty of time before me--my whole vacation. Why should I be consumed
+by this restless desire to get on?
+
+I could not help smiling as I thought of my somewhat absurd fancies of
+the night before; but they were pleasant fancies, and I did not wonder
+that they had come to me. It certainly is provocative of pleasant
+fancies to have an exceedingly attractive young woman talk of you in
+any way as her husband's successor.
+
+I could not make up my mind what I ought to do, and I walked back into
+the hall. I glanced into the parlor, but it was unoccupied. Then I
+went into the large room on the right; no one was there, and I stood
+by the window trying to make up my mind in regard to proposing a brief
+stay at the inn.
+
+It really did not seem necessary to give the matter much thought. Here
+was a place of public entertainment, and, as I was one of the public,
+why should I not be entertained? I had stopped at many a road-side
+hostelry, and in each one of them I knew I would be welcome to stay as
+long as I was willing to pay.
+
+Still, there was something, some sort of an undefined consciousness,
+which seemed to rise in the way of an off-hand proposal to stay at
+this inn for several days, when I had clearly stated that I wished to
+stop only for the night.
+
+While I was still turning over this matter in my mind Mrs. Chester
+came into the room. I had expected her. The natural thing for her to
+do was to come in and receive the amount I owed her for her
+entertainment of me, but as I looked at her I could not ask her for my
+bill. It seemed to me that such a thing would shock her sensibilities.
+Moreover, I did not want her bill.
+
+It was plain enough, however, that she expected me to depart, for she
+asked me where I proposed to stop in the middle of the day, and she
+suggested that she should have a light luncheon put up for me. She
+thought probably a wheelman would like that sort of thing, for then he
+could stop and rest wherever it suited him.
+
+"Speaking of stopping," said I, "I am very glad that I did not do as I
+was advised to do and go on to the Cheltenham. I do not know anything
+about that hotel, but I am sure it is not so charming as this
+delightful little inn with its picturesque surroundings."
+
+"I am glad you did not," she answered. "Who advised you to go on to
+the Cheltenham?"
+
+"Miss Putney," said I. "Her father's place is between here and
+Walford. I stopped there night before last." And then, as I was glad
+of an opportunity to prolong the interview, I told her the history of
+my adventures at that place.
+
+Mrs. Chester was amused, and I thought I might as well tell her how I
+came to be delayed on the road and so caught in the storm, and I
+related my experience with Miss Burton. I would have been glad to go
+still farther back and tell her how I came to take the school at
+Walford, and anything else she might care to listen to.
+
+When I told her about Miss Burton she sat down in a chair near by and
+laughed heartily.
+
+"It is wonderfully funny," she said, "that you should have met those
+two young ladies and should then have stopped here."
+
+"You know them?" I said, promptly taking another chair.
+
+"Oh yes," she answered. "I know them both; and, as I have mentioned
+that your meeting with them seemed funny to me, I suppose I ought to
+tell you the reason. Some time ago a photographer in Walford, who has
+taken a portrait of me and also of Miss Putney and Miss Burton, took
+it into his head to print the three on one card and expose them for
+sale with a ridiculous inscription under them. This created a great
+deal of talk, and Miss Putney made the photographer destroy his
+negative and all the cards he had on hand. After that we were talked
+about as a trio, and, I expect, a good deal of fun was made of us. And
+now it seems a little odd--does it not?--that you have become
+acquainted with all the members of this trio as soon as you left
+Walford. But I must not keep you in this way." And she rose.
+
+Now was my opportunity to make known my desire to be kept, but before
+I could do so the boy hurriedly came into the room.
+
+"The Dago wants to see you," he said. "He's in an awful hurry."
+
+"Excuse me," said Mrs. Chester. "It is that Italian who was singing
+outside last night. I thought he had gone. Would you mind waiting a
+few minutes?"
+
+It was getting harder and harder to enunciate my proposition to make a
+sojourn at the inn. I wished that I had spoken sooner. It is so much
+easier to do things promptly.
+
+While I was waiting the elderly woman came in. "Do you want the boy to
+take your little bag out and strap it on?" said she.
+
+Evidently there was no want of desire to speed the departing guest.
+"Oh, I will attend to that myself," said I, but I made no step to do
+it. When my hostess came back I wanted to be there.
+
+Presently she did come back. She ran in hurriedly, and her face was
+flushed. "Here is a very bad piece of business," she said. "That man's
+bear has eaten the tire off one of your wheels!"
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, and my heart bounded within me. Here, perhaps,
+was the solution of all my troubles. If by any happy chance my bicycle
+had been damaged, of course I could not go on.
+
+"Come and see," she said, and, following her through the back hall
+door, we entered a large, enclosed yard. Not far from the house was a
+shed, and in front of this lay my bicycle on its side in an apparently
+disabled condition. An Italian, greatly agitated, was standing by it.
+He was hatless, and his tangled black hair hung over his swarthy face.
+At the other end of the yard was a whitish-brown bear, not very large,
+and chained to a post.
+
+I approached my bicycle, earnestly hoping that the bear had been
+attempting to ride it, but I found that he had been trying to do
+something very different. He had torn the pneumatic tire from one of
+the wheels, and nearly the whole of it was lying scattered about in
+little bits upon the ground.
+
+"How did this happen?" I said to the Italian, feeling very much
+inclined to give him a dollar for the good offices of the beast.
+
+The man began immediately to pour out an explanation upon me. His
+English was as badly broken as the torn parts of my tire, but I had no
+trouble in understanding. The bear had got loose in the night. He had
+pulled up a little post to which he had been chained. The man had not
+known it was such a weak post. The bear was never muzzled at night. He
+had gone about looking for something to eat. He was very fond of
+India-rubber--or, as the man called it, "Injer-rub." He always ate up
+India-rubber shoes wherever he could find them. He would eat them off
+a man's feet if the man should be asleep. He liked the taste of
+Injer-rub. He did not swallow it. He dropped it all about in little
+bits.
+
+[Illustration: BUT WE WERE NOT ALONE]
+
+Then the man sprang towards me and seized the injured wheel. "See!" he
+exclaimed. "He eat your Injer-rub, but he no break your machine!"
+
+This was very true. The wheel did not seem to be injured, but still I
+could not travel without a tire. This was the most satisfactory
+feature of the affair. If he and I had been alone together I would
+have handed the man two dollars, and told him to go in peace with his
+bear and give himself no more trouble.
+
+But we were not alone. The stable-man who had lied to me about the
+fishing was there; the boy who had lied to me about the reception of
+cyclers was there; the lemon-faced woman was there, standing close to
+Mrs. Chester; and there were two maids looking out of the window of
+the kitchen.
+
+"This is very bad indeed!" said Mrs. Chester, addressing the Italian.
+"You have damaged this gentleman's wheel, and you must pay him for
+it."
+
+Now the Italian began to tear his hair. Never before had I seen any
+one tear his hair. More than that, he shed tears, and declared he had
+no money. After he had paid his bill he would not have a cent in the
+world. His bear had ruined him. He was in despair.
+
+"What are you going to do?" said Mrs. Chester to me. "You cannot use
+your bicycle."
+
+Before I could answer, the elderly woman exclaimed: "You ought to come
+in, Mrs. Chester! This is no place for you! Suppose that beast should
+break loose again! Let the gentleman settle it with the man."
+
+I do not think my hostess wanted to go, but she accompanied her grim
+companion into the house.
+
+"I suppose there is no place near here where I can have a new tire put
+on this wheel?" said I to the stable-man.
+
+"Not nearer than Waterton," he replied; "but we could take you and
+your machine there in a wagon."
+
+"That's so," said the boy. "I'll drive."
+
+I glared upon the two fellows as if they had been a couple of fiends
+who were trying to put a drop of poison into my cup of joy. To be
+dolefully driven to Waterton by that boy! What a picture! How
+different from my picture!
+
+The Italian sat down on the ground and embraced his knees with his
+arms. He moaned and groaned, and declared over and over again that he
+was ruined; that he had no money to pay.
+
+In regard to him my mind was made up. I would forgive him his debt and
+send him away with my blessing, even if I found no opportunity of
+rewarding him for his great service to me.
+
+I would go in and speak to Mrs. Chester about it. Of course it would
+not be right to do anything without consulting her, and now I could
+boldly tell her that it would suit me very well to stop at the inn
+until my wheel could be sent away and repaired.
+
+As I entered the large room the elderly woman came out. She was
+plainly in a bad humor. Mrs. Chester was awaiting me with an anxious
+countenance, evidently much more troubled about the damage to my
+bicycle than I was. I hastened to relieve her mind.
+
+"It does not matter a bit about the damage done by the bear," I said.
+"I should not wonder if that wheel would be a great deal better for a
+new tire, anyway. And, as for that doleful Italian, I do not want to
+be hard on him, even if he has a little money in his pocket."
+
+But my remarks did not relieve her, while my cheerful and contented
+tones seemed to add to her anxiety.
+
+"But you cannot travel," she said, "and there is no place about here
+where you could get a new tire."
+
+It was very plain that no one in this house entertained the idea that
+it would be a good thing for me to rest here quietly until my bicycle
+could be sent away and repaired. In fact, my first statement, that I
+wished to stop but for the night, was accepted with general approval.
+
+I did not deem it necessary to refer to the man's offer, to send me
+and my machine to Waterton in a wagon, and I was just on the point of
+boldly announcing that I was in no hurry whatever to get on, and that
+it would suit me very well to wait here for a few days, when the boy
+burst into the room, one end of his little neck-tie flying behind him.
+
+"The Dago's put!" he shouted. "He's put off and gone!"
+
+We looked at him in amazement.
+
+"Gone!" I exclaimed. "Shall I go after him? Has he paid his bill?"
+
+"No, you needn't do that," said the boy. "He cut across the fields
+like a chipmunk--skipped right over the fences! You'd never ketch him,
+and you needn't try! He's off for the station. I'll tell you all
+about it," said the boy, turning to his mistress, who had been too
+much startled to ask any questions. "When he went into the
+house"--jerking his head in my direction--"I was left alone with the
+Dago, and he begun to talk to me. He asked me a lot of things. He
+rattled on so I couldn't understand half he said. He wanted to know
+how much a tire cost; he wanted to know how much his bill would be,
+and if he'd have to pay for the little post that was broke.
+
+"Then he asked if I thought that if he'd promise to send you the money
+would the gentleman let him go without payin' for the tire, and he
+wanted to know what your name was; and when I told him you hadn't no
+husband, and what your name was, he asked me to say it over again, and
+then he made me say it once more--the whole of it; and while I was
+tellin' him that I'd write it down for him if he wanted to send you
+the money, he give a big jump and he stuck his head out like a bull.
+He looked so queer that I was gettin' skeered; and then he says,
+almost whisperin': 'I go! I go away! I leave my bear! If she sell him,
+that pay everything! I come back no more--never! never!'
+
+"I saw he was goin' to scoot, and I made a grab at him, but he give me
+a push that nearly tore my collar off, and away he went. You never see
+anybody run like he run. He was out of sight in no time."
+
+"And he left his bear!" she exclaimed, in horror. "What on earth am I
+to do with a bear?" She looked at me, and in spite of her annoyance
+and perplexity she could not help joining me when I laughed outright.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+ORSO
+
+
+Mrs. Chester and I hurried back to the yard. There was the bear,
+sitting calmly on his haunches, but there was no Italian.
+
+"Now that his master is gone," my hostess exclaimed, "I am afraid of
+him! I will not go any farther! Can you imagine anything that can be
+done with that beast?"
+
+I had no immediate answer to give, and I was still very much amused at
+the absurdity of the situation. Had any one ever before paid his bill
+in such fashion? At this moment the stable-man approached us from one
+of the outbuildings. "This is my hostler," she said. "Perhaps he can
+suggest something."
+
+"This is a bad go, ma'am," said he. "The horse was out in the pasture
+all night, but this morning when I went to bring him up I couldn't
+make him come near the stable. He smells that bear! It seems to drive
+him crazy!"
+
+"It's awful!" she said. "What are we going to do, John? Do you think
+the animal will become dangerous when he misses his master?"
+
+"Oh, there's nothin' dangerous about him," answered John. "I was
+sittin' talkin' to that Dago last night after supper, and he says his
+bear's tamer than a cat. He is so mild-tempered that he wouldn't hurt
+nobody. The Dago says he sleeps close up to him of cold nights to keep
+himself warm. There ain't no trouble about his bein' dangerous, but
+you can't bring the horse into the stable while he's about. If anybody
+was to drive into this yard without knowin' they'd be a circus, I can
+tell you! Horses can't stand bears."
+
+She looked at me in dismay. "Couldn't he be shot and buried?" she
+asked.
+
+I had my doubts on that point. A tame bear is a valuable animal, and I
+could not advise her to dispose of the property of another person in
+that summary way.
+
+"But he must be got away," she said. "We can't have a bear here. He
+must be taken away some way or other. Isn't there any place where he
+could be put until the Italian comes back?"
+
+"That Dago's never comin' back," said the boy, solemnly. "If you'd
+a-seen him scoot, you'd a-knowed that he was dead skeered, and would
+never turn up here no more, bear or no bear."
+
+Mrs. Chester looked at me. She was greatly worried, but she was also
+amused, and she could not help laughing.
+
+"Isn't this a dreadful predicament?" she said. "What in the world am I
+to do?" At this moment there was an acidulated voice from the kitchen.
+"Mrs. Whittaker wants to see you, Mrs. Chester," it cried, "right
+away!"
+
+"Oh, dear!" said she. "Here is more trouble! Mrs. Whittaker is an
+invalid lady who is so nervous that she could not sleep one night
+because she heard a man had killed a snake at the back of the barn,
+and what she will say when she hears that we have a bear here without
+a master I do not know. I must go to her, and I do wish you could
+think of something that I can do;" as she said this she looked at me
+as if it were a natural thing for her to rely upon me. For a moment it
+made me think of the star that had winked the night before.
+
+Mrs. Chester hurried into the house, and in company with the
+stable-man I crossed the yard towards the bear.
+
+"You are sure he is gentle?" said I.
+
+"Mild as milk!" said the man. "I was a-playin' with him last night.
+He'll let you do anything with him! If you box his ears, he'll lay
+over flat down on his side!"
+
+When we were within a few feet of the bear he sat upright, dangled his
+fore paws in front of him, and, with his head on one side, he partly
+opened his mouth and lolled out his tongue. "I guess he's beggin' for
+his breakfust," said John.
+
+"Can't you get him something to eat?" I asked. "He ought to be fed, to
+begin with."
+
+The man went back to the kitchen, and I walked slowly around the bear,
+looking at the chain and the post, and trying to see what sort of a
+collar was almost hidden under his shaggy hair. Apparently he seemed
+securely attached, and then--as he was at the end of his chain--I went
+up to him and gently patted one paw. He did not object to this, and
+turning his head he let his tongue loll out on the other side, fixing
+his little black eyes upon me with much earnestness. When the man came
+with the pan of scraps from the kitchen I took it from him and placed
+it on the ground in front of the bear. Instantly the animal dropped to
+his feet and began to eat with earnest rapidity.
+
+"I wonder how much he'd take in for one meal," said John, "if you'd
+give him all he wanted? I guess that Dago never let him have any
+more'n he could help."
+
+As the bear was licking the tin pan I stood and looked at him. "I
+wonder if he would be tame with strangers?" said I. "Do you suppose we
+could take him away from this post if we wanted to?"
+
+"Oh yes," said John. "I wouldn't be afraid to take him anywheres, only
+there isn't any place to take him to." He then stepped quite close to
+the bear. "Hey, horsey!" said he. "Hey, old horsey! Good old horsey!"
+
+"Is that his name?" I asked.
+
+"That's what the Dago called him," said John. "Hey, horsey! Good
+horsey!" And he stooped and unfastened the chain from the post.
+
+I imagined that the Italian had called the bear "Orso," perhaps with
+some diminutive, but I did not care to discuss this. I was very much
+interested to see what the man was going to do. With the end of the
+chain in his hand, John now stepped in front of the bear and said,
+"Come along, horsey!" and, to my surprise, the bear began to shamble
+after him as quietly as if he had been following his old master.
+"See!" cried John. "He'll go anywheres I choose to take him!" and he
+began to lead him about the yard.
+
+As he approached the kitchen there came a fearful scream from the open
+window.
+
+"Take him away! Take him away!" I heard, in the shrillest accents.
+
+"They're dreadfully skeered," said John, as he led the bear back; "but
+he wouldn't hurt nobody! It would be a good thing, though, to put his
+muzzle on; that's it hangin' over there by the shed; it's like a
+halter, and straps up his jaws. The Dago said there ain't no need for
+it, but he puts it on when he's travellin' along the road to keep
+people from bein' skeered."
+
+"It would be well to put it on," said I. "I wonder if we can get him
+into it?"
+
+"I guess he'd let you do anything you'd a mind to," replied John, as
+he again fastened the chain to the post.
+
+I took down the muzzle and approached the bear. He did not growl, but
+stood perfectly still and looked at me. I put the muzzle over his
+head, and, holding myself in readiness to elude a sudden snap, I
+strapped up his jaws. The creature made no snap--he gazed at me with
+mild resignation.
+
+"As far as he goes," said John, "he's all right; but as far as
+everything else goes--especially horses--they're all wrong. He's got
+to be got rid of some way."
+
+I had nothing more to say to John, and I went into the house. I met
+Mrs. Chester in the hall.
+
+"I have had a bad time up-stairs," she said. "Mrs. Whittaker declares
+that she will not stay an hour in a house where there is a bear
+without a master; but as she has a terrible sciatica and cannot
+travel, I do not know what she is going to do. Her trained nurse, I
+believe, is now putting on her bonnet to depart."
+
+As she spoke, the joyful anticipation of a few days at the Holly Sprig
+Inn began to fade away. I did not blame the bear as the present cause
+of my disappointment. He had done all he could for me. It was his
+wretched master who had done the mischief by running away and leaving
+him. But no matter what had happened, I saw my duty plainly before me.
+I had not been encouraged to stay, but it is possible that I might
+have done so without encouragement, but now I saw that I must go. The
+Fates, who, as I had hoped, had compelled my stay, now compelled my
+departure.
+
+"Do not give yourself another thought upon the subject," I said. "I
+will settle the whole matter, and nobody need be frightened or
+disturbed. The Cheltenham Hotel is only a few miles farther on, and I
+shall have to walk there anyway. I will start immediately and take the
+bear with me. I am sure that he will allow me to lead him wherever I
+please. I have tried him, and I find that he is a great deal gentler
+than most children."
+
+She exclaimed, in horror: "You must not think of it! He might spring
+upon you and tear you to pieces!"
+
+"Oh, he will not do that," I answered. "He is not that sort of a
+bear--and, besides, he is securely muzzled. I muzzled him myself, and
+he did not mind it in the least. Oh, you need not be afraid of the
+bear; he has had his breakfast and he is in perfect good-humor with
+the world. It will not take me long to reach the hotel, and I shall
+enjoy the walk, and when I get there I will be sure to find some shed
+or out-house where the beast can be shut up until it can be decided
+what to do with him. I can leave him there and have him legally
+advertised, and then--if nothing else can be done--he can be shot. I
+shall be very glad to have his skin; it will be worth enough to cover
+his bill here, and the damages to my bicycle. I shall send for that
+as soon as I reach the hotel. I can go to Waterton by train and take
+it with me. I can have it made all right in Waterton. So now, you see,
+I have settled everything satisfactorily."
+
+She looked at me earnestly, and, although there was a certain
+solicitude in her gaze, I could also see there signs of great relief.
+"But isn't there some other way of getting that bear to the hotel?"
+she said. "It will be dreadful for you to have to walk there and lead
+him."
+
+"It's the only way to do it," I answered. "You could not hitch a bear
+behind a wagon--the horse would run away and jerk his head off. The
+only way to take a bear about the country is to lead him, and I do not
+mind it in the least. As I have got to go without my bicycle I would
+like to have some sort of company. Anyway, the bear must go, and as I
+am on the road to the Cheltenham I shall be very glad to take him
+along with me."
+
+"I think you are wonderfully brave," she said, "and very good. If I
+can persuade myself it will be perfectly safe for you, it will
+certainly be a great relief to me."
+
+I was now engaged in a piece of self-sacrifice, and I felt that I must
+do it thoroughly and promptly. "I will go and get my valise," I said,
+"for I ought to start immediately."
+
+"Oh, I will send that!" she exclaimed.
+
+"No," I answered; "it does not weigh anything, and I can sling it over
+my shoulder. By-the-way," I said, turning as I was about to leave the
+room, "I have forgotten something." I put my hand into my pocket; it
+would not do to forget that I was, after all, only a departing guest.
+
+"No, no," she replied, quickly, "I am your debtor. When you find out
+how much damage you have suffered, and what is to be done with the
+bear, all that can be settled. You can write to me, but I will have
+nothing to do with it now."
+
+With my valise over my shoulder I returned to the hall to take leave
+of my hostess. Now she seemed somewhat contrite. Fate and she had
+conquered, I was going away, and she was sorry for me.
+
+"I think it is wonderfully good of you to do all this," she said. "I
+wish I could do something for you."
+
+I would have been glad to suggest that she might ask me to come again,
+and it would also have pleased me to say that I did not believe that
+her husband, if he could express his opinion, would commend her
+apparent inhospitality to his successor. But I made no such remarks,
+and offered my hand, which she cordially clasped as if I were an old
+friend and were going away to settle in the Himalayas.
+
+I went into the yard to get Orso. He was lying down when I approached
+him, but I think he knew from my general appearance that I was
+prepared to take the road, and he rose to his feet as much as to say,
+"I am ready." I unfastened the chain from the post, and, with the best
+of wishes for good-luck from John, who now seemed to be very well
+satisfied with me, I walked around the side of the house, the bear
+following as submissively as if he had been used to my leadership all
+his life.
+
+I did not see the boy nor the lemon-faced woman, and I was glad of it.
+I believe they would have cast evil eyes upon me, and there is no
+knowing what that bear might have done in consequence.
+
+Mrs. Chester was standing in the door as I reached the road.
+"Good-bye!" she cried, "and good fortune go with you!" I raised my
+hat, and gave Orso a little jerk with the chain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A RUNAWAY
+
+
+He was a very slow walker, that bear. If I had been alone I would have
+been out of sight of the inn in less than five minutes. As it was, I
+looked back after a considerable time to see if I really were out of
+sight of the house, and I found I was not. She was still standing in
+the doorway, and when I turned she waved her handkerchief. Now that I
+had truly left and was gone, she seemed to be willing to let me know
+better than before what a charming woman she was. I took off my hat
+again and pressed forward.
+
+For a couple of miles, perhaps, I walked thoughtfully, and I do not
+believe I once thought of the bear shambling silently behind me. I had
+been dreaming a day-dream--not building a castle in the air, for I had
+seen before me a castle already built. I had simply been dreaming
+myself into it, into its life, into its possessions, into the
+possession of everything which belonged to it.
+
+It had been a fascinating vision. It had suited my fancy better than
+any vision of the future which I had ever had. I was not ambitious; I
+loved the loveliness of life. I was a student, and I had a dream of
+life which would not interfere with the society of my books. I loved
+all rural pleasures, and I had dreamed of a life where these were
+spread out ready for my enjoyment. I was a man formed to love, and
+there had come to me dreams of this sort of thing.
+
+My dreams had even taken practical shape. As I was dressing myself
+that morning I had puzzled my brain to find a pretext for taking the
+first step, which would be to remain a few days at the inn.
+
+The pretext for doing this had appeared to me. For a moment I had
+snatched at it and shown my joy, and then it had utterly
+disappeared--the vision, the fancy, the anticipations, the plans, the
+vine-covered home in the air, all were destroyed as completely as if
+it had been the tire of my bicycle scattered about in little bits upon
+the ground.
+
+"Come along, old Orso!" I exclaimed, endeavoring to mend my pace, and
+giving the bear a good pull upon his chain. But the ugly creature did
+not walk any faster; he simply looked at me with an air as if he would
+say that if I kept long upon the road I would learn to take it easy,
+and maintained the deliberate slouch of his demeanor.
+
+Presently I stopped, and Orso was very willing to imitate me in that
+action. I found, to my surprise, that I was not walking upon a
+macadamized road: such was the highway which passed the inn and led, I
+had been told, to the Cheltenham. I was now upon a road of gravel and
+clay, smooth enough and wide enough, but of a different character from
+that on which I had started that morning. I looked about me. Across a
+field to my left I saw a line of trees which seemed to indicate a
+road. I had a dim recollection of having passed a road which seemed to
+turn to the left, but I had been thinking very earnestly, and had paid
+little attention to it. Probably that road was the main road and this
+the one which turned off.
+
+I determined to investigate. It would not do to wander out of my way
+with my present encumbrance. It was now somewhat after noon; the
+country people were eating their dinners or engaged about their barns;
+there was nobody upon the road. At some distance ahead of me was a
+small house standing well back behind a little group of trees, and I
+decided to go there and make inquiries. And as it would not do at all
+to throw a rural establishment into a state of wild confusion by
+leading a bear up to its door, I conducted Orso to the side of the
+road and chained him to a fence-post. He was perfectly satisfied and
+lay down, his nose upon his fore-paws.
+
+[Illustration: "TO MY LEFT I SAW A LINE OF TREES"]
+
+I found three women in the little house. They were in a side kitchen
+eating their dinner, and I wondered what the bear would have done if
+he had smelled that dinner. They told me that I was not on the main
+road, and would have to go back more than half a mile in order to
+regain it.
+
+When I was out on the road again I said to myself that if I could
+possibly make Orso step along at a little more lively pace I might get
+to the hotel in time for a very late luncheon, and I was beginning to
+think that I had not been wise in declining portable refreshment, when
+I heard a noise ahead of me. At a considerable distance along the
+road, and not far from where I had left the bear, I saw a horse
+attached to a vehicle approaching me at a furious speed. He was
+running away! The truth flashed upon me--he had been frightened by
+Orso!
+
+I ran a few steps towards the approaching horse. His head was high in
+the air, and the vehicle swayed from side to side. It was a tall
+affair with two wheels, and on the high seat sat a lady vainly tugging
+at the reins. My heart sank. What dreadful thing had I done!
+
+I stood in the middle of the road. It seemed but a few seconds before
+the horse was upon me. He swerved to one side, but I was ready for
+that. I dashed at his bridle, but caught the end of his cumbrous bit
+in my right hand. I leaned forward with all the strength that dwelt in
+my muscles and nerves. The horse's glaring eye was over my face, and I
+felt the round end of a shaft rise up under my arm. A pair of
+outstretched forelegs slid past me. I saw the end of a banged tail
+switching in the dust. The horse was on his haunches. He was stopped.
+
+Before I had time to recover an erect attitude and to let up the horse
+the occupant of the vehicle was on the ground She had skipped down
+with wonderful alacrity on the side opposite to me, and was coming
+round by the back of the cart. The horse was now standing on his four
+legs, trembling in every fibre, and with eyes that were still wild and
+staring. Holding him firmly, I faced the lady as she stopped near me.
+She was a young woman in a jaunty summer costume and a round straw
+hat. She did not seem to be quite mistress of herself; she was not
+pale, but perhaps that was because her face was somewhat browned by
+the sun, but her step was not steady, and she breathed hard. Under
+ordinary circumstances she would have been assisted to the side of the
+road, where she might sit down and recover herself, and have water
+brought to her. But I could do nothing of that sort. I could not leave
+that shivering horse.
+
+[Illustration: "HE WAS RUNNING AWAY"]
+
+"Are you hurt?" I asked.
+
+"Oh no," she said, "but I am shaken up a bit. I cannot tell you how
+grateful I am! I don't believe I ever can tell you!"
+
+"Do not speak of that." I said, quickly. "Perhaps you would feel
+better if you were to sit down somewhere."
+
+"Oh, I don't want to sit down," said she. "I am so glad to have my
+feet on the solid earth again that that is enough for me. It was a
+bear that frightened him--a bear lying down by the side of the road a
+little way back. He never ran away before, but when he saw that bear
+he gave a great shy and a bolt, and he was off. I just got a glimpse
+of the beast."
+
+I was very anxious to change the conversation, and suggested that I
+lead the horse into the shade, for the sun was blazing down upon us.
+The horse submitted to be led to the side of the road, but he was very
+nervous, and looked everywhere for the approach of shaggy bears.
+
+"It is perfectly dreadful," she said, when she again approached me,
+"for people to leave bears about in that way. I suppose he was
+fastened, for it could not have been a wild beast. They do not lie
+down by the side of the road. I do not say that I was rattled, but I
+expected every second that there would be a smash, and there would
+have been if it had not been for--"
+
+"It is a wonder you were not thrown out," I interrupted, "those carts
+are so tall."
+
+"Yes," she answered, "and if I hadn't slipped off the driving-cushion
+at the first shy I would have been out sure. I never had anything
+happen like this, but who could have expected a great bear by the side
+of the road?"
+
+"Have you far to go?" I asked.
+
+"Not very--about three miles. I made a call this morning on the other
+road, and was driving home. My name is Miss Larramie. My father's
+place is on this road. He is Henry Esmond Larramie." I had heard of
+the gentleman, but had never met him. "I am not afraid of horses,"
+she continued, "but I do not know about driving this one now. He looks
+as if he were all ready to bolt again."
+
+"Oh, it would not do for you to drive him," I said. "That would be
+extremely risky."
+
+"I might walk home," she said, "but I could not leave the horse."
+
+"Let me think a minute," said I. Then presently I asked, "Will this
+horse stand if he is hitched?"
+
+"Oh yes," she answered; "I always hitch him when I make calls. There
+is a big strap under the seat which goes around his neck, and then
+through a ring in his bit. He has to stand--he can't get away."
+
+"Very well, then," said I; "I will tell you what I will do. I will tie
+him to this tree. I think he is quieter, and if you will stand by him
+and talk to him--he knows you?"
+
+"Oh yes," she answered, "and I can feed him with grass. But why do you
+want to tie him? What are you going to do?"
+
+As she spoke she brought me the tie strap, and I proceeded to fasten
+the horse to a tree.
+
+"Now, then," said I, "I must go and get the bear and take him away
+somewhere out of sight. It will never do to leave him there. Some
+other horse might be coming along."
+
+"You get the bear!" she said, surprised.
+
+"Yes," I answered; "he is my bear, and--"
+
+She stepped back, her eyes expanded and her lower jaw dropped. "_Your_
+bear!" she cried, and with that her glance seemed to run all over me
+as if she were trying to find some resemblance to a man who exhibited
+a bear.
+
+"Yes," I replied; "I left him there while I went to ask my way. It was
+a dreadful thing to do, but I must leave him there no longer. I will
+tell you all about it when I come back."
+
+I had decided upon a plan of action. I ran down the road to the bear,
+took down some bars of the fence, and then, untying him, I led him
+over a field to a patch of woodland. Orso shuffled along humbly as if
+it did not make any difference to him where he went, and when I
+reached the woods I entered it by an old cart-road, and soon struck
+off to one side among some heavy underbrush. Finding a spot where it
+would be impossible for the beast to be seen from the road, I fastened
+him securely to a tree. He looked after me regretfully, and I think I
+heard him whine, but I am not sure of that. I hurried back to the
+road, replaced the bars, and very soon had joined the young lady.
+
+"Well," said she, "never in this world would I have thought that was
+your bear! But what is to be done now? This horse gave a jump as soon
+as he heard you running this way."
+
+"Now," said I, "I will drive you to your house, or, if you are afraid,
+you can walk, and I will take him home for you if you will give me the
+directions."
+
+"Oh, I am not a bit afraid," she said. "I am sure you can manage
+him--you seem to be able to manage animals. But will not this be a
+great inconvenience to you? Are you going this way? And won't you have
+to come back after your bear? I can't believe that you are really
+leading a bear about."
+
+I laughed as I unfastened the horse. "It will not take me long to come
+back," I said. "Now, I will get in first, and, when I have him
+properly in hand, you can mount on the other side."
+
+The young lady appeared to have entirely recovered from the effects of
+her fright, and was by my side in a moment. The horse danced a little
+as we started and tried to look behind him, but he soon felt that he
+was under control, and trotted off finely.
+
+I now thought that I ought to tell her who I was, for I did not want
+to be taken for a travelling showman, although I really did not
+suppose that she would make such a mistake.
+
+"So you are the school-master at Walford!" said she. "I have heard
+about you. Little Billy Marshall is one of your scholars."
+
+I admitted that he was, and that I was afraid he did not do me very
+much credit.
+
+"Perhaps not," she said, "but he is a good boy. His mother sometimes
+works for us; she does quite heavy jobs of sewing, and Billy brings
+them up by train. He was here a little more than a week ago, and I
+asked him how he was getting on at school, and if he had a good
+teacher, and he said the man was pretty good. But I want to know about
+the bear. How in the world did you happen to be leading a bear?"
+
+I related the ursine incident, which amused her very much, and, as she
+was a wheelwoman herself, she commiserated with me sincerely on the
+damage to my machine.
+
+"So you stopped at the Holly Sprig?" she said. "And how did you like
+the mistress of that little inn?"
+
+I replied that I had found her very interesting.
+
+"Yes, she is an interesting woman," said my companion, "and a very
+pretty one, too. Some people wonder why she continues to keep the inn,
+but perhaps she has to. You know, her husband was murdered."
+
+[Illustration: "He soon felt that he was under control"]
+
+"No, I did not!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "I knew he was not
+living--but murdered! That is dreadful! How did that happen?"
+
+"Nobody knows," she answered. "They had not been married very long--I
+do not know how long--when he was killed. He went to New York on
+business by himself, and did not come back. They were searching for
+him days and days--ever so long, and they could find no clew. At
+last--it may have been a month afterwards--or perhaps it was more--it
+was found that he had been murdered. His body had been discovered, and
+was supposed to be that of somebody else, and had been buried in
+whatever place the authorities buried people in such cases. Then it
+was too late to get it or to identify it, or to do anything. Wasn't
+that perfectly awful?"
+
+This story gave me a peculiar shock. I could not have imagined that
+that charming and apparently light-hearted young woman at the Holly
+Sprig had ever been crushed down by such a sorrow as this. But I did
+not ask any more questions. The young girl by my side probably knew no
+more than she had already told me. Besides, I did not want to hear any
+more.
+
+"'Royal' goes along just as if nothing had happened," she said,
+admiringly regarding the horse. "Now, I wonder if it will be safe for
+me to drive him again?"
+
+"I should be very sorry," I answered, "if my thoughtlessness had
+rendered him unsafe for you; but if he could be led up and down past
+the place where he saw the bear until he becomes convinced that there
+is now nothing dreadful in that spot, he may soon be all right again."
+
+"Do you know," she said, suddenly turning towards me, "what I would
+like better than anything else in this world? I would like to be able
+to stand in the middle of the road and stop a horse as you did!"
+
+I laughed and assured her that I knew there were a great many things
+in the world which it would be much better for her to do than that.
+
+"Nothing would please me so much," she said, decisively, "not one
+single, solitary thing! There's our gate. Turn in here, please."
+
+I drove up a winding road which led to a house standing among trees on
+a slight elevation. "Please let me out here," she said, when I reached
+the end of the porch. "I will send a man to take the horse."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+
+
+I think I did not have to wait ten seconds after her departure, for a
+stable-man had seen us approach and immediately came forward. I jumped
+down from the cart and looked in the direction of the road. I thought
+if I were to make a cross-cut over the lawn and some adjacent fields I
+should get back to my bear much quicker than if I returned the way I
+had come. But this thought had scarcely shaped itself in my mind when
+I heard the approach of hurrying feet, and in the next moment a little
+army had thrown itself upon me.
+
+There was a tall, bright-faced man, with side whiskers and a flowing
+jacket, who came forward with long steps and outstretched hand; there
+was a lady behind him, with little curls on the side of her head; and
+there were some boys and girls and other people. And nearly in front
+of the whole of them was the young lady I had brought to the house.
+Each one of them seized me by the hand; each one of them told me what
+a great thing I had done; each of them thanked me from the bottom of
+his or her heart for saving the life of his or her daughter or sister,
+and not one of them gave me a chance to say that as I had done all the
+mischief I could not be too thankful that I had been able to avert
+evil consequences. From the various references to the details of the
+incident I concluded that the young lady had dashed into the house and
+had given a full account of everything which had happened in less time
+than it would have taken me to arrange my ideas for such a recital.
+
+As soon as I could get a chance I thanked them all for their gracious
+words, and said that as I was in a hurry I must take my leave.
+Thereupon arose a hubbub of voices. "Not at dinner-time!" exclaimed
+Mr. Larramie. "We would never listen to such a thing!"
+
+"And you need not trouble yourself about your bear," cried my young
+lady, whose Christian name I soon discovered to be Edith. "He can live
+on barks and roots until we have time to attend to him. He is used to
+that in his native wilds."
+
+[Illustration: "A LITTLE ARMY HAD THROWN ITSELF UPON US."]
+
+Now everybody wanted to know everything about the bear, and great was
+the hilarity which my account occasioned.
+
+"Come in! Come in!" exclaimed Mr. Larramie. "The bear will be all
+right if you tied him well. You have just time to get ready for
+dinner." And noticing a glance I had given to my garments, he
+continued: "You need not bother about your clothes. We are all in
+field costume. Oh, I did not see you had a valise. Now, hurry in, all
+of you!"
+
+That dinner was a most lively meal. Everybody seemed to be talking at
+once, yet they all found time to eat. The father talked so much that
+his daughter Edith took the carving-fork from him and served out the
+mutton-chops herself. The mother, from the other end of the table,
+with tears in her eyes, continually asked me if I would not have
+something or other, and how I could ever screw up my courage to go
+about with an absolutely strange bear.
+
+There was a young man, apparently the oldest son, with a fine, frank
+manner and very broad shoulders. He was so wonderfully developed about
+the bust that he seemed almost deformed, his breast projecting so far
+that it gave him the appearance of being round-shouldered in front.
+This, my practised eye told me, was the result of undue exercise in
+the direction of chest-expansion. He was a good-natured fellow, and
+overlooked my not answering several of his questions, owing to the
+evident want of opportunity to do so.
+
+There was a yellow-haired girl with a long plait down her back; there
+was a half-grown boy, wearing a blue calico shirt with a red cravat;
+there was a small girl who sat by her mother; and there was a young
+lady, very upright and slender, who did not seem to belong to the
+family, for she never used the words "father" and "mother," which were
+continually in the mouths of the others. This young lady talked
+incessantly, and fired her words after the manner of a Gatling gun,
+without taking aim at anybody in particular. Sometimes she may have
+been talking to me, but, as she did not direct her gaze towards me on
+such occasions, I did not feel bound to consider any suppositions in
+regard to the matter.
+
+I, of course, was the principal object of general attention. They
+wanted to know what I really thought of Billy Marshall as a scholar.
+They wanted to know if I would have some more. They wanted to know if
+I had had any previous experience with bears. The father asked which
+I thought it would be easier to manage, a boy or a bear. The boy Percy
+wanted to know how I placed my feet when I stood up in front of a
+runaway horse. Others asked if I intended to go back to my school at
+Walford, and how I liked the village, and if I were president of the
+literary society there, which Mrs. Larramie thought I ought to be, on
+account of my scholastic position.
+
+[Illustration: "'WOULD IT BE EASIER TO MANAGE A BOY OR A BEAR?'"]
+
+But before the meal was over the bear had come to be the absorbing
+subject of conversation. I was asked my plans about him, and they were
+all disapproved.
+
+"It would be of no use to take him to the Cheltenham," said Walter,
+the oldest son. "They couldn't keep him there. They have too many
+horses--a livery-stable. They wouldn't let you come on the place with
+him."
+
+"Of course not," said Mr. Larramie. "And, besides, why should you take
+him there? It would be a poor place anyway. They wouldn't keep him
+until his owner turned up. They wouldn't have anything to do with him.
+What you want to do is to bring your bear here. We have a hay-barn out
+in the fields. He could sleep in the hay, and we could give him a long
+chain so that he could have a nice range."
+
+The younger members of the family were delighted with this
+suggestion. Nothing would please them better than to have a bear on
+the place. Each one of them was ready to take entire charge of it, and
+Percy declared that he would go into the woods and hunt for wild-bee
+honey with which to feed it. Even Mrs. Larramie assured me that if a
+bear were well chained, at a suitable distance, she would have no
+fears whatever of it.
+
+I accepted the proposition, for I was glad to get rid of the animal in
+a way which would please so many people, and after dinner was over,
+and I had smoked a cigar with my host and his son Walter, I said that
+it was time for me to go and get the bear.
+
+"But you won't go by the main road," said Mr. Larramie. "That makes a
+great curve below here to avoid a hill. If I understood you properly,
+you left the bear not far from a small house inhabited by three
+women?"
+
+"They're the McKenna sisters," added Walter.
+
+"Yes," said the father, "and their house is not more than two miles
+from here by a field road. I will go with you."
+
+I exclaimed that I would not put him to so much trouble, but my words
+were useless. The Walter son declared that he would go also, that he
+would like the walk; the Percy son declared he was going if anybody
+went; and Genevieve, the girl with the yellow plait, said that she
+wished she were a boy so that she could go too, and she wished she
+could go anyway, boy or no boy, and as her father said that there was
+no earthly reason why she should not go, she ran for her hat.
+
+Miss Edith looked as if she would like to go, but she did not say so;
+and, as for me, I agreed to every proposition. It would certainly be
+great fun to do things with this lively household.
+
+We started off without the boy, but it was not long before he came
+running after us, and to my horror I perceived that he carried a
+rifle.
+
+"What are you going to do with that, Percy?" exclaimed his father.
+
+"I don't expect to do anything with it," the boy replied, "but I
+thought it would be a good thing to bring it along--especially as
+Genevieve is with us. Nobody knows what might happen."
+
+"That's true," exclaimed Walter, "and the fact that Genevieve is along
+is the best reason in the world for your not bringing a gun. You
+better go take it back."
+
+To this Percy strongly objected. He was going out on a sort of a
+bear-hunt, and to him half the pleasure would be lost if he did not
+carry a gun. I am not a coward, but a boy with a gun is a terror to
+me. My expression may have intimated my state of mind, for Mr.
+Larramie said to me that we had now gone so far that it would be a
+pity to send Percy back, and that he did not think there would be any
+danger, for his boy had been taught how to carry a gun properly.
+
+"We are all out-of-door people and sportsmen," he said, "and we begin
+early. But I suppose what you are thinking about is the danger of some
+of us ending soon. But we need not be afraid of that. Walk in front,
+Percy, and keep the barrel pointed downward."
+
+When we came in sight of the house of the three McKennas, Walter
+proposed that we make a détour towards the woods. "For," said he, "if
+those good women see a party like this with a gun among them, they
+will be sure to think it is a case of escaped criminal, or something
+of that kind, and be frightened out of their wits."
+
+We skirted the edge of the trees until we came to the opening of the
+wood road, which I recognized immediately, and, asking Percy and the
+others to keep back, I went on by myself.
+
+"I don't think people would frighten that sort of a bear," I heard
+Genevieve say. "He must be used to crowds around him when he's
+dancing."
+
+I presently reached the place where I had turned from the road. It was
+a natural break in the woods. There was the tree to which I had tied
+the bear, but there was no bear.
+
+I stood aghast, and in a moment the rest of the party were clustered
+around me. "Is this where you left him?" they cried. "And is he gone?
+Are you sure this is the place?"
+
+Yes, I was sure of it. I have an excellent eye for locality, and I
+knew that I had chained the bear to the small oak in front of me. At
+that moment there was a scream from Genevieve. "Look! Look!" she
+cried. "There he is, just ready to spring!"
+
+We all looked up, and, sure enough, on the lower branch of the oak,
+half enveloped in foliage, we saw the bear extended at full length and
+blinking down at us. I gave a shout of delight.
+
+"Now, keep back, all of you!" I cried. "Bears don't spring from trees,
+but it will be better for you to be out of the way while I try to get
+him down."
+
+I walked up to the oak-tree, and then I found that the bear was still
+firmly attached to it. His chain had been fastened loosely around the
+trunk; he had climbed up to the branch and pulled the chain with him.
+
+I now called upon Orso to come down, but apparently he did not
+understand English, and lay quietly upon the branch, his head towards
+the trunk of the tree. I extended my hand up towards the chain, and
+found that I could nearly reach it. "Shall I give you a lift?" cried
+Walter, and I accepted the offer. It was a hard piece of work for him,
+but he was a professed athlete, and he would have lifted me if it had
+cracked his spine. I reached up and unhooked the chain. It was then
+long enough for me to stand on the ground and hold the end of it.
+
+Now I began to pull. "Come down!" I said. "Come down, Orso!" But Orso
+did not move.
+
+"Bears don't come down head-foremost," cried Percy; "they turn around
+and come down backwards. You ought to have a chain to his tail if you
+want to pull him down."
+
+"He hasn't got any tail!" exclaimed Genevieve.
+
+I was in a quandary. I might as well try to break the branch as to
+pull the bear down. "If we had only thought of bringing a bucket of
+meat!" cried Percy.
+
+"Would you mind holding the chain," I said to Walter, "while I try to
+drive him down?" Of course the developed young man was not afraid to
+do anything I was not afraid to do, and he took the chain. There was
+a pine-tree growing near the oak, and, mounting into this, I found
+that with a long stick which Mr. Larramie handed me I could just reach
+the bear. "Go down!" I said, tapping him on the haunches, but he did
+not move.
+
+"Can't you speak to him in Italian?" said Genevieve. "Tame bears know
+Italian. Doesn't anybody know the Italian for 'Come down out of a
+tree?'" But such knowledge was absent from the party.
+
+"Try him in Latin," cried Percy. "That must be a good deal like
+Italian, anyway."
+
+To this suggestion Mr. Larramie made no answer; he had left college
+before any of the party present had been born; Mr. Walter looked a
+little confused; he had graduated several years before, and his
+classics were rusty. I felt that my pedagogical position made it
+incumbent upon me to take immediate action, but for the life of me I
+could not think of an appropriate phrase.
+
+"Give him high English!" cried Mr. Larramie. "That's often classic
+enough! Tell him to descend!"
+
+"Orso, descend!" I cried, giving a little foreign twang to the words.
+Immediately the bear began to twist like a caterpillar upon the limb,
+he extended his hind-legs towards the trunk, he seized it with his
+fore-paws. He began slowly to move downward.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Percy, "that hit him like a rifle-ball! Hurrah for
+high English! That's good enough for me!"
+
+"Look at his hind hands!" cried Genevieve. "He has worn all the hair
+off his palms!"
+
+I hurried from the tree and reached the ground before the bear. Then
+taking the end of the chain, I advised the others to move out of the
+woods while I followed with the bear. They all obeyed except
+Genevieve, who wanted very much to linger behind and help me lead him.
+But this I would not permit.
+
+The bear followed me with his usual docility until we had emerged from
+the woods. Then he gave a little start, and fixed his eyes upon Percy,
+who stood at a short distance, his rifle in his hand. I had not
+supposed that this bear was afraid of anything, but now I had reason
+to believe that he was afraid of guns, for the instant he saw the
+armed boy he made the little start I have mentioned, and followed it
+up by a great bolt which jerked the chain from my hand, and the next
+instant Orso was bounding away in great lopes, his chain rattling
+behind him.
+
+Promptly Percy brought his rifle to his shoulder. "Don't you fire!" I
+shouted. "Put down your gun and leave it here. It frightens him!" And
+with that we were all off in hot pursuit.
+
+"Cut him off from the woods!" shouted Mr. Walter, who was in advance.
+"If he gets in the woods we'll lose him sure!"
+
+We followed this good advice, and at the top of our speed we
+endeavored to get between the beast and the trees. To a certain extent
+we succeeded in our object, for some of us were fast runners, and
+Orso, perceiving that he might be cut off from a woody retreat, turned
+almost at right angles and made directly for the house.
+
+"He's after the three McKennas!" screamed Genevieve, as she turned to
+follow the bear, and from being somewhat in the rear she was now in
+advance of us, and dashed across the field at a most wonderful rate
+for a girl.
+
+The rest of us soon passed her, but before we reached the house the
+bear disappeared behind some out-buildings. Then we saw him again. He
+dashed through the gate of a back yard. He seemed to throw himself
+against the house. He disappeared through a door-way. There was a
+great crash as of crockery and tin. There were screams. There was
+rattling and banging, and then all was still. When we reached the
+house we heard no sound.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE THREE McKENNAS
+
+
+I was in advance, and as I entered the door-way through which the bear
+had disappeared, I found myself in the kitchen where I had seen the
+three women at their dinner. Wild confusion had been brought about in
+a second. A table had been over-turned, broken dishes and tin things
+were scattered on the floor, a wooden chair lay upon its back, and the
+room seemed deserted. The rest of the party quickly rushed in behind
+me, and great were their exclamations at the scene of havoc.
+
+"I hope nothing has happened to the McKenna sisters," cried Mr.
+Larramie. "They must have been in here!"
+
+I did not suppose that anything serious had occurred, for the bear's
+jaws were securely strapped, but with anxious haste I went into the
+other part of the house. Across a hallway I saw an open door, and
+from the room within came groans, or perhaps I should call them
+long-drawn wails of woe.
+
+I was in the room in a moment, and the others crowded through the
+door-way behind me. It was a good-sized bedroom, probably the
+"spare-room" of the first floor. In one corner was a tall and wide
+high-posted bedstead, and in the very middle of it sat an elderly
+woman drawn up into the smallest compass into which she could possibly
+compress herself. Her eyes were closed, her jaws were dropped, her
+spectacles hung in front of her mouth, her gray hair straggled over
+her eyes, and her skin was of a soapy whiteness.
+
+She paid no attention to the crowd of people in the room. Evidently
+she was frightened out of her senses. Every moment she emitted a
+doleful wail. As we stood gazing at her, and before we had time to
+speak to her, she seemed to be seized by an upheaving spasm, the
+influence of which was so great that she actually rose in the air, and
+as she did so her wail intensified itself into a shriek, and as she
+came down again with a sudden thump all the breath in her body seemed
+to be bounced out in a gasp of woe.
+
+"It's Susan McKenna!" exclaimed Walter. "What in the world is the
+matter with her? Miss Susan, are you hurt?"
+
+She made no answer, but again she rose, again she gave vent to a wild
+wail, and again she came down with a thump.
+
+Percy was now on his knees near the bed. "It's the bear!" he cried.
+"He's under there, and he's humping himself!"
+
+"Sacking bottom!" cried the practical Genevieve "There isn't room
+enough for him!"
+
+Stooping down I saw the bear under the bed, now crowding himself back
+as far as possible into a corner. No part of his chain was exposed to
+view, and for a moment I did not see how I was going to get him out.
+But the first thing was to get rid of the woman.
+
+"Come, Miss Susan," said Mr. Larramie, "let me help you off the bed,
+and you can go into another room, and then we will attend to this
+animal. You need not be afraid to get down. He won't hurt you."
+
+But the McKenna sister paid no attention to these remarks. She kept
+her eyes closed; she moaned and wailed. So long as that horrible demon
+was under the bed she would not have put as much as one of her toes
+over the edge for all the money in the world!
+
+In every way I tried to induce the bear to come out, but he paid no
+attention to me. He had been frightened, and he was now in darkness
+and security. Suddenly a happy thought struck me. I glanced around the
+room, and then I rushed into the hall. Genevieve followed me. "What do
+you want?" she said.
+
+"I am looking for some overshoes!" I cried. "India-rubber ones!"
+
+Instantly Genevieve began to dash around. In a few moments she had
+opened a little closet which I had not noticed. "Here is one!" she
+cried, "but it's torn--the heel is nearly off! Perhaps the other
+one--"
+
+"Give me that!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't matter about its being torn!"
+With the old overshoe in my hand I ran back into the room, where Mr.
+Larramie was still imploring the McKenna sister to get down from the
+bed. I stooped and thrust the shoe under as far as I could reach.
+Almost immediately I saw a movement in the shaggy mass in the corner.
+I wriggled the shoe, and a paw was slightly extended. Then I drew it
+away slowly from under the bed.
+
+Now, Miss Susan McKenna rose in the air higher than she had yet gone.
+A maddening wail went up, and for a moment she tottered on the apex
+of an elevation like a wooden idol upheaved by an earthquake. Before
+she had time to tumble over she sank again with a thump. The great
+hairy bear, looking twice as large in that room as he appeared in the
+open air, came out from under the foot of the bed, and as I dangled
+the old rubber shoe in front of his nose he would have seized upon it
+if his jaws had not been strapped together. I got hold of the chain
+and conducted him quietly outside, amid the cheers and hand-clapping
+of Percy and Genevieve.
+
+I chained Orso to a post of the fence, and, removing his muzzle, I
+gave him the old rubber shoe.
+
+"Shall I bring him some more?" cried Genevieve, full of zeal in good
+works. But I assured her that one would do for the present.
+
+I now hurried into the house to find out what had happened to the
+persons and property of the McKenna sisters.
+
+"Where are the other two?" cried Genevieve, who was darting from one
+room to another; "the bear can't have swallowed them."
+
+It was not long before Percy discovered the two missing sisters in the
+cellar. They were seated on the ground with their aprons over their
+heads.
+
+It was some time before quiet was restored in that household. To the
+paralyzing terror occasioned by the sudden advent of the bear
+succeeded wild lamentations over the loss of property. I assured them
+that I was perfectly willing to make good the loss, but Mr. Larramie
+would not allow me to say anything on the subject.
+
+"It is not your affair," said he. "The bear would have done no damage
+whatever had it not been for the folly of Percy in bringing his gun--I
+suppose the animal has been shot at some time or other--and my
+weakness in allowing him to keep it. I will attend to these damages.
+The amount is very little, I imagine, principally cheap crockery, and
+the best thing you can do is to start off slowly with your bear. The
+women will not be able to talk reasonably until it is off the
+premises. I will catch up with you presently."
+
+When the bear and I, with the rest of the party, were fairly out of
+sight of the house, we stopped and waited for Mr. Larramie, and it was
+not long before he joined us.
+
+When we reached the hay-barn we were met by the rest of the Larramie
+family, all anxious to see the bear. Even Miss Edith, who had had one
+glimpse of the beast, was very glad indeed to assure me that she did
+not wonder in the least that I had supposed there would be no harm in
+leaving such a mild creature for a little while by the side of the
+road, and I was sure from the exclamations of the rest of the family
+that Orso would not suffer for want of care and attention during his
+stay in the hay-barn.
+
+I was immensely relieved to get rid of the bear and to leave him in
+such good quarters, for it now appeared to me quite reasonable that I
+might have had difficulty in lodging him anywhere on the premises of
+the Cheltenham, and under any circumstances I very much preferred
+appearing at that hotel without an ursine companion. As soon as we
+reached the house I told Mr. Larramie that it was now necessary for me
+to hurry on, and asked if there were not some way to the hotel which
+would not make it necessary for me to go back to the main road.
+
+The good gentleman fairly shouted at me. "You aren't going to any
+hotel!" he declared. "Do you suppose we are heathens, to let you start
+off at this late hour in the afternoon for a hotel? You have nothing
+to do with hotels--you spend the night with us, sir! If you are
+thinking about your clothes, pray dismiss the subject from your mind.
+If it will make you feel better satisfied, we will all put on golf
+suits. In the morning we will get your machine from the Holly Sprig,
+and when you want to go on we will send you and it to Waterton in a
+wagon. It is not a long drive, and it is much the pleasanter way to
+manage your business."
+
+The family showed themselves delighted when they heard that I was to
+spend the night with them, and I did not object to the plan, for I had
+not the slightest desire to go to a summer hotel. Just before I went
+up to my room to get ready for supper, the young Genevieve came to me
+upon the porch.
+
+"Would you mind," she said, "letting me feel your muscle?"
+
+Very much surprised, I reached out my arm for her inspection, and she
+clasped her long thin fingers around my _biceps flexor cubiti._
+Apparently, the inspection was very satisfactory to her.
+
+"I would give anything," she said, "if I had muscle like that!"
+
+I laughed heartily. "My dear little girl," said I, "you would be
+sorry, indeed, if you had anything of the sort. When you grow up and
+go to parties, how would you like to show bare arms shaped like mine?
+You would be a spectacle, indeed."
+
+"Well," said she, "perhaps you are right. I might not care to have
+them bulge, but I would like to have them hard."
+
+It was a lively supper and an interesting evening. Miss Edith sat
+opposite to me at table--I gave her this title because I was informed
+that there was an elder sister who was away on a visit. I could see
+that she regarded me as her especial charge. She did not ask me what I
+would have, but she saw that every possible want was attended to. As
+the table was lighted by a large hanging-lamp, I had a better view of
+her features than I had yet obtained. She was not handsome. Her eyes
+were too wide apart, her nose needed perhaps an eighth of an inch in
+length, and her well-shaped mouth would not have suffered by a slight
+reduction. But there was a cheerful honesty in her expression and in
+her words which gave me the idea that she was a girl to believe in.
+
+After supper we played round games, and the nervous young lady talked.
+She could not keep her mind on cards, and therefore played no game. In
+the course of the evening Mrs. Larramie took occasion to say to me,
+and her eyes were very full as she spoke, that she did not want me to
+think she had forgotten that that day I had given her her daughter,
+and although the others--greatly to my satisfaction--did not indulge
+in any such embarrassing expressions of gratitude, they did not fail
+to let me know the high estimation in which they held me. The little
+girl, Clara, sat close to me while I was playing, every now and then
+gently stroking my arm, and when she was taken off to bed she ran back
+to say to me that the next time I brought a bear to their house she
+hoped I would also bring some little ones. Even Percy took occasion to
+let me know that, under the circumstances, he was willing to overlook
+entirely the fact of my being a school-master.
+
+After the games, when the family was scattering--not to their several
+bed-chambers, but apparently to various forms of recreation or study
+which seemed to demand their attention--Miss Edith asked me if I would
+not like to take a walk and look at the stars. As this suggestion was
+made in the presence of her parents, I hesitated a moment, expecting
+some discreet objection. But none came, and I assented most willingly
+to a sub-astral promenade.
+
+There was a long, flagged walk which led to the road, and backward and
+forward upon this path we walked many, many times.
+
+"I like starlight better than moonlight," said Miss Edith, "for it
+doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. You cannot do anything
+by starlight except simply walk about, and if there are any trees,
+that isn't easy. You know this, you don't expect anything more, and
+you're satisfied. But moonlight is different. Sometimes it is so
+bright out-of-doors when the moon is full that you are apt to think
+you could play golf or croquet, or even sit on a bench and read. But
+it isn't so. You can't do any of these things--at least, you can't do
+them with any satisfaction. And yet, month after month, if you live in
+the country, the moon deceives you into thinking that for a great many
+things she is nearly as good as the sun. But all she does is to make
+the world beautiful, and she doesn't do that as well as the sun does
+it. The stars make no pretences, and that is the reason I like them
+better.
+
+"But I did not bring you out here to tell you all this," she
+continued, offering me no opportunity of giving my opinions on the
+stars and moon. "I simply wanted to say that I am so glad and thankful
+to be walking about on the surface of the earth with whole bones and
+not a scratch from head to foot"--at this point my heart began to
+sink: I never do know what to say when people are grateful to
+me--"that I am going to show you my gratitude by treating you as I
+know you would like to be treated. I shall not pour out my gratitude
+before you and make you say things which are incorrect, for you are
+bound to do that if you say anything--"
+
+"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said; "but now let us
+talk some more about the stars."
+
+"Oh, bother the stars!" said she. "But I will drop the subject of
+gratitude as soon as I have said that if you ever come to know me
+better than you do now, you will know that in regard to such things I
+am the right kind of a girl."
+
+I had not the slightest doubt that she was entirely correct. And then
+she began to talk about golf, and after that of croquet.
+
+"I consider that the finest out-door game we have," she said, "because
+there is more science in it than you find in any of the others. Your
+brains must work when you play croquet with intelligent opponents."
+
+"The great trouble about it is," I said, "that it is often so easy."
+
+"But you can get rid of that objection," she replied, "if you have a
+bad ground. Croquet needs hazards just as much as golf does. The
+finest games I have ever seen were played on a bad ground."
+
+So we talked and walked until some of the lights in the upper windows
+of the house had gone out. We ascended to the porch, and just before
+entering the front door she turned to me.
+
+"I wish I could go to sleep to-night with the same right to feel
+proud, self-confident, superior, that you have. Good-night." And she
+held out her hand and gave mine a strong, hearty shake.
+
+I smiled as she left me standing on the porch. This was the same spot
+on which her sister Genevieve had felt my muscle. "This is an
+appreciative family," I said, and, guided by the sound of voices, I
+found Mr. Larramie and his son Walter in the billiard-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+
+
+Before going to bed that night I did not throw myself into an
+easy-chair and gaze musingly out into the night. On the contrary, I
+stood up sturdily with my back to the mantel-piece, and with the
+forefinger of my right hand I tapped my left palm.
+
+"Now, then," said I to myself, "as soon as my bicycle is put into
+working order I shall imitate travellers in hot countries--I shall
+ride all night, and I shall rest all day. There are too many young
+women in Cathay. They turn up one after another with the regularity of
+a continuous performance. No sooner is the curtain rung down on one
+act than it is rung up on another. Perhaps after a while I may get out
+of Cathay, and then again I may ride by day."
+
+In taking my things from my valise, I pulled out the little box which
+the doctor's daughter had given me, but I did not open it. "No,"
+said I, "there is no need whatever that I should take a capsule
+to-night."
+
+[Illustration: "I TAPPED MY LEFT PALM."]
+
+After breakfast the next day Mr. Larramie came to me. "Do you know,"
+said he, "I feel ashamed on account of the plans I made for you."
+
+I did not know, for I could see no earthly reason for such feeling.
+
+"I arranged," said he, "to send to the Holly Sprig for your machine,
+and then to have you and it driven over to Waterton. Now this I
+consider brutish. My wife told me that it was, and I agree with her
+perfectly. It will take several days to repair that injured
+wheel--Walter tells me you cannot expect it in less than three
+days--and what will you do in Waterton all that time? It isn't a
+pretty country, the hotels are barely good enough for a night's stop,
+and there isn't anything for you to do. Even if you hired a wheel you
+would find it stupid exploring that country. Now, sir, that plan is
+brushed entirely out of sight. Your bicycle shall be sent on, and when
+you hear that it is repaired and ready for use, you can go on yourself
+if you wish to."
+
+"My dear sir," I exclaimed, "this is entirely too much!"
+
+He put his hands upon my shoulders and looked me squarely in the
+face. "Too much!" said he, "too much! That may be your opinion, but I
+can tell you you have the whole of the rest of the world against you.
+That is, you would have if they all knew the circumstances. Now you
+are only one, and if you want to know how many people are opposed to
+you, I have no doubt Percy can tell you, but I am not very well posted
+in regard to the present population of the world."
+
+There was no good reason that I could offer why I should go and sit
+solitary in Waterton for three days, and if I had had any such reason
+I know it would have been treated with contempt. So I submitted--not
+altogether with an easy mind, and yet seeing cause for nothing but
+satisfaction and content.
+
+"Another thing," said Mr. Larramie; "I have thought that you would
+like to attend to your bicycle yourself. Perhaps you will want to take
+it apart before you send it away. Percy will be glad to drive to the
+Holly Sprig, and you can go with him. Then, when you come back, I will
+have my man take your machine to Waterton. I have a young horse very
+much in need of work, and I shall be glad to have an excuse for giving
+him some travelling to do." I stood astounded. Go back to the Holly
+Sprig! This arrangement had been made without reference to me. It had
+been supposed, of course, that I would be glad to go and attend to the
+proper packing of my bicycle. Even now, Percy, running across the
+yard, called to me that he would be ready to start in two minutes.
+
+When I took my seat in the wagon, Mr. Larramie was telling me that he
+would like me to inform Mrs. Chester that he would keep the bear until
+it was reasonable to suppose that the owner would not come for it, and
+that then he would either sell it or buy it himself, and make
+satisfactory settlement with her.
+
+I know I did not hear all that he said, for my mind was wildly busy
+trying to decide what I ought to do. Should I jump down even now and
+decline to go to the Holly Sprig, or should I go on and attend to my
+business like a sensible man? There was certainly no reason why I
+should do anything else, but when the impatient Percy started, my mind
+was not in the least made up; I remained on the seat beside him simply
+because I was there.
+
+Percy was a good driver, and glad to exhibit his skill. He was also in
+a lively mood, and talked with great freedom. "Do you know," said he,
+"that Edith wanted to drive you over to the inn? Think of that! But it
+had all been cut and dried that I should go, and I was not going to
+listen to any such nonsense. Besides, you might want somebody to help
+you take your machine apart and pack it up."
+
+I was well satisfied to be accompanied by the boy and not by his
+sister, and with the wheels and his tongue rattling along together, we
+soon reached the inn.
+
+Percy drove past it and was about to turn into the entrance of the
+yard, but I stopped him. "I suppose your wheel is back there," he
+said.
+
+"Yes," said I, "but I will get out here."
+
+"All right," he replied, "I'll drive around to the sheds."
+
+At the open door of the large room I met Mrs. Chester, evidently on
+her way out-of-doors. She wore a wide straw hat, her hands were
+gloved, and she carried a basket and a pair of large shears. When she
+saw me there was a sudden flush upon her face, but it disappeared
+quickly. Whether this meant that she was agreeably surprised to see me
+again, or whether it showed that she resented my turning up again so
+soon after she thought she was finally rid of me, I did not know. It
+does not do to predicate too much upon the flushes of women.
+
+[Illustration: "THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH"]
+
+I hastened to inform her why I had come, and now, having recovered
+from her momentary surprise, she asked me to walk in and sit down, an
+invitation which I willingly accepted, for I did not in the least
+object to detaining her from her garden.
+
+Now she wanted to know how I had managed to get on with the bear, and
+what the people at the Cheltenham said about it, and when I went on to
+tell her the whole story, which I did at considerable length, she was
+intensely interested. She shuddered at the runaway, she laughed
+heartily at the uprising of the McKenna sister, and she listened
+earnestly to everything I had to say about the Larramies.
+
+"You seem to have a wonderful way," she exclaimed, "of falling in
+with--" I think she was going to say "girls," but she changed it to
+"people."
+
+"Yes," said I. "I should not have imagined that I could make so many
+good friends in such a short time."
+
+Then I went on to give her Mr. Larramie's message, and to say more
+things about the bear. I was glad to think of any subject which might
+prolong the conversation. So far she was interested, and all that we
+said seemed perfectly natural to the occasion, but this could not
+last, and I felt within me a strong desire to make some better use of
+this interview.
+
+I had not expected to see her again, certainly not so soon, and here I
+was alone with her, free to say what I chose; but what should I say? I
+had not premeditated anything serious. In fact, I was not sure that I
+wished to say anything which should be considered absolutely serious
+and definite, but if I were ever to do anything definite--and the more
+I talked with this bright-eyed and merry-hearted young lady the
+stronger became the longing to say something definite--now was the
+time to prepare the way for what I might do or say hereafter.
+
+I was beginning to grow nervous, for the right thing to say would not
+present itself, when Percy strode into the room. "Good-morning, Mrs.
+Chester," said he, and then, turning to me, he declared that he had
+been waiting in the yard, and began to think I might have forgotten I
+had come for my wheel.
+
+Of course I rose and she rose, and we followed Percy to the back door
+of the house. Outside I saw that the boy of the inn was holding the
+horse, and that the wheel was already placed in the back part of the
+wagon.
+
+"I've got everything all right, I think," said Percy. "I didn't
+suppose it was necessary to wait for you, but you'd better take a look
+at it to see if you think it will travel without rubbing or damaging
+itself."
+
+I stepped to the wagon and found that the bicycle was very well
+placed. "Now, then," said Percy, taking the reins and mounting to his
+seat, "all you've got to do is to get up, and we'll be off."
+
+I turned to the back door, but she was not there. "Wait a minute,"
+said I, and I hurried into the house. She was not in the hall. I
+looked into the large room. She was not there. I went into the parlor,
+and out upon the front porch. Then I went back into the house to seek
+some one who might call her. I was even willing to avail myself of the
+services of citric acid, for I could not leave that house without
+speaking to her again.
+
+In a moment Mrs. Chester appeared from some inner room. I believe she
+suspected that I had something to say to her which had nothing to do
+with the bear or the Larramies, for I had been conscious that my
+speech had been a little rambling, as if I were earnestly thinking of
+something else than what I was saying, and that she desired I should
+be taken away without an opportunity to unburden my mind; but now,
+hearing me tramping about and knowing that I was looking for her, she
+was obliged to show herself.
+
+As she came forward I noticed that her expression had changed
+somewhat. There was nothing merry about her eyes; I think she was
+slightly pale, and her brows were a little contracted, as if she were
+doing something she did not want to do.
+
+"I hope you found everything all right," she said.
+
+I looked at her steadily. "No," said I, "everything is not all right."
+
+A slight shade of anxiety came upon her face. "I am sorry to hear
+that," she said. "Was your wheel injured more than you thought?"
+
+"Wheel!" I exclaimed. "I was not thinking of wheels! I will tell you
+what is not all right! It is not right for me to go away without
+saying to you that I--"
+
+At this moment there was a strong, shrill whistle from the front of
+the house. A most unmistakable sense of relief showed itself upon
+her face. She ran to the front door, and called out, "Yes, he is
+coming."
+
+[Illustration: "THE SCENE VIVIDLY RECURRED TO MY MIND"]
+
+There was nothing for me to do but to follow her. I greatly disliked
+going away without saying what I wanted to say, and I would have been
+willing to speak even at the front door, but she gave me no chance.
+
+"Good-bye," she said, extending her hand. It was gloved. It gave no
+clasp--it invited none. As I could not say the words which were on my
+tongue, I said nothing, and, raising my cap, I hurried away.
+
+To make up for lost time, Percy drove very rapidly. "I came mighty
+near having a fight while you were in the house," said he. "It was
+that boy at the inn. He's a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully
+impertinent. He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the
+bear had hurt you. He said he believed you were really afraid of the
+beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.
+
+"I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith's runaway, and then he
+said, fair and square, that he didn't believe you stopped the horse.
+He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you
+came along and grabbed him and took all the credit. He said he
+thought you were that sort of a fellow.
+
+"That's the time I was going to pitch into him, but then I thought it
+would be a pretty low-down thing for me to be fighting a country
+tavern-boy, so I simply gave him my opinion of him. I don't believe
+he'd have held the horse, only he thought it would make you get away
+quicker. He hates you. Did you ever kick him or anything?"
+
+I laughed, and, telling Percy that I had never kicked the boy, I
+thanked him for his championship of me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A MAN WITH A LETTER
+
+
+When my unfortunate bicycle had been started on its way to Waterton, I
+threw myself into the family life of the Larramies, determined not to
+let them see any perturbations of mind which had been caused by the
+extraordinary promptness of the younger son. If a man had gone with me
+instead of that boy, I would have had every opportunity of saying what
+I wanted to say to the mistress of the Holly Sprig. I may state that I
+frequently found myself trying to determine what it was I wanted to
+say.
+
+I did my best to suppress all thoughts relating to things outside of
+this most hospitable and friendly house. I went to see the bear with
+the younger members of the family. I played four games of tennis, and
+in the afternoon the whole family went to fish in a very pretty
+mill-pond about a mile from the house. A good many fish were caught,
+large and small, and not one of the female fishers, except Miss
+Willoughby, the nervous young lady, and little Clara, would allow me
+to take a fish from her hook. Even Mrs. Larramie said that if she
+fished at all she thought she ought to do everything for herself, and
+not depend upon other people.
+
+As much as possible I tried to be with Mr. Larramie and Walter. I had
+not the slightest distaste for the company of the ladies, but there
+was a consciousness upon me that there were pleasant things in which a
+man ought to restrict himself. There was nothing chronic about this
+consciousness. It was on duty for this occasion only.
+
+That night at the supper-table the conversation took a peculiar turn.
+Mr. Larramie was the chief speaker, and it pleased him to hold forth
+upon the merits of Mrs. Chester. He said, and his wife and others of
+the company agreed with him, that she was a lady of peculiarly
+estimable character; that she was out of place; that every one who
+knew her well felt that she was out of place; but that she so graced
+her position that she almost raised it to her level. Over and over
+again her friends had said to her that a lady such as she was--still
+young, of a good family, well educated, who had travelled, and moved
+in excellent society--should not continue to be the landlady of a
+country inn, but the advice of her friends had had no effect upon her.
+
+It was not known whether it was necessary for her to continue the
+inn-keeping business, but the general belief was that it was not
+necessary. It was supposed that she had had money when she married
+Godfrey Chester, and he was not a poor man.
+
+Then came a strange revelation, which Mr. Larramie dwelt upon with
+considerable earnestness. There was an idea, he said, that Mrs.
+Chester kept up the Holly Sprig because she thought it would be her
+husband's wish that she should do so. He had probably said something
+about its being a provision for her in case of his death. At any rate,
+she seemed desirous to maintain the establishment exactly as he had
+ordered it in his life, making no change whatever, very much as if she
+had expected him to come back, and wished him to find everything as he
+had left it.
+
+"Of course she doesn't expect him to come back," said Mr. Larramie,
+"because it must now be four years since the time of his supposed
+murder--"
+
+"Supposed!" I cried, with much more excited interest than I would have
+shown if I had taken proper thought before speaking.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Larramie, "that is a fine point. I said 'supposed'
+because the facts of the case are not definitely known. There can be
+no reasonable doubt, however, that he is dead, for even if this fact
+had not been conclusively proved by the police investigations, it
+might now be considered proved by his continued absence. It would have
+been impossible for Mr. Chester alive to keep away from his wife for
+four years--they were devoted to each other. Furthermore, the exact
+manner of his death is not known--although it must have been a
+murder--and for these reasons I used the word 'supposed.' But, really,
+so far as human judgment can go, the whole matter is a certainty. I
+have not the slightest doubt in the world that Mrs. Chester so
+considers it, and yet, as she does not positively know it--as she has
+not the actual proofs that her husband is no longer living--she
+refuses in certain ways, in certain ways only, to consider herself a
+widow."
+
+"And what ways are those?" I asked, in a voice which, I hope,
+exhibited no undue emotion.
+
+"She declines to marry again," said Mrs. Larramie, now taking up the
+conversation. "Of course, such a pretty woman--I may say, such a
+charming woman--would have admirers, and I know that she has had some
+most excellent offers, but she has always refused to consider any of
+them. There was one gentleman, a man of wealth and position, who had
+proposed to her before she married Mr. Chester, who came on here to
+offer himself again, but she cut off everything he had to say by
+telling him that as she did not positively know that her husband was
+not living, she could not allow a word of that sort to be said to her.
+I know this, because she told me so herself."
+
+There was a good deal more talk of the sort, and of course it
+interested me greatly, although I tried not to show it, but I could
+not help wondering why the subject had been brought forward in such an
+impressive manner upon the present occasion. It seemed to me that
+there was something personal in it--personal to me. Had that boy Percy
+been making reports?
+
+In the evening I found out all about it, and in a very straightforward
+and direct fashion. I discovered Miss Edith by herself, and asked her
+if all that talk about Mrs. Chester had been intended for my benefit,
+and, if so, why.
+
+She laughed. "I expected you to come and ask me about that," she said,
+"for of course you could see through a good deal of it. It is all
+father's kindness and goodness. Percy was a little out of temper when
+he came back, and he spun a yarn about your being sweet on Mrs.
+Chester, and how he could hardly get you away from her, and all that.
+He had an idea that you wanted to go there and live, at least for the
+summer. Something a boy said to him made him think that. So father
+thought that if you had any notions about Mrs. Chester you ought to
+have the matter placed properly before you without any delay, and I
+expect his reason for mentioning it at the supper-table was that it
+might then seem like a general subject of conversation, whereas it
+would have been very pointed indeed if he had taken you apart and
+talked to you about it."
+
+"Indeed it would," said I. "And if you will allow me, I will say that
+boys are unmitigated nuisances! If they are not hearing what they
+ought not to hear, they are imagining what they ought not to
+imagine--"
+
+"And telling things that they ought not to tell," she added, with a
+laugh.
+
+"Which is an extremely bad thing," said I, "when there is nothing to
+tell."
+
+For the rest of that evening I was more lively than is my wont, for it
+was a very easy thing to be lively in that family. I do not think I
+gave any one reason to suppose that I was a man whose attention had
+been called to a notice not to trespass.
+
+As usual, I communed with myself before going to bed. Wherefore this
+feeling of disappointment? What did it mean? Would I have said
+anything of importance, of moment, to Mrs. Chester, if the boy Percy
+had given me an opportunity? What would I have said? What could I have
+said? I could see that she did not wish that I should say anything,
+and now I knew the reason for it. It was all plain enough on her side.
+Even if she had allowed herself any sort of emotion regarding me, she
+did not wish me to indulge in anything of the kind. But as for myself.
+I could decide nothing about myself.
+
+I smiled grimly as my eyes fell upon the little box of capsules. My
+first thought was that I should take two of them, but then I shook my
+head. "It would be utterly useless," I said; "they would do me no
+good."
+
+In the course of the next morning I found myself alone. I put on my
+cap, lighted a pipe, and started down the flag walk to the gate. In a
+few moments I heard running steps behind me, and, turning, I saw Miss
+Edith. "Don't look cross," she said. "Were you going for a walk?"
+
+I scouted the idea of crossness, and said that I had thought of taking
+a stroll.
+
+"That seems funny," said she, "for nobody in this house ever goes out
+for a lonely walk. But you cannot go just yet. There's a man at the
+back of the house with a letter for you."
+
+"A letter!" I exclaimed. "Who in the world could have sent a letter to
+me here?"
+
+"The only way to find out," she answered, "is to go and see."
+
+Under a tree at the back of the house I found a young negro man, very
+warm and dusty, who handed me a letter, which, to my surprise, bore no
+address. "How do you know this is for me?" said I.
+
+He was a good-natured looking fellow. "Oh, I know it's for you, sir,"
+said he. "They told me at the little tavern--the Holly something--that
+I'd find you here. You're the gentleman that had a bicycle tire eat
+up by a bear, ain't you?"
+
+I admitted that I was, and still, without opening the letter, I asked
+him, where it came from.
+
+"That was given to me in New York, sir," said he, "by a Dago, one of
+these I-talians. He gave me the money to go to Blackburn Station in
+the cars, and then I walked over to the tavern. He said he thought I'd
+find you there, sir. He told me just what sort of a lookin' man you
+was, sir, and that letter is for you, and no mistake. He didn't know
+your name, or he'd put it on."
+
+"Oh, it is from the owner of the bear," said I.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the man, "that's him. He did own a bear--he told
+me--that eat up your tire."
+
+I now tore open the blank envelope, and found it contained a letter on
+a single sheet, and in this was a folded paper, very dirty. The letter
+was apparently written in Italian, and had no signature. I ran my eye
+along the opening lines, and soon found that it would be a very
+difficult piece of business for me to read it. I was a fair French and
+German scholar, but my knowledge of Italian was due entirely to its
+relationship with Latin. I told the man to rest himself somewhere, and
+went to the house, and, finding Miss Edith, I informed her that I had
+a letter from the bear man, and asked her if she could read Italian.
+
+"I studied the language at school," she said, "but I have not
+practised much. However, let us go into the library--there is a
+dictionary there--and perhaps we can spell it out."
+
+We spread the open sheet upon the library-table, and laid the folded
+paper near by, and, sitting side by side, with a dictionary before us,
+we went to work. It was very hard work.
+
+"I think," said my companion, after ten minutes' application, "that
+the man who sent you this letter writes Italian about as badly as we
+read it. I think I could decipher the meaning of his words if I knew
+what letters those funny scratches were intended to represent. But let
+us stick to it. After a while we may get a little used to the writing,
+and I must admit that I have a curiosity to know what the man has to
+say about his bear."
+
+After a time the work became easier. Miss Edith possessed an acuteness
+of perception which enabled her to decipher almost illegible words by
+comparing them with others which were better written. We were at last
+enabled to translate the letter. The substance of it was as follows:
+
+The writer came to New York on a ship. There was a man on the ship,
+an Italian man, who was very wicked. He did very wicked things to the
+writer. When he got to New York he kept on being wicked. He was so
+wicked that the writer made up his mind to kill him. He waited for him
+one night for two hours.
+
+[Illustration: DECIPHERING THE DAGO'S LETTERS]
+
+At last the moment came. It was very dark, and the victim came,
+walking fast. The avenger sprang from a door-way and plunged his knife
+into the back of the victim. The man fell, and the moment he fell the
+writer of the letter knew that he was not the man he had intended to
+kill. The wicked man would not have been killed so easily. He turned
+over the man. He was dead. His eyes were used to the darkness, and he
+could see that he was the wrong man.
+
+The coat of the murdered man had fallen open, and a paper showed
+itself in an inside pocket. The Italian waited only long enough to
+snatch this paper. He wanted to have something which had belonged to
+that poor, wrongly murdered man. After that he heard no more about the
+great mistake he had committed. He could not read the newspapers, and
+he asked nobody any questions. He put the paper away and kept it. He
+often thought he ought to burn the paper, but he did not do it. He was
+afraid. The paper had a name on it, and he was sure it was the name
+of the man he had killed. He thought as long as he kept the paper
+there was a chance for his forgiveness.
+
+This was all four years ago. He worked hard, and after a while he
+bought a bear. When his bear ate up the India-rubber on my bicycle he
+was very much frightened, for he was afraid he might be sent to
+prison. But that was not the fright that made him run away.
+
+When he talked to the boy and asked him the name of the keeper of the
+inn, and the boy told him what it was, the earth seemed to open and he
+saw hell. The name was the name that was on the paper he had taken
+from the man he had killed by mistake, and this was his wife whose
+house he was staying at. He was seized with such a horror and such a
+fear that everything might be found out, and that he would be
+arrested, that he ran away to the railroad and took a train for New
+York.
+
+He did not want his bear. He did not want to be known as the man who
+had been going about with a bear. One thing he wanted, and that was to
+get back to Italy, where he would be safe. He was going back very soon
+in a ship. He had changed his name. He could not be found any more.
+But he knew his soul would never have any peace if he did not send
+the paper to the wife of the man he had made a mistake about. But he
+could not write a letter to her, so he sent it to me, for me to give
+her the paper and to tell her what he had written in the letter. He
+left America forever. Nobody in this country would ever see him again.
+He was gone. He was lost to all people in this country, but his soul
+felt better now that he had done that which would make the lady whose
+husband he had killed know how it had happened. The bear he would give
+to her. That was all that he could do for her.
+
+There was no formal close to the letter; the writer had said what he
+had to say and stopped.
+
+Miss Edith and I looked at each other. Her eyes had grown large and
+bright. "Now, shall we examine the paper?"
+
+"I do not know that we have a right to do so," I said. I know my voice
+was trembling, for I was very much agitated. "That belongs to--to
+her!"
+
+"I think," said Miss Edith, "that we ought to look at it. It is merely
+a folded paper. I do not think we ought to thrust information upon
+Mrs. Chester without knowing what it is. Perhaps the man made a
+mistake in the name. We may do a great deal of mischief if we do not
+know exactly what we are about." And so saying she took the paper and
+opened it.
+
+It was nothing but a grocery bill, but it was made out to--Godfrey
+Chester, Dr. Evidently it was for goods supplied to the inn. It was
+receipted.
+
+For a few moments I said nothing, and then I exclaimed, in tones which
+made my companion gaze very earnestly at me: "I must go to her
+immediately! I must take these papers! She must know everything!"
+
+"Excuse me," said Miss Edith, "but don't you think that something
+ought to be done about apprehending this man--this Italian? Let us go
+and question his messenger." We went out together, she carrying,
+tightly clasped, both the letter and the bill.
+
+The black man could tell us very little. An Italian he had never seen
+before had given him the letter to take to Holly Sprig Inn, and give
+to the gentleman who had had his tire eaten by a bear. If the
+gentleman was not there, he was to ask to have it sent to him. That
+was everything he knew.
+
+"Did the Italian give you money to go back with?" asked Miss Edith,
+and the man rather reluctantly admitted that he did.
+
+"Well, you can keep that for yourself," said she, "and we'll pay your
+passage back. But we would like you to wait here for a while. There
+may be some sort of an answer."
+
+The man laughed. "'Taint no use sendin' no answer," said he; "I
+couldn't find that Dago again. They're all so much alike. He said he
+was goin' away on a ship. You see it was yesterday he gave me that
+letter. I 'spect he'll be a long way out to sea before I get back,
+even if I did know who he was and what ship he was goin' on. But if
+you want me to wait, I don't mind waitin'."
+
+"Very good," said Miss Edith; "you can go into the kitchen and have
+something to eat." And, calling a maid, she gave orders for the man's
+entertainment.
+
+"Now," said she, turning to me, "let us take a walk through the
+orchard. I want to talk to you."
+
+"No," said I, "I can't talk at present. I must go immediately to the
+inn with those papers. It is right that not a moment should be lost in
+delivering this most momentous message which has been intrusted to
+me."
+
+"But I must speak to you first," said she, and she walked rapidly
+towards the orchard. As she still held the papers in her hand, I was
+obliged to follow her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+
+As soon as we had begun to walk under the apple-trees she turned to me
+and said: "I don't think you ought to take this letter and the bill to
+Mrs. Chester. It would not be right. There would be something cruel
+about it."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Of course I do not know exactly the state of the case," she answered,
+"but I will tell you what I think about it as far as I know. You must
+not be offended at what I say. If I am a friend to anybody--and I
+would be ashamed if I were not a friend to you--I must tell him just
+what I think about things, and this is what I think about this thing:
+I ought to take these papers to Mrs. Chester. I know her well enough,
+and it is a woman who ought to go to her at such a time."
+
+"That message was intrusted to me," I said. "Of course it was," she
+answered, "but the bear man did not know what he was doing. He did not
+understand the circumstances."
+
+[Illustration: "'I DON'T THINK YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THIS LETTER'"]
+
+"What circumstances?" I asked.
+
+She gave me a look as if she were going to take aim at me and wanted
+to be sure of my position. Then she said: "Percy told us he thought
+you were courting Mrs. Chester. That was pure impertinence on his
+part, and perhaps what father said at the table was impertinence too,
+but I know he said it because he thought there might be something in
+Percy's chatter, and that you ought to understand how things stood.
+Now, you may think it impertinence on my part if you choose, but it
+really does seem to me that you are very much interested in Mrs.
+Chester. Didn't you intend to walk down to the Holly Sprig when you
+were starting out by yourself this morning?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "I did."
+
+"I thought so," she replied. "That, of course, was your own business,
+and what father said about her being unwilling to marry again need not
+have made any difference to you if you had chosen not to mind it. But
+now, don't you think, if you look at the matter fairly and squarely,
+it would be pretty hard on Mrs. Chester if you were to go down to her
+and make her understand that she really is a widow, and that now she
+is free to listen to you if you want to say anything to her? This may
+sound a little hard and cruel, but don't you think it is the way she
+would have to look at it?"
+
+She stopped as she spoke, and I turned and stood silent, looking at
+her.
+
+"My first thought was," she said, "to advise you to tell father about
+all this, and take his advice about telling her, but I don't think you
+would like that. Now, would you like that?"
+
+"No," I answered, "I certainly would not."
+
+"And don't you really think I ought to go to her with the message, and
+then come back and tell you how she took it and what she said?"
+
+For nearly a minute I did not speak, but I knew she was right, and at
+last I admitted it.
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so!" she exclaimed. "As soon as dinner is
+over I shall drive to the Holly Sprig."
+
+We still walked on, and she proposed that we should go to the top of a
+hill beyond the orchard, where there was a pretty view.
+
+"You may think me a strange sort of a girl," she said, presently, "but
+I can't help it. I suppose I am strange. I have often thought I would
+like very much to talk freely and honestly with a man about the
+reasons which people have for falling in love with each other. Of
+course I could not ask my father or brother, because they would simply
+laugh at me and tell me that falling in love was very much like the
+springing up of weeds--generally without reason and often
+objectionable. But you would be more likely to tell me something which
+would be of advantage to me in my studies."
+
+"Your studies!" I exclaimed. "What in the world are you studying?"
+
+"Well, I am studying human nature--not as a whole, of course, that's
+too large a subject, but certain phases of it--and I particularly want
+to know why such queer people come together and get married. Now I
+have great advantages in such a study, much greater than most girls
+have."
+
+"What are they?" I asked.
+
+"The principal one is that I never intend to marry. I made up my mind
+to that a good while ago. There is a great deal of work that I want to
+do in this world, and I could not do it properly if I were tied to a
+man. I would either have to submit myself to his ways, or he would
+have to submit himself to my ways, and that would not suit me. In the
+one case I should not respect him, and in the other I should not
+respect myself."
+
+"But suppose," said I, "you should meet a man who should be in perfect
+harmony with you in all important points?"
+
+"Ah," she said, "that sort of thing never happens. You might as well
+expect to pick up two pebbles exactly alike. I don't believe in it.
+But if at any time during the rest of my life you show me any examples
+of such harmony, I will change my opinions. I believe that if I can
+wait long enough, society will catch up with me. Everything looks that
+way to me."
+
+"It may be that you are right," I answered. "Society is getting on
+famously. But what is it you want to ask me?"
+
+"Simply this," she replied. "What is it which interests you so much in
+Mrs. Chester?"
+
+I looked at her in astonishment. "Truly," I exclaimed, "that is a
+remarkable question."
+
+"I know it," she replied, "and I suppose you are saying to yourself,
+'Here is a girl who has known me less than three days, and yet she
+asks me to tell her about my feeling towards another woman.' But,
+really, it seems to me that as you have not known that other woman
+three days, as much friendship and confidence might spring up in the
+one case as affection in the other."
+
+"Affection!" said I. "Have I said anything about affection?"
+
+"No, you have not," she replied; "and if there isn't any affection, of
+course that ends this special study on my part."
+
+We reached the top of the hill, but I forgot to look out upon the
+view. "I think you are a strange girl," I said, "but I like you, and I
+have a mind to try to answer your question. I have not been able quite
+to satisfy myself about my feelings towards Mrs. Chester, but now I
+think I can say that I have an affection for her."
+
+"Good!" she exclaimed. "I like that! That is an honest answer if ever
+there was one. But tell me why it is that you have an affection for
+her. It must have been almost a case of love at first sight."
+
+"It isn't easy to give reasons for such feelings," I said. "They
+spring up, as your father would say, very much like weeds."
+
+"Indeed they do," she interpolated; "sometimes they grow in the middle
+of a gravel path where they cannot expect to be allowed to stay."
+
+I reflected a moment. "I don't mind talking about these things to
+you," I said. "It seems almost like talking to myself."
+
+"That is a compliment I appreciate," she said. "And now go on. Why do
+you care for her?"
+
+"Well," said I, "in the first place, she is very handsome. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Oh yes! In fact, I think she is almost what might be called exactly
+beautiful."
+
+"Then she has such charming manners," I continued. "And she is so
+sensible--although you may not think I had much chance to find out
+that. Moreover, there is a certain sympathetic cordiality about her--"
+
+"Which, of course," interrupted my companion, "you suppose she would
+not show to any man but you."
+
+"Yes," said I. "I am speaking honestly now, and that's the way it
+strikes me. Of course I may be a fool, but I did think that a sympathy
+had arisen between us which would not arise between her and anybody
+else."
+
+Miss Edith laughed heartily. "I am getting to know a great deal about
+one side of the subject," she said. "And now tell me--is that all? I
+don't believe it is."
+
+"No," I answered, "it is not. There is something more which makes her
+attractive to me. I cannot exactly explain it except by saying that it
+is her surrounding atmosphere--it is everything that pertains to her.
+It is the life she lives, it is her home, it is the beauty and peace,
+the sense of charm which infuses her and everything that belongs to
+her."
+
+"Beautiful!" said Miss Edith. "I expected an answer like that, but not
+so well put. Now let me translate it into plain, simple language. What
+you want is to give up your present life, which must be awfully
+stupid, and go and help Mrs. Chester keep the Holly Sprig. That would
+suit you exactly. A charming wife, charming surroundings, charming
+sense of living, a life of absolute independence! But don't think,"
+she added, quickly, "that I am imputing any sordid motives to you. I
+meant nothing of the kind. You would do just as much to make the inn
+popular as she would. I expect you would make her rich."
+
+"Miss Edith Larramie," said I, "you are a heartless deceiver! It makes
+my blood run cold to hear you speak in that way."
+
+"Never mind that," she said, "but tell me, didn't you think it would
+be just lovely to live with her in that delightful little inn?"
+
+I could not help smiling at her earnestness, but I answered that I did
+think so.
+
+She nodded her head reflectively. "Yes," she said, "I was right. I
+think you ought to admit that I am a good judge of human nature--at
+least, in some people and under certain circumstances."
+
+"You are," said I. "I admit that. Now answer me a question. What do
+you think of it?"
+
+"I don't like it," she said. "And don't you see," she added, with
+animation, "what an advantage I possess in having determined never to
+marry? Very few other girls would be willing to speak to you so
+plainly. They would be afraid you would think that they wanted you,
+but, as I don't want anybody, you and I can talk over things of this
+kind like free and equal human beings. So I will say again that I
+don't like your affection for Mrs. Chester. It disappoints me."
+
+"Disappoints you!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," she said, "that is the word. You must remember that my
+acquaintance with you began with a sort of a bump. A great deal
+happened in an instant. I formed high ideas of you, and among them
+were ideas of the future. You can't help that when you are thinking of
+people who interest you. Your mind will run ahead. When I found out
+about Mrs. Chester I was disappointed. It might be all very
+delightful, but you ought to do better than that!"
+
+[Illustration: "'DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HIT IT WITH AN APPLE?'"]
+
+"How old are you?" I asked.
+
+"Twenty-two last May," she replied.
+
+"Isn't that the dinner-bell I hear in the distance?" I said.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "and we will go down."
+
+On the way she stopped, and we stood facing each other. "I am greatly
+obliged to you," she said, "for giving me your confidence in this way,
+and I want you to believe that I shall be thoroughly loyal to you, and
+that I never will breathe anything you have said. But I also want you
+to know that I do not change any of my opinions. Now we understand
+each other, don't we?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, "but I think I understand you better than you
+understand me."
+
+"Not a bit of it," she replied; "that's nonsense. Do you see that
+flower-pot on the top of the stump by the little hill over there?
+Percy has been firing at it with his air-gun. Do you think you could
+hit it with an apple? Let's each take three apples and try."
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Miss Edith returned from the Holly
+Sprig, where she and Genevieve had driven in a pony-cart. I was with
+the rest of the family on the golf links a short distance from the
+house, and it was some time before she got a chance to speak to me,
+but she managed at last.
+
+"How did she take the news?" I eagerly asked.
+
+The girl hesitated. "I don't think I ought to tell you all she said
+and did. It was really a private interview between us two, and I know
+she would not want me to say much about it. And I don't think you
+would want to hear everything."
+
+I hastened to assure her that I would not ask for the particulars of
+the conversation. I only wished to know the general effect of the
+message upon her. That was legitimate enough, as, in fact, she
+received the message through me.
+
+"Well, she was very much affected, and it would have been dreadful if
+you had gone. Oh the whole, however, I cannot help thinking that the
+Italian's letter was a great relief to her, particularly because she
+found that her husband had been killed by mistake. She said that one
+of the greatest loads upon her soul had been the feeling that he had
+had an enemy who hated him enough to kill him. But now the case is
+very different, and it is a great comfort to her to know it."
+
+"And about the murderer?" I said. "Did you ask her if she wanted steps
+taken to apprehend him?"
+
+"Yes," she said, "I did speak of it, and she is very anxious that
+nothing shall be done in that direction. Even if the Italian should be
+caught, she would not have the affair again publicly discussed and
+dissected. She believes the man's story, and she never wants to hear
+of him again. Indeed, I think that if it should be proved that the
+Italian killed Mr. Chester on purpose, it would be the greatest blow
+that could be inflicted upon her."
+
+"Then," said I, "I might as well let the negro man go his way. I have
+not paid him his passage-money to the city. I knew he would wait until
+he got it, and it might be desirable to take him into custody."
+
+"Oh no," she said. "Mrs. Chester spoke about that. She doesn't want
+the man troubled in any way. He knew nothing of the message he
+carried. Now I am going to tell father about it--she asked me to do
+it."
+
+That evening was a merry one. We had charades, and a good many other
+things were going on. Miss Willoughby was an admirable actress, and
+Miss Edith was not bad, although she could never get rid of her
+personality. I was in a singular state of mind. I felt as if I had
+been relieved from a weight. My spirits were actually buoyant.
+
+"You should not be so unreasonably gay," said Miss Edith to me. "That
+may be your way when you get better acquainted with people, but I am
+afraid some of the family will think that you are in such good spirits
+because Mrs. Chester now knows that she is a widow."
+
+"Oh, there is no danger of their thinking anything of that sort," I
+said. "Don't you suppose they will attribute my good spirits to the
+fact that the man who took my bicycle to Waterton brought back my big
+valise, so that I am enabled to look like a gentleman in the parlor?
+And then, as he also brought word that my bicycle will be all ready
+for me to-morrow, don't you think it is to be expected of me that I
+should try to make myself as agreeable as possible on this my last
+evening with all you good friends?"
+
+She shook her head. "Those excuses will not pass. You are abnormally
+cheerful. My study of you is extremely interesting, but not altogether
+satisfactory."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MISS WILLOUGHBY
+
+
+It was decreed the next day that I should not leave until after
+dinner. They would send me over to Blackburn Station by a cross-road,
+and I could then reach Waterton in less than an hour. "There is
+another good thing about this arrangement," said Miss Edith, for it
+was she who announced it to me, "and that is that you can take charge
+of Amy."
+
+I gazed at her mystified, and she said, "Don't you know that Miss
+Willoughby is going in the same train with you?"
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, far too forcibly.
+
+"Yes. Her visit ends to-day. She lives in Waterton. But why should
+that affect you so wonderfully? I am sure you cannot object to an hour
+in the train with Amy Willoughby. She may talk a good deal, but you
+must admit that she talks well."
+
+"Object!" I said. "Of course I don't object. She talks very well
+indeed, and I shall be glad to have the pleasure of her company."
+
+"No one would have thought so," she said, looking at me with a
+criticising eye, "who had seen you when you heard she was going."
+
+"It was the suddenness," I said.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "and your delicate nerves."
+
+In my soul I cried out to myself: "Am I ever to break free from young
+women! Is there to be a railroad accident between here and Waterton!
+If so, I shall save the nearest old gentleman!"
+
+I believe the Larramies were truly sorry to have me go. Each one of
+them in turn told me so. Mrs. Larramie again said to me, with tears in
+her eyes, that it made her shudder to think what that home might be if
+it had not been for me.
+
+Mr. Larramie and Walter promised to get up some fine excursions if I
+would stay a little longer, and Genevieve made me sit down beside her
+under a tree.
+
+"I am awfully sorry you are going," she said. "I always wanted a
+gentleman friend, and I believe if you'd stay a little longer you'd be
+one. You see, Walter is really too old for me to confide in, and Percy
+thinks he's too old--and that's a great deal worse. But you're just
+the age I like. There are so many things I would say to you if you
+lived here."
+
+Little Clara, cried when she heard I was going, and I felt myself
+obliged to commit the shameful deception of talking about baby bears
+and my possible return to this place.
+
+Miss Edith accompanied us to the station, and when I took leave of her
+on the platform she gave me a good, hearty handshake. "I believe that
+we shall see each other again," she said, "and when we meet I want you
+to make a report, and I hope it will be a good one!"
+
+"About what?" I asked.
+
+She smiled in gentle derision, and the conductor cried, "All aboard!"
+
+I found a vacant seat, and, side by side, Miss Willoughby and I sped
+on towards Waterton.
+
+For some time I had noticed that Miss Willoughby had ceased to look
+past me when she spoke to me, and now she fixed her eyes fully upon me
+and said:
+
+"I am always sorry when I go away from that house, for I think the
+people who live there are the dearest in the world, excepting my own
+mother and aunt, who are nearer to me than anybody else, although, if
+I needed a mother, Mrs. Larramie would take me to her heart, I am
+sure, just as if I were her own daughter, and I am not related to them
+in any way, although I have always looked upon Edith as a sister, and
+I don't believe that if I had a real sister she could possibly have
+been as dear a girl as Edith, who is so lovable and tender and
+forgiving--whenever there is anything to forgive--and who, although
+she is a girl of such strong character and such a very peculiar way of
+thinking about things, has never said a hard word to me in all her
+life, even when she found that our opinions were different, which was
+something she often did find, for she looks upon everything in this
+world in her own way, and bases all her judgments upon her own
+observations and convictions, while I am very willing to let those
+whom I think I ought to look up to and respect judge for me--at least
+in a great many things, but of course not in all matters, for there
+are some things which we must decide for ourselves without reference
+to other people's opinions, though I should be sorry indeed if I had
+so many things to decide as Edith has, or rather chooses to have, for
+if she would depend more upon other people I think it would not only
+be easier for her, but really make her happier, for if you could hear
+some of the wonderful things which she has discussed with me after
+we have gone to bed at night it would really make your head ache--that
+is, if you are subject to that sort of thing, which I am if I am kept
+awake too long, but I am proud to say that I don't think I ever
+allowed Edith to suppose that I was tired of hearing her talk, for
+when any one is as lovely as she is I think she ought to be allowed to
+talk about what she pleases and just along as she pleases."
+
+[Illustration: "TALKING ABOUT BABY BEARS"]
+
+Surprising as it may appear, nothing happened on that railroad
+journey. No cow of Cathay blundered in front of the locomotive; no
+freight train came around a curve going in the opposite direction upon
+the same track; everything went smoothly and according to schedule.
+Miss Willoughby did not talk all the time. She was not the greatest
+talker I ever knew; she was not even the fastest; she was always
+willing to wait until her turn came, but she had wonderful endurance
+for a steady stretch. She never made a bad start, she never broke, she
+went steadily over the track until the heat had been run.
+
+When the time came for me to speak she listened with great interest,
+and sometimes at my words her eyes sparkled almost as much as they
+did when she was speaking herself. She knew a great many things, and
+I was pleased to find out that she was especially interested in the
+good qualities of the people she knew. I never heard so many gracious
+sentiments in so short a time.
+
+Miss Willoughby's residence was but a short distance from the station
+at Waterton; and as she thought it entirely unnecessary to take a cab,
+I attended to her baggage, and offered to walk with her to her home
+and carry her little bag. I was about to leave her at the door, but
+this she positively forbade. I must step in for a minute or two to see
+her mother and her aunt. They had heard of me, and would never forgive
+her if she let me go without their seeing me. As the door opened
+immediately, we went in.
+
+Miss Willoughby's mother and aunt were two most charming elderly
+ladies, immaculately dainty in their dress, cordial of manner, bright
+of eye, and diminutive of hand, producing the impression of gentle
+goodness set off by soft white muslin, folded tenderly.
+
+They had heard of me. In the few days in which I had been with the
+Larramies, Miss Willoughby had written of me. They insisted that I
+should stay to supper, for what good reason could there be for my
+taking that meal at the hotel--not a very good one--when they would be
+so glad to have me sup with them and talk about our mutual friends?
+
+I had no reasonable objection to offer, and, returning to the station,
+I took my baggage to the hotel, where I prepared to sup with the
+Willoughby family.
+
+They were now a little family of three, although there was a brother
+who had started away the day before on a bicycling tour very like my
+own, and they were both so delighted to have Amy visit the Larramies,
+and they were both so delighted to have her come back.
+
+The supper was a delicate one, suitable for canary birds, but at an
+early stage of the meal a savory little sirloin steak was brought on
+which had been cooked especially for me. Of course I could not be
+expected to be satisfied with thin dainties, no matter how tasteful
+they might be.
+
+This house was the abode of intelligence, cultivated taste, and
+opulence. It was probably the finest mansion of the town. In every
+room there were things to see, and after supper we looked at them,
+and, as I wandered from pictures to vases and carved ivory, the
+remarks of the two elder ladies and Miss Willoughby seemed like a
+harmonized chorus accompanying the rest of the performance. Each spoke
+at the right time, each in her turn said the thing she ought to say.
+It was a rare exhibition of hospitable enthusiasm, tempered by
+sympathetic consideration for me and for each other.
+
+I soon discovered that many of the water-color drawings on the walls
+were the work of Miss Willoughby, and when she saw I was interested in
+them she produced a portfolio of her sketches. I liked her coloring
+very much. It was sometimes better than her drawing. It was dainty,
+delicate, and suggestive. One picture attracted me the moment my eyes
+fell upon it; it was one of the most carefully executed, and it
+represented the Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+"You recognize that!" said Miss Willoughby, evidently pleased. "You
+see that light-colored spot in the portico? That's Mrs. Chester; she
+stood there when I was making the drawing. It is nothing but two or
+three little dabs, but that is the way she looked at a distance.
+Around on this side is the corner of the yard where the bear tried to
+eat up the tire of your bicycle."
+
+I gazed and gazed at the little light-colored spot in the portico. I
+gave it form, light, feeling. I could see perfect features, blue
+eyes which looked out at me, a form of simple grace.
+
+[Illustration: "'I HELD THAT PICTURE A GOOD WHILE'"]
+
+I held that picture a good while, saying little, and scarcely
+listening to Miss Willoughby's words. At last I felt obliged to
+replace it in the portfolio. If the artist had been a poor girl, I
+would have offered to buy it; if I had known her better, I would have
+asked her to give it to me; but I could do nothing but put it back.
+
+Glancing at the clock I saw that it was time for me to go, but when I
+announced this fact the ladies very much demurred. Why should I go to
+that uncomfortable hotel? They would send for my baggage. There was
+not the least reason in the world why I should spend the night in that
+second-rate establishment.
+
+"See," said Mrs. Willoughby, opening the door of a room in the rear of
+the parlor, "if you will stay with us to-night we will lodge you in
+the chamber of the favored guest. All the pictures on the walls were
+done by my daughter."
+
+I looked into the room. It was the most charming and luxurious bedroom
+I had ever seen. It was lighted, and the harmony of its furnishings
+was a treat to the eye.
+
+But I stood firm in my purpose to depart. I would not spend the night
+in that house. There would be a fire, burglars, I knew not what!
+Against all kind entreaties I urged the absolute necessity of my
+starting away by the very break of day, and I could not disturb a
+private family by any such proceeding. They saw that I was determined
+to go, and they allowed me to depart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AN ICICLE
+
+
+My room at the hotel was as dreary as a stubble-field upon a November
+evening. The whole house was new, varnished, and hard. My bedroom was
+small. A piece of new ingrain carpet covered part of the hard
+varnished floor. Four hard walls and a ceiling, deadly white,
+surrounded me. The hard varnished bedstead (the mattress felt as if it
+were varnished) nearly filled the little room. Two stiff chairs, and a
+yellow window-shade which looked as if it were made of varnished wood,
+glittered in the feeble light of a glass lamp, while the ghastly
+grayish pallor of the ewer and basin on the wash-stand was thrown into
+bold relief by the intenser whiteness of the wall behind it.
+
+I put out my light as soon as possible and resolutely closed my eyes,
+for a street lamp opposite my window would not allow the room to fade
+into obscurity, and, as long as the hardness of the bed prevented me
+from sleeping, my thoughts ran back to the chamber of the favored
+guest, but my conscience stood by me. Cathay is a country where it is
+necessary to be very careful.
+
+I did not leave Waterton until after nine o'clock the next day, for,
+although I was early at the shop to which my bicycle had been sent, it
+was not quite ready for me, and I had to wait. Fortunately no
+Willoughby came that way.
+
+But when at last I mounted my wheel I sped away rapidly towards the
+north. I had ordered my baggage expressed to a town fifty miles away,
+and I hoped that if I rode steadily and kept my eyes straight in front
+of me I might safely get out of Cathay, for the boundaries of that
+fateful territory could not extend themselves indefinitely.
+
+Towards the close of the afternoon I saw a female in front of me, her
+back to me, walking, and pushing a bicycle.
+
+"Now," said I to myself, "she is doing that because she likes it, and
+it is none of my business." I gazed over the fields on the other side
+of the road, but as I passed her I could not help giving a glance at
+her machine. The air was gone from the tire of the hind wheel.
+
+"Ah," said I to myself, "perhaps her pump is out of order, or it may
+be that she does not know how to work it. It is getting late. She may
+have to go a long distance. I could pump it up for her in no time.
+Even if there is a hole in it I could mend it." But I did not stop. I
+had steeled my heart against any more adventures in Cathay.
+
+But my conscience did not stand by me. I could not forget that poor
+woman plodding along the weary road and darkness not far away. I went
+slower and slower, and at last I turned.
+
+"It would not take me five minutes to help her," I said. "I must be
+careful, but I need not be a churl." And I rode rapidly back.
+
+I came in sight of her just as she was turning into the gateway of a
+pretty house yard. Doubtless she lived there. I turned again and spun
+away faster than I had gone that day.
+
+For more than a month I journeyed and sojourned in a beautiful river
+valley and among the low foot-hills of the mountains. The weather was
+fair, the scenery was pleasing, and at last I came to believe that I
+had passed the boundaries of Cathay. I took no tablets from my little
+box. I did not feel that I had need of them.
+
+In the course of time I ceased to travel north-ward. My vacation was
+not very near its end, but I chose to turn my face towards the scene
+of my coming duties. I made a wide circuit, I rode slowly, and I
+stopped often.
+
+One day I passed through a village, and at the outer edge of it a
+little girl, about four years old, tried to cross the road. Tripping,
+she fell down almost in front of me. It was only by a powerful and
+sudden exertion that I prevented myself from going over her, and as I
+wheeled across the road my machine came within two feet of her. She
+lay there yelling in the dust. I dismounted, and, picking her up I
+carried her to the other side of the road. There I left her to toddle
+homeward while I went on my way. I could not but sigh as I thought
+that I was again in Cathay.
+
+Two days after this I entered Waterton. There was another road, said
+to be a very pleasant one, which lay to the westward, and which would
+have taken me to Walford through a country new to me, but I wished to
+make no further explorations in Cathay, and if one journeys back upon
+a road by which he came he will find the scenery very different.
+
+I spent the night at the hotel, and after breakfast I very reluctantly
+went to call upon the Willoughbys. I forced myself to do this, for,
+considering the cordiality they had shown me, it would have required
+more incivility than I possessed to pass through the town without
+paying my respects. But to my great joy none of the ladies was at
+home. I hastened from the house with a buoyant step, and was soon
+speeding away, and away, and away.
+
+The road was dry and hard, the sun was bright, but there was a fresh
+breeze in my face, and I rolled along at a swift and steady rate. On,
+on I went, until, before the sun had reached its highest point, I
+wheeled out of the main road, rolled up a gravel path, and dismounted
+in front of the Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+I leaned my bicycle against a tree and went in-doors. The place did
+not seem so quiet as when I first saw it. I had noticed a lady sitting
+under a tree in front of the house. There was a nurse-maid attending a
+child who was playing on the grass. Entering the hall, I glanced into
+the large room which I had called the "office," and saw a man there
+writing at a table.
+
+Presently a maid-servant came into the hall. She was not one I had
+noticed before. I asked if I could see Mrs. Chester, and she said she
+would go and look for her. There were chairs in the hall, and I might
+have waited for her there, but I did not. I entered the parlor, and
+was pleased to find it unoccupied. I went to the upper end of the
+room, as far as possible from the door.
+
+In a few minutes I heard a step in the hall. I knew it, and it was
+strange how soon I had learned to know it. She stopped in front of the
+office, then she went on towards the porch, and turning she came into
+the parlor, first looking towards the front of the room and then
+towards the place where I stood.
+
+The light from a window near me fell directly upon her as she
+approached me, and I could see that there was a slight flush on her
+face, but before she reached me it had disappeared. She did not greet
+me. She did not offer me her hand. In fact, from what afterwards
+happened, I believe that she did not consider me at that moment a fit
+subject for ordinary greeting. She stood up in front of me. She gazed
+steadfastly into my face. Her features wore something of their
+ordinary pleasant expression, but to this there was added a certain
+determination which I had never seen there before. She gave her head a
+little quick shake.
+
+"No, sir!" she said.
+
+This reception amazed me. I had been greatly agitated as I heard her
+approach, turning over in my mind what I should first say to her, but
+now I forgot everything I had prepared. "No what?" I exclaimed.
+
+[Illustration: "'NO, SIR,' SHE SAID"]
+
+"'No' means that I will not marry you."
+
+I stood speechless. "Of course you are thinking," she continued, "that
+you have never asked me to marry you. But that isn't at all necessary.
+As soon as I saw you standing there, back two weeks before your
+vacation is over, and when I got a good look at your face, I knew
+exactly what you had come for. I was afraid when you left here that
+you would come back for that, so I was not altogether unprepared. I
+spoke promptly so as to spare you and to make it easier for me."
+
+"Easier!" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Easier, because the sooner you know that I will not marry you the
+better it will be for you and for me."
+
+Now I could restrain myself no longer. "Why can't I marry you?" I
+asked, speaking very rapidly, and, I am afraid, with imprudent energy.
+"Is it any sort of condition or circumstance which prevents? Do you
+think that I am forcing myself upon you at a time when I ought not to
+do it? If so, you have mistaken me. Ever since I left here I have
+thought of scarcely anything but you, and I have returned thus early
+simply to tell you that I love you! I had to do that! I could not
+wait! But as to all else, I can wait, and wait, and wait, as long as
+you please. You can tell me to go away and come back at whatever time
+you think it will be right for you to give me an answer."
+
+"This is the right time," she said, "and I have given you your answer.
+But, unfortunately, I did not prevent you from saying what you came to
+say. So now I will tell you that the conditions and circumstances to
+which you allude have nothing to do with the matter. I have a reason
+for my decision which is of so much more importance than any other
+reason that it is the only one which need be considered."
+
+"What is that?" I asked, quickly.
+
+"It is because I keep a tavern," she answered. "It would be wrong and
+wicked for you to marry a woman who keeps a tavern."
+
+Now my face flushed. I could feel it burning. "Keep a tavern!" I
+exclaimed. "That is a horrible way to put it! But why should you think
+for an instant that I cared for that? Do you suppose I consider that a
+dishonorable calling? I would be only too glad to adopt it myself and
+help you keep a tavern, as you call it."
+
+"That is the trouble!" she exclaimed. "That is the greatest trouble. I
+believe you would. I believe that you think that the life would just
+suit you."
+
+"Then sweep away the tavern!" I exclaimed. "Banish it. Leave it. Put
+it out of all thought or consideration. I can wait for you. I can make
+a place and a position for you. I can--"
+
+"No, you cannot," she interrupted. "At least, not for a long time,
+unless one of your scholars dies and leaves you a legacy. It is the
+future that I am thinking about. No matter what you might sweep away,
+and to what position you might attain, it could always be said, 'He
+married a woman who used to keep a tavern.' Now, every one who is a
+friend to you, who knows what is before you, if you choose to try for
+it, should do everything that can be done to prevent such a thing ever
+being said of you. I am a friend to you, and I am going to prevent
+it."
+
+I stood unable to say one word. Her voice, her eyes, even the manner
+in which she stood before me, assured me that she meant everything she
+said. It was almost impossible to believe that such an amiable
+creature could turn into such an icicle.
+
+"I do not want you to feel worse than you can help," she said, "but it
+was necessary for me to speak as firmly and decidedly as I could, and
+now it is all settled."
+
+I knew it was all settled. I knew it as well as if it had been settled
+for years. But, with my eyes still ardently fixed on her, I remembered
+the little flush when she came into the room.
+
+"Tell me one thing," said I, "and I will go. If it were not for what
+you say about your position in life, and all that--if there had not
+been such a place as this inn--then could you--"
+
+She moved away from me. "You are as great a bear as the other one!"
+she exclaimed, and turning she left the room by a door in the rear.
+But in the next moment she ran back, holding out her hand. "Good-bye!"
+she said.
+
+I took her hand, but held it not a second. Then she was gone. I stood
+looking at the door which she had closed behind her, and then I left
+the house. There was no reason why I should stay in that place another
+minute.
+
+As I was about to mount my bicycle the boy came around the corner of
+the inn. Upon his face was a diabolical grin. The thought rushed into
+my mind that he might have been standing beneath the parlor window.
+Instinctively I made a movement towards him, but he did not run. I
+turned my eyes away from him and mounted. I could not kill a boy in
+the presence of a nurse-maid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+
+
+I was about to turn in the direction of Walford, but then into my
+trouble-tossed mind there came the recollection that I had intended,
+no matter what happened, to call on the Larramies before I went home.
+I owed it to them, and at this moment their house seemed like a port
+of refuge.
+
+The Larramies received me with wide-opened eyes and outstretched
+hands. They were amazed to see me before the end of my vacation, for
+no member of that family had ever come back from a vacation before it
+was over; but they showed that they were delighted to have me with
+them, be it sooner or later than they had expected, and I had not been
+in the house ten minutes before I received three separate invitations
+to make that house my home until school began again.
+
+The house was even livelier than when I left it. There was a married
+couple visiting there, enthusiastic devotees of golf; one of Mr.
+Walter's college friends was with him; and, to my surprise, Miss Amy
+Willoughby was there again.
+
+Genevieve received me with the greatest warmth, and I could see that
+her hopes of a gentleman friend revived. Little Clara demanded to be
+kissed as soon as she saw me, and I think she now looked upon me as a
+permanent uncle or something of that kind. As soon as possible I was
+escorted by the greater part of the family to see the bear.
+
+Miss Edith had welcomed me as if I had been an old friend. It warmed
+my heart to receive the frank and cordial handshake she gave me. She
+said very little, but there was a certain interrogation in her eyes
+which assured me that she had much to ask when the time came. As for
+me, I was in no hurry for that time to come. I did not feel like
+answering questions, and with as much animation as I could assume I
+talked to everybody as we went to see the bear.
+
+This animal had grown very fat and super-contented, but I found that
+the family were in the condition of Gentleman Waife in Bulwer's novel,
+and were now wondering what they would do with it.
+
+"You see," cried Percy, who was the principal showman, "the neighbors
+are all on pins and needles about him. Ever since the McKenna sisters
+spread the story that Orso was in the habit of getting under beds,
+there isn't a person within five miles of here who can go to bed
+without looking under it to see if there is a bear there. There are
+two houses for sale about a mile down the road, and we don't know any
+reason why people should want to go away except it's the bear. Nearly
+all the dogs around here are kept chained up for fear that Orso will
+get hold of them, and there is a general commotion, I can tell you. At
+first it was great fun, but it is getting a little tiresome now. We
+have been talking about shooting him, and then I shall have his bones,
+which I am going to set up as a skeleton, and it is my opinion that
+you ought to have the skin."
+
+Several demurrers now arose, for nobody seemed to think that I would
+want such an ugly skin as that.
+
+"Ugly!" cried Percy, who was evidently very anxious to pursue his
+study of comparative anatomy. "It's a magnificent skin. Look at that
+long, heavy fur. Why, if you take that skin and have it all cleaned,
+and combed out, and dyed some nice color, it will be fit to put into
+any room."
+
+Genevieve was in favor of combing and cleaning, oiling and dyeing the
+hide of the bear without taking it off.
+
+"If you would do that," she declared, "he would be a beautiful bear,
+and we would give him away. They would be glad to have him at Central
+Park."
+
+The Larramies would not listen to my leaving that day. There were a
+good many people in the house, but there was room enough for me, and,
+when we had left the bear without solving the problem of his final
+disposition, there were so many things to be done and so many things
+to be said that it was late in the afternoon before Miss Edith found
+the opportunity of speaking to me for which she had been waiting so
+long.
+
+"Well," said she, as we walked together away from the golf links, but
+not towards the house, "what have you to report?"
+
+"Report?" I repeated, evasively.
+
+"Yes, you promised to do that, and I always expect people to fulfil
+their promises to me. You came here by the way of the Holly Sprig Inn,
+didn't you?"
+
+I assented. "A very roundabout way," she said. "It would have been
+seven miles nearer if you had come by the cross-road. But I suppose
+you thought you must go there first."
+
+"That is what I thought," I answered.
+
+"Have you been thinking about her all the time you have been away?"
+
+"Nearly all the time."
+
+"And actually cut off a big slice of your vacation in order to see
+her?"
+
+I replied that this was precisely the state of the case.
+
+"But, after all, you weren't successful. You need not tell me anything
+about that--I knew it as soon as I saw you this morning. But I will
+ask you to answer one thing: Is the decision final?"
+
+I sighed--I could not help it, but she did not even smile. "Yes," I
+said, "the affair is settled definitely."
+
+For a minute or so we walked on silently, and then she said: "I do not
+want you to think I am hard-hearted, but I must say what is in me. I
+congratulate you, and, at the same time, I am sorry for her."
+
+At this amazing speech I turned suddenly towards her, and we both
+stopped.
+
+"Yes," said she, standing before me with her clear eyes fixed upon my
+face, "you are to be congratulated. I think it is likely she is the
+most charming young woman you are ever likely to meet--and I know a
+great deal more about her than you do, for I have known her for a long
+time, and your acquaintance is a very short one--she has qualities you
+do not know anything about; she is lovely! But for all that it would
+be very wrong for you to marry her, and I am glad she had sense enough
+not to let you do it."
+
+"Why do you say that?" I asked, a little sharply.
+
+"Of course you don't like it," she replied, "but it is true. She may
+be as lovely as you think her--and I am sure she is. She may be of
+good family, finely educated, and a great many more things, but all
+that goes for nothing beside the fact that for over five years she has
+been the landlady of a little hotel."
+
+"I do not care a snap for that!" I exclaimed. "I like her all the
+better for it. I--"
+
+"That makes it worse," she interrupted, and as she spoke I could not
+but recollect that a similar remark had been made to me before. "I
+have not the slightest doubt that you would have been perfectly
+willing to settle down as the landlord of a little hotel. But if you
+had not--even if you had gone on in the course which father has
+marked out for you, and you ought to hear him talk about you--you
+might have become famous, rich, nobody knows what, perhaps President
+of a college, but still everybody would have known that your wife was
+the young woman who used to keep the Holly Sprig Inn, and asked the
+people who came there if they objected to a back room, and if they
+wanted tea or coffee for their breakfast. Of course Mrs. Chester
+thought too much of you to let you consider any such foolishness."
+
+I made no answer to this remark. I thought the young woman was taking
+a great deal upon herself.
+
+"Of course," she continued, "it would have been a great thing for Mrs.
+Chester, and I honor her that she stood up stiffly and did the thing
+she ought to do. I do not know what she said when she gave you her
+final answer, but whatever it was it was the finest compliment she
+could have paid you."
+
+I smiled grimly. "She likened me to a bear," I said. "Do you call that
+a compliment?"
+
+Edith Larramie looked at me, her eyes sparkling. "Tell me one thing,"
+she said. "When she spoke to you in that way weren't you trying to
+find out how she felt about the matter exclusive of the inn?"
+
+I could not help smiling again as I assented.
+
+"There!" she exclaimed. "I am beginning to have the highest respect
+for my abilities as a forecaster of human probabilities. It was like
+you to try to find out that, and it was like her to snub you. But
+let's walk on. Would you like me to give you some advice."
+
+"I am afraid your advice is not worth very much," I answered, "but I
+will hear it."
+
+"Well, then," she said, "I advise you to fall in love with somebody
+else just as soon as you can. That is the best way to get this affair
+out of your mind, and until you do that you won't be worth anything."
+
+I felt that I now knew this girl so well that I could say anything to
+her. "Very well, then," said I; "suppose I fall in love with you?"
+
+"That isn't a very nice speech," she said. "There is a little bit of
+spitefulness in it. But it doesn't mean anything, anyway. I am out of
+the competition, and that is the reason I can speak to you so freely.
+Moreover, that is the reason I know so much about the matter. I am not
+biassed. But you need have no trouble--there's Amy."
+
+"Don't say Amy to me, I beg of you!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Why not?" she persisted. "She is very pretty. She is as good as she
+can be. She is rich. And if she were your wife you would want her to
+talk more than she does, you would be so glad to listen to her. I
+might say more about Amy, but I won't."
+
+"Would it be very impolite," said I, "if I whistled?"
+
+"I don't know," she said, "but you needn't do it. I will consider it
+done. Now I will speak of Bertha Putney. I was bound to mention Amy
+first, because she is my dear friend, but Miss Putney is a grand girl.
+And I do not mind telling you that she takes a great interest in you."
+
+"How do you know that?" I asked.
+
+"I have seen her since you were here--she lunched with us. As soon as
+she heard your name mentioned--and that was bound to happen, for this
+family has been talking about you ever since they first knew you--she
+began to ask questions. Of course the bear came up, and she wanted to
+know every blessed thing that happened. But when she found out that
+you got the bear at the Holly Sprig her manner changed, and she
+talked no more about you at the table.
+
+"But in the afternoon she had a great deal to say to me. I did not
+know exactly what she was driving at, and I may have told her too
+much. We said a great many things--some of which I remember and some I
+do not--but I am sure that I never knew a woman to take more interest
+in a man than she takes in you. So it is my opinion that if you would
+stop at the Putneys' on your way home you might do a great deal to
+help you get rid of the trouble you are now in. It makes me feel
+something like a spy in a camp to talk this way, but I told you I was
+your friend, and I am going to be one. Spies are all right when they
+are loyal to their own side."
+
+I was very glad to have such a girl on my side, but this did not seem
+to be a very good time to talk about the advantages of a call upon
+Miss Putney.
+
+In spite of all the entreaties of the Larramie family, I persisted in
+my intention of going on to Walford the next morning, and, in reply to
+their assurances that I would find it dreadfully dull in that little
+village during the rest of my vacation, I told them that I should be
+very much occupied and should have no time to be dull. I was going
+seriously to work to prepare myself for my profession. For a year or
+two I had been deferring this important matter, waiting until I had
+laid by enough money to enable me to give up school-teaching and to
+apply myself entirely to the studies which would be necessary. All
+this would give me enough to do, and vacation was the time in which I
+ought to do it. The distractions of the school session were very much
+in the way of a proper contemplation of my own affairs.
+
+"That sounds very well," said Miss Edith, when there was no one by,
+"but if you cannot get the Holly Sprig Inn out of your mind, I do not
+believe you will do very much 'proper contemplation.' Take my advice
+and stop at the Putneys'. It can do you no harm, and it might help to
+free your mind of distractions a great deal worse than those of the
+school."
+
+"By filling it with other distractions, I suppose you mean," I
+answered. "A fickle-minded person you must think me. But it pleases me
+so much to have you take an interest in me that I do not resent any of
+your advice."
+
+She laughed. "I like to give advice," she said, "but I must admit that
+I sometimes think better of a person if he does not take it. But I
+will say--and this is all the advice I am going to give you at
+present--that if you want to be successful in making love, you must
+change your methods. You cannot expect to step up in front of a girl
+and stop her short as if she were a runaway horse. A horse doesn't
+like that sort of thing, and a girl doesn't like it. You must take
+more time about it. A runaway girl doesn't hurt anybody, and, if you
+are active enough, you can jump in behind and take the reins and stop
+her gradually without hurting her feelings, and then, most likely, you
+can drive her for all the rest of your life."
+
+"You ought to have that speech engraved in uncial characters on a slab
+of stone," said I. "Any museum would be glad to have it."
+
+I had two reasons besides the one I gave for wishing to leave this
+hospitable house. In the first place, Edith Larramie troubled me. I
+did not like to have any one know so much about my mental interior--or
+to think she knew so much. I did not like to feel that I was being
+managed. I had a strong belief that if anybody jumped into a vehicle
+she was pulling he would find that she was doing her own driving and
+would allow no interferences. I liked her very much, but I was sure
+that away from her I would feel freer in mind.
+
+The other reason for my leaving was Amy Willoughby. During my little
+visit to her house my acquaintance with her had grown with great
+rapidity. Now I seemed to know her very well, and the more I knew her
+the better I liked her. It may be vanity, but I think she wanted me to
+like her, and one reason for believing this was the fact that when she
+was with me--and I saw a great deal of her during the afternoon and
+evening I spent with the Larramies--she did not talk so much, and when
+she did speak she invariably said something I wanted to hear.
+
+Remembering the remarks which had been made about her by her friend
+Edith, I could not but admit that she was a very fine girl, combining
+a great many attractive qualities, but I rebelled against every
+conviction I had in regard to her. I did not want to think about her
+admirable qualities. I did not want to believe that in time they would
+impress me more forcibly than they did now. I did not want people to
+imagine that I would come to be so impressed. If I stayed there I
+might almost look upon her in the light of a duty.
+
+The family farewell the next morning was a tumultuous one. Invitations
+to ride up again during my vacation, to come and spend Saturdays and
+Sundays, were intermingled with earnest injunctions from Genevieve in
+regard to a correspondence which she wished to open with me for the
+benefit of her mind, and declarations from Percy that he would let me
+know all about the bear as soon as it was decided what would be the
+best thing to happen to him, and entreaties from little Clara that I
+would not go away without kissing her good-bye.
+
+But amid the confusion Miss Edith found a chance to say a final word
+to me. "Don't you try," she said, as I was about to mount my bicycle,
+"to keep those holly sprigs in your brain until Christmas. They are
+awfully stickery, they will not last, and, besides, there will not be
+any Christmas."
+
+"And how about New-Year's Day?" I asked.
+
+"That is the way to talk," said she. "Keep your mind on that and you
+will be all right."
+
+As I rode along I could not forget that it would be necessary for me
+to pass the inn. I had made inquiries, but there were no byways which
+would serve my purpose. There was nothing for me to do but keep on,
+and on I kept. I should pass so noiselessly and so swiftly that I did
+not believe any one would notice me, unless, indeed, it should be the
+boy. I earnestly hoped that I should not see the boy.
+
+Whether or not I was seen from the inn as I passed it I do not know.
+In fact, I did not know when I passed it. No shout of immature
+diabolism caught my ear, no scent of lemon came into my nostrils, and
+I saw nothing but the line of road directly in front of me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+
+
+When I was positively certain that I had left the little inn far
+behind me, I slackened my speed, and, perceiving a spreading tree by
+the road-side, I dismounted and sat down in the shade. It was a hot
+day, and unconsciously I had been working very hard. Several persons
+on wheels passed along the road, and every time I saw one approaching
+I was afraid that it might be somebody I knew, who might stop and sit
+by me in the shade. I was now near enough to Walford to meet with
+people from that neighborhood, and I did not want to meet with any one
+just now. I had a great many things to think about and just then I was
+busy trying to make up my mind whether or not it would be well for me
+to stop at the Putneys'.
+
+If I should pass without stopping, some one in the lodge would
+probably see me, and the family would know of my discourtesy, but,
+although it would have been a very simple thing to do, and a very
+proper thing, I did not feel sure that I wanted to stop. If Edith
+Larramie had never said anything about it, I think I would surely have
+made a morning call upon the Putneys.
+
+After I had cooled off a little I rose to remount; I had not decided
+anything, but it was of no use to sit there any longer. Glancing along
+the road towards Walford, I saw in the distance some one approaching
+on a wheel. Involuntarily I stood still and watched the on-coming
+cyclist, who I saw was a woman. She moved steadily and rapidly on the
+other side of the road. Very soon I recognized her. It was Miss
+Putney.
+
+As she came nearer and nearer I was greatly impressed with her
+appearance. Her costume was as suitable and becoming for the occasion
+as if it had been an evening dress for a ball, and she wheeled better
+than any woman cyclist I ever saw. Her head was erect, her eyes
+straight before her, and her motion was rhythm of action.
+
+With my hand on my wheel I moved a few steps towards the middle of the
+road. I was about to take off my cap when she turned her eyes upon me.
+She even moved her head a little so as to gaze upon me a few seconds
+longer. Her face was quiet and serene, her eyes were large, clear, and
+observant. In them was not one gleam of recognition. Turning them
+again upon the road in front of her, she sped on and away.
+
+[Illustration: "CUT LIKE THAT"]
+
+For some minutes I stood looking after her, utterly astonished. I do
+not think in all my life I had ever been cut like that. What did it
+mean? Could she care enough about me to resent my stopping at the
+Holly Sprig? Was it possible that she could have known what had been
+likely to happen there, and what had happened there? All this was very
+improbable, but in Cathay people seemed to know a great many things.
+Anyway, she had solved my problem for me. I need give no further
+thought to a stop at her father's mansion.
+
+I mounted and rode on, but not rapidly. I was very much moved. My soul
+grew warm as I thought of the steady gaze of the eyes which that girl
+had fixed upon me. For a mile or so I moved steadily and quietly in a
+mood of incensed dignity. I pressed the pedals with a hard and cruel
+tread. I did not understand. I could scarcely believe.
+
+Soon, however, I began to move a little faster. Somehow or other I
+became conscious that there was a bicycle at some distance behind me.
+I pushed on a little faster. I did not wish to be overtaken by
+anybody. Now I was sure there was a wheel behind me. I could not hear
+it, but I knew it was there.
+
+Presently I became certain that my instincts had not deceived me, for
+I heard the quick sound of a bicycle bell. This was odd, for surely no
+one would ring for me to get out of the way. Then there was another
+tinkle, a little nearer.
+
+Now I sped faster and faster. I heard the bell violently ringing. Then
+I thought, but I am not sure, that I heard a voice. I struck out with
+the thrust of a steam-engine, and the earth slipped backward beneath
+me like the water of a mill-race. I passed wagons as if they had been
+puffs of smoke, and people on wheels as though they were flying
+cinders.
+
+In some ten minutes I slackened speed and looked back. For a long
+distance behind me not a bicycle was in sight. I now pursued my
+homeward way with a warm body and a lacerated heart. I hated this
+region which I had called Cathay. Its inhabitants were not barbarians,
+but I was suffering from their barbarities. I had come among them
+clean, whole, with an upright bearing. I was going away torn, bloody,
+and downcast.
+
+If the last words of the lady of the Holly Sprig meant the sweet thing
+I thought they meant, then did they make the words which preceded them
+all the more bitter. The more friendly and honest the counsels of
+Edith Larramie had grown, the deeper they had cut into my heart. Even
+the more than regard with which my soul prompted me to look back to
+Amy Willoughby was a pain to me. My judgment would enrage me if it
+should try to compel me to feel as I did not want to feel.
+
+But none of these wounds would have so pained and disturbed me had it
+not been for the merciless gaze which that dark-eyed girl had fixed
+upon me as she passed me standing in the road. And if she had gone too
+far and had done more than her own nature could endure, and if it were
+she who had been pursuing me, then the wound was more cruel and the
+smart deeper. If she believed me a man who would stop at the ringing
+of her bell, then was I ashamed of myself for having given her that
+impression.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+
+
+I now proposed to wheel my way in one long stretch to Walford. I took
+no interest in rest or in refreshment. Simply to feel that I had done
+with this cycle of Cathay would be to me rest, refreshment, and,
+perhaps, the beginning of peace.
+
+The sun was high in the heavens, and its rays were hot, but still I
+kept steadily on until I saw a female figure by the road-side waving a
+handkerchief. I had not yet reached her, but she had stopped, was
+looking at me, and was waving energetically. I could not be mistaken.
+I turned and wheeled up in front of her. It was Mrs. Burton, the
+mother of the young lady who had injured her ankle on the day when I
+set out for my journey through Cathay.
+
+"I am so glad to see you," she said, as she shook hands with me. "I
+knew you as soon as my eyes first fell upon you. You know I have
+often seen you on the road before we became acquainted with you. We
+have frequently talked about you since you were here, and we did not
+expect you would be coming back so soon. Mr. Burton has been hoping
+that he would have a chance to know you better. He is very fond of
+school-masters. He was an intimate friend of Godfrey Chester, who had
+the school at Walford some years before you came--when the boys and
+girls used to go to school together--and of the man who came
+afterwards. He was a little too elderly, perhaps, but Mr. Burton liked
+him too, and now he hopes that he is going to know you. But excuse me
+for keeping you standing so long in the road. You must come in. We
+shall have dinner in ten minutes. I was just coming home from a
+neighbor's when I caught sight of you."
+
+I declined with earnestness. Mr. Burton might be a very agreeable man,
+but I wanted to make no new acquaintances then. I must keep on to
+Walford.
+
+But the good lady would listen to no refusals of her hospitality. I
+was just in time. I must need a mid-day rest and something to eat. She
+was very sorry that Mr. Burton was not at home. He nearly always was
+at home, but to-day he had gone to Waterton. But if I would be
+contented to take dinner with her daughter and herself, they would be
+delighted to have me do so. She made a motion to open the gate for me,
+but I opened it for her, and we both went in. The daughter met us at
+the top of the garden walk. She came towards me as a cool summer
+breeze comes upon a hot and dusty world. There was no flush upon her
+face, but her eyes and lips told me that she was glad to see me before
+she spoke a word or placed her soft, white hand in mine. At the first
+touch of that hand I felt glad that Mrs. Burton had stopped me in the
+road. Here was peace.
+
+That dinner was the most soothing meal of which I had ever partaken. I
+did the carving, my companions did the questioning, and nearly all the
+conversation was about myself. Ordinarily I would not have liked this,
+but every word which was said by these two fair ladies--for the
+sweetness of the mother was merely more seasoned than that of the
+daughter--was so filled with friendly interest that it gratified me to
+make my answers.
+
+They seemed to have heard a great deal about me during my wanderings
+through Cathay. They knew, of course, that I had stopped with the
+Putneys, for I had told them that, but they had also heard that I had
+spent a night at the Holly Sprig, and had afterwards stayed with the
+Larramies. But of anything which had happened which in the slightest
+degree had jarred upon my feelings they did not appear to have heard
+the slightest mention.
+
+I might have supposed that only good and happy news thought it worth
+while to stop at that abode of peace. As I looked upon the serene and
+tender countenance of Mrs. Burton I wondered how a cloud rising from
+want of sympathy with early peas ever could have settled over this
+little family circle; but it was the man who had caused the cloud. I
+knew it. It is so often the man.
+
+When we had finished dinner and had gone out to sit in the cool
+shadows of the piazza, I let my gaze rest as often as I might upon the
+fair face of that young girl. Several times her eyes met mine, but
+their lids never drooped, their tender light did not brighten. I felt
+that she was so truly glad to see me that her pleasure in the meeting
+was not affected one way or the other by the slight incident of my
+looking at her.
+
+If ever a countenance told of innocence, purity, and truth, her
+countenance told of them. I believe that if she had thought it
+pleased me to look at her, it would have pleased her to know that it
+gave me pleasure.
+
+As I talked with her and looked at her, and as I looked at her mother
+and talked with her, it was impressed upon me that if there is one
+thing in this world which is better than all else, it is peace, that
+peace which comprises so many forms of happiness and deep content.
+That the thoughts which came to me could come to a heart so lacerated,
+so torn, so full of pain as mine had been that morning, seemed
+wonderful, and yet they came.
+
+Once or twice I tried to banish these thoughts. It seemed
+disrespectful to myself to entertain them so soon after other thoughts
+which I now wished to banish utterly. I am not a hero of romance. I am
+only a plain human being, and such is the constitution of my nature
+that the more troubled and disturbed is my soul, the more welcome is
+purity, truth, and peace.
+
+But, after all, my feelings were not quite natural, and the change in
+them was too sudden. It was the consequence of too violent a reaction,
+but, such as it was, it was complete. I would not be hasty. I would
+not be deficient in self-respect. But if at that moment I had known
+that this was the time to declare what I wished to have, I would
+unhesitatingly have asked for beauty, purity, and peace.
+
+A maid came out upon the piazza who wanted something. Mrs. Burton half
+rose, but her daughter forestalled her. "I will go," said she. "Excuse
+me one minute."
+
+If my face expressed the sentiment, "Oh, that the mother had gone!" I
+did not intend that it should do so. Mrs. Burton then began to talk
+about her daughter.
+
+"She is like her father," she said, "in so many ways. For one thing,
+she is very fond of school-masters. I do not know exactly why this
+should be, but her teachers always seem to be her friends. In fact,
+she is to marry a school-master--that is, an assistant professor at
+Yale. He is in Europe now, but we expect him back early in the fall."
+
+A short time after this, when the daughter had returned and I rose to
+go, the young girl put her soft, white hand into mine exactly as she
+had done when I arrived, and the light in her eyes showed me, just as
+it had showed me before, the pleasure she had taken in my visit. But
+the mother's farewell was different from her greeting. I could see in
+her kind air a certain considerate sympathy which was not there
+before. She had been very prompt to tell me of her daughter's
+engagement.
+
+That young angel of peace and truth would not have deemed it necessary
+to say a word about the matter, even to a young man who was a
+school-master, and between whom and her family a mutual interest was
+rapidly growing. But with the mother it was otherwise. She had seen
+the shadows pass away from my countenance as I sat and talked upon
+that cool piazza, my eyes bent upon her daughter. Mothers know.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BACK FROM CATHAY
+
+
+The next morning, being again settled in my rooms in Walford, I went
+to call upon the Doctor and his daughter. The Doctor was not at home,
+but his daughter was glad to see me.
+
+"And how do you like your cycle of Cathay?" she asked.
+
+"I do not like it at all," I answered. "It has taken me upon a dreary
+round. I am going to change it for another as soon as I have an
+opportunity."
+
+"Then it has not been a wheel of fortune to you?" she remarked. "And
+as for that country which you figuratively called Cathay, did you find
+that pleasant?"
+
+"In some ways, yes, but in others not. You see, I came back before my
+vacation was over, and I do not care to go there any more."
+
+She now wanted me to tell her where I had really been and what had
+happened to me, and I gave her a sketch of my adventures. Of course I
+could not enter deeply into particulars, for that would make too long
+a story, but I told her where I had stopped, and my accounts of the
+bear and the horse were deeply interesting.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, when I had finished, "that if things had
+been a little different, you might have had an extremely pleasant
+tour. For instance, if Mr. Godfrey Chester had been living, I think
+you would have liked him very much, and it is probable that you would
+have been glad to stay at his inn for several days. It is a beautiful
+country thereabout."
+
+"Did you know him?" I asked.
+
+"Oh yes," she said; "he was my teacher during part of my school-days
+here. And then there is Mr. Burton; father is very fond of him. He is
+a man of great intelligence. It was unfortunate that you did not see
+more of him."
+
+"Perhaps you know Mr. Putney?" I said.
+
+"No," she answered. "I have heard a great deal about him. He seems to
+be a stiff sort of a man. But as to Mr. Larramie, everybody likes him.
+He is a great favorite throughout the county, and his son Walter is a
+rising young man. I am glad you made the acquaintance of the
+Larramies."
+
+"So am I," I said, "very glad indeed. And, by-the-way, do you know a
+young man named Willoughby? I never heard his first name, but he lives
+at Waterton."
+
+"Oh, the Willoughbys of Waterton," she said. "I have heard a great
+deal about them. Father used to know the old gentleman. He was a great
+collector of rare books, but he is dead now. If you had met him you
+would have found him a man of your own tastes."
+
+When I was going away she stopped me for a moment. "I forgot to ask
+you," she said; "did you take any of those capsules I gave you when
+you were starting off on your cycle?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "I took some of them." But I could not well explain the
+capricious way in which I had endeavored to guard against the germs of
+malaria, and to call my own attention to the threatening germs of
+erratic fancy.
+
+"Then you do not think they did you any good?" she said.
+
+"I am not sure," I replied. "I cannot say anything about that. But of
+one thing I am certain, and that is, that if any germs of any kind
+entered my system, it is perfectly free from them now."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," she said.
+
+It was about a week after this that I received a letter from Percy
+Larramie. "I thought you would like to know about the bear," he wrote.
+"Somebody must have forgotten to feed him, and he broke his chain and
+got away. He went straight over to the Holly Sprig Inn, and I expect
+he did that because the inn was the last place he had seen his master.
+I did not know bears cared so much for masters. He didn't stay long at
+the inn, but he stayed long enough to bite a boy. Then he went into
+the woods.
+
+"As soon as we heard of it we all set off on a bear-hunt. It was jolly
+fun, although I did not so much as catch a sight of him. Father shot
+him at a three-hundred-foot range. It was a Winchester rifle with a
+thirty-two cartridge. It was a beautiful shot, Walter said, and I wish
+I had made it.
+
+"We took his skin off and tore it only in two or three places, which
+can be mended. Would you like to have the skin, and do you care
+particularly about the head? If you don't, I would like to have it,
+because without it the skeleton will not be perfect."
+
+I wrote to Percy that I did not desire so much as a single hair of the
+beast. I did not tell him so, but I despised the bears of Cathay.
+
+It was just before the Christmas holidays when I finally made up my
+mind that of all the women in the world the Doctor's daughter was the
+one for me, and when I told her so she did not try to conceal that
+this was also her own opinion. I had seen the most charming qualities
+in other women, and my somewhat rapid and enthusiastic study of them
+had so familiarized me with them that I was enabled readily to
+perceive their existence in others. I found them all in the Doctor's
+daughter.
+
+Her father was very well pleased when he heard of our compact. It was
+plain that he had been waiting to hear of it. When he furthermore
+heard that I had decided to abandon all thought of the law, and to
+study medicine instead, his satisfaction was complete. He arranged
+everything with affectionate prudence. I should read with him,
+beginning immediately, even before I gave up my school. I should
+attend the necessary medical courses, and we need be in no hurry to
+marry. We were both young, and when I was ready to become his
+assistant it would be time enough for him to give me his daughter.
+
+We were sitting together in the Doctor's library and had been looking
+over some of the papers of the Walford Literary Society, of which we
+were both officers, when I said, looking at her signature:
+"By-the-way, I wish you would tell me one thing. What does the initial
+'E.' stand for in your name? I never knew any one to use it."
+
+"No," she said; "I do not like it. It was given to me by my mother's
+sister, who was a romantic young lady. It is Europa. And I only hope,"
+she added, quickly, "that you may have fifty years of it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Three years of the fifty have now passed, and each one of the young
+women I met in Cathay has married. The first one to go off was Edith
+Larramie. She married the college friend of her brother who was at the
+house when I visited them. When I met her in Walford shortly after I
+heard of her engagement, she took me aside in her old way and told me
+she wanted me always to look upon her as my friend, no matter how
+circumstances might change with her or me.
+
+"You do not know how much of a friend I was to you," she said, "and it
+is not at all necessary you should know. But I will say that when I
+saw you getting into such a dreadful snarl in our part of the
+country, I determined, if there were no other way to save you, I would
+marry you myself! But I did not do it, and you ought to be very glad
+of it, for you would have found that a little of me, now and then,
+would be a great deal more to your taste than to have me always."
+
+[Illustration: EUROPA]
+
+Mrs. Chester married the man who had courted her before she fell in
+love with her school-master. It appeared that the fact of her having
+been the landlady of the Holly Sprig made no difference in his case.
+He was too rich to have any prospects which might be interfered with.
+
+Amy Willoughby married Walter Larramie. That was a thing which might
+well have been expected. I was very glad to hear it, for I shall never
+fail to be interested in the Larramies.
+
+About a year ago there was a grand wedding at the Putney city mansion.
+The daughter of the family was married to an Italian gentleman with a
+title. I read of the affair in the newspapers, and having heard, in
+addition, a great many details of the match from the gossips of
+Walford, I supposed myself to be fully informed in regard to this
+grand alliance, and was therefore very much surprised to receive,
+personally, an announcement of the marriage upon a very large and
+stiff card, on which were given, in full, the various titles and
+dignities of the noble bridegroom. I did not believe Mr. Putney had
+sent me this card, nor that his wife had done so; certainly the Count
+did not send it. But no matter how it came to me, I was very sure I
+owed it to the determination, on the part of some one, that by no
+mischance should I fail to know exactly what had happened. I heard
+recently that the noble lady and her husband expect to spend the
+summer at her father's country-house, and some people believe that
+they intend to make it their permanent home.
+
+The Doctor strongly advises that Europa and I should go before long
+and settle in the Cathay region. He thinks that it will be a most
+excellent field for me to begin my labors in, and he knows many
+families there who would doubtless give me their practice.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12334 ***
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+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12334 ***</div>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Bicycle of Cathay, by Frank R. Stockton</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center><b>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Asad Razzaki,<br>
+           and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</b></center>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>A BICYCLE OF CATHAY</h1>
+<h3>A Novel</h3>
+<h2>By Frank R. Stockton</h2>
+<h3>Author of "The Great Stone of Sardis"<br />"The Associate Hermits" etc.</h3>
+<h4>Illustrated by</h4>
+<h3>Orson Lowell</h3>
+<h4>1900</h4>
+<hr>
+<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a><center>
+<a href="images/bc-01.png">
+<img src="images/bc-01s.png" width="141" height="200"alt="The Doctor's Daughter"><br />The Doctor's Daughter</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<hr>
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0001">CHAPTER I</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0002">CHAPTER II</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0003">CHAPTER III</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0005">CHAPTER V</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0010">CHAPTER X</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0013">CHAPTER XIII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0014">CHAPTER XIV</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0015">CHAPTER XV</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0016">CHAPTER XVI</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0017">CHAPTER XVII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0018">CHAPTER XVIII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0019">CHAPTER XIX</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0020">CHAPTER XX</a></p>
+<hr>
+<h3>List of Illustrations</h3>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0001">The Doctor's Daughter </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0002">Half Title</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0003">"I Put on My Coat" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0004">"The Rain Was Coming Down Hard" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0005">"On My Right a Lighted Doorway" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0006">A Few Thoughts </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0007">"The Beauty of Her Teeth" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0008">"I Kicked off My Embroidered Slippers" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0009">"It Would Be Well for Me to Swallow a Capsule" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0010">"As Soon As I Had Spoken These Words" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0011">"I Dismounted and Approached the Wall" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0012">"I Thought for a Few Moments" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0013">"Went out for a Walk" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0014">Mrs. Chester </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0015">"She Began to Talk About Walford" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0016">But We Were Not Alone </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0017">"To My Left I Saw a Line of Trees" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0018">"He Was Running Away" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0019">"He Soon Felt That he Was Under Control" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0020">"A Little Army Had Thrown Itself Upon Us." </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0021">"'Would It Be Easier to Manage a Boy Or A Bear?'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0022">"I Tapped My Left Palm." </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0023">"There Was a Sudden Flush" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0024">"The Scene Vividly Recurred to My Mind" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0025">Deciphering the Dago's Letters </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0026">"'I Don't Think You Ought to Take This Letter'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0027">"'Do You Think You Could Hit It With an Apple?'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0028">"Talking About Baby Bears" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0029">"'I Held That Picture a Good While'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0030">"'No, Sir,' She Said" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0031">"Cut Like That" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0032">Europa </a></p>
+<hr>
+
+<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a><center>
+<a href="images/bc-02.png">
+<img src="images/bc-02s.png" width="250" height="143" alt="Half Title"></a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<h2>A BICYCLE OF CATHAY</h2>
+<br />
+<hr>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2><br />
+<h4>THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER</h4>
+<hr><br />
+<img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">t was a beautiful summer morning when slowly I wheeled my way along
+    the principal street of the village of Walford. A little valise was
+    strapped in front of my bicycle; my coat, rolled into a small compass,
+    was securely tied under the seat, and I was starting out to spend my
+    vacation.
+<p> I was the teacher of the village school, which useful institution had
+    been closed for the season the day before, much to the gratification
+    of pedagogue and scholars. This position was not at all the summit of
+    my youthful ambition. In fact, I had been very much disappointed when
+    I found myself obliged to accept it, but when I left college my
+    financial condition made it desirable for me to do something to
+    support myself while engaged in some of the studies preparatory to a
+    professional career.</p>
+<p>
+    I have never considered myself a sentimental person, but I must admit
+    that I did not feel very happy that morning, and this state of mind
+    was occasioned entirely by the feeling that there was no one who
+    seemed to be in the least sorry that I was going away. My boys were so
+    delighted to give up their studies that they were entirely satisfied
+    to give up their teacher, and I am sure that my vacation would have
+    been a very long one if they had had the ordering of it. My landlady
+    might have been pleased to have me stay, but if I had agreed to pay my
+    board during my absence I do not doubt that my empty room would have
+    occasioned her no pangs of regret. I had friends in the village, but
+    as they knew it was a matter of course that I should go away during
+    the vacation, they seemed to be perfectly reconciled to the fact.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I passed a small house which was the abode of my laundress, my
+    mental depression was increased by the action of her oldest son. This
+    little fellow, probably five years of age, and the condition of whose
+    countenance indicated that his mother's art was seldom exercised upon
+    it, was playing on the sidewalk with his sister, somewhat younger and
+    much dirtier.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I passed the little chap he looked up and in a sharp, clear voice,
+    he cried: "Good-bye! Come back soon!" These words cut into my soul.
+    Was it possible that this little ragamuffin was the only one in that
+    village who was sorry to see me depart and who desired my return? And
+    the acuteness of this cut was not decreased by the remembrance that on
+    several occasions when he had accompanied his mother to my lodging I
+    had given him small coins.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was beginning to move more rapidly along the little path, well worn
+    by many rubber tires, which edged the broad roadway, when I perceived
+    the doctor's daughter standing at the gate of her father's front yard.
+    As I knew her very well, and she happened to be standing there and
+    looking in my direction, I felt that it would be the proper thing for
+    me to stop and speak to her, and so I dismounted and proceeded to roll
+    my bicycle up to the gate.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As the doctor's daughter stood looking over the gate, her hands
+    clasped the tops of the two central pickets.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-morning," said she. "I suppose, from your carrying baggage,
+    that you are starting off for your vacation. How far do you expect to
+    go on your wheel, and do you travel alone?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My only plan," I answered, "is to ride over the hills and far away!
+    How far I really do not know; and I shall be alone except for this
+    good companion." And as I said this I patted the handle-bar of my
+    bicycle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Your wheel does seem to be a sort of a companion," she said; "not so
+    good as a horse, but better than nothing. I should think, travelling
+    all by yourself in this way, you would have quite a friendly feeling
+    for it. Did you ever think of giving it a name?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," said I. "I have named it. I call it a 'Bicycle of Cathay.'"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Is there any sense in such a name?" she asked. "It is like part of a
+    quotation from Tennyson, isn't it? I forget the first of it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You are right," I said. "'Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle
+    of Cathay.' I cannot tell you exactly why, but that seems to suggest a
+    good name for a bicycle."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But your machine has two wheels," said she. "Therefore you ought to
+    say, 'Better one hundred years of Europe than two cycles of Cathay.'"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I bow to custom," said I. "Every one speaks of a bicycle as a wheel,
+    and I shall not introduce the plural into the name of my good steed."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you don't know where your Cathay is to be?" she asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled and shook my head. "No," I answered, "but I hope my cycle
+    will carry me safely through it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The doctor's daughter looked past me across the road. "I wish I were a
+    man," said she, "and could go off as I pleased, as you do! It must be
+    delightfully independent."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was about to remark that too much independence is not altogether
+    delightful, but she suddenly spoke:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You carry very little with you for a long journey," and as she said
+    this she grasped the pickets of the gate more tightly. I could see the
+    contraction of the muscles of her white hands. It seemed as if she
+    were restraining something.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, this isn't all my baggage," I replied. "I sent on a large bag to
+    Waterton. I suppose I shall be there in a couple of days, and then I
+    shall forward the bag to some other place."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not suppose you have packed up any medicine among your other
+    things?" she asked. "You don't look as if you very often needed
+    medicine."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed as I replied that in the course of my life I had taken but
+    little.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But if your cycle starts off rolling early in the morning," she said,
+    "or keeps on late in the evening, you ought to be able to defend
+    yourself against malaria. I do not know what sort of a country Cathay
+    may be, but I should not be a bit surprised if you found it full of
+    mists and morning vapors. Malaria has a fancy for strong people, you
+    know. Just wait here a minute, please," and with that she turned and
+    ran into the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had liked the doctor's daughter ever since I had begun to know her,
+    although at first I had found it a little hard to become acquainted
+    with her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She was the treasurer of the literary society of the village, and I
+    was its secretary. We had to work together sometimes, and I found her
+    a very straightforward girl in her accounts and in every other way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In about a minute she returned, carrying a little pasteboard box.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Here are some one-grain quinine capsules," she said. "They have no
+    taste, and I am quite sure that if you get into a low country it would
+    be a good thing for you to take at least one of them every morning.
+    People may have given you all sorts of things for your journey, but I
+    do not believe any one has given you this." And she handed me the box
+    over the top of the gate.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not say that her practical little present was the only thing
+    that anybody had given me, but I thanked her very heartily, and
+    assured her that I would take one every time I thought I needed it.
+    Then, as it seemed proper to do so, I straightened up my bicycle as if
+    I would mount it. Again her fingers clutched the top of the two
+    palings.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "When father comes home," she said, "he will be sorry to find that he
+    had not a chance to bid you good-bye. And, by-the-way," she added,
+    quickly, "you know there will be one more meeting of the society. Did
+    you write out any minutes for the last evening, and would you like me
+    to read them for you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Upon my word!" I exclaimed. "I have forgotten all about it. I made
+    some rough notes, but I have written nothing."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, it doesn't matter in the least," said she, quickly. "I remember
+    everything that happened, and I will write the minutes and read them
+    for you; that is, if you want me to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured her that nothing would please me better, and we talked a
+    little about the minutes, after which I thought I ought not to keep
+    her standing at the gate any longer. So I took leave of her, and we
+    shook hands over the gate. This was the first time I had ever shaken
+    hands with the doctor's daughter, for she was a reserved girl, and
+    hitherto I had merely bowed to her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I sped away down the street and out into the open country my heart
+    was a good deal lighter than it had been when I began my journey. It
+    was certainly pleasant to leave that village, which had been my home
+    for the greater part of a year, without the feeling that there was no
+    one in it who cared for me, even to the extent of a little box of
+    quinine capsules.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER II
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A BAD TWIST
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />
+    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">t was about the middle of the afternoon that I found myself bowling
+    along a smooth highway, bordered by trees and stretching itself almost
+    upon a level far away into the distance. Had I been a scorcher, here
+    would have been a chance to do a little record-breaking, for I was a
+    powerful and practised wheelman. But I had no desire to be extravagant
+    with my energies, and so contented myself with rolling steadily on at
+    a speed moderate enough to allow me to observe the country I was
+    passing through.
+
+<p>
+    There were not many people on the road, but at some distance ahead of
+    me I saw a woman on a wheel. She was not going rapidly, and I was
+    gaining on her. Suddenly, with no reason whatever that I could see,
+    her machine gave a twist, and, although she put out her foot to save
+    herself, she fell to the ground. Instantly I pushed forward to assist
+    her, but before I could reach her she was on her feet. She made a step
+    towards her bicycle, which lay in the middle of the road, and then she
+    stopped and stood still. I saw that she was hurt, but I could not help
+    a sort of inward smile. "It is the old way of the world," I thought.
+    "Would the Fates have made that young woman fall from her bicycle if
+    there had been two men coming along on their wheels?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I jumped from my machine and approached her she turned her head and
+    looked at me. She was a pale girl, and her face was troubled. When I
+    asked her if she had hurt herself, she spoke to me without the
+    slightest embarrassment or hesitation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I twisted my foot in some way," she said, "and I do not know what I
+    am going to do. It hurts me to make a step, and I am sure I cannot
+    work my wheel."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Have you far to go?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I live about two miles from here," she answered. "I do not think I
+    have sprained my ankle, but it hurts. Perhaps, however, if I rest for
+    a little while I may be able to walk."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I would not try to do that," said I. "Whatever has happened to your
+    foot or ankle, you would certainly make it very much worse by walking
+    such a distance. Perhaps I can ride on and get you a conveyance?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You would have to go a long way to get one," she answered. "We do not
+    keep a horse and I really&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Don't trouble yourself in the least," I said. "I can take you to your
+    home without any difficulty whatever. If you will mount your machine I
+    can push you along very easily."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But then you would have to walk yourself," she said, quickly, "and
+    push your wheel too."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of course it would not have been necessary for me to walk, for I could
+    have ridden my bicycle and have pushed her along on her own, but under
+    the circumstances I did not think it wise to risk this. So I accepted
+    her suggestion of walking as if nothing else could be done.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I do not mind walking a bit," said I. "I am used to it, and as I
+    have been riding for a long time, it would be a relief to me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stood perfectly still, apparently afraid to move lest she should
+    hurt her foot, but she raised her head and fixed a pair of very large
+    blue eyes upon me. "It is too kind in you to offer to do this! But I
+    do not see what else is to be done. But who is going to hold up my
+    wheel while you help me to get on it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I will attend to all that," said I, and picking up her bicycle, I
+    brought it to her. She made a little step towards it, and then
+    stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You mustn't do that," said I. "I will put you on." And holding her
+    bicycle upright with my left hand, I put my right arm around her and
+    lifted her to the seat. She was such a childlike, sensible young
+    person that I did not think it necessary to ask any permission for
+    this action, nor even to allude to its necessity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now you might guide yourself with the handle-bar," I said. "Please
+    steer over to that tree where I have left my machine." I easily pushed
+    her over to the tree, and when I had laid hold of my bicycle with my
+    left hand, we slowly proceeded along the smooth road.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think you would better take your feet from the pedals," said I,
+    "and put them on the coasters&mdash;the motion must hurt you. It is better
+    to have your injured foot raised, anyway, as that will keep the blood
+    from running down into it and giving you more pain."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She instantly adopted my suggestion, and presently said, "That is a
+    great deal more pleasant, and I am sure it is better for my foot to
+    keep it still. I do hope I haven't sprained my ankle! It is possible
+    to give a foot a bad twist without spraining it, isn't it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assented, and as I did so I thought it would not be difficult to
+    give a bad twist to any part of this slenderly framed young creature.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How did you happen to fall?" I asked&mdash;not that I needed to inquire,
+    for my own knowledge of wheelcraft assured me that she had tumbled
+    simply because she did not know how to ride.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I haven't the slightest idea," she answered. "The first thing I knew
+    I was going over, and I wish I had not tried to save myself. It would
+    have been better to go down bodily."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As we went on she told me that she had not had much practice, as it
+    had been but a few weeks since she had become the possessor of a
+    wheel, and that this was the first trip she had ever taken by herself.
+    She had always gone in company with some one, but to-day she had
+    thought she was able to take care of herself, like other girls.
+    Finding her so entirely free from conventional embarrassment, I made
+    bold to give her a little advice on the subject of wheeling in
+    general, and she seemed entirely willing to be instructed. In fact, as
+    I went on with my little discourse I began to think that I would much
+    rather teach girls than boys. At first sight the young person under
+    my charge might have been taken for a school-girl, but her
+    conversation would have soon removed that illusion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We had not proceeded more than a mile when suddenly I felt a very
+    gentle tap on the end of my nose, and at the same moment the young
+    lady turned her head towards me and exclaimed: "It's going to rain! I
+    felt a drop!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I will walk faster," I said, "and no doubt I will get you to your
+    house before the shower is upon us. At any rate, I hope you won't be
+    much wet."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, it doesn't matter about me in the least," she said. "I shall be
+    at home and can put on dry clothes, but you will be soaked through and
+    have to go on. You haven't any coat on!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    If I had known there was any probability of rain I should have put on
+    my coat before I started out on this somewhat unusual method of
+    travelling, but there was no help for it now, and all I could do was
+    to hurry on. From walking fast I began to trot. The drops were coming
+    down quite frequently.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Won't that tire you dreadfully?" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not at all," I replied. "I could run like this for a long distance."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-03.png">
+<img src="images/bc-03s.png" width="200" height="173"
+alt="'I Put on My Coat'"><br />'I Put on My Coat'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    She looked up at me with a little smile. I think she must have
+    forgotten the pain in her foot.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It must be nice to be strong like that," she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now the rain came down faster, and my companion declared that I ought
+    to stop and put on my coat. I agreed to this, and when I came to a
+    suitable tree by the road-side, I carefully leaned her against it and
+    detached my coat from my bicycle. But just as I was about to put it on
+    I glanced at the young girl. She had on a thin shirt-waist, and I
+    could see that the shoulders of it were already wet. I advanced
+    towards her, holding out my coat. "I must lay this over you," I said.
+    "I am afraid now that I shall not get you to your home before it
+    begins to rain hard."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She turned to me so suddenly that I made ready to catch her if her
+    unguarded movement should overturn her machine. "You mustn't do that
+    at all!" she said. "It doesn't matter whether I am wet or not. I do
+    not have to travel in wet clothes, and you do. Please put on your coat
+    and let us hurry!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I obeyed her, and away we went again, the rain now coming down hard
+    and fast. For some minutes she did not say anything; but I did not
+    wonder at this, for circumstances were not favorable to conversation.
+    But presently, in spite of the rain and our haste, she spoke:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It must seem dreadfully ungrateful and hard-hearted in me to say to
+    you, after all you have done for me, that you must go on in the rain.
+    Anybody would think that I ought to ask you to come into our house and
+    wait until the storm is over. But, really, I do not see how I can do
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I urged her not for a moment to think of me. I was hardy, and did not
+    mind rain, and when I was mounted upon my wheel the exercise would
+    keep me warm enough until I reached a place of shelter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not like it," she said. "It is cruel and inhuman, and nothing
+    you can say will make it any better. But the fact is that I find
+    myself in a very&mdash;Well, I do not know what to say about it. You are
+    the school-teacher at Walford, are you not?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    This question surprised me, and I assented quickly, wondering what
+    would come next.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thought so," she said. "I have seen you on the road on your wheel,
+    and some one told me who you were. And now, since you have been so
+    kind to me, I am going to tell you exactly why I cannot ask you to
+    stop at our house. Everything is all wrong there to-day, and if I
+    don't explain what has happened, you might think that things are
+    worse than they really are, and I wouldn't want anybody to think
+    that."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-04.png">
+<img src="images/bc-04s.png" width="127" height="200"
+alt="'The Rain Was Coming Down Hard'"><br />'The Rain Was Coming Down Hard'
+</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I listened with great attention, for I saw that she was anxious to
+    free herself of the imputation of being inhospitable, and although the
+    heavy rain and my rapid pace made it sometimes difficult to catch her
+    words, I lost very little of her story.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You see," said she, "my father is very fond of gardening, and he
+    takes great pride in his vegetables, especially the early ones. He has
+    peas this year ahead of everybody else in the neighborhood, and it was
+    only day before yesterday that he took me out to look at them. He has
+    been watching them ever since they first came up out of the ground,
+    and when he showed me the nice big pods and told me they would be
+    ready to pick in a day or two, he looked so proud and happy that you
+    might have thought his peas were little living people. I truly believe
+    that even at prayer-time he could not help thinking how good those
+    peas would taste.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But this morning when he came in from the garden and told mother that
+    he was going to pick our first peas, so as to have them perfectly
+    fresh for dinner, she said that he would better not pick them to-day,
+    because the vegetable man had been along just after breakfast, and he
+    had had such nice green peas that she had bought some, and therefore
+    he had better keep his peas for some other day.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now, I don't want you to think that mother isn't just as good as
+    gold, for she is. But she doesn't take such interest in garden things
+    as father does, and to her all peas are peas, provided they are good
+    ones. But when father heard what she had done I know that he felt
+    exactly as if he had been stabbed in one of his tenderest places. He
+    did not say one word, and he walked right out of the house, and since
+    that they haven't spoken to each other. It was dreadful to sit at
+    dinner, neither of them saying a word to the other, and only speaking
+    to me. It was all so different from the way things generally are that
+    I can scarcely bear it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And I went out this afternoon for no other reason than to give them a
+    chance to make it up between them. I thought perhaps they would do it
+    better if they were alone with each other. But of course I do not know
+    what has happened, and things may be worse than they were. I could not
+    take a stranger into the house at such a time&mdash;they would not like to
+    be found not speaking to each other&mdash;and, besides, I do not know&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Here I interrupted her, and begged her not to give another thought to
+    the subject. I wanted very much to go on, and in every way it was the
+    best thing I could do.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I finished speaking she pointed out a pretty house standing back
+    from the road, and told me that was where she lived. In a very few
+    minutes after that I had run her up to the steps of her piazza and was
+    assisting her to dismount from her wheel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is awful!" she said. "This rain is coming down like a cataract!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You must hurry in-doors," I answered. "Let me help you up the steps."
+    And with this I took hold of her under the arms, and in a second I had
+    set her down in front of the closed front door. I then ran down and
+    brought up her wheel. "Do you think you can manage to walk in?" said
+    I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes!" she said. "If I can't do anything else, I can hop. My mother
+    will soon have me all right. She knows all about such things."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked at me with an anxious expression, and then said, "How do
+    you think it would do for you to wait on the piazza until the rain is
+    over?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-bye," I said, with a laugh, and bounding down to the front
+    gate, where I had left my bicycle, I mounted and rode away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The rain came down harder and harder. The road was full of little
+    running streams, and liquid mud flew from under my whirling wheels. It
+    was not late in the afternoon, but it was actually getting dark, and I
+    seemed to be the only living creature out in this tremendous storm. I
+    looked from side to side for some place into which I could run for
+    shelter, but here the road ran between broad open fields. My coat had
+    ceased to protect me, and I could feel the water upon my skin.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But in spite of my discomforts and violent exertions I found myself
+    under the influence of some very pleasurable emotions, occasioned by
+    the incident of the slender girl. Her childlike frankness was charming
+    to me. There was not another girl in a thousand who would have told me
+    that story of the peas. I felt glad that she had known who I was when
+    she was talking to me, and that her simple confidences had been given
+    to me personally, and not to an entire stranger who had happened
+    along. I wondered if she resembled her father or her mother, and I had
+    no doubt that to possess such a daughter they must both be excellent
+    people.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER III
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">hinking thus, I almost forgot the storm, but coming to a slight
+    descent where the road was very smooth I became conscious that my
+    wheel was inclined to slip, and if I were not careful I might come to
+    grief. But no sooner had I reached the bottom of the declivity than I
+    beheld on my right a lighted doorway. Without the slightest hesitation
+    I turned through the wide gateway, the posts of which I could scarcely
+    see, and stopped in front of a small house by the side of a driveway.
+    Waiting for no permission, I carried my bicycle into a little covered
+    porch. I then approached the door, for I was now seeking not only
+    shelter but an opportunity to dry myself. I do not believe a sponge
+    could have been more thoroughly soaked than I was.
+
+<p>
+    At the very entrance I was met by a little man in short jacket and
+    top-boots.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I heard your step," said he. "Been caught in the rain, eh? Well, this
+    is a storm! And now what're we going to do? You must come in. But
+    you're in a pretty mess, I must say! Hi, Maria!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    At these words a large, fresh-looking woman came into the little hall.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Maria," said the man, "here's a gentleman that's pretty nigh drowned,
+    and he's dripping puddles big enough to swim in."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The woman smiled. "Really, sir," said she, "you've had a hard time.
+    Wheeling, I suppose. It's an awful time to be out. It's so dark that I
+    lighted a lamp to make things look a little cheery. But you must come
+    in until the rain is over, and try and dry yourself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But how about the hall, Maria?" said the man. "There'll be a dreadful
+    slop!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I'll make that all right," she said. She disappeared, and quickly
+    returned with a couple of rugs, which she laid, wrong side up, on the
+    polished floor of the hallway. "Now you can step on those, sir, and
+    come into the kitchen. There's a fire there."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked her, and presently found myself before a large stove, on
+    which it was evident, from the odors, that supper was preparing. In a
+    certain way the heat was grateful, but in less than a minute I was
+    bound to admit to myself that I felt as if I were enveloped in a vast
+    warm poultice. The little man and his wife&mdash;if wife she were, for she
+    looked big enough to be his mother, and young enough to be his
+    daughter&mdash;stood talking in the hall, and I could hear every word they
+    said.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0005"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-05.png">
+<img src="images/bc-05s.png" width="200" height="163"
+alt="'On My Right a Lighted Doorway'"><br />'On My Right a Lighted Doorway'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "It's of no use for him to try to dry himself," she said, "for he's
+    wet to the bone. He must change his clothes, and hang those he's got
+    on before the fire."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Change his clothes!" exclaimed the man. "How ever can he do that?
+    I've nothing that'll fit him, and of course he has brought nothing
+    along with him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Never you mind," said she. "Something's got to be got. Take him into
+    the little chamber. And don't consider the floor; that can be wiped
+    up."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She came into the kitchen and spoke to me. "You must come and change
+    your clothes," she said. "You'll catch your death of cold, else.
+    You're the school-master from Walford, I think, sir? Indeed, I'm sure
+    of it, for I've seen you on your wheel."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Smiling at the idea that through the instrumentality of my bicycle I
+    had been making myself known to the people of the surrounding
+    country, I followed the man into a small bed-chamber on the
+    ground-floor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said he, "the quicker you get off your wet clothes and give
+    yourself a good rub-down the better it will be for you. And I'll go
+    and see what I can do in the way of something for you to put on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I asked him to bring me the bag from my bicycle, and after doing so he
+    left me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Very soon I heard talking outside of my door, and as both my
+    entertainers had clear, high voices, I could hear distinctly what they
+    said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Go get him the corduroys," said she. "He's a well-made man, but he's
+    no bigger than your father was."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The corduroys?" he said, somewhat doubtfully, I thought.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she replied. "Go get them! I should be glad to have them put to
+    some use."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But what for a coat?" said he. "There's nothing in the house that he
+    could get on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's true," said she. "But he must have something. You can get him
+    the Duke's dressing-gown."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" exclaimed the man. "You don't mean&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, I do mean," said she. "It's big enough for anybody, and it'll
+    keep him from ketching cold. Go fetch it!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a short time there was a knock at my door, and the little man
+    handed me in a pair of yellow corduroy trousers and a large and gaudy
+    dressing-gown. "There!" said he. "They'll keep you warm until your own
+    clothes dry."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With a change of linen from my bag, which had fortunately kept its
+    contents dry, the yellow trousers, and a wonderful dressing-gown, made
+    of some blue stuff embroidered with gold and lined throughout with
+    crimson satin, I made a truly gorgeous appearance. But it struck me
+    that it would be rather startling to a beholder were I to appear
+    barefooted in such raiment, for my shoes and stockings were as wet as
+    the rest of my clothes. I had not finished dressing before the little
+    man knocked again, this time with some gray socks and a pair of
+    embroidered slippers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "These'll fit you, I think," said he, "for I'll lay you ten shillings
+    that I'm as big in the feet as you are."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would have been glad to gaze at myself in a full-length mirror, but
+    there was no opportunity for the indulgence of such vanity; and before
+    leaving the room I sat down for a moment to give a few thoughts to
+    the situation. My mind first reverted to the soaked condition of my
+    garments and the difficulty of getting them dry enough for me to put
+    them on and continue my journey. Then I found that I had dropped the
+    subject and was thinking of the slender girl, wondering if she had
+    really hurt herself very much, congratulating myself that I had been
+    fortunate enough to be on hand to help her in her need, and
+    considering what a plight she would have been in if she had been
+    caught in that terrible rain and utterly unable to get herself to
+    shelter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Suddenly I stopped short in my thinking, and going to my bag I took
+    from it the little box of quinine capsules which had been given to me
+    by the doctor's daughter, and promptly proceeded to swallow one of
+    them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It may be of service to me," I said to myself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I made my appearance in the hallway I met the little man, who
+    immediately burst into a roar of laughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Lord, sir!" said he. "You must excuse me, but you look like a king on
+    a lark! Walk into the parlor, sir, and sit down and make yourself
+    comfortable. She's hurrying up supper to give you something warm after
+    your wettin'. Would you like a little nip of whiskey, sir, to keep
+    the damp out?"
+</p>
+<a name="image-0006"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center><a href="images/bc-06.png">
+<img src="images/bc-06s.png" width="116" height="200"
+alt="A Few Thoughts"><br />A Few Thoughts</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I declined the whiskey, and seated myself in the neatly-furnished
+    parlor. It was wonderful, I thought, to fall into such a hospitable
+    household, and then I began to ask myself whether or not it would be
+    the proper thing to offer to pay for my entertainment. I thought I had
+    quite properly divined the position in life of the little man. This
+    small house, so handsomely built and neatly kept, must be a lodge upon
+    some fine country place, and the man was probably the head gardener,
+    or something of the kind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not long before my hostess came into the room, but she did not
+    laugh at my appearance. She was a handsome woman, erect and broad,
+    with a free and powerful step. She smiled as she spoke to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You may think that that's an over-handsome gown for such as us to be
+    owning. It was given to my man by the Duke of Radford. That was before
+    we were married, and he was an undergardener then. The Duchess
+    wouldn't let the Duke wear it, because it was so gay, and there wasn't
+    none of the servants that would care to take it, for fear they'd be
+    laughed at, until they offered it to John. And John, you must know,
+    he'd take anything! But I came in to tell you supper's ready; and, if
+    you like, I'll bring you something in here, and you can eat it on that
+    table, or&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Here I interrupted my good hostess, and declared that, while I should
+    be glad to have some supper, I would not eat any unless I might sit
+    down with her husband and herself; and, as this proposition seemed to
+    please her, the three of us were soon seated around a very tastefully
+    furnished table in a dining-room looking out upon a pretty lawn. The
+    rain had now almost ceased, and from the window I could see beautiful
+    stretches of grass, interspersed with ornamental trees and
+    flower-beds.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The meal was plain but abundant, with an appetizing smell pervading it
+    which is seldom noticed in connection with the tables of the rich.
+    When we had finished supper I found that the skies had nearly cleared
+    and that it was growing quite light again. I asked permission to step
+    out upon a little piazza which opened from the dining-room and smoke a
+    pipe, and while I was sitting there enjoying the beauty of the
+    sunlight on the sparkling grass and trees I again heard the little man
+    and his wife talking to each other.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It can't be done," said he, speaking very positively. "I've orders
+    about that, and there's no getting round them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's got to be done!" said she, "and there's an end of it! The
+    clothes won't be dry until morning, and it won't do to put them too
+    near the stove, or they'll shrink so he can't get them on. And he
+    can't go away to hunt up lodgings wearing the Duke's dressing-gown and
+    them yellow breeches!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Orders is orders," said the man, "and unless I get special leave, it
+    can't be done."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, then, go and get special leave," said she, "and don't stand
+    there talking about it!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was no doubt that my lodging that night was the subject of this
+    conversation, but I had no desire to interfere with the good
+    intentions of my hostess. I must stay somewhere until my clothes were
+    dry, and I should be glad to stop in my present comfortable quarters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    So I sat still and smoked, and very soon I heard the big shoes of the
+    little man grating upon the gravel as he walked rapidly away from the
+    house. Now came the good woman out upon the piazza to ask me if I had
+    found my tobacco dry. "Because if it's damp," said she, "my man has
+    some very good 'baccy in his jar."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured her that my pouch had kept dry; and then, as she seemed
+    inclined to talk, I begged her to sit down if she did not mind the
+    pipe. Down she sat, and steadily she talked. She congratulated herself
+    on her happy thought to light the hall lamp, or I might never have
+    noticed the house in the darkness, and she would have been sorry
+    enough if I had had to keep on the road for another half-hour in that
+    dreadful rain.
+</p>
+<p>
+    On she talked in the most cheerful and communicative way, until
+    suddenly she rose with a start. "He's coming himself, sir!" she said,
+    "with Miss Putney."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Who is 'he'?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's the master, sir Mr. Putney, and his daughter. Just stay here
+    where you are, sir, and make yourself comfortable. I'll go and speak
+    to them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Left to myself, I knocked out my pipe and sat wondering what would
+    happen next. A thing happened which surprised me very much. Upon a
+    path which ran in front of the little piazza there appeared two
+    persons&mdash;one, an elderly gentleman, with gray side-whiskers and a pale
+    face, attired in clothes with such an appearance of newness that it
+    might well have been supposed this was the first time he had worn
+    them; the other, a young lady, rather small in stature, but
+    extremely pleasant to look upon. She had dark hair and large blue
+    eyes; her complexion was rich, and her dress of light silk was
+    wonderfully well shaped.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0007"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-07.png">
+<img src="images/bc-07s.png" width="135" height="200"
+alt="'The Beauty of Her Teeth'"><br />'The Beauty of Her Teeth'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    All this I saw at a glance, and immediately afterwards I also
+    perceived that she had most beautiful teeth; for when she beheld me as
+    I rose from my chair and stood in my elevated position before her she
+    could not restrain a laugh; but for this apparent impoliteness I did
+    not blame her at all.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But not so much as a smile came upon the countenance of the elderly
+    gentleman. He, too, was small, but he had a deep voice. "Good-evening,
+    sir," said he. "I am told that you are the school-master at Walford,
+    and that you were overtaken by the storm."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured him that these were the facts, and stood waiting to hear
+    what he would say next.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It was very proper indeed, sir, that my gardener and his wife should
+    take you under the protection of this roof, but as I hear that it is
+    proposed that you should spend the night here, I have come down to
+    speak about it. I will tell you at once, sir, that I have given my man
+    the most positive orders that he is not to allow any one to spend a
+    night in this house. It is so conveniently near to the road that I
+    should not know what sort of persons were being entertained here if I
+    allowed him any such privilege."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As he spoke the young lady stood silently gazing at me. There was a
+    remnant of a smile upon her face, but I could also see that she was a
+    little annoyed. I was about to make some sort of an independent answer
+    to the gentleman's remarks, but he anticipated me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not want you to think, sir, on account of what I have said, that
+    I intend to drive you off my property at this hour of the evening, and
+    in your inappropriate clothing. I have heard of you, sir, and you
+    occupy a position of trust and, to a certain degree, of honor, in your
+    village. Therefore, while I cannot depart from my rule&mdash;for I wish to
+    make no precedent of that kind&mdash;I will ask you to spend the night at
+    my house. You need not be annoyed by the peculiarity of your attire.
+    If you desire to avoid observation you can remain here until it grows
+    darker, and then you can walk up to the mansion. I shall have a
+    bed-room prepared for you, and whenever you choose you can occupy it.
+    I have been informed that you have had something to eat, and it is as
+    well, for perhaps your dress would prevent you from accepting an
+    invitation to our evening meal."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I still held my brier-wood pipe in my hand, and I felt inclined to
+    hurl it at the dapper head of the consequential little gentleman, but
+    with such a girl standing by it would have been impossible to treat
+    him with any disrespect, and as I looked at him I felt sure that his
+    apparent superciliousness was probably the result of too much money
+    and too little breeding.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady said nothing, but she turned and looked steadily at her
+    father. Her countenance was probably in the habit of very promptly
+    expressing the state of her mind, and it now seemed to say to her
+    father, "I hope that what you have said will not make him decline what
+    you offer!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    My irritation quickly disappeared. I had now entered into my Cathay,
+    and I must take things as I found them there. As I could not stay
+    where I was, and could not continue my journey, it would be a sensible
+    thing to overlook the man's manner and accept his offer, and I
+    accordingly did so. I think he was pleased more than he cared to
+    express.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Very good, sir!" said he. "As soon as it grows a little darker I
+    shall be glad to have you walk up to my house. As I said before, I am
+    sure you would not care to do so now, as you might provoke remarks
+    even from the servants. Good-evening, sir, until I see you again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    During all this time the young lady had not spoken, but as the two
+    disappeared around the corner of the house I heard her voice. She
+    spoke very clearly and distinctly, and she said, "It would have been a
+    great deal more gracious if you had asked him to come at once, without
+    all that&mdash;&mdash;" The rest of her remarks were lost to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The little man and his wife presently came out on the porch. Her
+    countenance expressed a sort of resignation to thwarted hospitality.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's the way of the world, sir!" she said. "The ups are always up and
+    the downs are always down! I expect they will be glad to have company
+    at the house, for it must be dreadfully lonely up there&mdash;which might
+    be said of this house as well."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It soon became dark enough for me to walk through the grounds without
+    hurting the sensibilities of their proprietor, and as I arose to go
+    the good wife of the gardener brought me my cap.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I dried that out for you, sir, for I knew you would want it, and
+    to-morrow morning my man will take your clothes up to the house."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked her for her thoughtful kindness, and was about to depart,
+    but the little man was not quite ready for me to go.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If you don't mind, sir," said he, "and would step back there in the
+    light just for one minute, I would like to take another look at you. I
+    don't suppose I'll ever see anybody again wearing the Duke's
+    dressing-gown. By George, sir, you do look real royal!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    His wife looked at me admiringly. "Yes, sir," said she, "and I wish it
+    was the fashion for gentlemen to dress something like that every day.
+    But I will say, sir, that if you don't want people to be staring at
+    you, and will just wrap that gown round you so that the lining won't
+    be seen, you won't look so much out of the way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I walked along the smooth, hard driveway I adopted the suggestion
+    of the gardener's wife; but as I approached the house, and saw that
+    even the broad piazza was lighted by electric lamps, I was seized with
+    the fancy to appear in all my glory, and I allowed my capacious robe
+    to float out on each side of me in crimson brightness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The gentleman stood at the top of the steps. "I have been waiting for
+    you, sir," said he. He looked as if he were about to offer me his
+    hand, but probably considered this an unnecessary ceremony under the
+    circumstances. "Would you like to retire to your room, sir, or would
+    you prefer&mdash;prefer sitting out here to enjoy the cool of the evening?
+    Here are chairs and seats, sir, of all variety of comfort. My family
+    and I frequently sit out here in the evenings, but to-night the air is
+    a little damp."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured the gentleman that the air suited me very well, and that I
+    would prefer not to retire so early; and so, not caring any longer to
+    stand in front of the lighted doorway, I walked to one end of the
+    piazza and took a seat.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We haven't yet&mdash;that is to say, we are still at the table," he
+    remarked, as he followed me; "but if there is anything that you would
+    like to have, I should be&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I interrupted him by declaring that I had supped heartily and did not
+    want for anything in the world, and then, with some sort of an
+    inarticulate excuse, he left me. I knew very well that this nervously
+    correct personage had jumped up from his dinner in order that he might
+    meet me at the door and thus prevent my unconventional attire from
+    shocking any of the servants.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was very quiet and pleasant on the piazza, but, although I could
+    hear that a great deal of talking was going on inside, no words came
+    to me. In a short time, however, a man-servant in livery came out
+    upon the piazza and approached me with a tray on which were a cup of
+    coffee and some cigars. I could not refrain from smiling as I saw the
+    man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The old fellow has been forced to conquer his prejudices," I said to
+    myself, "and to submit to the mortification of allowing me to be seen
+    by his butler!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I think, however, that even had the master been regarding us he would
+    have seen no reason for mortification in the manner of his servant.
+    The man was extremely polite and attentive, suggesting various
+    refreshments, such as wine and biscuits, and I never was treated by a
+    lackey with more respect.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Leaning back in a comfortable chair, I sipped my coffee and puffed
+    away at a perfectly delightful Havana cigar. "Cathay is not a bad
+    place," said I, to myself. "Its hospitality is a little queer, but as
+    to gorgeousness, luxury, and&mdash;&mdash;" I was about to add another quality
+    when my mind was diverted by a light step on the piazza, and, turning
+    my head, I beheld the young lady I had seen before. Instantly I rose
+    and laid aside my cigar.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Please do not disturb yourself," she said. "I simply came out to give
+    a little message from my father. Sit down again, and I will take this
+    seat for a moment. My father's health is delicate," she said, "and we
+    do not like him to be out in the night air, especially after a rain.
+    So I came in his stead to tell you that if you would like to come into
+    the house you must do so without the slightest hesitation, because my
+    mother and I do not mind that dressing-gown any more than if it were
+    an ordinary coat. We are very glad to have the opportunity of
+    entertaining you, for we know some people in Walford&mdash;not very many,
+    but some&mdash;and we have heard you and your school spoken of very
+    highly. So we want you to make yourself perfectly at home, and come in
+    or sit out here, just as your own feelings in regard to extraordinary
+    fine clothes shall prompt you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this she reassured me as to the beauty of her teeth. "As long as
+    you will sit out here," said I, to myself, "there will be no in-doors
+    for me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She seemed to read my thoughts, and said: "If you will go on with your
+    smoking, I will wait and ask you some things about Walford. I dearly
+    love the smell of a good cigar, and father never smokes. He always
+    keeps them, however, in case of gentlemen visitors."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She then went on to talk about some Walford people, and asked me if I
+    knew Mary Talbot. I replied in the affirmative, for Miss Talbot was a
+    member of our literary society, and the young lady informed me that
+    Mary Talbot had a brother in my school&mdash;a fact of which I was aware to
+    my sorrow&mdash;and it was on account of this brother that she had first
+    happened to see me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "See me!" I exclaimed, with surprise.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said she. "I drove over to the village one day this spring, and
+    Mary and I were walking past your school-house, and the door was wide
+    open, for it was so warm, and we stopped so that Mary might point out
+    her brother to me; and so, as we were looking in, of course I saw
+    you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you recognized me," I said, "when you saw me at the gardener's
+    house?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We call that the lodge," said she. "Not that I care in the least what
+    name you give it. And while we are on a personal subject, I want to
+    ask you to excuse me for laughing at you when I first saw you in that
+    astounding garb. It was very improper, I know, but the apparition was
+    so sudden I could not help it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had never met a young lady so thoroughly self-contained as this one.
+    None of the formalities of society had been observed in regard to our
+    acquaintance with each other, but she talked with me with such an easy
+    grace and with such a gentle assurance that there was no need of
+    introduction or presentation; I felt acquainted with her on the spot.
+    I had no doubt that her exceptionally gracious demeanor was due to the
+    fact that nobody else in the house seemed inclined to be gracious, and
+    she felt hospitality demanded that something of the kind should be
+    offered me by some one of the family.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We talked together for some minutes longer, and then, apparently
+    hearing something in the house which I did not notice, she rose rather
+    abruptly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I must go in," she said; "but don't you stay out here a second longer
+    than you want to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She had left me but a very short time when her father came out on the
+    piazza, his coat buttoned up nearly to his chin. "I have been
+    detained, sir," he said, "by a man who came to see me on business. I
+    cannot remain with you out here, for the air affects me; but if you
+    will come in, sir, I shall be glad to have you do so, without regard
+    to your appearance. My wife is not strong and she has retired, and if
+    it pleases you I shall be very glad to have you tell me something of
+    your duties and success in Walford. Or, if you are fatigued, your
+    room is ready for you, and my man will show you to it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I snatched at the relief held out to me. To sit in the company of that
+    condescending prig, to bore him and to be bored by him, was a doleful
+    grievance I did not wish to inflict upon myself, and I eagerly
+    answered that the day had been a long and hard one, and that I would
+    be glad to go to bed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was an assertion which was doubly false, for I was not in the
+    least tired or sleepy; and just as I had made the statement and was
+    entering the hall I saw that the young lady was standing at the parlor
+    door; but it was too late now for me to change my mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Brownster," said Mr. Putney to his butler, "will you give this
+    gentleman a candle and show him to his room?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Brownster quietly bowed, and stepping to a table in the corner, on
+    which stood some brass bed-room candlesticks, he lighted one of the
+    candles and stood waiting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The gentleman moved towards his daughter, and then he stopped and
+    turned to me. "We have breakfast," he said, "at half-past eight But if
+    that is too late for you," he added, with a certain hesitation, "you
+    can have&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this moment I distinctly saw his daughter punch him with her elbow,
+    and as I had no desire to make an early start, and wished very much to
+    enjoy a good breakfast in Cathay, I quickly declared that I was in no
+    hurry, and that the family breakfast hour would suit me perfectly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady disappeared into the parlor, and I moved towards the
+    butler; but my host, probably thinking that he had not been quite as
+    attentive to me as his station demanded, or wishing to let me see what
+    a fine house he possessed, stepped up to me and asked me to look into
+    the billiard-room, the door of which I was about to pass. After some
+    remarks of deprecatory ostentation, in which he informed me that in
+    building his house he thought only of comfort and convenience, and
+    nothing of show, he carelessly invited my attention to the
+    drawing-room, the library, the music-room, and the little
+    sitting-room, all of which were furnished with as much stiffness and
+    hardness and inharmonious coloring as money could command.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we had finished the round of these rooms he made me a bow as
+    stiff as one of his white and gold chairs, and I followed the butler
+    up the staircase. The man with the light preceded me into a room on
+    the second floor, and just as I was about to enter after him I saw the
+    young lady come around a corner of the hall with a lighted candle in
+    her hand.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0008"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-08.png">
+<img src="images/bc-08s.png" width="200" height="154"
+alt="'I Kicked off My Embroidered Slippers'"><br />'I Kicked off My Embroidered Slippers'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Good-night," she said, with a smile so charming that I wanted to stop
+    and tell her something about Mary Talbot's brother; but she passed on,
+    and I went into my room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It seemed perfectly ridiculous to me that people should carry around
+    bed-room candles in a house lighted from top to bottom by electricity,
+    but I had no doubt that this was one of the ultra-conventional customs
+    from which the dapper gentleman would not allow his family to depart.
+    I did not believe for a moment that his daughter would conform to such
+    nonsense except to please her parent.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The softly moving and attentive Brownster put the candle on the table,
+    blew it out, and touched a button, thereby lighting up a very
+    handsomely furnished room. Then, after performing every possible
+    service for me, with a bow he left me. Throwing myself into a great
+    easy chair, I kicked off my embroidered slippers and put my feet upon
+    another chair gay with satin stripes. Raising my eyes, I saw in front
+    of me a handsome mirror extending from the floor nearly to the
+    ceiling, and at the magnificent personage which therein met my gaze I
+    could not help laughing aloud.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I rose, stood before the mirror, folded my gorgeous gown around me,
+    spread it out, contrasting the crimson glory of its lining with the
+    golden yellow of my trousers, and wondered in my soul how that
+    exceedingly handsome girl with the bright eyes could have controlled
+    her risibilities as she sat with me on the piazza. I could see that
+    she had a wonderful command of herself, but this exercise of it seemed
+    superhuman.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I walked around the sumptuously furnished chamber, looking at the
+    pictures and bric-&agrave;-brac; I wondered that the master of the house was
+    willing to put me in a room like this&mdash;I had expected a hall bed-room,
+    at the best; I sat down by an open window, for it was very early yet
+    and I did not want to go to bed, but I had scarcely seated myself when
+    I heard a tap at the door. I could not have explained it, but this tap
+    made me jump, and I went to the door and opened it instead of calling
+    out. There stood the butler, with a tray in his hand on which was a
+    decanter of wine, biscuits, cheese, and some cigars.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's so early, sir," said Brownster, "that she said&mdash;I mean, sir, I
+    thought that you might like something to eat, and if you want to enjoy
+    a cigar before retiring, as many gentlemen do, you need not mind
+    smoking here. These rooms are so well ventilated, sir, that every
+    particle of odor will be out in no time." Placing the tray upon a
+    table, he retired.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0009"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-09.png">
+<img src="images/bc-09s.png" width="139" height="200"
+alt="'It Would Be Well for Me to Swallow a Capsule'"><br />'It Would Be Well for Me to Swallow a Capsule'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    For an hour or more I sat sipping my wine, puffing smoke into rings,
+    and allowing my mind to dwell pleasingly upon the situation, the most
+    prominent feature of which seemed to me to be a young lady with bright
+    eyes and white teeth, and dressed in a perfectly-fitting gown.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When at last I thought I ought to go to bed, I stood and gazed at my
+    little valise. I had left it on the porch and had totally forgotten
+    it, but here it was upon a table, where it had been placed, no doubt,
+    by the thoughtful Brownster. I opened it and took out the box of
+    capsules. I did not feel that I had taken cold in the night air; this
+    was not a time to protect myself against morning mists; but still I
+    thought it would be well for me to swallow a capsule, and I did so.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IV
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A BIT OF ADVICE
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">he next morning I awoke about seven o'clock. My clothes, neatly
+    brushed and folded, were on a chair near the bed, with my
+    brightly-blackened shoes near by. I rose, quickly dressed myself, and
+    went forth into the morning air. I met no one in the house, and the
+    hall door was open. For an hour or more I walked about the beautiful
+    grounds. Sometimes I wandered near the house, among the flower-beds
+    and shrubs; sometimes I followed the winding path to a considerable
+    distance; occasionally I sat down in a covered arbor; and then I
+    sought the shade of a little grove, in which there were hammocks and
+    rustic chairs. But I met no one, and I saw no one except some men
+    working near the stables. I would have been glad to go down to the
+    lodge and say "Good-morning" to my kind entertainers there, but for
+    some reason or other it struck me that that neat little house was too
+    much out of the way.
+
+<p>
+    When I had had enough walking I retired to the piazza and sat there,
+    until Brownster, with a bow, came and informed me that breakfast was
+    served.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady, in the freshest of summer costumes, met me at the door
+    and bade me "Good-morning," but the greeting of her father was not by
+    any means cordial, although his manner had lost some of the stiff
+    condescension which had sat so badly upon him the evening before. The
+    mother was a very pleasant little lady of few words and a general air
+    which indicated an intimate acquaintance with back seats.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The breakfast was a remarkably good one. When the meal was over, Mr.
+    Putney walked with me into the hall. "I must now ask you to excuse me,
+    sir," said he, "as this is the hour when I receive my manager and
+    arrange with him for the varied business of the day. Good-morning,
+    sir. I wish you a very pleasant journey." And, barely giving me a
+    chance to thank him for his entertainment, he disappeared into the
+    back part of the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady was standing at the front of the hall. "Won't you
+    please come in," she said, "and see mother? She wants to talk to you
+    about Walford."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I found the little lady in a small room opening from the parlor, and
+    also, to my great surprise, I found her extremely talkative and
+    chatty. She asked me so many questions that I had little chance to
+    answer them, and she told me a great deal more about Walford and its
+    people and citizens than I had learned during my nine months'
+    residence in the village. I was very glad to give her an opportunity
+    of talking, which was a pleasure, I imagined, she did not often enjoy;
+    but as I saw no signs of her stopping, I was obliged to rise and take
+    leave of her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady accompanied me into the hall. "I must get my valise," I
+    said, "and then I must be off. And I assure you&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, do not trouble yourself about your valise," she interrupted.
+    "Brownster will attend to that&mdash;he will take it down to the lodge.
+    And as to your gorgeous raiment, he will see that that is all properly
+    returned to its owners."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I picked up my cap, and she walked with me out upon the piazza. "I
+    suppose you saw everything on our place," she asked, "when you were
+    walking about this morning?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    A little surprised, I answered that I had seen a good deal, but I did
+    not add that I had not found what I was looking for.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We have all sorts of hot-houses and green-houses," she said, "but
+    they are not very interesting at this time of the year, otherwise I
+    would ask you to walk through them before you go." She then went on to
+    tell me that a little building which she pointed out was a
+    mushroom-house. "And you will think it strange that it should be there
+    when I tell you that not one of our family likes mushrooms or ever
+    tastes one. But the manager thinks that we ought to grow mushrooms,
+    and so we do it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she was talking, the thought came to me that there were some people
+    who might consider this young lady a little forward in her method of
+    entertaining a comparative stranger, but I dismissed this idea. With
+    such a peculiarly constituted family it was perhaps necessary for her
+    to put herself forward, in regard, at least, to the expression of
+    hospitality.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "One thing I must show you," she said, suddenly, "and that is the
+    orchid-house! Are you fond of orchids?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Under certain circumstances," I said, unguardedly, "I could be fond
+    of apple-cores." As soon as I had spoken these words I would have
+    been glad to recall them, but they seemed to make no impression
+    whatever on her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We walked to the orchid-house, we went through it, and she explained
+    all its beauties, its singularities, and its rarities. When we came
+    out again, I asked myself: "Is she in the habit of doing all this to
+    chance visitors? Would she treat a Brown or a Robinson in the way she
+    is treating me?" I could not answer my question, but if Brown and
+    Robinson had appeared at that moment I should have been glad to knock
+    their heads together.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not want to go; I would have been glad to examine every building
+    on the place, but I knew I must depart; and as I was beginning to
+    express my sense of the kindness with which I had been treated, she
+    interrupted by asking me if I expected to come back this way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said I, "that is not my plan. I expect to ride on to Waterton,
+    and there I shall stop for a day or two and decide what section of the
+    country I shall explore next."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And to-day?" she said. "Where have you planned to spend the night?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I have been recommended to stop at a little inn called the 'Holly
+    Sprig,'" I replied. "It is a leisurely day's journey from Walford, and
+    I have been told that it is a pleasant place and a pretty country. I
+    do not care to travel all the time, and I want to stop a little when I
+    find interesting scenery."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0010"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-10.png">
+<img src="images/bc-10s.png" width="163" height="200"
+alt="'As Soon As I Had Spoken These Words'"><br />'As Soon As I Had Spoken These Words'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Oh, I know the Holly Sprig Inn," said she, speaking very quickly,
+    "and I would advise you not to stop there. We have lunched there two
+    or three times when we were out on long drives. There is a much better
+    house about five miles the other side of the Holly Sprig. It is really
+    a large, handsome hotel, with good service and everything you
+    want&mdash;where people go to spend the summer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked her for her information and bade her good-bye. She shook my
+    hand very cordially and I walked away. I had gone but a very few steps
+    when I wanted to turn around and look back, but I did not.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before I had reached the lodge, where I had left my bicycle, I met
+    Brownster, and when I saw him I put my hand into my pocket. He had
+    certainly been very attentive.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I carried your valise, sir," he said, "to the lodge, and I took the
+    liberty of strapping it to your handle-bar. You will find everything
+    all right, sir, and the&mdash;other clothes will be properly attended to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked him, and then handed him some money. To my surprise, he did
+    not offer to take it. He smiled a little and bowed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would you mind, sir," he said, "if you did not give me anything? I
+    assure you, sir, that I'd very much rather that you wouldn't give me
+    anything." And with this he bowed and rapidly disappeared.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said I, to myself, as I put my money back into my pocket, "it
+    is a queer country, this Cathay."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I approached the lodge, I felt that perhaps I had received a
+    lesson, but I was not sure. I would wait and let circumstances decide.
+    The gardener was away attending to his duties; but his wife was there,
+    and when she came forward, with a frank, cheery greeting, I instantly
+    decided that I had had a lesson. I thanked her, as earnestly as I knew
+    how, for what she had done for me, and then I added:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You and your husband have treated me with such kind hospitality that
+    I am not going to offer you anything in return for what you have
+    done."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You would have hurt us, sir, if you had," said she.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then, in order to change the subject, I spoke of the honor which had
+    been bestowed upon me by being allowed to wear the Duke's
+    dressing-gown. She smiled, and replied:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Honors would always be easy for you, sir, if you only chose to take
+    them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I rode away I thought that the last remark of the gardener's wife
+    seemed to show a mental brightness above her station, although I did
+    not know exactly what she meant. "Can it be," I asked myself, "that
+    she fancies that good family, six feet of athletic muscle, and no
+    money would be considered sufficient to make matrimonial honors easy
+    on that estate?" If such an idea had come into her head, it certainly
+    was a very foolish one, and I determined to drive it from my mind by
+    thinking of something else.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Suddenly I slackened my speed. I stopped and put one foot to the
+    ground. What a hard-hearted wretch I thought myself to be! Here I was
+    thinking of all sorts of nonsense and speeding away without a thought
+    of the young girl who had hurt herself the day before and who had been
+    helped by me to her home! She lived but a few miles back, and I had
+    determined, the evening before, to run down and see how she was
+    getting on before starting on my day's journey.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I turned and went bowling back over the road on which I had been so
+    terribly drenched the previous afternoon. In a very little while my
+    bicycle was leaning against the fence of the pretty house by the
+    road-side, and I had entered the front yard. The slender girl was
+    sitting on the piazza behind some vines. When she saw me she quickly
+    closed the book she was reading, drew one foot from a little stool,
+    and rose to meet me. There was more color on her face than I had
+    supposed would be likely to find its way there, and her bright eyes
+    showed that she was not only surprised but glad to see me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thought you were ever so far on your journey!" she said. "And how
+    did you get through that awful storm?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I want to know first about your foot," I said&mdash;"how is that?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My own opinion is," she answered, "that it is nearly well. Mother
+    knew exactly what to do for it; she wrapped it in wet cloths and dry
+    cloths, and this morning I scarcely think of it. But there is one
+    thing I want to tell you before you meet father and mother&mdash;for they
+    want to see you, I know. We talked a great deal about you last night.
+    You may have thought it strange I told you about the peas, but I had
+    to do it to explain why I could not ask you to stop. Now I want to
+    tell you that this accident made everything all right. As soon as
+    father and mother knew that I was hurt they forgot everything else,
+    and neither of them remembered that there was such a thing as a
+    pea-vine in the world. It really seems as if my tumble was a most
+    lucky thing. And now you must come in. They will never forgive me if I
+    let you go away without seeing them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The mother, a pleasant little woman, full of cheerful gratitude to me
+    for having done so much for her daughter, and the father, tall and
+    slender, hurrying in from the garden, his face beaming with a friendly
+    enthusiasm, apologizing for the mud on his clothes, and almost in the
+    same breath telling me of the obligations under which I had placed
+    him, both seemed to me at the first glance to be such kind,
+    simple-hearted, simple-mannered people that I could not help
+    contrasting this family with the one under whose roof I had passed the
+    night.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I spent half an hour with these good people, patiently listening to
+    their gratitude and to their deep regrets that I had been allowed to
+    go on in the storm; but I succeeded in allaying their friendly regrets
+    by assuring them that it would have been impossible to keep me from
+    going on, so certain had I been that I could reach the little town of
+    Vernon before the storm grew violent. Then I was obliged to tell them
+    that I did not reach Vernon, and how I had spent the night.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "With the Putneys!" exclaimed the mother. "I am sure you could not
+    have been entertained in a finer house!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    They asked me many questions and I told them many things, and I soon
+    discovered that they took a generous interest in the lives of other
+    people. They spoke of the good this rich family had done in the
+    neighborhood during the building of their great house and the
+    improvement of their estate, and not a word did I hear of ridicule or
+    scandalous comment, although in good truth there was opportunity
+    enough for it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady asked me if I had seen Miss Putney, and when I replied
+    that I had, she inquired if I did not think that she was a very pretty
+    girl. "I do not know her," she said, "but I have often seen her when
+    she was out driving. I do not believe there is any one in this part of
+    the country who dresses better than she does."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed, and told her that I thought I knew somebody who dressed
+    much finer even than Miss Putney, and then I described the incident
+    of the Duke's dressing-gown. This delighted them all, and before I
+    left I was obliged to give every detail of my gorgeous attire.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was about eleven o'clock when at last I tore myself away from this
+    most attractive little family. To live as they lived, to be interested
+    in the things that interested them&mdash;for the house seemed filled with
+    books and pictures&mdash;to love nature, to love each other, and to think
+    well of their fellow-beings, even of the super-rich&mdash;seemed to me to
+    be an object for which a man of my temperament should be willing to
+    strive and thankful to win. After meeting her parents I did not wonder
+    that I had thought the slender girl so honest-hearted and so lovable.
+    It was true that I had thought that.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER V
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">he day was fine, and the landscape lay clean and sharply defined
+    under the blue sky and white clouds. I sped along in a cheerful mood,
+    well pleased with what my good cycle had so far done for me. Again I
+    passed the open gate of the Putney estate, and glanced through it at
+    the lodge. I saw no one, and was glad of it&mdash;better pleased, perhaps,
+    than I could have given good reason for. When I had gone on a few
+    hundred yards I was suddenly startled by a voice&mdash;a female voice.
+
+<p>
+    "Well! well!" cried some one on my right, and turning, I saw, above a
+    low wall, the head and shoulders of the young lady with the dark eyes
+    with whom I had parted an hour or so before. A broad hat shaded her
+    face, her eyes were very dark and very wide open, and I saw some of
+    her beautiful teeth, although she was not smiling or laughing. It
+    was plain that she had not come down there to see me pass; she was
+    genuinely astonished; I dismounted and approached the wall.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0011"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-11.png">
+<img src="images/bc-11s.png" width="117" height="200"
+alt="'I Dismounted and Approached the Wall'"><br />'I Dismounted and Approached the Wall'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "I thought you were miles and miles on your way!" said she. It
+    occurred to me that I had recently heard a remark very like this, and
+    yet the words, as they came from the slender girl and from this one,
+    seemed to have entirely different meanings. She was desirous,
+    earnestly desirous, to know how I came to be passing this place at
+    this time, when I had left their gate so long before, and, as I was
+    not unwilling to gratify her curiosity, I told her the whole story of
+    the accident the day before, and of everything which had followed it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you went all the way back," she said, "to inquire after that
+    Burton girl?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do you know her?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," she said, "I do not know her; but I have seen her often, and I
+    know all about her family. They seem to be of such little consequence,
+    one way or the other, that I can scarcely understand how things could
+    so twist themselves that you should consider it necessary to go back
+    there this morning before you really started on your day's journey."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I do not remember what I said, but it was something commonplace, no
+    doubt, but I imagined I perceived a little pique in the young lady. Of
+    course I did not object to this, for nothing could be more flattering
+    to a young man than the exhibition of such a feeling on an occasion
+    such as this.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But if she felt any pique she quickly brushed it out of sight, for, as
+    I have said before, she was a young woman who had great command of
+    herself. Of course I said to her that I was very glad to have this
+    chance of seeing her again, and she answered, with a laugh:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If you really are glad, you ought to thank the Burton girl. This is
+    one of my favorite walks. The path runs along inside the wall for a
+    considerable distance and then turns around the little hill over
+    there, and so leads back to the house. When I happened to look over
+    the wall and saw you I was truly surprised."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The ground was lower on the outside of the wall than on the inside,
+    and as I stood and looked almost into the eyes of this girl, as she
+    leaned with her arms upon the smooth top of the wall, the idea which
+    the gardener's wife put into my head came into it again. This was a
+    beautiful face, and the expression upon it was different from
+    anything I had seen there before. Her surprise had disappeared, her
+    pique had gone, but a very great interest in the incident of my
+    passing this spot at the moment of her being there was plainly
+    evident. As I gazed at her my blood ran warmer through my veins, and
+    there came upon me a feeling of the olden time&mdash;of the days when the
+    brave cavalier rode up to the spot where, waiting for him, his lady
+    sat upon her impatient jennet.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Without the least hesitation, I asked:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do you ride a wheel?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked wonderingly at me for a moment, and then broke into a
+    laugh.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why on earth do you ask such a question as that? I have a bicycle,
+    but I am not a very good rider, and I never venture out upon the
+    public road by myself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You shouldn't think of such a thing," said I; and then I stood
+    silent, and my mind showed me two young people, each mounted, not upon
+    a swift steed, but upon a far swifter pair of wheels, skimming onward
+    through the summer air, still rolling on, on, on, through country
+    lanes and woodland roads, laughing at pursuit if they heard the
+    trampling of eager hoofs behind them, with never a telegraph wire to
+    stretch menacingly above them, and so on, on, on, their eyes
+    sparkling, their hearts beating high with youthful hope.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Again, through the tender mists of the afternoon, I saw them returning
+    from some secluded Gretna Green to bend their knees and bow their
+    heads before the lord of the fair bride's home.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When all this had passed through my brain, I wondered how such a pair
+    would be received. I knew the gardener and his wife would welcome
+    them, to begin with; Brownster would be very glad to see them; and I
+    believe the mother would stand with tears of joy and open arms, in
+    whatever quiet room she might feel free to await them. Moreover, when
+    the sterner parent heard my tale and read my pedigree, might he not
+    consider good name on the one side an equivalent for good money on the
+    other?
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked up at her; she did not ask me what I had been thinking about
+    nor remark upon my silence. She, too, had been wrapped in revery; her
+    face was grave. She raised her arms from the wall and stood up.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was plainly time for me to do something, and she decided the point
+    for me by slightly moving away from the wall. "Some time, when you are
+    riding out from Walford," she said, "we should be glad to have you
+    stop and take luncheon. Father likes to have people at luncheon."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I should be delighted to do so," said I; and if she had asked me to
+    delay my journey and take luncheon with them that day I think I should
+    have accepted the invitation. But she did not do that, and she was not
+    a young lady who would stand too long by a public road talking to a
+    young man. She smiled very sweetly and held out her hand over the
+    wall. "Good-bye again," she said. As I took her hand I felt very much
+    inclined to press it warmly, but I refrained. Her grasp was firm and
+    friendly, and I would have liked very much to know whether or not it
+    was more so than was her custom.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was mounting my wheel when she called to me again. "Now, I suppose,"
+    she said, "you are going straight on?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," I replied, with emphasis, "straight on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And the name of the hotel where you will stay to-night," said she,
+    "it is the Cheltenham. I forgot it when I spoke to you before. I do
+    not believe, really, it is more than three miles beyond the other
+    little place where you thought of stopping."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then she walked away from the wall and I mounted. I moved very slowly
+    onward, and as I turned my head I saw that a row of straggling bushes
+    which grew close to the wall were now between her and me. But I also
+    saw, or thought I saw, between the leaves and boughs, that her face
+    was towards me, and that she was waving her handkerchief. If I had
+    been sure of that, I think I should have jumped over the wall, pushed
+    through the bushes, and should have asked her to give me that
+    handkerchief, that I might fasten it on the front of my cap as, in
+    olden days, a knight going forth to his adventures bound upon his
+    helmet the glove of his lady-love.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But I was not sure of it, and, seized by a sudden energetic
+    excitement, I started off at a tremendous rate of speed. The ground
+    flew backward beneath me as if I had been standing on the platform of
+    a railroad car. Not far ahead of me there came from a side road into
+    the main avenue on which I was travelling a Scorcher, scorching. As he
+    spun away in front of me, his body bent forward until his back was
+    nearly horizontal, and his green-stockinged legs striking out behind
+    him with the furious rapidity of a great frog trying to push his head
+    into the mud, he turned back his little face with a leer of triumphant
+    derision at every moving thing which might happen to be behind him.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0012"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-12.png">
+<img src="images/bc-12s.png" width="174" height="200"
+alt="'I Thought for a Few Moments'"><br />'I Thought for a Few Moments'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    At the sight of this green-legged Scorcher my blood rose, and it was
+    with me as if I had heard the clang of trumpets and the clash of arms.
+    I leaned slightly forward; I struck out powerfully, swiftly, and
+    steadily; I gained upon the Scorcher; I sent into his emerald legs a
+    thrill of startled fear, as if he had been a terrified hare bounding
+    madly away from a pursuing foe, and I passed him as if I had been a
+    swift falcon swooping by a quarry unworthy of his talons.
+</p>
+<p>
+    On, on I sped, not deigning even to look back. The same spirit
+    possessed me as that which fired the hearts of the olden knights. I
+    would have been glad to meet with another Scorcher, and yet another,
+    that for the sake of my fair lady I might engage with each and humble
+    his pride in the dust.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is true," I said to myself, with an inward laugh, "I carry no
+    glove or delicate handkerchief bound upon my visor&mdash;" but at this
+    point my mind wandered. I went more slowly, and at last I stopped and
+    sat down under the shade of a way-side tree. I thought for a few
+    minutes, and then I said to myself, "It seems to me this would be a
+    good time to take one of those capsules," and I took one. I then
+    fancied that perhaps I ought to take two, but I contented myself with
+    one.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VI
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">n the middle of the day I stopped at Vernon, and the afternoon was
+    well advanced when I came in sight of a little way-side house with a
+    broad unfenced green in front of it, and a swinging sign which told
+    the traveller that this was the "Holly Sprig Inn."
+
+<p>
+    I dismounted on the opposite side of the road and gazed upon the
+    smoothly shaven greensward in front of the little inn; upon the pretty
+    upper windows peeping out from their frames of leaves; upon the
+    queerly-shaped projections of the building; upon the low portico which
+    shaded the doorway; and upon the gentle stream of blue smoke which
+    rose from the great gray chimney.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then I turned and looked over the surrounding country. There were
+    broad meadows slightly descending to a long line of trees, between
+    which I could see the glimmering of water. On the other side of the
+    road, and extending back of the inn, there were low, forest-crowned
+    hills. Then my eyes, returning to nearer objects, fell upon an
+    old-fashioned garden, with bright flowers and rows of box, which lay
+    beyond the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why on earth," I thought, "should I pass such a place as this and go
+    on to the Cheltenham, with its waiters in coat tails, its nurse-maids,
+    and its rows of people on piazzas? She could not know my tastes, and
+    perhaps she had thought but little on the subject, and had taken her
+    ideas from her father. He is just the man to be contented with nothing
+    else than a vast sprawling hotel, with disdainful menials expecting
+    tips."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I rolled my bicycle along the little path which ran around the green,
+    and knocked upon the open door of Holly Sprig Inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a few moments a boy came into the hall. He was not dressed like an
+    ordinary hotel attendant, but his appearance was decent, and he might
+    have been a sub-clerk or a head hall-boy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Can I obtain lodging here for the night?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The boy looked at me from head to foot, and an expression such as
+    might be produced by too much lemon juice came upon his face.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said he; "we don't take cyclers."
+</p>
+<p>
+    This reception was something novel to me, who had cycled over
+    thousands of miles, and I was not at all inclined to accept it at the
+    hands of the boy. I stepped into the hall. "Can I see the master of
+    this house?" said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "There ain't none," he answered, gruffly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, then, I want to see whoever is in charge."
+</p>
+<p>
+    He looked as if he were about to say that he was in charge, but he had
+    no opportunity for such impertinence. A female figure came into the
+    hall and advanced towards me. She stopped in an attitude of
+    interrogation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I was just inquiring," I said, with a bow&mdash;for I saw that the
+    new-comer was not a servant&mdash;"if I could be accommodated here for the
+    night, but the boy informed me that cyclers are not received here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" she exclaimed, and turned as if she would speak to the boy,
+    but he had vanished. "That is a mistake, sir," she said to me. "Very
+    few wheelmen do stop here, as they prefer a hotel farther on, but we
+    are glad to entertain them when they come."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not very light in the hall in which we stood, but I could see
+    that this lady was young, that she was of medium size, and
+    good-looking.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Will you walk in, sir, and register?" she said. "I will have your
+    wheel taken around to the back."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I followed her into a large apartment to the right of the
+    hall&mdash;evidently a room of general assembly. Near the window was a desk
+    with a great book on it. As I stood before this desk and she handed me
+    a pen, her face was in the full light of the window, and glancing at
+    it, the thought struck me that I now knew why Miss Putney did not wish
+    me to stop at the Holly Sprig Inn. I almost laughed as I turned away
+    my head to write my name. I was amused, and at the same time I could
+    not help feeling highly complimented. It cannot but be grateful to the
+    feelings of a young man to find that a very handsome woman objects to
+    his making the acquaintance of an extremely pretty one.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I laid down the pen she stepped up and looked at my name and
+    address.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh," said she, "you are the schoolmaster at Walford?" She seemed to
+    be pleased by this discovery, and smiled in a very engaging way as she
+    said, "I am much interested in that school, for I received a great
+    part of my education there." "Indeed!" said I, very much surprised.
+    "But I do not exactly understand. It is a boys' school."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I know that," she answered, "but both boys and girls used to go
+    there. Now the girls have a school of their own."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she spoke I could not help contrasting in my mind what the school
+    must have been with what it was now.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stepped to the door and told a woman who was just entering the
+    room to show me No. 2. The woman said something which I did not hear,
+    although her tones indicated surprise, and then conducted me to my
+    room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was an exceedingly pleasant chamber on the first floor at the
+    back of the house. It was furnished far better than the quarters
+    generally allotted to me in country inns, or, in fact, in hostelries
+    of any kind. There was great comfort and even simple elegance in its
+    appointments.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would have liked to ask the maid some questions, but she was an
+    elderly woman, who looked as if she might be the mother of the
+    lemon-juice boy, and as she said not a word to me while she made a few
+    arrangements in the room, I did not feel emboldened to say anything to
+    her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I left my room and went out on the little porch, I soon came to
+    the conclusion that this was not a house of great resort. I saw
+    nobody in front and I heard nobody within. There seemed to be an air
+    of quiet greenness about the surroundings, and the little porch was a
+    charming place in which to sit and look upon the evening landscape.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After a time the boy came to tell me that supper was ready. He did so
+    as if he were informing me that it was time to take medicine and he
+    had just taken his.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Supper awaited me in a very pleasant room, through the open windows of
+    which there came a gentle breeze which made me know that there was a
+    flower-garden not far away. The table was a small one, round, and on
+    it there was supper for one person. I seated myself, and the elderly
+    woman waited on me. I was so grateful that the boy was not my
+    attendant that my heart warmed towards her, and I thought she might
+    not consider it much out of the way if I said something.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did I arrive after the regular supper-time?" I asked. "I am sorry if
+    I put the establishment to any inconvenience."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What's inconvenience in your own house isn't anything of the kind in
+    a tavern," she said. "We're used to that. But it doesn't matter
+    to-day. You're the only transient; that is, that eats here," she
+    added.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I wanted very much to ask something about the lady who had gone to
+    school in Walford, but I thought it would be well to approach that
+    subject by degrees.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Apparently," said I, "your house is not full."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said she, "not at this precise moment of time. Do you want some
+    more tea?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    The tone in which she said this made me feel sure she was the mother
+    of the boy, and when she had given me the tea, and looked around in a
+    general way to see that I was provided with what else I needed, she
+    left the room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After supper I looked into the large room where I had registered; it
+    was lighted, and was very comfortably furnished with easy-chairs and a
+    lounge, but it was an extremely lonely place, and, lighting a cigar, I
+    went out for a walk. It was truly a beautiful country, and, illumined
+    by the sunset sky, with all its forms and colors softened by the
+    growing dusk, it was more charming to me than it had been by daylight.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I returned to the inn I noticed a man standing at the entrance of a
+    driveway which appeared to lead back to the stable-yards. "Here is
+    some one who may talk," I thought, and I stopped.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0013"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-13.png">
+<img src="images/bc-13s.png" width="115" height="200"
+alt="'Went out for a Walk'"><br />'Went out for a Walk'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "This ought to be a good country for sport," I said&mdash;"fishing, and
+    that sort of thing."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You're stoppin' here for the night?" he asked. I presumed from his
+    voice and appearance that he was a stable-man, and from his tone that
+    he was disappointed that I had not brought a horse with me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assented to his question, and he said:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I never heard of no fishin'. When people want to fish, they go to a
+    lake about ten miles furder on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I do not care particularly about fishing," I said, "but there
+    must be a good many pleasant roads about here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "There's this one," said he. "The people on wheels keep to it." With
+    this he turned and walked slowly towards the back of the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "A lemon-loving lot!" thought I, and as I approached the porch I saw
+    that the lady who had gone to school at Walford was standing there. I
+    did not believe she had been eating lemons, and I stepped forward
+    quickly for fear that she should depart before I reached her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Been taking a walk?" she said, pleasantly. There was something in the
+    general air of this young woman which indicated that she should have
+    worn a little apron with pockets, and that her hands should have been
+    jauntily thrust into those pockets; but her dress included nothing of
+    the sort.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The hall lamp was now lighted, and I could see that her attire was
+    extremely neat and becoming. Her face was in shadow, but she had
+    beautiful hair of a ruddy brown. I asked myself if she were the "lady
+    clerk" of the establishment, or the daughter of the keeper of the inn.
+    She was evidently a person in some authority, and one with whom it
+    would be proper for me to converse, and as she had given me a very
+    good opportunity to open conversation, I lost no time in doing so.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And so you used to live in Walford?" I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she replied, and then she began to speak of the pleasant
+    days she had spent in that village. As she talked I endeavored to
+    discover from her words who she was and what was her position. I did
+    not care to discuss Walford. I wanted to talk about the Holly Sprig
+    Inn, but I could not devise a courteous question which would serve my
+    purpose.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently our attention was attracted by the sound of singing at the
+    corner of the little lawn most distant from the house. It was growing
+    dark, and the form of the singer could barely be discerned upon a
+    bench under a great oak. The voice was that of a man, and his song
+    was an Italian air from one of Verdi's operas. He sang in a low tone,
+    as if he were simply amusing himself and did not wish to disturb the
+    rest of the world.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0014"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-14.png">
+<img src="images/bc-14s.png" width="80" height="200"
+alt="Mrs. Chester"><br />Mrs. Chester</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "That must be the Italian who is stopping here for the night," she
+    said. "We do not generally take such people; but he spoke so civilly,
+    and said it was so hard to get lodging for his bear&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "His bear!" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered, with a little laugh, "he has a bear with him.
+    I suppose it dances, and so makes a living for its master. Anyway, I
+    said he might stay and lodge with our stable-man. He would sing very
+    well if he had a better voice&mdash;don't you think so?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We do not generally accommodate," "I said he might stay"&mdash;these were
+    phrases which I turned over in my mind. If she were the lady clerk she
+    might say "we"&mdash;even the boy said "we"&mdash;but "I said he might stay" was
+    different. A daughter of a landlord or a landlady might say that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I made a remark about the difficulty of finding lodging for man and
+    beast, if the beast happened to be a bear, and I had scarcely finished
+    it when from the house there came a shrill voice, flavored with lemon
+    without any sugar, and it said, "Mrs. Chester!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Excuse me," said the young lady, and immediately she went in-doors.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Here was a revelation! Mrs. Chester! Strange to say, I had not thought
+    of her as a married woman; and yet, now that I recalled her manner of
+    perfect self-possession, she did suggest the idea of a satisfied young
+    wife. And Mr. Chester&mdash;what of him? Could it be possible? Hardly.
+    There was nothing about her to suggest a widow.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; sat on that porch a good while, but she did not come out again. Why
+    should she? Nobody came out, and within I could hear no sound of
+    voices. I might certainly recommend this inn as a quiet place. The
+    Italian and the crickets continued singing and chirping, but they only
+    seemed to make the scene more lonely.
+
+<p>
+    I went in-doors. On the left hand of the hall was a door which I had
+    not noticed before, but which was now open. There was a light within,
+    and I saw a prettily-furnished parlor. There was a table with a lamp
+    on it, and by the table sat the lady, Mrs. Chester. I involuntarily
+    stopped, and, looking up, she invited me to come in. Instantly I
+    accepted the invitation, but with a sort of an apology for the
+    intrusion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, this is the public parlor," she said, "although everything about
+    this house seems private at present. We generally have families
+    staying with us in the summer, but last week nearly all of them went
+    away to the sea-shore. In a few days, however, we expect to be full
+    again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She immediately began to talk about Walford, for evidently the subject
+    interested her, and I answered all her questions as well as I could.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You may know that my husband taught that school. I was his scholar
+    before I became his wife."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had heard of a Mr. Chester who, before me, had taught the school,
+    but, although the information had not interested me at the time, now
+    it did. I wished very much to ask what Mr. Chester was doing at
+    present, but I waited.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I went to boarding-school after I left Walford," said she, "and so
+    for a time lost sight of the village, although I have often visited it
+    since."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How long is it since Mr. Chester gave up the school there?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This proved to be a very good question indeed. "About six years," she
+    said. "He gave it up just before we were married. He did not like
+    teaching school, and as the death of his father put him into the
+    possession of some money, he was able to change his mode of life. It
+    was by accident that we settled here as innkeepers. We happened to
+    pass the place, and Mr. Chester was struck by its beauty. It was not
+    an inn then, but he thought it would make a charming one, and he also
+    thought that this sort of life would suit him exactly. He was a
+    student, a great reader, and a lover of rural sports&mdash;such as fishing
+    and all that."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0015"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-15.png">
+<img src="images/bc-15s.png" width="115" height="200"
+alt="'She Began to Talk About Walford'"><br />'She Began to Talk About Walford'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Was." Here was a dim light. "Was" must mean that Mr. Chester had
+    been. If he were living, he would still be a reader and a student.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did he find the new life all that he expected?" I said, hesitating a
+    little at the word did, as it was not impossible that I might be
+    mistaken.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes, and more. I think the two years he spent here were the
+    happiest of his life."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was not yet quite sure about the state of affairs; he might be in an
+    insane asylum, or he might be a hopeless invalid up-stairs.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If he had lived," she continued, "I suppose this would have been a
+    wonderfully beautiful place, for he was always making improvements.
+    But it is four years now since his death, and in that time there has
+    been very little change in the inn."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I do not remember what answer I made to this remark, but I gazed out
+    upon the situation as if it were an unrolled map.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "When you wrote your name in the book," she said, "it seemed to me as
+    if you had brought a note of introduction, and I am sure I am very
+    glad to be acquainted with you, for, you know, you are my husband's
+    successor. He did not like teaching, but he was fond of his scholars,
+    and he always had a great fancy for school-teachers. Whenever one of
+    them stopped here&mdash;which happened two or three times&mdash;he insisted that
+    he should be put into our best room, if it happened to be vacant, and
+    that is the reason I have put you into it to-day."
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was charming. She was such an extremely agreeable young person
+    that it was delightful for me to think of myself in any way as her
+    husband's successor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a step at the door. I turned and saw the elderly servant.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Mrs. Chester," she said, "I'm goin' up," and every word was flavored
+    with citric acid.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-night," said Mrs. Chester, taking up her basket and her work.
+    "You know, you need not retire until you wish to do so. There is a
+    room opposite, where gentlemen smoke."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not enter the big, lonely room. I went to my own chamber,
+    which, I had just been informed, was the best in the house. I sat down
+    in an easy-chair by the open window. I looked up to the twinkling
+    stars.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Reading, studying, fishing, beautiful country, and all that. And he
+    did not like school-teaching! No wonder he was happier here than he
+    had ever been before! My eyes wandered around the tastefully furnished
+    room. "Her husband's successor," I said to myself, pondering. "He did
+    not like school-teaching, and he was so happy here." Of course he was
+    happy. "Died and left him some money." There was no one to leave me
+    any money, but I had saved some for the time when I should devote
+    myself entirely to my profession. Profession&mdash;I thought. After all,
+    what is there in a profession? Slavery; anxiety. And he chose a life
+    of reading, studying, fishing, and everything else.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I turned to the window and again looked up into the sky. There was a
+    great star up there, and it seemed to wink cheerfully at me as the
+    words came into my mind, "her husband's successor."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I opened my little valise, before going to bed, I saw the box the
+    doctor's daughter had given me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After sitting so long at the open window, thought I, it might be well
+    to take one of these capsules, and I swallowed one.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I was called to breakfast the next morning I saw that the table
+    was laid with covers for two. In a moment my hostess entered and bade
+    me good-morning. We sat down at the table; and the elderly woman
+    waited. I could now see that her face was the color of a shop-worn
+    lemon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As for the lady who had gone to school at Walford&mdash;I wondered what
+    place in the old school-room she had occupied&mdash;she was more charming
+    than ever. Her manner was so cordial and cheerful that I could not
+    doubt that she considered the entry of my name in her book as a
+    regular introduction. She asked me about my plan of travel, how far I
+    would go in a day, and that sort of thing. The elderly woman was very
+    grim, and somehow or other I did not take very much interest in my
+    plan of travel, but the meal was an extremely pleasant one for all
+    that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The natural thing for me to do after I finished my breakfast was to
+    pay my bill and ride away, but I felt no inclination for anything of
+    the sort. In fact, the naturalness of departure did not strike me. I
+    went out on the little porch and gazed upon the bright, fresh morning
+    landscape, and as I did so I asked myself why I should mount my
+    bicycle and wheel away over hot and dusty roads, leaving all this
+    cool, delicious beauty behind me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    What could I find more enjoyable than this? Why should I not spend a
+    few days at this inn, reading, studying, fishing? Here I wondered why
+    that man told me such a lie about the fishing. If I wanted to exercise
+    on my wheel I felt sure there were pretty roads hereabout. I had
+    plenty of time before me&mdash;my whole vacation. Why should I be consumed
+    by this restless desire to get on?
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not help smiling as I thought of my somewhat absurd fancies of
+    the night before; but they were pleasant fancies, and I did not wonder
+    that they had come to me. It certainly is provocative of pleasant
+    fancies to have an exceedingly attractive young woman talk of you in
+    any way as her husband's successor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not make up my mind what I ought to do, and I walked back into
+    the hall. I glanced into the parlor, but it was unoccupied. Then I
+    went into the large room on the right; no one was there, and I stood
+    by the window trying to make up my mind in regard to proposing a brief
+    stay at the inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It really did not seem necessary to give the matter much thought. Here
+    was a place of public entertainment, and, as I was one of the public,
+    why should I not be entertained? I had stopped at many a road-side
+    hostelry, and in each one of them I knew I would be welcome to stay as
+    long as I was willing to pay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Still, there was something, some sort of an undefined consciousness,
+    which seemed to rise in the way of an off-hand proposal to stay at
+    this inn for several days, when I had clearly stated that I wished to
+    stop only for the night.
+</p>
+<p>
+    While I was still turning over this matter in my mind Mrs. Chester
+    came into the room. I had expected her. The natural thing for her to
+    do was to come in and receive the amount I owed her for her
+    entertainment of me, but as I looked at her I could not ask her for my
+    bill. It seemed to me that such a thing would shock her sensibilities.
+    Moreover, I did not want her bill.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was plain enough, however, that she expected me to depart, for she
+    asked me where I proposed to stop in the middle of the day, and she
+    suggested that she should have a light luncheon put up for me. She
+    thought probably a wheelman would like that sort of thing, for then he
+    could stop and rest wherever it suited him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Speaking of stopping," said I, "I am very glad that I did not do as I
+    was advised to do and go on to the Cheltenham. I do not know anything
+    about that hotel, but I am sure it is not so charming as this
+    delightful little inn with its picturesque surroundings."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am glad you did not," she answered. "Who advised you to go on to
+    the Cheltenham?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Miss Putney," said I. "Her father's place is between here and
+    Walford. I stopped there night before last." And then, as I was glad
+    of an opportunity to prolong the interview, I told her the history of
+    my adventures at that place.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester was amused, and I thought I might as well tell her how I
+    came to be delayed on the road and so caught in the storm, and I
+    related my experience with Miss Burton. I would have been glad to go
+    still farther back and tell her how I came to take the school at
+    Walford, and anything else she might care to listen to.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I told her about Miss Burton she sat down in a chair near by and
+    laughed heartily.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is wonderfully funny," she said, "that you should have met those
+    two young ladies and should then have stopped here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You know them?" I said, promptly taking another chair.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered. "I know them both; and, as I have mentioned
+    that your meeting with them seemed funny to me, I suppose I ought to
+    tell you the reason. Some time ago a photographer in Walford, who has
+    taken a portrait of me and also of Miss Putney and Miss Burton, took
+    it into his head to print the three on one card and expose them for
+    sale with a ridiculous inscription under them. This created a great
+    deal of talk, and Miss Putney made the photographer destroy his
+    negative and all the cards he had on hand. After that we were talked
+    about as a trio, and, I expect, a good deal of fun was made of us. And
+    now it seems a little odd&mdash;does it not?&mdash;that you have become
+    acquainted with all the members of this trio as soon as you left
+    Walford. But I must not keep you in this way." And she rose.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now was my opportunity to make known my desire to be kept, but before
+    I could do so the boy hurriedly came into the room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The Dago wants to see you," he said. "He's in an awful hurry."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Excuse me," said Mrs. Chester. "It is that Italian who was singing
+    outside last night. I thought he had gone. Would you mind waiting a
+    few minutes?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was getting harder and harder to enunciate my proposition to make a
+    sojourn at the inn. I wished that I had spoken sooner. It is so much
+    easier to do things promptly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    While I was waiting the elderly woman came in. "Do you want the boy to
+    take your little bag out and strap it on?" said she.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Evidently there was no want of desire to speed the departing guest.
+    "Oh, I will attend to that myself," said I, but I made no step to do
+    it. When my hostess came back I wanted to be there.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently she did come back. She ran in hurriedly, and her face was
+    flushed. "Here is a very bad piece of business," she said. "That man's
+    bear has eaten the tire off one of your wheels!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" I exclaimed, and my heart bounded within me. Here, perhaps,
+    was the solution of all my troubles. If by any happy chance my bicycle
+    had been damaged, of course I could not go on.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come and see," she said, and, following her through the back hall
+    door, we entered a large, enclosed yard. Not far from the house was a
+    shed, and in front of this lay my bicycle on its side in an apparently
+    disabled condition. An Italian, greatly agitated, was standing by it.
+    He was hatless, and his tangled black hair hung over his swarthy face.
+    At the other end of the yard was a whitish-brown bear, not very large,
+    and chained to a post.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I approached my bicycle, earnestly hoping that the bear had been
+    attempting to ride it, but I found that he had been trying to do
+    something very different. He had torn the pneumatic tire from one of
+    the wheels, and nearly the whole of it was lying scattered about in
+    little bits upon the ground.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How did this happen?" I said to the Italian, feeling very much
+    inclined to give him a dollar for the good offices of the beast.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The man began immediately to pour out an explanation upon me. His
+    English was as badly broken as the torn parts of my tire, but I had no
+    trouble in understanding. The bear had got loose in the night. He had
+    pulled up a little post to which he had been chained. The man had not
+    known it was such a weak post. The bear was never muzzled at night. He
+    had gone about looking for something to eat. He was very fond of
+    India-rubber&mdash;or, as the man called it, "Injer-rub." He always ate up
+    India-rubber shoes wherever he could find them. He would eat them off
+    a man's feet if the man should be asleep. He liked the taste of
+    Injer-rub. He did not swallow it. He dropped it all about in little
+    bits.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0016"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-16.png">
+<img src="images/bc-16s.png" width="143" height="200"
+alt="But We Were Not Alone"><br />But We Were Not Alone</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Then the man sprang towards me and seized the injured wheel. "See!" he
+    exclaimed. "He eat your Injer-rub, but he no break your machine!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was very true. The wheel did not seem to be injured, but still I
+    could not travel without a tire. This was the most satisfactory
+    feature of the affair. If he and I had been alone together I would
+    have handed the man two dollars, and told him to go in peace with his
+    bear and give himself no more trouble.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But we were not alone. The stable-man who had lied to me about the
+    fishing was there; the boy who had lied to me about the reception of
+    cyclers was there; the lemon-faced woman was there, standing close to
+    Mrs. Chester; and there were two maids looking out of the window of
+    the kitchen.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "This is very bad indeed!" said Mrs. Chester, addressing the Italian.
+    "You have damaged this gentleman's wheel, and you must pay him for
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now the Italian began to tear his hair. Never before had I seen any
+    one tear his hair. More than that, he shed tears, and declared he had
+    no money. After he had paid his bill he would not have a cent in the
+    world. His bear had ruined him. He was in despair.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What are you going to do?" said Mrs. Chester to me. "You cannot use
+    your bicycle."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before I could answer, the elderly woman exclaimed: "You ought to come
+    in, Mrs. Chester! This is no place for you! Suppose that beast should
+    break loose again! Let the gentleman settle it with the man."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I do not think my hostess wanted to go, but she accompanied her grim
+    companion into the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I suppose there is no place near here where I can have a new tire put
+    on this wheel?" said I to the stable-man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not nearer than Waterton," he replied; "but we could take you and
+    your machine there in a wagon."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's so," said the boy. "I'll drive."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I glared upon the two fellows as if they had been a couple of fiends
+    who were trying to put a drop of poison into my cup of joy. To be
+    dolefully driven to Waterton by that boy! What a picture! How
+    different from my picture!
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Italian sat down on the ground and embraced his knees with his
+    arms. He moaned and groaned, and declared over and over again that he
+    was ruined; that he had no money to pay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In regard to him my mind was made up. I would forgive him his debt and
+    send him away with my blessing, even if I found no opportunity of
+    rewarding him for his great service to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would go in and speak to Mrs. Chester about it. Of course it would
+    not be right to do anything without consulting her, and now I could
+    boldly tell her that it would suit me very well to stop at the inn
+    until my wheel could be sent away and repaired.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I entered the large room the elderly woman came out. She was
+    plainly in a bad humor. Mrs. Chester was awaiting me with an anxious
+    countenance, evidently much more troubled about the damage to my
+    bicycle than I was. I hastened to relieve her mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It does not matter a bit about the damage done by the bear," I said.
+    "I should not wonder if that wheel would be a great deal better for a
+    new tire, anyway. And, as for that doleful Italian, I do not want to
+    be hard on him, even if he has a little money in his pocket."
+</p>
+<p>
+    But my remarks did not relieve her, while my cheerful and contented
+    tones seemed to add to her anxiety.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But you cannot travel," she said, "and there is no place about here
+    where you could get a new tire."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was very plain that no one in this house entertained the idea that
+    it would be a good thing for me to rest here quietly until my bicycle
+    could be sent away and repaired. In fact, my first statement, that I
+    wished to stop but for the night, was accepted with general approval.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not deem it necessary to refer to the man's offer, to send me
+    and my machine to Waterton in a wagon, and I was just on the point of
+    boldly announcing that I was in no hurry whatever to get on, and that
+    it would suit me very well to wait here for a few days, when the boy
+    burst into the room, one end of his little neck-tie flying behind him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The Dago's put!" he shouted. "He's put off and gone!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    We looked at him in amazement.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Gone!" I exclaimed. "Shall I go after him? Has he paid his bill?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, you needn't do that," said the boy. "He cut across the fields
+    like a chipmunk&mdash;skipped right over the fences! You'd never ketch him,
+    and you needn't try! He's off for the station. I'll tell you all
+    about it," said the boy, turning to his mistress, who had been too
+    much startled to ask any questions. "When he went into the
+    house"&mdash;jerking his head in my direction&mdash;"I was left alone with the
+    Dago, and he begun to talk to me. He asked me a lot of things. He
+    rattled on so I couldn't understand half he said. He wanted to know
+    how much a tire cost; he wanted to know how much his bill would be,
+    and if he'd have to pay for the little post that was broke.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then he asked if I thought that if he'd promise to send you the money
+    would the gentleman let him go without payin' for the tire, and he
+    wanted to know what your name was; and when I told him you hadn't no
+    husband, and what your name was, he asked me to say it over again, and
+    then he made me say it once more&mdash;the whole of it; and while I was
+    tellin' him that I'd write it down for him if he wanted to send you
+    the money, he give a big jump and he stuck his head out like a bull.
+    He looked so queer that I was gettin' skeered; and then he says,
+    almost whisperin': 'I go! I go away! I leave my bear! If she sell him,
+    that pay everything! I come back no more&mdash;never! never!'
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I saw he was goin' to scoot, and I made a grab at him, but he give me
+    a push that nearly tore my collar off, and away he went. You never see
+    anybody run like he run. He was out of sight in no time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And he left his bear!" she exclaimed, in horror. "What on earth am I
+    to do with a bear?" She looked at me, and in spite of her annoyance
+    and perplexity she could not help joining me when I laughed outright.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VIII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    ORSO
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/m.png" alt="M">rs. Chester and I hurried back to the yard. There was the bear,
+    sitting calmly on his haunches, but there was no Italian.
+
+<p>
+    "Now that his master is gone," my hostess exclaimed, "I am afraid of
+    him! I will not go any farther! Can you imagine anything that can be
+    done with that beast?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had no immediate answer to give, and I was still very much amused at
+    the absurdity of the situation. Had any one ever before paid his bill
+    in such fashion? At this moment the stable-man approached us from one
+    of the outbuildings. "This is my hostler," she said. "Perhaps he can
+    suggest something."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "This is a bad go, ma'am," said he. "The horse was out in the pasture
+    all night, but this morning when I went to bring him up I couldn't
+    make him come near the stable. He smells that bear! It seems to drive
+    him crazy!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's awful!" she said. "What are we going to do, John? Do you think
+    the animal will become dangerous when he misses his master?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, there's nothin' dangerous about him," answered John. "I was
+    sittin' talkin' to that Dago last night after supper, and he says his
+    bear's tamer than a cat. He is so mild-tempered that he wouldn't hurt
+    nobody. The Dago says he sleeps close up to him of cold nights to keep
+    himself warm. There ain't no trouble about his bein' dangerous, but
+    you can't bring the horse into the stable while he's about. If anybody
+    was to drive into this yard without knowin' they'd be a circus, I can
+    tell you! Horses can't stand bears."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked at me in dismay. "Couldn't he be shot and buried?" she
+    asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had my doubts on that point. A tame bear is a valuable animal, and I
+    could not advise her to dispose of the property of another person in
+    that summary way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But he must be got away," she said. "We can't have a bear here. He
+    must be taken away some way or other. Isn't there any place where he
+    could be put until the Italian comes back?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That Dago's never comin' back," said the boy, solemnly. "If you'd
+    a-seen him scoot, you'd a-knowed that he was dead skeered, and would
+    never turn up here no more, bear or no bear."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester looked at me. She was greatly worried, but she was also
+    amused, and she could not help laughing.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Isn't this a dreadful predicament?" she said. "What in the world am I
+    to do?" At this moment there was an acidulated voice from the kitchen.
+    "Mrs. Whittaker wants to see you, Mrs. Chester," it cried, "right
+    away!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, dear!" said she. "Here is more trouble! Mrs. Whittaker is an
+    invalid lady who is so nervous that she could not sleep one night
+    because she heard a man had killed a snake at the back of the barn,
+    and what she will say when she hears that we have a bear here without
+    a master I do not know. I must go to her, and I do wish you could
+    think of something that I can do;" as she said this she looked at me
+    as if it were a natural thing for her to rely upon me. For a moment it
+    made me think of the star that had winked the night before.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester hurried into the house, and in company with the
+    stable-man I crossed the yard towards the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You are sure he is gentle?" said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Mild as milk!" said the man. "I was a-playin' with him last night.
+    He'll let you do anything with him! If you box his ears, he'll lay
+    over flat down on his side!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we were within a few feet of the bear he sat upright, dangled his
+    fore paws in front of him, and, with his head on one side, he partly
+    opened his mouth and lolled out his tongue. "I guess he's beggin' for
+    his breakfust," said John.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Can't you get him something to eat?" I asked. "He ought to be fed, to
+    begin with."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The man went back to the kitchen, and I walked slowly around the bear,
+    looking at the chain and the post, and trying to see what sort of a
+    collar was almost hidden under his shaggy hair. Apparently he seemed
+    securely attached, and then&mdash;as he was at the end of his chain&mdash;I went
+    up to him and gently patted one paw. He did not object to this, and
+    turning his head he let his tongue loll out on the other side, fixing
+    his little black eyes upon me with much earnestness. When the man came
+    with the pan of scraps from the kitchen I took it from him and placed
+    it on the ground in front of the bear. Instantly the animal dropped to
+    his feet and began to eat with earnest rapidity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I wonder how much he'd take in for one meal," said John, "if you'd
+    give him all he wanted? I guess that Dago never let him have any
+    more'n he could help."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As the bear was licking the tin pan I stood and looked at him. "I
+    wonder if he would be tame with strangers?" said I. "Do you suppose we
+    could take him away from this post if we wanted to?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," said John. "I wouldn't be afraid to take him anywheres, only
+    there isn't any place to take him to." He then stepped quite close to
+    the bear. "Hey, horsey!" said he. "Hey, old horsey! Good old horsey!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Is that his name?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's what the Dago called him," said John. "Hey, horsey! Good
+    horsey!" And he stooped and unfastened the chain from the post.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I imagined that the Italian had called the bear "Orso," perhaps with
+    some diminutive, but I did not care to discuss this. I was very much
+    interested to see what the man was going to do. With the end of the
+    chain in his hand, John now stepped in front of the bear and said,
+    "Come along, horsey!" and, to my surprise, the bear began to shamble
+    after him as quietly as if he had been following his old master.
+    "See!" cried John. "He'll go anywheres I choose to take him!" and he
+    began to lead him about the yard.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As he approached the kitchen there came a fearful scream from the open
+    window.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Take him away! Take him away!" I heard, in the shrillest accents.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "They're dreadfully skeered," said John, as he led the bear back; "but
+    he wouldn't hurt nobody! It would be a good thing, though, to put his
+    muzzle on; that's it hangin' over there by the shed; it's like a
+    halter, and straps up his jaws. The Dago said there ain't no need for
+    it, but he puts it on when he's travellin' along the road to keep
+    people from bein' skeered."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It would be well to put it on," said I. "I wonder if we can get him
+    into it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I guess he'd let you do anything you'd a mind to," replied John, as
+    he again fastened the chain to the post.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I took down the muzzle and approached the bear. He did not growl, but
+    stood perfectly still and looked at me. I put the muzzle over his
+    head, and, holding myself in readiness to elude a sudden snap, I
+    strapped up his jaws. The creature made no snap&mdash;he gazed at me with
+    mild resignation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "As far as he goes," said John, "he's all right; but as far as
+    everything else goes&mdash;especially horses&mdash;they're all wrong. He's got
+    to be got rid of some way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had nothing more to say to John, and I went into the house. I met
+    Mrs. Chester in the hall.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I have had a bad time up-stairs," she said. "Mrs. Whittaker declares
+    that she will not stay an hour in a house where there is a bear
+    without a master; but as she has a terrible sciatica and cannot
+    travel, I do not know what she is going to do. Her trained nurse, I
+    believe, is now putting on her bonnet to depart."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she spoke, the joyful anticipation of a few days at the Holly Sprig
+    Inn began to fade away. I did not blame the bear as the present cause
+    of my disappointment. He had done all he could for me. It was his
+    wretched master who had done the mischief by running away and leaving
+    him. But no matter what had happened, I saw my duty plainly before me.
+    I had not been encouraged to stay, but it is possible that I might
+    have done so without encouragement, but now I saw that I must go. The
+    Fates, who, as I had hoped, had compelled my stay, now compelled my
+    departure.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do not give yourself another thought upon the subject," I said. "I
+    will settle the whole matter, and nobody need be frightened or
+    disturbed. The Cheltenham Hotel is only a few miles farther on, and I
+    shall have to walk there anyway. I will start immediately and take the
+    bear with me. I am sure that he will allow me to lead him wherever I
+    please. I have tried him, and I find that he is a great deal gentler
+    than most children."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She exclaimed, in horror: "You must not think of it! He might spring
+    upon you and tear you to pieces!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, he will not do that," I answered. "He is not that sort of a
+    bear&mdash;and, besides, he is securely muzzled. I muzzled him myself, and
+    he did not mind it in the least. Oh, you need not be afraid of the
+    bear; he has had his breakfast and he is in perfect good-humor with
+    the world. It will not take me long to reach the hotel, and I shall
+    enjoy the walk, and when I get there I will be sure to find some shed
+    or out-house where the beast can be shut up until it can be decided
+    what to do with him. I can leave him there and have him legally
+    advertised, and then&mdash;if nothing else can be done&mdash;he can be shot. I
+    shall be very glad to have his skin; it will be worth enough to cover
+    his bill here, and the damages to my bicycle. I shall send for that
+    as soon as I reach the hotel. I can go to Waterton by train and take
+    it with me. I can have it made all right in Waterton. So now, you see,
+    I have settled everything satisfactorily."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked at me earnestly, and, although there was a certain
+    solicitude in her gaze, I could also see there signs of great relief.
+    "But isn't there some other way of getting that bear to the hotel?"
+    she said. "It will be dreadful for you to have to walk there and lead
+    him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's the only way to do it," I answered. "You could not hitch a bear
+    behind a wagon&mdash;the horse would run away and jerk his head off. The
+    only way to take a bear about the country is to lead him, and I do not
+    mind it in the least. As I have got to go without my bicycle I would
+    like to have some sort of company. Anyway, the bear must go, and as I
+    am on the road to the Cheltenham I shall be very glad to take him
+    along with me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think you are wonderfully brave," she said, "and very good. If I
+    can persuade myself it will be perfectly safe for you, it will
+    certainly be a great relief to me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was now engaged in a piece of self-sacrifice, and I felt that I must
+    do it thoroughly and promptly. "I will go and get my valise," I said,
+    "for I ought to start immediately."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I will send that!" she exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," I answered; "it does not weigh anything, and I can sling it over
+    my shoulder. By-the-way," I said, turning as I was about to leave the
+    room, "I have forgotten something." I put my hand into my pocket; it
+    would not do to forget that I was, after all, only a departing guest.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, no," she replied, quickly, "I am your debtor. When you find out
+    how much damage you have suffered, and what is to be done with the
+    bear, all that can be settled. You can write to me, but I will have
+    nothing to do with it now."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With my valise over my shoulder I returned to the hall to take leave
+    of my hostess. Now she seemed somewhat contrite. Fate and she had
+    conquered, I was going away, and she was sorry for me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think it is wonderfully good of you to do all this," she said. "I
+    wish I could do something for you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would have been glad to suggest that she might ask me to come again,
+    and it would also have pleased me to say that I did not believe that
+    her husband, if he could express his opinion, would commend her
+    apparent inhospitality to his successor. But I made no such remarks,
+    and offered my hand, which she cordially clasped as if I were an old
+    friend and were going away to settle in the Himalayas.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I went into the yard to get Orso. He was lying down when I approached
+    him, but I think he knew from my general appearance that I was
+    prepared to take the road, and he rose to his feet as much as to say,
+    "I am ready." I unfastened the chain from the post, and, with the best
+    of wishes for good-luck from John, who now seemed to be very well
+    satisfied with me, I walked around the side of the house, the bear
+    following as submissively as if he had been used to my leadership all
+    his life.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not see the boy nor the lemon-faced woman, and I was glad of it.
+    I believe they would have cast evil eyes upon me, and there is no
+    knowing what that bear might have done in consequence.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester was standing in the door as I reached the road.
+    "Good-bye!" she cried, "and good fortune go with you!" I raised my
+    hat, and gave Orso a little jerk with the chain.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IX
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A RUNAWAY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/h.png" alt="H">e was a very slow walker, that bear. If I had been alone I would have
+    been out of sight of the inn in less than five minutes. As it was, I
+    looked back after a considerable time to see if I really were out of
+    sight of the house, and I found I was not. She was still standing in
+    the doorway, and when I turned she waved her handkerchief. Now that I
+    had truly left and was gone, she seemed to be willing to let me know
+    better than before what a charming woman she was. I took off my hat
+    again and pressed forward.
+
+<p>
+    For a couple of miles, perhaps, I walked thoughtfully, and I do not
+    believe I once thought of the bear shambling silently behind me. I had
+    been dreaming a day-dream&mdash;not building a castle in the air, for I had
+    seen before me a castle already built. I had simply been dreaming
+    myself into it, into its life, into its possessions, into the
+    possession of everything which belonged to it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It had been a fascinating vision. It had suited my fancy better than
+    any vision of the future which I had ever had. I was not ambitious; I
+    loved the loveliness of life. I was a student, and I had a dream of
+    life which would not interfere with the society of my books. I loved
+    all rural pleasures, and I had dreamed of a life where these were
+    spread out ready for my enjoyment. I was a man formed to love, and
+    there had come to me dreams of this sort of thing.
+</p>
+<p>
+    My dreams had even taken practical shape. As I was dressing myself
+    that morning I had puzzled my brain to find a pretext for taking the
+    first step, which would be to remain a few days at the inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The pretext for doing this had appeared to me. For a moment I had
+    snatched at it and shown my joy, and then it had utterly
+    disappeared&mdash;the vision, the fancy, the anticipations, the plans, the
+    vine-covered home in the air, all were destroyed as completely as if
+    it had been the tire of my bicycle scattered about in little bits upon
+    the ground.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come along, old Orso!" I exclaimed, endeavoring to mend my pace, and
+    giving the bear a good pull upon his chain. But the ugly creature did
+    not walk any faster; he simply looked at me with an air as if he would
+    say that if I kept long upon the road I would learn to take it easy,
+    and maintained the deliberate slouch of his demeanor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently I stopped, and Orso was very willing to imitate me in that
+    action. I found, to my surprise, that I was not walking upon a
+    macadamized road: such was the highway which passed the inn and led, I
+    had been told, to the Cheltenham. I was now upon a road of gravel and
+    clay, smooth enough and wide enough, but of a different character from
+    that on which I had started that morning. I looked about me. Across a
+    field to my left I saw a line of trees which seemed to indicate a
+    road. I had a dim recollection of having passed a road which seemed to
+    turn to the left, but I had been thinking very earnestly, and had paid
+    little attention to it. Probably that road was the main road and this
+    the one which turned off.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I determined to investigate. It would not do to wander out of my way
+    with my present encumbrance. It was now somewhat after noon; the
+    country people were eating their dinners or engaged about their barns;
+    there was nobody upon the road. At some distance ahead of me was a
+    small house standing well back behind a little group of trees, and I
+    decided to go there and make inquiries. And as it would not do at all
+    to throw a rural establishment into a state of wild confusion by
+    leading a bear up to its door, I conducted Orso to the side of the
+    road and chained him to a fence-post. He was perfectly satisfied and
+    lay down, his nose upon his fore-paws.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0017"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-17.png">
+<img src="images/bc-17s.png" width="199" height="200"
+alt="'To My Left I Saw a Line of Trees'"><br />'To My Left I Saw a Line of Trees'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I found three women in the little house. They were in a side kitchen
+    eating their dinner, and I wondered what the bear would have done if
+    he had smelled that dinner. They told me that I was not on the main
+    road, and would have to go back more than half a mile in order to
+    regain it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I was out on the road again I said to myself that if I could
+    possibly make Orso step along at a little more lively pace I might get
+    to the hotel in time for a very late luncheon, and I was beginning to
+    think that I had not been wise in declining portable refreshment, when
+    I heard a noise ahead of me. At a considerable distance along the
+    road, and not far from where I had left the bear, I saw a horse
+    attached to a vehicle approaching me at a furious speed. He was
+    running away! The truth flashed upon me&mdash;he had been frightened by
+    Orso!
+</p>
+<p>
+    I ran a few steps towards the approaching horse. His head was high in
+    the air, and the vehicle swayed from side to side. It was a tall
+    affair with two wheels, and on the high seat sat a lady vainly tugging
+    at the reins. My heart sank. What dreadful thing had I done!
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood in the middle of the road. It seemed but a few seconds before
+    the horse was upon me. He swerved to one side, but I was ready for
+    that. I dashed at his bridle, but caught the end of his cumbrous bit
+    in my right hand. I leaned forward with all the strength that dwelt in
+    my muscles and nerves. The horse's glaring eye was over my face, and I
+    felt the round end of a shaft rise up under my arm. A pair of
+    outstretched forelegs slid past me. I saw the end of a banged tail
+    switching in the dust. The horse was on his haunches. He was stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before I had time to recover an erect attitude and to let up the horse
+    the occupant of the vehicle was on the ground She had skipped down
+    with wonderful alacrity on the side opposite to me, and was coming
+    round by the back of the cart. The horse was now standing on his four
+    legs, trembling in every fibre, and with eyes that were still wild and
+    staring. Holding him firmly, I faced the lady as she stopped near me.
+    She was a young woman in a jaunty summer costume and a round straw
+    hat. She did not seem to be quite mistress of herself; she was not
+    pale, but perhaps that was because her face was somewhat browned by
+    the sun, but her step was not steady, and she breathed hard. Under
+    ordinary circumstances she would have been assisted to the side of the
+    road, where she might sit down and recover herself, and have water
+    brought to her. But I could do nothing of that sort. I could not leave
+    that shivering horse.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0018"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-18.png">
+<img src="images/bc-18s.png" width="200" height="108"
+alt="'He Was Running Away'"><br />'He Was Running Away'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Are you hurt?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh no," she said, "but I am shaken up a bit. I cannot tell you how
+    grateful I am! I don't believe I ever can tell you!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do not speak of that." I said, quickly. "Perhaps you would feel
+    better if you were to sit down somewhere."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I don't want to sit down," said she. "I am so glad to have my
+    feet on the solid earth again that that is enough for me. It was a
+    bear that frightened him&mdash;a bear lying down by the side of the road a
+    little way back. He never ran away before, but when he saw that bear
+    he gave a great shy and a bolt, and he was off. I just got a glimpse
+    of the beast."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was very anxious to change the conversation, and suggested that I
+    lead the horse into the shade, for the sun was blazing down upon us.
+    The horse submitted to be led to the side of the road, but he was very
+    nervous, and looked everywhere for the approach of shaggy bears.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is perfectly dreadful," she said, when she again approached me,
+    "for people to leave bears about in that way. I suppose he was
+    fastened, for it could not have been a wild beast. They do not lie
+    down by the side of the road. I do not say that I was rattled, but I
+    expected every second that there would be a smash, and there would
+    have been if it had not been for&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is a wonder you were not thrown out," I interrupted, "those carts
+    are so tall."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she answered, "and if I hadn't slipped off the driving-cushion
+    at the first shy I would have been out sure. I never had anything
+    happen like this, but who could have expected a great bear by the side
+    of the road?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Have you far to go?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not very&mdash;about three miles. I made a call this morning on the other
+    road, and was driving home. My name is Miss Larramie. My father's
+    place is on this road. He is Henry Esmond Larramie." I had heard of
+    the gentleman, but had never met him. "I am not afraid of horses,"
+    she continued, "but I do not know about driving this one now. He looks
+    as if he were all ready to bolt again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, it would not do for you to drive him," I said. "That would be
+    extremely risky."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I might walk home," she said, "but I could not leave the horse."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Let me think a minute," said I. Then presently I asked, "Will this
+    horse stand if he is hitched?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered; "I always hitch him when I make calls. There
+    is a big strap under the seat which goes around his neck, and then
+    through a ring in his bit. He has to stand&mdash;he can't get away."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Very well, then," said I; "I will tell you what I will do. I will tie
+    him to this tree. I think he is quieter, and if you will stand by him
+    and talk to him&mdash;he knows you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered, "and I can feed him with grass. But why do you
+    want to tie him? What are you going to do?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she spoke she brought me the tie strap, and I proceeded to fasten
+    the horse to a tree.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now, then," said I, "I must go and get the bear and take him away
+    somewhere out of sight. It will never do to leave him there. Some
+    other horse might be coming along."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You get the bear!" she said, surprised.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," I answered; "he is my bear, and&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stepped back, her eyes expanded and her lower jaw dropped. "<i>Your</i>
+    bear!" she cried, and with that her glance seemed to run all over me
+    as if she were trying to find some resemblance to a man who exhibited
+    a bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," I replied; "I left him there while I went to ask my way. It was
+    a dreadful thing to do, but I must leave him there no longer. I will
+    tell you all about it when I come back."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had decided upon a plan of action. I ran down the road to the bear,
+    took down some bars of the fence, and then, untying him, I led him
+    over a field to a patch of woodland. Orso shuffled along humbly as if
+    it did not make any difference to him where he went, and when I
+    reached the woods I entered it by an old cart-road, and soon struck
+    off to one side among some heavy underbrush. Finding a spot where it
+    would be impossible for the beast to be seen from the road, I fastened
+    him securely to a tree. He looked after me regretfully, and I think I
+    heard him whine, but I am not sure of that. I hurried back to the
+    road, replaced the bars, and very soon had joined the young lady.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said she, "never in this world would I have thought that was
+    your bear! But what is to be done now? This horse gave a jump as soon
+    as he heard you running this way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said I, "I will drive you to your house, or, if you are afraid,
+    you can walk, and I will take him home for you if you will give me the
+    directions."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I am not a bit afraid," she said. "I am sure you can manage
+    him&mdash;you seem to be able to manage animals. But will not this be a
+    great inconvenience to you? Are you going this way? And won't you have
+    to come back after your bear? I can't believe that you are really
+    leading a bear about."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed as I unfastened the horse. "It will not take me long to come
+    back," I said. "Now, I will get in first, and, when I have him
+    properly in hand, you can mount on the other side."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady appeared to have entirely recovered from the effects of
+    her fright, and was by my side in a moment. The horse danced a little
+    as we started and tried to look behind him, but he soon felt that he
+    was under control, and trotted off finely.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now thought that I ought to tell her who I was, for I did not want
+    to be taken for a travelling showman, although I really did not
+    suppose that she would make such a mistake.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So you are the school-master at Walford!" said she. "I have heard
+    about you. Little Billy Marshall is one of your scholars."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I admitted that he was, and that I was afraid he did not do me very
+    much credit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Perhaps not," she said, "but he is a good boy. His mother sometimes
+    works for us; she does quite heavy jobs of sewing, and Billy brings
+    them up by train. He was here a little more than a week ago, and I
+    asked him how he was getting on at school, and if he had a good
+    teacher, and he said the man was pretty good. But I want to know about
+    the bear. How in the world did you happen to be leading a bear?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I related the ursine incident, which amused her very much, and, as she
+    was a wheelwoman herself, she commiserated with me sincerely on the
+    damage to my machine.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So you stopped at the Holly Sprig?" she said. "And how did you like
+    the mistress of that little inn?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I replied that I had found her very interesting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, she is an interesting woman," said my companion, "and a very
+    pretty one, too. Some people wonder why she continues to keep the inn,
+    but perhaps she has to. You know, her husband was murdered."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0019"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-19.png">
+<img src="images/bc-19s.png" width="200" height="138"
+alt="'He Soon Felt That he Was Under Control'"><br />'He Soon Felt That he Was Under Control'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "No, I did not!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "I knew he was not
+    living&mdash;but murdered! That is dreadful! How did that happen?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Nobody knows," she answered. "They had not been married very long&mdash;I
+    do not know how long&mdash;when he was killed. He went to New York on
+    business by himself, and did not come back. They were searching for
+    him days and days&mdash;ever so long, and they could find no clew. At
+    last&mdash;it may have been a month afterwards&mdash;or perhaps it was more&mdash;it
+    was found that he had been murdered. His body had been discovered, and
+    was supposed to be that of somebody else, and had been buried in
+    whatever place the authorities buried people in such cases. Then it
+    was too late to get it or to identify it, or to do anything. Wasn't
+    that perfectly awful?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    This story gave me a peculiar shock. I could not have imagined that
+    that charming and apparently light-hearted young woman at the Holly
+    Sprig had ever been crushed down by such a sorrow as this. But I did
+    not ask any more questions. The young girl by my side probably knew no
+    more than she had already told me. Besides, I did not want to hear any
+    more.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "'Royal' goes along just as if nothing had happened," she said,
+    admiringly regarding the horse. "Now, I wonder if it will be safe for
+    me to drive him again?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I should be very sorry," I answered, "if my thoughtlessness had
+    rendered him unsafe for you; but if he could be led up and down past
+    the place where he saw the bear until he becomes convinced that there
+    is now nothing dreadful in that spot, he may soon be all right again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do you know," she said, suddenly turning towards me, "what I would
+    like better than anything else in this world? I would like to be able
+    to stand in the middle of the road and stop a horse as you did!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed and assured her that I knew there were a great many things
+    in the world which it would be much better for her to do than that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Nothing would please me so much," she said, decisively, "not one
+    single, solitary thing! There's our gate. Turn in here, please."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I drove up a winding road which led to a house standing among trees on
+    a slight elevation. "Please let me out here," she said, when I reached
+    the end of the porch. "I will send a man to take the horse."
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER X
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; think I did not have to wait ten seconds after her departure, for a
+    stable-man had seen us approach and immediately came forward. I jumped
+    down from the cart and looked in the direction of the road. I thought
+    if I were to make a cross-cut over the lawn and some adjacent fields I
+    should get back to my bear much quicker than if I returned the way I
+    had come. But this thought had scarcely shaped itself in my mind when
+    I heard the approach of hurrying feet, and in the next moment a little
+    army had thrown itself upon me.
+
+<p>
+    There was a tall, bright-faced man, with side whiskers and a flowing
+    jacket, who came forward with long steps and outstretched hand; there
+    was a lady behind him, with little curls on the side of her head; and
+    there were some boys and girls and other people. And nearly in front
+    of the whole of them was the young lady I had brought to the house.
+    Each one of them seized me by the hand; each one of them told me what
+    a great thing I had done; each of them thanked me from the bottom of
+    his or her heart for saving the life of his or her daughter or sister,
+    and not one of them gave me a chance to say that as I had done all the
+    mischief I could not be too thankful that I had been able to avert
+    evil consequences. From the various references to the details of the
+    incident I concluded that the young lady had dashed into the house and
+    had given a full account of everything which had happened in less time
+    than it would have taken me to arrange my ideas for such a recital.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As soon as I could get a chance I thanked them all for their gracious
+    words, and said that as I was in a hurry I must take my leave.
+    Thereupon arose a hubbub of voices. "Not at dinner-time!" exclaimed
+    Mr. Larramie. "We would never listen to such a thing!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you need not trouble yourself about your bear," cried my young
+    lady, whose Christian name I soon discovered to be Edith. "He can live
+    on barks and roots until we have time to attend to him. He is used to
+    that in his native wilds."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0020"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-20.png">
+<img src="images/bc-20s.png" width="200" height="147"
+alt="'A Little Army Had Thrown Itself Upon Us.'"><br />'A Little Army Had Thrown Itself Upon Us.'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Now everybody wanted to know everything about the bear, and great was
+    the hilarity which my account occasioned.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come in! Come in!" exclaimed Mr. Larramie. "The bear will be all
+    right if you tied him well. You have just time to get ready for
+    dinner." And noticing a glance I had given to my garments, he
+    continued: "You need not bother about your clothes. We are all in
+    field costume. Oh, I did not see you had a valise. Now, hurry in, all
+    of you!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    That dinner was a most lively meal. Everybody seemed to be talking at
+    once, yet they all found time to eat. The father talked so much that
+    his daughter Edith took the carving-fork from him and served out the
+    mutton-chops herself. The mother, from the other end of the table,
+    with tears in her eyes, continually asked me if I would not have
+    something or other, and how I could ever screw up my courage to go
+    about with an absolutely strange bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a young man, apparently the oldest son, with a fine, frank
+    manner and very broad shoulders. He was so wonderfully developed about
+    the bust that he seemed almost deformed, his breast projecting so far
+    that it gave him the appearance of being round-shouldered in front.
+    This, my practised eye told me, was the result of undue exercise in
+    the direction of chest-expansion. He was a good-natured fellow, and
+    overlooked my not answering several of his questions, owing to the
+    evident want of opportunity to do so.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a yellow-haired girl with a long plait down her back; there
+    was a half-grown boy, wearing a blue calico shirt with a red cravat;
+    there was a small girl who sat by her mother; and there was a young
+    lady, very upright and slender, who did not seem to belong to the
+    family, for she never used the words "father" and "mother," which were
+    continually in the mouths of the others. This young lady talked
+    incessantly, and fired her words after the manner of a Gatling gun,
+    without taking aim at anybody in particular. Sometimes she may have
+    been talking to me, but, as she did not direct her gaze towards me on
+    such occasions, I did not feel bound to consider any suppositions in
+    regard to the matter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I, of course, was the principal object of general attention. They
+    wanted to know what I really thought of Billy Marshall as a scholar.
+    They wanted to know if I would have some more. They wanted to know if
+    I had had any previous experience with bears. The father asked which
+    I thought it would be easier to manage, a boy or a bear. The boy Percy
+    wanted to know how I placed my feet when I stood up in front of a
+    runaway horse. Others asked if I intended to go back to my school at
+    Walford, and how I liked the village, and if I were president of the
+    literary society there, which Mrs. Larramie thought I ought to be, on
+    account of my scholastic position.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0021"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-21.png">
+<img src="images/bc-21s.png" width="163" height="200"
+alt="'would It Be Easier to Manage a Boy Or A Bear?'"><br />'would It Be Easier to Manage a Boy Or A Bear?'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    But before the meal was over the bear had come to be the absorbing
+    subject of conversation. I was asked my plans about him, and they were
+    all disapproved.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It would be of no use to take him to the Cheltenham," said Walter,
+    the oldest son. "They couldn't keep him there. They have too many
+    horses&mdash;a livery-stable. They wouldn't let you come on the place with
+    him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course not," said Mr. Larramie. "And, besides, why should you take
+    him there? It would be a poor place anyway. They wouldn't keep him
+    until his owner turned up. They wouldn't have anything to do with him.
+    What you want to do is to bring your bear here. We have a hay-barn out
+    in the fields. He could sleep in the hay, and we could give him a long
+    chain so that he could have a nice range."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The younger members of the family were delighted with this
+    suggestion. Nothing would please them better than to have a bear on
+    the place. Each one of them was ready to take entire charge of it, and
+    Percy declared that he would go into the woods and hunt for wild-bee
+    honey with which to feed it. Even Mrs. Larramie assured me that if a
+    bear were well chained, at a suitable distance, she would have no
+    fears whatever of it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I accepted the proposition, for I was glad to get rid of the animal in
+    a way which would please so many people, and after dinner was over,
+    and I had smoked a cigar with my host and his son Walter, I said that
+    it was time for me to go and get the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But you won't go by the main road," said Mr. Larramie. "That makes a
+    great curve below here to avoid a hill. If I understood you properly,
+    you left the bear not far from a small house inhabited by three
+    women?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "They're the McKenna sisters," added Walter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said the father, "and their house is not more than two miles
+    from here by a field road. I will go with you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I exclaimed that I would not put him to so much trouble, but my words
+    were useless. The Walter son declared that he would go also, that he
+    would like the walk; the Percy son declared he was going if anybody
+    went; and Genevieve, the girl with the yellow plait, said that she
+    wished she were a boy so that she could go too, and she wished she
+    could go anyway, boy or no boy, and as her father said that there was
+    no earthly reason why she should not go, she ran for her hat.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith looked as if she would like to go, but she did not say so;
+    and, as for me, I agreed to every proposition. It would certainly be
+    great fun to do things with this lively household.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We started off without the boy, but it was not long before he came
+    running after us, and to my horror I perceived that he carried a
+    rifle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What are you going to do with that, Percy?" exclaimed his father.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't expect to do anything with it," the boy replied, "but I
+    thought it would be a good thing to bring it along&mdash;especially as
+    Genevieve is with us. Nobody knows what might happen."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's true," exclaimed Walter, "and the fact that Genevieve is along
+    is the best reason in the world for your not bringing a gun. You
+    better go take it back."
+</p>
+<p>
+    To this Percy strongly objected. He was going out on a sort of a
+    bear-hunt, and to him half the pleasure would be lost if he did not
+    carry a gun. I am not a coward, but a boy with a gun is a terror to
+    me. My expression may have intimated my state of mind, for Mr.
+    Larramie said to me that we had now gone so far that it would be a
+    pity to send Percy back, and that he did not think there would be any
+    danger, for his boy had been taught how to carry a gun properly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We are all out-of-door people and sportsmen," he said, "and we begin
+    early. But I suppose what you are thinking about is the danger of some
+    of us ending soon. But we need not be afraid of that. Walk in front,
+    Percy, and keep the barrel pointed downward."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we came in sight of the house of the three McKennas, Walter
+    proposed that we make a d&eacute;tour towards the woods. "For," said he, "if
+    those good women see a party like this with a gun among them, they
+    will be sure to think it is a case of escaped criminal, or something
+    of that kind, and be frightened out of their wits."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We skirted the edge of the trees until we came to the opening of the
+    wood road, which I recognized immediately, and, asking Percy and the
+    others to keep back, I went on by myself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't think people would frighten that sort of a bear," I heard
+    Genevieve say. "He must be used to crowds around him when he's
+    dancing."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I presently reached the place where I had turned from the road. It was
+    a natural break in the woods. There was the tree to which I had tied
+    the bear, but there was no bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood aghast, and in a moment the rest of the party were clustered
+    around me. "Is this where you left him?" they cried. "And is he gone?
+    Are you sure this is the place?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Yes, I was sure of it. I have an excellent eye for locality, and I
+    knew that I had chained the bear to the small oak in front of me. At
+    that moment there was a scream from Genevieve. "Look! Look!" she
+    cried. "There he is, just ready to spring!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    We all looked up, and, sure enough, on the lower branch of the oak,
+    half enveloped in foliage, we saw the bear extended at full length and
+    blinking down at us. I gave a shout of delight.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now, keep back, all of you!" I cried. "Bears don't spring from trees,
+    but it will be better for you to be out of the way while I try to get
+    him down."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I walked up to the oak-tree, and then I found that the bear was still
+    firmly attached to it. His chain had been fastened loosely around the
+    trunk; he had climbed up to the branch and pulled the chain with him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now called upon Orso to come down, but apparently he did not
+    understand English, and lay quietly upon the branch, his head towards
+    the trunk of the tree. I extended my hand up towards the chain, and
+    found that I could nearly reach it. "Shall I give you a lift?" cried
+    Walter, and I accepted the offer. It was a hard piece of work for him,
+    but he was a professed athlete, and he would have lifted me if it had
+    cracked his spine. I reached up and unhooked the chain. It was then
+    long enough for me to stand on the ground and hold the end of it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now I began to pull. "Come down!" I said. "Come down, Orso!" But Orso
+    did not move.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Bears don't come down head-foremost," cried Percy; "they turn around
+    and come down backwards. You ought to have a chain to his tail if you
+    want to pull him down."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "He hasn't got any tail!" exclaimed Genevieve.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was in a quandary. I might as well try to break the branch as to
+    pull the bear down. "If we had only thought of bringing a bucket of
+    meat!" cried Percy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would you mind holding the chain," I said to Walter, "while I try to
+    drive him down?" Of course the developed young man was not afraid to
+    do anything I was not afraid to do, and he took the chain. There was
+    a pine-tree growing near the oak, and, mounting into this, I found
+    that with a long stick which Mr. Larramie handed me I could just reach
+    the bear. "Go down!" I said, tapping him on the haunches, but he did
+    not move.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Can't you speak to him in Italian?" said Genevieve. "Tame bears know
+    Italian. Doesn't anybody know the Italian for 'Come down out of a
+    tree?'" But such knowledge was absent from the party.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Try him in Latin," cried Percy. "That must be a good deal like
+    Italian, anyway."
+</p>
+<p>
+    To this suggestion Mr. Larramie made no answer; he had left college
+    before any of the party present had been born; Mr. Walter looked a
+    little confused; he had graduated several years before, and his
+    classics were rusty. I felt that my pedagogical position made it
+    incumbent upon me to take immediate action, but for the life of me I
+    could not think of an appropriate phrase.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Give him high English!" cried Mr. Larramie. "That's often classic
+    enough! Tell him to descend!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Orso, descend!" I cried, giving a little foreign twang to the words.
+    Immediately the bear began to twist like a caterpillar upon the limb,
+    he extended his hind-legs towards the trunk, he seized it with his
+    fore-paws. He began slowly to move downward.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Hurrah!" cried Percy, "that hit him like a rifle-ball! Hurrah for
+    high English! That's good enough for me!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Look at his hind hands!" cried Genevieve. "He has worn all the hair
+    off his palms!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I hurried from the tree and reached the ground before the bear. Then
+    taking the end of the chain, I advised the others to move out of the
+    woods while I followed with the bear. They all obeyed except
+    Genevieve, who wanted very much to linger behind and help me lead him.
+    But this I would not permit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The bear followed me with his usual docility until we had emerged from
+    the woods. Then he gave a little start, and fixed his eyes upon Percy,
+    who stood at a short distance, his rifle in his hand. I had not
+    supposed that this bear was afraid of anything, but now I had reason
+    to believe that he was afraid of guns, for the instant he saw the
+    armed boy he made the little start I have mentioned, and followed it
+    up by a great bolt which jerked the chain from my hand, and the next
+    instant Orso was bounding away in great lopes, his chain rattling
+    behind him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Promptly Percy brought his rifle to his shoulder. "Don't you fire!" I
+    shouted. "Put down your gun and leave it here. It frightens him!" And
+    with that we were all off in hot pursuit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Cut him off from the woods!" shouted Mr. Walter, who was in advance.
+    "If he gets in the woods we'll lose him sure!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    We followed this good advice, and at the top of our speed we
+    endeavored to get between the beast and the trees. To a certain extent
+    we succeeded in our object, for some of us were fast runners, and
+    Orso, perceiving that he might be cut off from a woody retreat, turned
+    almost at right angles and made directly for the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "He's after the three McKennas!" screamed Genevieve, as she turned to
+    follow the bear, and from being somewhat in the rear she was now in
+    advance of us, and dashed across the field at a most wonderful rate
+    for a girl.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The rest of us soon passed her, but before we reached the house the
+    bear disappeared behind some out-buildings. Then we saw him again. He
+    dashed through the gate of a back yard. He seemed to throw himself
+    against the house. He disappeared through a door-way. There was a
+    great crash as of crockery and tin. There were screams. There was
+    rattling and banging, and then all was still. When we reached the
+    house we heard no sound.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XI
+</h2>
+<h4>
+    THE THREE McKENNAS
+</h4>
+
+    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; was in advance, and as I entered the door-way through which the bear
+    had disappeared, I found myself in the kitchen where I had seen the
+    three women at their dinner. Wild confusion had been brought about in
+    a second. A table had been over-turned, broken dishes and tin things
+    were scattered on the floor, a wooden chair lay upon its back, and the
+    room seemed deserted. The rest of the party quickly rushed in behind
+    me, and great were their exclamations at the scene of havoc.
+
+<p>
+    "I hope nothing has happened to the McKenna sisters," cried Mr.
+    Larramie. "They must have been in here!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not suppose that anything serious had occurred, for the bear's
+    jaws were securely strapped, but with anxious haste I went into the
+    other part of the house. Across a hallway I saw an open door, and
+    from the room within came groans, or perhaps I should call them
+    long-drawn wails of woe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was in the room in a moment, and the others crowded through the
+    door-way behind me. It was a good-sized bedroom, probably the
+    "spare-room" of the first floor. In one corner was a tall and wide
+    high-posted bedstead, and in the very middle of it sat an elderly
+    woman drawn up into the smallest compass into which she could possibly
+    compress herself. Her eyes were closed, her jaws were dropped, her
+    spectacles hung in front of her mouth, her gray hair straggled over
+    her eyes, and her skin was of a soapy whiteness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She paid no attention to the crowd of people in the room. Evidently
+    she was frightened out of her senses. Every moment she emitted a
+    doleful wail. As we stood gazing at her, and before we had time to
+    speak to her, she seemed to be seized by an upheaving spasm, the
+    influence of which was so great that she actually rose in the air, and
+    as she did so her wail intensified itself into a shriek, and as she
+    came down again with a sudden thump all the breath in her body seemed
+    to be bounced out in a gasp of woe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's Susan McKenna!" exclaimed Walter. "What in the world is the
+    matter with her? Miss Susan, are you hurt?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She made no answer, but again she rose, again she gave vent to a wild
+    wail, and again she came down with a thump.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Percy was now on his knees near the bed. "It's the bear!" he cried.
+    "He's under there, and he's humping himself!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Sacking bottom!" cried the practical Genevieve "There isn't room
+    enough for him!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Stooping down I saw the bear under the bed, now crowding himself back
+    as far as possible into a corner. No part of his chain was exposed to
+    view, and for a moment I did not see how I was going to get him out.
+    But the first thing was to get rid of the woman.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come, Miss Susan," said Mr. Larramie, "let me help you off the bed,
+    and you can go into another room, and then we will attend to this
+    animal. You need not be afraid to get down. He won't hurt you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    But the McKenna sister paid no attention to these remarks. She kept
+    her eyes closed; she moaned and wailed. So long as that horrible demon
+    was under the bed she would not have put as much as one of her toes
+    over the edge for all the money in the world!
+</p>
+<p>
+    In every way I tried to induce the bear to come out, but he paid no
+    attention to me. He had been frightened, and he was now in darkness
+    and security. Suddenly a happy thought struck me. I glanced around the
+    room, and then I rushed into the hall. Genevieve followed me. "What do
+    you want?" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am looking for some overshoes!" I cried. "India-rubber ones!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Instantly Genevieve began to dash around. In a few moments she had
+    opened a little closet which I had not noticed. "Here is one!" she
+    cried, "but it's torn&mdash;the heel is nearly off! Perhaps the other
+    one&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Give me that!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't matter about its being torn!"
+    With the old overshoe in my hand I ran back into the room, where Mr.
+    Larramie was still imploring the McKenna sister to get down from the
+    bed. I stooped and thrust the shoe under as far as I could reach.
+    Almost immediately I saw a movement in the shaggy mass in the corner.
+    I wriggled the shoe, and a paw was slightly extended. Then I drew it
+    away slowly from under the bed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now, Miss Susan McKenna rose in the air higher than she had yet gone.
+    A maddening wail went up, and for a moment she tottered on the apex
+    of an elevation like a wooden idol upheaved by an earthquake. Before
+    she had time to tumble over she sank again with a thump. The great
+    hairy bear, looking twice as large in that room as he appeared in the
+    open air, came out from under the foot of the bed, and as I dangled
+    the old rubber shoe in front of his nose he would have seized upon it
+    if his jaws had not been strapped together. I got hold of the chain
+    and conducted him quietly outside, amid the cheers and hand-clapping
+    of Percy and Genevieve.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I chained Orso to a post of the fence, and, removing his muzzle, I
+    gave him the old rubber shoe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Shall I bring him some more?" cried Genevieve, full of zeal in good
+    works. But I assured her that one would do for the present.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now hurried into the house to find out what had happened to the
+    persons and property of the McKenna sisters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Where are the other two?" cried Genevieve, who was darting from one
+    room to another; "the bear can't have swallowed them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not long before Percy discovered the two missing sisters in the
+    cellar. They were seated on the ground with their aprons over their
+    heads.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was some time before quiet was restored in that household. To the
+    paralyzing terror occasioned by the sudden advent of the bear
+    succeeded wild lamentations over the loss of property. I assured them
+    that I was perfectly willing to make good the loss, but Mr. Larramie
+    would not allow me to say anything on the subject.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is not your affair," said he. "The bear would have done no damage
+    whatever had it not been for the folly of Percy in bringing his gun&mdash;I
+    suppose the animal has been shot at some time or other&mdash;and my
+    weakness in allowing him to keep it. I will attend to these damages.
+    The amount is very little, I imagine, principally cheap crockery, and
+    the best thing you can do is to start off slowly with your bear. The
+    women will not be able to talk reasonably until it is off the
+    premises. I will catch up with you presently."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When the bear and I, with the rest of the party, were fairly out of
+    sight of the house, we stopped and waited for Mr. Larramie, and it was
+    not long before he joined us.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we reached the hay-barn we were met by the rest of the Larramie
+    family, all anxious to see the bear. Even Miss Edith, who had had one
+    glimpse of the beast, was very glad indeed to assure me that she did
+    not wonder in the least that I had supposed there would be no harm in
+    leaving such a mild creature for a little while by the side of the
+    road, and I was sure from the exclamations of the rest of the family
+    that Orso would not suffer for want of care and attention during his
+    stay in the hay-barn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was immensely relieved to get rid of the bear and to leave him in
+    such good quarters, for it now appeared to me quite reasonable that I
+    might have had difficulty in lodging him anywhere on the premises of
+    the Cheltenham, and under any circumstances I very much preferred
+    appearing at that hotel without an ursine companion. As soon as we
+    reached the house I told Mr. Larramie that it was now necessary for me
+    to hurry on, and asked if there were not some way to the hotel which
+    would not make it necessary for me to go back to the main road.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The good gentleman fairly shouted at me. "You aren't going to any
+    hotel!" he declared. "Do you suppose we are heathens, to let you start
+    off at this late hour in the afternoon for a hotel? You have nothing
+    to do with hotels&mdash;you spend the night with us, sir! If you are
+    thinking about your clothes, pray dismiss the subject from your mind.
+    If it will make you feel better satisfied, we will all put on golf
+    suits. In the morning we will get your machine from the Holly Sprig,
+    and when you want to go on we will send you and it to Waterton in a
+    wagon. It is not a long drive, and it is much the pleasanter way to
+    manage your business."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The family showed themselves delighted when they heard that I was to
+    spend the night with them, and I did not object to the plan, for I had
+    not the slightest desire to go to a summer hotel. Just before I went
+    up to my room to get ready for supper, the young Genevieve came to me
+    upon the porch.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would you mind," she said, "letting me feel your muscle?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Very much surprised, I reached out my arm for her inspection, and she
+    clasped her long thin fingers around my <i>biceps flexor cubiti.</i>
+    Apparently, the inspection was very satisfactory to her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I would give anything," she said, "if I had muscle like that!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed heartily. "My dear little girl," said I, "you would be
+    sorry, indeed, if you had anything of the sort. When you grow up and
+    go to parties, how would you like to show bare arms shaped like mine?
+    You would be a spectacle, indeed."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said she, "perhaps you are right. I might not care to have
+    them bulge, but I would like to have them hard."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was a lively supper and an interesting evening. Miss Edith sat
+    opposite to me at table&mdash;I gave her this title because I was informed
+    that there was an elder sister who was away on a visit. I could see
+    that she regarded me as her especial charge. She did not ask me what I
+    would have, but she saw that every possible want was attended to. As
+    the table was lighted by a large hanging-lamp, I had a better view of
+    her features than I had yet obtained. She was not handsome. Her eyes
+    were too wide apart, her nose needed perhaps an eighth of an inch in
+    length, and her well-shaped mouth would not have suffered by a slight
+    reduction. But there was a cheerful honesty in her expression and in
+    her words which gave me the idea that she was a girl to believe in.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After supper we played round games, and the nervous young lady talked.
+    She could not keep her mind on cards, and therefore played no game. In
+    the course of the evening Mrs. Larramie took occasion to say to me,
+    and her eyes were very full as she spoke, that she did not want me to
+    think she had forgotten that that day I had given her her daughter,
+    and although the others&mdash;greatly to my satisfaction&mdash;did not indulge
+    in any such embarrassing expressions of gratitude, they did not fail
+    to let me know the high estimation in which they held me. The little
+    girl, Clara, sat close to me while I was playing, every now and then
+    gently stroking my arm, and when she was taken off to bed she ran back
+    to say to me that the next time I brought a bear to their house she
+    hoped I would also bring some little ones. Even Percy took occasion to
+    let me know that, under the circumstances, he was willing to overlook
+    entirely the fact of my being a school-master.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After the games, when the family was scattering&mdash;not to their several
+    bed-chambers, but apparently to various forms of recreation or study
+    which seemed to demand their attention&mdash;Miss Edith asked me if I would
+    not like to take a walk and look at the stars. As this suggestion was
+    made in the presence of her parents, I hesitated a moment, expecting
+    some discreet objection. But none came, and I assented most willingly
+    to a sub-astral promenade.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a long, flagged walk which led to the road, and backward and
+    forward upon this path we walked many, many times.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I like starlight better than moonlight," said Miss Edith, "for it
+    doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. You cannot do anything
+    by starlight except simply walk about, and if there are any trees,
+    that isn't easy. You know this, you don't expect anything more, and
+    you're satisfied. But moonlight is different. Sometimes it is so
+    bright out-of-doors when the moon is full that you are apt to think
+    you could play golf or croquet, or even sit on a bench and read. But
+    it isn't so. You can't do any of these things&mdash;at least, you can't do
+    them with any satisfaction. And yet, month after month, if you live in
+    the country, the moon deceives you into thinking that for a great many
+    things she is nearly as good as the sun. But all she does is to make
+    the world beautiful, and she doesn't do that as well as the sun does
+    it. The stars make no pretences, and that is the reason I like them
+    better.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But I did not bring you out here to tell you all this," she
+    continued, offering me no opportunity of giving my opinions on the
+    stars and moon. "I simply wanted to say that I am so glad and thankful
+    to be walking about on the surface of the earth with whole bones and
+    not a scratch from head to foot"&mdash;at this point my heart began to
+    sink: I never do know what to say when people are grateful to
+    me&mdash;"that I am going to show you my gratitude by treating you as I
+    know you would like to be treated. I shall not pour out my gratitude
+    before you and make you say things which are incorrect, for you are
+    bound to do that if you say anything&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said; "but now let us
+    talk some more about the stars."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, bother the stars!" said she. "But I will drop the subject of
+    gratitude as soon as I have said that if you ever come to know me
+    better than you do now, you will know that in regard to such things I
+    am the right kind of a girl."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had not the slightest doubt that she was entirely correct. And then
+    she began to talk about golf, and after that of croquet.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I consider that the finest out-door game we have," she said, "because
+    there is more science in it than you find in any of the others. Your
+    brains must work when you play croquet with intelligent opponents."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The great trouble about it is," I said, "that it is often so easy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But you can get rid of that objection," she replied, "if you have a
+    bad ground. Croquet needs hazards just as much as golf does. The
+    finest games I have ever seen were played on a bad ground."
+</p>
+<p>
+    So we talked and walked until some of the lights in the upper windows
+    of the house had gone out. We ascended to the porch, and just before
+    entering the front door she turned to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I wish I could go to sleep to-night with the same right to feel
+    proud, self-confident, superior, that you have. Good-night." And she
+    held out her hand and gave mine a strong, hearty shake.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled as she left me standing on the porch. This was the same spot
+    on which her sister Genevieve had felt my muscle. "This is an
+    appreciative family," I said, and, guided by the sound of voices, I
+    found Mr. Larramie and his son Walter in the billiard-room.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/b.png" alt="B">efore going to bed that night I did not throw myself into an
+    easy-chair and gaze musingly out into the night. On the contrary, I
+    stood up sturdily with my back to the mantel-piece, and with the
+    forefinger of my right hand I tapped my left palm.
+
+<p>
+    "Now, then," said I to myself, "as soon as my bicycle is put into
+    working order I shall imitate travellers in hot countries&mdash;I shall
+    ride all night, and I shall rest all day. There are too many young
+    women in Cathay. They turn up one after another with the regularity of
+    a continuous performance. No sooner is the curtain rung down on one
+    act than it is rung up on another. Perhaps after a while I may get out
+    of Cathay, and then again I may ride by day."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In taking my things from my valise, I pulled out the little box which
+    the doctor's daughter had given me, but I did not open it. "No,"
+    said I, "there is no need whatever that I should take a capsule
+    to-night."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0022"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-22.png">
+<img src="images/bc-22s.png" width="119" height="200"
+alt="'I Tapped My Left Palm.'"><br />'I Tapped My Left Palm.'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    After breakfast the next day Mr. Larramie came to me. "Do you know,"
+    said he, "I feel ashamed on account of the plans I made for you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not know, for I could see no earthly reason for such feeling.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I arranged," said he, "to send to the Holly Sprig for your machine,
+    and then to have you and it driven over to Waterton. Now this I
+    consider brutish. My wife told me that it was, and I agree with her
+    perfectly. It will take several days to repair that injured
+    wheel&mdash;Walter tells me you cannot expect it in less than three
+    days&mdash;and what will you do in Waterton all that time? It isn't a
+    pretty country, the hotels are barely good enough for a night's stop,
+    and there isn't anything for you to do. Even if you hired a wheel you
+    would find it stupid exploring that country. Now, sir, that plan is
+    brushed entirely out of sight. Your bicycle shall be sent on, and when
+    you hear that it is repaired and ready for use, you can go on yourself
+    if you wish to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My dear sir," I exclaimed, "this is entirely too much!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    He put his hands upon my shoulders and looked me squarely in the
+    face. "Too much!" said he, "too much! That may be your opinion, but I
+    can tell you you have the whole of the rest of the world against you.
+    That is, you would have if they all knew the circumstances. Now you
+    are only one, and if you want to know how many people are opposed to
+    you, I have no doubt Percy can tell you, but I am not very well posted
+    in regard to the present population of the world."
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was no good reason that I could offer why I should go and sit
+    solitary in Waterton for three days, and if I had had any such reason
+    I know it would have been treated with contempt. So I submitted&mdash;not
+    altogether with an easy mind, and yet seeing cause for nothing but
+    satisfaction and content.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Another thing," said Mr. Larramie; "I have thought that you would
+    like to attend to your bicycle yourself. Perhaps you will want to take
+    it apart before you send it away. Percy will be glad to drive to the
+    Holly Sprig, and you can go with him. Then, when you come back, I will
+    have my man take your machine to Waterton. I have a young horse very
+    much in need of work, and I shall be glad to have an excuse for giving
+    him some travelling to do." I stood astounded. Go back to the Holly
+    Sprig! This arrangement had been made without reference to me. It had
+    been supposed, of course, that I would be glad to go and attend to the
+    proper packing of my bicycle. Even now, Percy, running across the
+    yard, called to me that he would be ready to start in two minutes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I took my seat in the wagon, Mr. Larramie was telling me that he
+    would like me to inform Mrs. Chester that he would keep the bear until
+    it was reasonable to suppose that the owner would not come for it, and
+    that then he would either sell it or buy it himself, and make
+    satisfactory settlement with her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I know I did not hear all that he said, for my mind was wildly busy
+    trying to decide what I ought to do. Should I jump down even now and
+    decline to go to the Holly Sprig, or should I go on and attend to my
+    business like a sensible man? There was certainly no reason why I
+    should do anything else, but when the impatient Percy started, my mind
+    was not in the least made up; I remained on the seat beside him simply
+    because I was there.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Percy was a good driver, and glad to exhibit his skill. He was also in
+    a lively mood, and talked with great freedom. "Do you know," said he,
+    "that Edith wanted to drive you over to the inn? Think of that! But it
+    had all been cut and dried that I should go, and I was not going to
+    listen to any such nonsense. Besides, you might want somebody to help
+    you take your machine apart and pack it up."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was well satisfied to be accompanied by the boy and not by his
+    sister, and with the wheels and his tongue rattling along together, we
+    soon reached the inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Percy drove past it and was about to turn into the entrance of the
+    yard, but I stopped him. "I suppose your wheel is back there," he
+    said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I, "but I will get out here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "All right," he replied, "I'll drive around to the sheds."
+</p>
+<p>
+    At the open door of the large room I met Mrs. Chester, evidently on
+    her way out-of-doors. She wore a wide straw hat, her hands were
+    gloved, and she carried a basket and a pair of large shears. When she
+    saw me there was a sudden flush upon her face, but it disappeared
+    quickly. Whether this meant that she was agreeably surprised to see me
+    again, or whether it showed that she resented my turning up again so
+    soon after she thought she was finally rid of me, I did not know. It
+    does not do to predicate too much upon the flushes of women.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0023"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-23.png">
+<img src="images/bc-23s.png" width="92" height="200"
+alt="'There Was a Sudden Flush'"><br />'There Was a Sudden Flush'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I hastened to inform her why I had come, and now, having recovered
+    from her momentary surprise, she asked me to walk in and sit down, an
+    invitation which I willingly accepted, for I did not in the least
+    object to detaining her from her garden.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now she wanted to know how I had managed to get on with the bear, and
+    what the people at the Cheltenham said about it, and when I went on to
+    tell her the whole story, which I did at considerable length, she was
+    intensely interested. She shuddered at the runaway, she laughed
+    heartily at the uprising of the McKenna sister, and she listened
+    earnestly to everything I had to say about the Larramies.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You seem to have a wonderful way," she exclaimed, "of falling in
+    with&mdash;" I think she was going to say "girls," but she changed it to
+    "people."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I. "I should not have imagined that I could make so many
+    good friends in such a short time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then I went on to give her Mr. Larramie's message, and to say more
+    things about the bear. I was glad to think of any subject which might
+    prolong the conversation. So far she was interested, and all that we
+    said seemed perfectly natural to the occasion, but this could not
+    last, and I felt within me a strong desire to make some better use of
+    this interview.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had not expected to see her again, certainly not so soon, and here I
+    was alone with her, free to say what I chose; but what should I say? I
+    had not premeditated anything serious. In fact, I was not sure that I
+    wished to say anything which should be considered absolutely serious
+    and definite, but if I were ever to do anything definite&mdash;and the more
+    I talked with this bright-eyed and merry-hearted young lady the
+    stronger became the longing to say something definite&mdash;now was the
+    time to prepare the way for what I might do or say hereafter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was beginning to grow nervous, for the right thing to say would not
+    present itself, when Percy strode into the room. "Good-morning, Mrs.
+    Chester," said he, and then, turning to me, he declared that he had
+    been waiting in the yard, and began to think I might have forgotten I
+    had come for my wheel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of course I rose and she rose, and we followed Percy to the back door
+    of the house. Outside I saw that the boy of the inn was holding the
+    horse, and that the wheel was already placed in the back part of the
+    wagon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I've got everything all right, I think," said Percy. "I didn't
+    suppose it was necessary to wait for you, but you'd better take a look
+    at it to see if you think it will travel without rubbing or damaging
+    itself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stepped to the wagon and found that the bicycle was very well
+    placed. "Now, then," said Percy, taking the reins and mounting to his
+    seat, "all you've got to do is to get up, and we'll be off."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I turned to the back door, but she was not there. "Wait a minute,"
+    said I, and I hurried into the house. She was not in the hall. I
+    looked into the large room. She was not there. I went into the parlor,
+    and out upon the front porch. Then I went back into the house to seek
+    some one who might call her. I was even willing to avail myself of the
+    services of citric acid, for I could not leave that house without
+    speaking to her again.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a moment Mrs. Chester appeared from some inner room. I believe she
+    suspected that I had something to say to her which had nothing to do
+    with the bear or the Larramies, for I had been conscious that my
+    speech had been a little rambling, as if I were earnestly thinking of
+    something else than what I was saying, and that she desired I should
+    be taken away without an opportunity to unburden my mind; but now,
+    hearing me tramping about and knowing that I was looking for her, she
+    was obliged to show herself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she came forward I noticed that her expression had changed
+    somewhat. There was nothing merry about her eyes; I think she was
+    slightly pale, and her brows were a little contracted, as if she were
+    doing something she did not want to do.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I hope you found everything all right," she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked at her steadily. "No," said I, "everything is not all right."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A slight shade of anxiety came upon her face. "I am sorry to hear
+    that," she said. "Was your wheel injured more than you thought?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Wheel!" I exclaimed. "I was not thinking of wheels! I will tell you
+    what is not all right! It is not right for me to go away without
+    saying to you that I&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this moment there was a strong, shrill whistle from the front of
+    the house. A most unmistakable sense of relief showed itself upon
+    her face. She ran to the front door, and called out, "Yes, he is
+    coming."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0024"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-24.png">
+<img src="images/bc-24s.png" width="200" height="175"
+alt="'The Scene Vividly Recurred to My Mind'"><br />'The Scene Vividly Recurred to My Mind'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    There was nothing for me to do but to follow her. I greatly disliked
+    going away without saying what I wanted to say, and I would have been
+    willing to speak even at the front door, but she gave me no chance.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-bye," she said, extending her hand. It was gloved. It gave no
+    clasp&mdash;it invited none. As I could not say the words which were on my
+    tongue, I said nothing, and, raising my cap, I hurried away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To make up for lost time, Percy drove very rapidly. "I came mighty
+    near having a fight while you were in the house," said he. "It was
+    that boy at the inn. He's a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully
+    impertinent. He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the
+    bear had hurt you. He said he believed you were really afraid of the
+    beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith's runaway, and then he
+    said, fair and square, that he didn't believe you stopped the horse.
+    He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you
+    came along and grabbed him and took all the credit. He said he
+    thought you were that sort of a fellow.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's the time I was going to pitch into him, but then I thought it
+    would be a pretty low-down thing for me to be fighting a country
+    tavern-boy, so I simply gave him my opinion of him. I don't believe
+    he'd have held the horse, only he thought it would make you get away
+    quicker. He hates you. Did you ever kick him or anything?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed, and, telling Percy that I had never kicked the boy, I
+    thanked him for his championship of me.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A MAN WITH A LETTER
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/w.png" alt="W">hen my unfortunate bicycle had been started on its way to Waterton, I
+    threw myself into the family life of the Larramies, determined not to
+    let them see any perturbations of mind which had been caused by the
+    extraordinary promptness of the younger son. If a man had gone with me
+    instead of that boy, I would have had every opportunity of saying what
+    I wanted to say to the mistress of the Holly Sprig. I may state that I
+    frequently found myself trying to determine what it was I wanted to
+    say.
+
+<p>
+    I did my best to suppress all thoughts relating to things outside of
+    this most hospitable and friendly house. I went to see the bear with
+    the younger members of the family. I played four games of tennis, and
+    in the afternoon the whole family went to fish in a very pretty
+    mill-pond about a mile from the house. A good many fish were caught,
+    large and small, and not one of the female fishers, except Miss
+    Willoughby, the nervous young lady, and little Clara, would allow me
+    to take a fish from her hook. Even Mrs. Larramie said that if she
+    fished at all she thought she ought to do everything for herself, and
+    not depend upon other people.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As much as possible I tried to be with Mr. Larramie and Walter. I had
+    not the slightest distaste for the company of the ladies, but there
+    was a consciousness upon me that there were pleasant things in which a
+    man ought to restrict himself. There was nothing chronic about this
+    consciousness. It was on duty for this occasion only.
+</p>
+<p>
+    That night at the supper-table the conversation took a peculiar turn.
+    Mr. Larramie was the chief speaker, and it pleased him to hold forth
+    upon the merits of Mrs. Chester. He said, and his wife and others of
+    the company agreed with him, that she was a lady of peculiarly
+    estimable character; that she was out of place; that every one who
+    knew her well felt that she was out of place; but that she so graced
+    her position that she almost raised it to her level. Over and over
+    again her friends had said to her that a lady such as she was&mdash;still
+    young, of a good family, well educated, who had travelled, and moved
+    in excellent society&mdash;should not continue to be the landlady of a
+    country inn, but the advice of her friends had had no effect upon her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not known whether it was necessary for her to continue the
+    inn-keeping business, but the general belief was that it was not
+    necessary. It was supposed that she had had money when she married
+    Godfrey Chester, and he was not a poor man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then came a strange revelation, which Mr. Larramie dwelt upon with
+    considerable earnestness. There was an idea, he said, that Mrs.
+    Chester kept up the Holly Sprig because she thought it would be her
+    husband's wish that she should do so. He had probably said something
+    about its being a provision for her in case of his death. At any rate,
+    she seemed desirous to maintain the establishment exactly as he had
+    ordered it in his life, making no change whatever, very much as if she
+    had expected him to come back, and wished him to find everything as he
+    had left it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course she doesn't expect him to come back," said Mr. Larramie,
+    "because it must now be four years since the time of his supposed
+    murder&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Supposed!" I cried, with much more excited interest than I would have
+    shown if I had taken proper thought before speaking.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said Mr. Larramie, "that is a fine point. I said 'supposed'
+    because the facts of the case are not definitely known. There can be
+    no reasonable doubt, however, that he is dead, for even if this fact
+    had not been conclusively proved by the police investigations, it
+    might now be considered proved by his continued absence. It would have
+    been impossible for Mr. Chester alive to keep away from his wife for
+    four years&mdash;they were devoted to each other. Furthermore, the exact
+    manner of his death is not known&mdash;although it must have been a
+    murder&mdash;and for these reasons I used the word 'supposed.' But, really,
+    so far as human judgment can go, the whole matter is a certainty. I
+    have not the slightest doubt in the world that Mrs. Chester so
+    considers it, and yet, as she does not positively know it&mdash;as she has
+    not the actual proofs that her husband is no longer living&mdash;she
+    refuses in certain ways, in certain ways only, to consider herself a
+    widow."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And what ways are those?" I asked, in a voice which, I hope,
+    exhibited no undue emotion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "She declines to marry again," said Mrs. Larramie, now taking up the
+    conversation. "Of course, such a pretty woman&mdash;I may say, such a
+    charming woman&mdash;would have admirers, and I know that she has had some
+    most excellent offers, but she has always refused to consider any of
+    them. There was one gentleman, a man of wealth and position, who had
+    proposed to her before she married Mr. Chester, who came on here to
+    offer himself again, but she cut off everything he had to say by
+    telling him that as she did not positively know that her husband was
+    not living, she could not allow a word of that sort to be said to her.
+    I know this, because she told me so herself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a good deal more talk of the sort, and of course it
+    interested me greatly, although I tried not to show it, but I could
+    not help wondering why the subject had been brought forward in such an
+    impressive manner upon the present occasion. It seemed to me that
+    there was something personal in it&mdash;personal to me. Had that boy Percy
+    been making reports?
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the evening I found out all about it, and in a very straightforward
+    and direct fashion. I discovered Miss Edith by herself, and asked her
+    if all that talk about Mrs. Chester had been intended for my benefit,
+    and, if so, why.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She laughed. "I expected you to come and ask me about that," she said,
+    "for of course you could see through a good deal of it. It is all
+    father's kindness and goodness. Percy was a little out of temper when
+    he came back, and he spun a yarn about your being sweet on Mrs.
+    Chester, and how he could hardly get you away from her, and all that.
+    He had an idea that you wanted to go there and live, at least for the
+    summer. Something a boy said to him made him think that. So father
+    thought that if you had any notions about Mrs. Chester you ought to
+    have the matter placed properly before you without any delay, and I
+    expect his reason for mentioning it at the supper-table was that it
+    might then seem like a general subject of conversation, whereas it
+    would have been very pointed indeed if he had taken you apart and
+    talked to you about it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Indeed it would," said I. "And if you will allow me, I will say that
+    boys are unmitigated nuisances! If they are not hearing what they
+    ought not to hear, they are imagining what they ought not to
+    imagine&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And telling things that they ought not to tell," she added, with a
+    laugh.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Which is an extremely bad thing," said I, "when there is nothing to
+    tell."
+</p>
+<p>
+    For the rest of that evening I was more lively than is my wont, for it
+    was a very easy thing to be lively in that family. I do not think I
+    gave any one reason to suppose that I was a man whose attention had
+    been called to a notice not to trespass.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As usual, I communed with myself before going to bed. Wherefore this
+    feeling of disappointment? What did it mean? Would I have said
+    anything of importance, of moment, to Mrs. Chester, if the boy Percy
+    had given me an opportunity? What would I have said? What could I have
+    said? I could see that she did not wish that I should say anything,
+    and now I knew the reason for it. It was all plain enough on her side.
+    Even if she had allowed herself any sort of emotion regarding me, she
+    did not wish me to indulge in anything of the kind. But as for myself.
+    I could decide nothing about myself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled grimly as my eyes fell upon the little box of capsules. My
+    first thought was that I should take two of them, but then I shook my
+    head. "It would be utterly useless," I said; "they would do me no
+    good."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the course of the next morning I found myself alone. I put on my
+    cap, lighted a pipe, and started down the flag walk to the gate. In a
+    few moments I heard running steps behind me, and, turning, I saw Miss
+    Edith. "Don't look cross," she said. "Were you going for a walk?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I scouted the idea of crossness, and said that I had thought of taking
+    a stroll.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That seems funny," said she, "for nobody in this house ever goes out
+    for a lonely walk. But you cannot go just yet. There's a man at the
+    back of the house with a letter for you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "A letter!" I exclaimed. "Who in the world could have sent a letter to
+    me here?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The only way to find out," she answered, "is to go and see."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Under a tree at the back of the house I found a young negro man, very
+    warm and dusty, who handed me a letter, which, to my surprise, bore no
+    address. "How do you know this is for me?" said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    He was a good-natured looking fellow. "Oh, I know it's for you, sir,"
+    said he. "They told me at the little tavern&mdash;the Holly something&mdash;that
+    I'd find you here. You're the gentleman that had a bicycle tire eat
+    up by a bear, ain't you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I admitted that I was, and still, without opening the letter, I asked
+    him, where it came from.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That was given to me in New York, sir," said he, "by a Dago, one of
+    these I-talians. He gave me the money to go to Blackburn Station in
+    the cars, and then I walked over to the tavern. He said he thought I'd
+    find you there, sir. He told me just what sort of a lookin' man you
+    was, sir, and that letter is for you, and no mistake. He didn't know
+    your name, or he'd put it on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, it is from the owner of the bear," said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, sir," said the man, "that's him. He did own a bear&mdash;he told
+    me&mdash;that eat up your tire."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now tore open the blank envelope, and found it contained a letter on
+    a single sheet, and in this was a folded paper, very dirty. The letter
+    was apparently written in Italian, and had no signature. I ran my eye
+    along the opening lines, and soon found that it would be a very
+    difficult piece of business for me to read it. I was a fair French and
+    German scholar, but my knowledge of Italian was due entirely to its
+    relationship with Latin. I told the man to rest himself somewhere, and
+    went to the house, and, finding Miss Edith, I informed her that I had
+    a letter from the bear man, and asked her if she could read Italian.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I studied the language at school," she said, "but I have not
+    practised much. However, let us go into the library&mdash;there is a
+    dictionary there&mdash;and perhaps we can spell it out."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We spread the open sheet upon the library-table, and laid the folded
+    paper near by, and, sitting side by side, with a dictionary before us,
+    we went to work. It was very hard work.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think," said my companion, after ten minutes' application, "that
+    the man who sent you this letter writes Italian about as badly as we
+    read it. I think I could decipher the meaning of his words if I knew
+    what letters those funny scratches were intended to represent. But let
+    us stick to it. After a while we may get a little used to the writing,
+    and I must admit that I have a curiosity to know what the man has to
+    say about his bear."
+</p>
+<p>
+    After a time the work became easier. Miss Edith possessed an acuteness
+    of perception which enabled her to decipher almost illegible words by
+    comparing them with others which were better written. We were at last
+    enabled to translate the letter. The substance of it was as follows:
+</p>
+<p>
+    The writer came to New York on a ship. There was a man on the ship,
+    an Italian man, who was very wicked. He did very wicked things to the
+    writer. When he got to New York he kept on being wicked. He was so
+    wicked that the writer made up his mind to kill him. He waited for him
+    one night for two hours.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0025"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-25.png">
+<img src="images/bc-25s.png" width="183" height="200"
+alt="Deciphering the Dago's Letters"><br />Deciphering the Dago's Letters</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    At last the moment came. It was very dark, and the victim came,
+    walking fast. The avenger sprang from a door-way and plunged his knife
+    into the back of the victim. The man fell, and the moment he fell the
+    writer of the letter knew that he was not the man he had intended to
+    kill. The wicked man would not have been killed so easily. He turned
+    over the man. He was dead. His eyes were used to the darkness, and he
+    could see that he was the wrong man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The coat of the murdered man had fallen open, and a paper showed
+    itself in an inside pocket. The Italian waited only long enough to
+    snatch this paper. He wanted to have something which had belonged to
+    that poor, wrongly murdered man. After that he heard no more about the
+    great mistake he had committed. He could not read the newspapers, and
+    he asked nobody any questions. He put the paper away and kept it. He
+    often thought he ought to burn the paper, but he did not do it. He was
+    afraid. The paper had a name on it, and he was sure it was the name
+    of the man he had killed. He thought as long as he kept the paper
+    there was a chance for his forgiveness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was all four years ago. He worked hard, and after a while he
+    bought a bear. When his bear ate up the India-rubber on my bicycle he
+    was very much frightened, for he was afraid he might be sent to
+    prison. But that was not the fright that made him run away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When he talked to the boy and asked him the name of the keeper of the
+    inn, and the boy told him what it was, the earth seemed to open and he
+    saw hell. The name was the name that was on the paper he had taken
+    from the man he had killed by mistake, and this was his wife whose
+    house he was staying at. He was seized with such a horror and such a
+    fear that everything might be found out, and that he would be
+    arrested, that he ran away to the railroad and took a train for New
+    York.
+</p>
+<p>
+    He did not want his bear. He did not want to be known as the man who
+    had been going about with a bear. One thing he wanted, and that was to
+    get back to Italy, where he would be safe. He was going back very soon
+    in a ship. He had changed his name. He could not be found any more.
+    But he knew his soul would never have any peace if he did not send
+    the paper to the wife of the man he had made a mistake about. But he
+    could not write a letter to her, so he sent it to me, for me to give
+    her the paper and to tell her what he had written in the letter. He
+    left America forever. Nobody in this country would ever see him again.
+    He was gone. He was lost to all people in this country, but his soul
+    felt better now that he had done that which would make the lady whose
+    husband he had killed know how it had happened. The bear he would give
+    to her. That was all that he could do for her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was no formal close to the letter; the writer had said what he
+    had to say and stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith and I looked at each other. Her eyes had grown large and
+    bright. "Now, shall we examine the paper?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not know that we have a right to do so," I said. I know my voice
+    was trembling, for I was very much agitated. "That belongs to&mdash;to
+    her!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think," said Miss Edith, "that we ought to look at it. It is merely
+    a folded paper. I do not think we ought to thrust information upon
+    Mrs. Chester without knowing what it is. Perhaps the man made a
+    mistake in the name. We may do a great deal of mischief if we do not
+    know exactly what we are about." And so saying she took the paper and
+    opened it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was nothing but a grocery bill, but it was made out to&mdash;Godfrey
+    Chester, Dr. Evidently it was for goods supplied to the inn. It was
+    receipted.
+</p>
+<p>
+    For a few moments I said nothing, and then I exclaimed, in tones which
+    made my companion gaze very earnestly at me: "I must go to her
+    immediately! I must take these papers! She must know everything!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Excuse me," said Miss Edith, "but don't you think that something
+    ought to be done about apprehending this man&mdash;this Italian? Let us go
+    and question his messenger." We went out together, she carrying,
+    tightly clasped, both the letter and the bill.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The black man could tell us very little. An Italian he had never seen
+    before had given him the letter to take to Holly Sprig Inn, and give
+    to the gentleman who had had his tire eaten by a bear. If the
+    gentleman was not there, he was to ask to have it sent to him. That
+    was everything he knew.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did the Italian give you money to go back with?" asked Miss Edith,
+    and the man rather reluctantly admitted that he did.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, you can keep that for yourself," said she, "and we'll pay your
+    passage back. But we would like you to wait here for a while. There
+    may be some sort of an answer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The man laughed. "'Taint no use sendin' no answer," said he; "I
+    couldn't find that Dago again. They're all so much alike. He said he
+    was goin' away on a ship. You see it was yesterday he gave me that
+    letter. I 'spect he'll be a long way out to sea before I get back,
+    even if I did know who he was and what ship he was goin' on. But if
+    you want me to wait, I don't mind waitin'."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Very good," said Miss Edith; "you can go into the kitchen and have
+    something to eat." And, calling a maid, she gave orders for the man's
+    entertainment.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said she, turning to me, "let us take a walk through the
+    orchard. I want to talk to you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said I, "I can't talk at present. I must go immediately to the
+    inn with those papers. It is right that not a moment should be lost in
+    delivering this most momentous message which has been intrusted to
+    me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But I must speak to you first," said she, and she walked rapidly
+    towards the orchard. As she still held the papers in her hand, I was
+    obliged to follow her.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIV
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/a.png" alt="A">s soon as we had begun to walk under the apple-trees she turned to me
+    and said: "I don't think you ought to take this letter and the bill to
+    Mrs. Chester. It would not be right. There would be something cruel
+    about it."
+
+<p>
+    "What do you mean?" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course I do not know exactly the state of the case," she answered,
+    "but I will tell you what I think about it as far as I know. You must
+    not be offended at what I say. If I am a friend to anybody&mdash;and I
+    would be ashamed if I were not a friend to you&mdash;I must tell him just
+    what I think about things, and this is what I think about this thing:
+    I ought to take these papers to Mrs. Chester. I know her well enough,
+    and it is a woman who ought to go to her at such a time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That message was intrusted to me," I said. "Of course it was," she
+    answered, "but the bear man did not know what he was doing. He did not
+    understand the circumstances."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0026"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-26.png">
+<img src="images/bc-26s.png" width="152" height="200"
+alt="'I Don't Think You Ought to Take This Letter'"><br />'I Don't Think You Ought to Take This Letter'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "What circumstances?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She gave me a look as if she were going to take aim at me and wanted
+    to be sure of my position. Then she said: "Percy told us he thought
+    you were courting Mrs. Chester. That was pure impertinence on his
+    part, and perhaps what father said at the table was impertinence too,
+    but I know he said it because he thought there might be something in
+    Percy's chatter, and that you ought to understand how things stood.
+    Now, you may think it impertinence on my part if you choose, but it
+    really does seem to me that you are very much interested in Mrs.
+    Chester. Didn't you intend to walk down to the Holly Sprig when you
+    were starting out by yourself this morning?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I, "I did."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thought so," she replied. "That, of course, was your own business,
+    and what father said about her being unwilling to marry again need not
+    have made any difference to you if you had chosen not to mind it. But
+    now, don't you think, if you look at the matter fairly and squarely,
+    it would be pretty hard on Mrs. Chester if you were to go down to her
+    and make her understand that she really is a widow, and that now she
+    is free to listen to you if you want to say anything to her? This may
+    sound a little hard and cruel, but don't you think it is the way she
+    would have to look at it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stopped as she spoke, and I turned and stood silent, looking at
+    her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My first thought was," she said, "to advise you to tell father about
+    all this, and take his advice about telling her, but I don't think you
+    would like that. Now, would you like that?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," I answered, "I certainly would not."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And don't you really think I ought to go to her with the message, and
+    then come back and tell you how she took it and what she said?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    For nearly a minute I did not speak, but I knew she was right, and at
+    last I admitted it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am glad to hear you say so!" she exclaimed. "As soon as dinner is
+    over I shall drive to the Holly Sprig."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We still walked on, and she proposed that we should go to the top of a
+    hill beyond the orchard, where there was a pretty view.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You may think me a strange sort of a girl," she said, presently, "but
+    I can't help it. I suppose I am strange. I have often thought I would
+    like very much to talk freely and honestly with a man about the
+    reasons which people have for falling in love with each other. Of
+    course I could not ask my father or brother, because they would simply
+    laugh at me and tell me that falling in love was very much like the
+    springing up of weeds&mdash;generally without reason and often
+    objectionable. But you would be more likely to tell me something which
+    would be of advantage to me in my studies."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Your studies!" I exclaimed. "What in the world are you studying?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, I am studying human nature&mdash;not as a whole, of course, that's
+    too large a subject, but certain phases of it&mdash;and I particularly want
+    to know why such queer people come together and get married. Now I
+    have great advantages in such a study, much greater than most girls
+    have."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What are they?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The principal one is that I never intend to marry. I made up my mind
+    to that a good while ago. There is a great deal of work that I want to
+    do in this world, and I could not do it properly if I were tied to a
+    man. I would either have to submit myself to his ways, or he would
+    have to submit himself to my ways, and that would not suit me. In the
+    one case I should not respect him, and in the other I should not
+    respect myself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But suppose," said I, "you should meet a man who should be in perfect
+    harmony with you in all important points?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ah," she said, "that sort of thing never happens. You might as well
+    expect to pick up two pebbles exactly alike. I don't believe in it.
+    But if at any time during the rest of my life you show me any examples
+    of such harmony, I will change my opinions. I believe that if I can
+    wait long enough, society will catch up with me. Everything looks that
+    way to me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It may be that you are right," I answered. "Society is getting on
+    famously. But what is it you want to ask me?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Simply this," she replied. "What is it which interests you so much in
+    Mrs. Chester?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked at her in astonishment. "Truly," I exclaimed, "that is a
+    remarkable question."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I know it," she replied, "and I suppose you are saying to yourself,
+    'Here is a girl who has known me less than three days, and yet she
+    asks me to tell her about my feeling towards another woman.' But,
+    really, it seems to me that as you have not known that other woman
+    three days, as much friendship and confidence might spring up in the
+    one case as affection in the other."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Affection!" said I. "Have I said anything about affection?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, you have not," she replied; "and if there isn't any affection, of
+    course that ends this special study on my part."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We reached the top of the hill, but I forgot to look out upon the
+    view. "I think you are a strange girl," I said, "but I like you, and I
+    have a mind to try to answer your question. I have not been able quite
+    to satisfy myself about my feelings towards Mrs. Chester, but now I
+    think I can say that I have an affection for her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good!" she exclaimed. "I like that! That is an honest answer if ever
+    there was one. But tell me why it is that you have an affection for
+    her. It must have been almost a case of love at first sight."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It isn't easy to give reasons for such feelings," I said. "They
+    spring up, as your father would say, very much like weeds."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Indeed they do," she interpolated; "sometimes they grow in the middle
+    of a gravel path where they cannot expect to be allowed to stay."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I reflected a moment. "I don't mind talking about these things to
+    you," I said. "It seems almost like talking to myself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is a compliment I appreciate," she said. "And now go on. Why do
+    you care for her?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said I, "in the first place, she is very handsome. Don't you
+    think so?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes! In fact, I think she is almost what might be called exactly
+    beautiful."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then she has such charming manners," I continued. "And she is so
+    sensible&mdash;although you may not think I had much chance to find out
+    that. Moreover, there is a certain sympathetic cordiality about her&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Which, of course," interrupted my companion, "you suppose she would
+    not show to any man but you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I. "I am speaking honestly now, and that's the way it
+    strikes me. Of course I may be a fool, but I did think that a sympathy
+    had arisen between us which would not arise between her and anybody
+    else."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith laughed heartily. "I am getting to know a great deal about
+    one side of the subject," she said. "And now tell me&mdash;is that all? I
+    don't believe it is."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," I answered, "it is not. There is something more which makes her
+    attractive to me. I cannot exactly explain it except by saying that it
+    is her surrounding atmosphere&mdash;it is everything that pertains to her.
+    It is the life she lives, it is her home, it is the beauty and peace,
+    the sense of charm which infuses her and everything that belongs to
+    her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Beautiful!" said Miss Edith. "I expected an answer like that, but not
+    so well put. Now let me translate it into plain, simple language. What
+    you want is to give up your present life, which must be awfully
+    stupid, and go and help Mrs. Chester keep the Holly Sprig. That would
+    suit you exactly. A charming wife, charming surroundings, charming
+    sense of living, a life of absolute independence! But don't think,"
+    she added, quickly, "that I am imputing any sordid motives to you. I
+    meant nothing of the kind. You would do just as much to make the inn
+    popular as she would. I expect you would make her rich."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Miss Edith Larramie," said I, "you are a heartless deceiver! It makes
+    my blood run cold to hear you speak in that way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Never mind that," she said, "but tell me, didn't you think it would
+    be just lovely to live with her in that delightful little inn?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not help smiling at her earnestness, but I answered that I did
+    think so.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She nodded her head reflectively. "Yes," she said, "I was right. I
+    think you ought to admit that I am a good judge of human nature&mdash;at
+    least, in some people and under certain circumstances."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You are," said I. "I admit that. Now answer me a question. What do
+    you think of it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't like it," she said. "And don't you see," she added, with
+    animation, "what an advantage I possess in having determined never to
+    marry? Very few other girls would be willing to speak to you so
+    plainly. They would be afraid you would think that they wanted you,
+    but, as I don't want anybody, you and I can talk over things of this
+    kind like free and equal human beings. So I will say again that I
+    don't like your affection for Mrs. Chester. It disappoints me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Disappoints you!" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she said, "that is the word. You must remember that my
+    acquaintance with you began with a sort of a bump. A great deal
+    happened in an instant. I formed high ideas of you, and among them
+    were ideas of the future. You can't help that when you are thinking of
+    people who interest you. Your mind will run ahead. When I found out
+    about Mrs. Chester I was disappointed. It might be all very
+    delightful, but you ought to do better than that!"
+</p>
+<a name="image-0027"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-27.png">
+<img src="images/bc-27s.png" width="162" height="200"
+alt="'Do You Think You Could Hit It With an Apple?'"><br/>'Do You Think You Could Hit It With an Apple?'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "How old are you?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Twenty-two last May," she replied.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Isn't that the dinner-bell I hear in the distance?" I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she answered, "and we will go down."
+</p>
+<p>
+    On the way she stopped, and we stood facing each other. "I am greatly
+    obliged to you," she said, "for giving me your confidence in this way,
+    and I want you to believe that I shall be thoroughly loyal to you, and
+    that I never will breathe anything you have said. But I also want you
+    to know that I do not change any of my opinions. Now we understand
+    each other, don't we?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," I answered, "but I think I understand you better than you
+    understand me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not a bit of it," she replied; "that's nonsense. Do you see that
+    flower-pot on the top of the stump by the little hill over there?
+    Percy has been firing at it with his air-gun. Do you think you could
+    hit it with an apple? Let's each take three apples and try."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was late in the afternoon when Miss Edith returned from the Holly
+    Sprig, where she and Genevieve had driven in a pony-cart. I was with
+    the rest of the family on the golf links a short distance from the
+    house, and it was some time before she got a chance to speak to me,
+    but she managed at last.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How did she take the news?" I eagerly asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The girl hesitated. "I don't think I ought to tell you all she said
+    and did. It was really a private interview between us two, and I know
+    she would not want me to say much about it. And I don't think you
+    would want to hear everything."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I hastened to assure her that I would not ask for the particulars of
+    the conversation. I only wished to know the general effect of the
+    message upon her. That was legitimate enough, as, in fact, she
+    received the message through me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, she was very much affected, and it would have been dreadful if
+    you had gone. Oh the whole, however, I cannot help thinking that the
+    Italian's letter was a great relief to her, particularly because she
+    found that her husband had been killed by mistake. She said that one
+    of the greatest loads upon her soul had been the feeling that he had
+    had an enemy who hated him enough to kill him. But now the case is
+    very different, and it is a great comfort to her to know it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And about the murderer?" I said. "Did you ask her if she wanted steps
+    taken to apprehend him?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she said, "I did speak of it, and she is very anxious that
+    nothing shall be done in that direction. Even if the Italian should be
+    caught, she would not have the affair again publicly discussed and
+    dissected. She believes the man's story, and she never wants to hear
+    of him again. Indeed, I think that if it should be proved that the
+    Italian killed Mr. Chester on purpose, it would be the greatest blow
+    that could be inflicted upon her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then," said I, "I might as well let the negro man go his way. I have
+    not paid him his passage-money to the city. I knew he would wait until
+    he got it, and it might be desirable to take him into custody."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh no," she said. "Mrs. Chester spoke about that. She doesn't want
+    the man troubled in any way. He knew nothing of the message he
+    carried. Now I am going to tell father about it&mdash;she asked me to do
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    That evening was a merry one. We had charades, and a good many other
+    things were going on. Miss Willoughby was an admirable actress, and
+    Miss Edith was not bad, although she could never get rid of her
+    personality. I was in a singular state of mind. I felt as if I had
+    been relieved from a weight. My spirits were actually buoyant.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You should not be so unreasonably gay," said Miss Edith to me. "That
+    may be your way when you get better acquainted with people, but I am
+    afraid some of the family will think that you are in such good spirits
+    because Mrs. Chester now knows that she is a widow."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, there is no danger of their thinking anything of that sort," I
+    said. "Don't you suppose they will attribute my good spirits to the
+    fact that the man who took my bicycle to Waterton brought back my big
+    valise, so that I am enabled to look like a gentleman in the parlor?
+    And then, as he also brought word that my bicycle will be all ready
+    for me to-morrow, don't you think it is to be expected of me that I
+    should try to make myself as agreeable as possible on this my last
+    evening with all you good friends?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She shook her head. "Those excuses will not pass. You are abnormally
+    cheerful. My study of you is extremely interesting, but not altogether
+    satisfactory."
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XV
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    MISS WILLOUGHBY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">t was decreed the next day that I should not leave until after
+    dinner. They would send me over to Blackburn Station by a cross-road,
+    and I could then reach Waterton in less than an hour. "There is
+    another good thing about this arrangement," said Miss Edith, for it
+    was she who announced it to me, "and that is that you can take charge
+    of Amy."
+
+<p>
+    I gazed at her mystified, and she said, "Don't you know that Miss
+    Willoughby is going in the same train with you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" I exclaimed, far too forcibly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes. Her visit ends to-day. She lives in Waterton. But why should
+    that affect you so wonderfully? I am sure you cannot object to an hour
+    in the train with Amy Willoughby. She may talk a good deal, but you
+    must admit that she talks well."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Object!" I said. "Of course I don't object. She talks very well
+    indeed, and I shall be glad to have the pleasure of her company."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No one would have thought so," she said, looking at me with a
+    criticising eye, "who had seen you when you heard she was going."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It was the suddenness," I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she replied, "and your delicate nerves."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In my soul I cried out to myself: "Am I ever to break free from young
+    women! Is there to be a railroad accident between here and Waterton!
+    If so, I shall save the nearest old gentleman!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I believe the Larramies were truly sorry to have me go. Each one of
+    them in turn told me so. Mrs. Larramie again said to me, with tears in
+    her eyes, that it made her shudder to think what that home might be if
+    it had not been for me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Larramie and Walter promised to get up some fine excursions if I
+    would stay a little longer, and Genevieve made me sit down beside her
+    under a tree.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am awfully sorry you are going," she said. "I always wanted a
+    gentleman friend, and I believe if you'd stay a little longer you'd be
+    one. You see, Walter is really too old for me to confide in, and Percy
+    thinks he's too old&mdash;and that's a great deal worse. But you're just
+    the age I like. There are so many things I would say to you if you
+    lived here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Little Clara, cried when she heard I was going, and I felt myself
+    obliged to commit the shameful deception of talking about baby bears
+    and my possible return to this place.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith accompanied us to the station, and when I took leave of her
+    on the platform she gave me a good, hearty handshake. "I believe that
+    we shall see each other again," she said, "and when we meet I want you
+    to make a report, and I hope it will be a good one!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "About what?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She smiled in gentle derision, and the conductor cried, "All aboard!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I found a vacant seat, and, side by side, Miss Willoughby and I sped
+    on towards Waterton.
+</p>
+<p>
+    For some time I had noticed that Miss Willoughby had ceased to look
+    past me when she spoke to me, and now she fixed her eyes fully upon me
+    and said:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am always sorry when I go away from that house, for I think the
+    people who live there are the dearest in the world, excepting my own
+    mother and aunt, who are nearer to me than anybody else, although, if
+    I needed a mother, Mrs. Larramie would take me to her heart, I am
+    sure, just as if I were her own daughter, and I am not related to them
+    in any way, although I have always looked upon Edith as a sister, and
+    I don't believe that if I had a real sister she could possibly have
+    been as dear a girl as Edith, who is so lovable and tender and
+    forgiving&mdash;whenever there is anything to forgive&mdash;and who, although
+    she is a girl of such strong character and such a very peculiar way of
+    thinking about things, has never said a hard word to me in all her
+    life, even when she found that our opinions were different, which was
+    something she often did find, for she looks upon everything in this
+    world in her own way, and bases all her judgments upon her own
+    observations and convictions, while I am very willing to let those
+    whom I think I ought to look up to and respect judge for me&mdash;at least
+    in a great many things, but of course not in all matters, for there
+    are some things which we must decide for ourselves without reference
+    to other people's opinions, though I should be sorry indeed if I had
+    so many things to decide as Edith has, or rather chooses to have, for
+    if she would depend more upon other people I think it would not only
+    be easier for her, but really make her happier, for if you could hear
+    some of the wonderful things which she has discussed with me after
+    we have gone to bed at night it would really make your head ache&mdash;that
+    is, if you are subject to that sort of thing, which I am if I am kept
+    awake too long, but I am proud to say that I don't think I ever
+    allowed Edith to suppose that I was tired of hearing her talk, for
+    when any one is as lovely as she is I think she ought to be allowed to
+    talk about what she pleases and just along as she pleases."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0028"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-28.png">
+<img src="images/bc-28s.png" width="162" height="200"
+alt="'Talking About Baby Bears'"><br />'Talking About Baby Bears'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Surprising as it may appear, nothing happened on that railroad
+    journey. No cow of Cathay blundered in front of the locomotive; no
+    freight train came around a curve going in the opposite direction upon
+    the same track; everything went smoothly and according to schedule.
+    Miss Willoughby did not talk all the time. She was not the greatest
+    talker I ever knew; she was not even the fastest; she was always
+    willing to wait until her turn came, but she had wonderful endurance
+    for a steady stretch. She never made a bad start, she never broke, she
+    went steadily over the track until the heat had been run.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When the time came for me to speak she listened with great interest,
+    and sometimes at my words her eyes sparkled almost as much as they
+    did when she was speaking herself. She knew a great many things, and
+    I was pleased to find out that she was especially interested in the
+    good qualities of the people she knew. I never heard so many gracious
+    sentiments in so short a time.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Willoughby's residence was but a short distance from the station
+    at Waterton; and as she thought it entirely unnecessary to take a cab,
+    I attended to her baggage, and offered to walk with her to her home
+    and carry her little bag. I was about to leave her at the door, but
+    this she positively forbade. I must step in for a minute or two to see
+    her mother and her aunt. They had heard of me, and would never forgive
+    her if she let me go without their seeing me. As the door opened
+    immediately, we went in.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Willoughby's mother and aunt were two most charming elderly
+    ladies, immaculately dainty in their dress, cordial of manner, bright
+    of eye, and diminutive of hand, producing the impression of gentle
+    goodness set off by soft white muslin, folded tenderly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    They had heard of me. In the few days in which I had been with the
+    Larramies, Miss Willoughby had written of me. They insisted that I
+    should stay to supper, for what good reason could there be for my
+    taking that meal at the hotel&mdash;not a very good one&mdash;when they would be
+    so glad to have me sup with them and talk about our mutual friends?
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had no reasonable objection to offer, and, returning to the station,
+    I took my baggage to the hotel, where I prepared to sup with the
+    Willoughby family.
+</p>
+<p>
+    They were now a little family of three, although there was a brother
+    who had started away the day before on a bicycling tour very like my
+    own, and they were both so delighted to have Amy visit the Larramies,
+    and they were both so delighted to have her come back.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The supper was a delicate one, suitable for canary birds, but at an
+    early stage of the meal a savory little sirloin steak was brought on
+    which had been cooked especially for me. Of course I could not be
+    expected to be satisfied with thin dainties, no matter how tasteful
+    they might be.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This house was the abode of intelligence, cultivated taste, and
+    opulence. It was probably the finest mansion of the town. In every
+    room there were things to see, and after supper we looked at them,
+    and, as I wandered from pictures to vases and carved ivory, the
+    remarks of the two elder ladies and Miss Willoughby seemed like a
+    harmonized chorus accompanying the rest of the performance. Each spoke
+    at the right time, each in her turn said the thing she ought to say.
+    It was a rare exhibition of hospitable enthusiasm, tempered by
+    sympathetic consideration for me and for each other.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I soon discovered that many of the water-color drawings on the walls
+    were the work of Miss Willoughby, and when she saw I was interested in
+    them she produced a portfolio of her sketches. I liked her coloring
+    very much. It was sometimes better than her drawing. It was dainty,
+    delicate, and suggestive. One picture attracted me the moment my eyes
+    fell upon it; it was one of the most carefully executed, and it
+    represented the Holly Sprig Inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You recognize that!" said Miss Willoughby, evidently pleased. "You
+    see that light-colored spot in the portico? That's Mrs. Chester; she
+    stood there when I was making the drawing. It is nothing but two or
+    three little dabs, but that is the way she looked at a distance.
+    Around on this side is the corner of the yard where the bear tried to
+    eat up the tire of your bicycle."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I gazed and gazed at the little light-colored spot in the portico. I
+    gave it form, light, feeling. I could see perfect features, blue
+    eyes which looked out at me, a form of simple grace.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0029"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-29.png">
+<img src="images/bc-29s.png" width="187" height="200"
+alt="'I Held That Picture a Good While'"><br />'I Held That Picture a Good While'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I held that picture a good while, saying little, and scarcely
+    listening to Miss Willoughby's words. At last I felt obliged to
+    replace it in the portfolio. If the artist had been a poor girl, I
+    would have offered to buy it; if I had known her better, I would have
+    asked her to give it to me; but I could do nothing but put it back.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Glancing at the clock I saw that it was time for me to go, but when I
+    announced this fact the ladies very much demurred. Why should I go to
+    that uncomfortable hotel? They would send for my baggage. There was
+    not the least reason in the world why I should spend the night in that
+    second-rate establishment.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "See," said Mrs. Willoughby, opening the door of a room in the rear of
+    the parlor, "if you will stay with us to-night we will lodge you in
+    the chamber of the favored guest. All the pictures on the walls were
+    done by my daughter."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked into the room. It was the most charming and luxurious bedroom
+    I had ever seen. It was lighted, and the harmony of its furnishings
+    was a treat to the eye.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But I stood firm in my purpose to depart. I would not spend the night
+    in that house. There would be a fire, burglars, I knew not what!
+    Against all kind entreaties I urged the absolute necessity of my
+    starting away by the very break of day, and I could not disturb a
+    private family by any such proceeding. They saw that I was determined
+    to go, and they allowed me to depart.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVI
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    AN ICICLE
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/m.png" alt="M">y room at the hotel was as dreary as a stubble-field upon a November
+    evening. The whole house was new, varnished, and hard. My bedroom was
+    small. A piece of new ingrain carpet covered part of the hard
+    varnished floor. Four hard walls and a ceiling, deadly white,
+    surrounded me. The hard varnished bedstead (the mattress felt as if it
+    were varnished) nearly filled the little room. Two stiff chairs, and a
+    yellow window-shade which looked as if it were made of varnished wood,
+    glittered in the feeble light of a glass lamp, while the ghastly
+    grayish pallor of the ewer and basin on the wash-stand was thrown into
+    bold relief by the intenser whiteness of the wall behind it.
+
+<p>
+    I put out my light as soon as possible and resolutely closed my eyes,
+    for a street lamp opposite my window would not allow the room to fade
+    into obscurity, and, as long as the hardness of the bed prevented me
+    from sleeping, my thoughts ran back to the chamber of the favored
+    guest, but my conscience stood by me. Cathay is a country where it is
+    necessary to be very careful.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not leave Waterton until after nine o'clock the next day, for,
+    although I was early at the shop to which my bicycle had been sent, it
+    was not quite ready for me, and I had to wait. Fortunately no
+    Willoughby came that way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But when at last I mounted my wheel I sped away rapidly towards the
+    north. I had ordered my baggage expressed to a town fifty miles away,
+    and I hoped that if I rode steadily and kept my eyes straight in front
+    of me I might safely get out of Cathay, for the boundaries of that
+    fateful territory could not extend themselves indefinitely.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Towards the close of the afternoon I saw a female in front of me, her
+    back to me, walking, and pushing a bicycle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said I to myself, "she is doing that because she likes it, and
+    it is none of my business." I gazed over the fields on the other side
+    of the road, but as I passed her I could not help giving a glance at
+    her machine. The air was gone from the tire of the hind wheel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ah," said I to myself, "perhaps her pump is out of order, or it may
+    be that she does not know how to work it. It is getting late. She may
+    have to go a long distance. I could pump it up for her in no time.
+    Even if there is a hole in it I could mend it." But I did not stop. I
+    had steeled my heart against any more adventures in Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But my conscience did not stand by me. I could not forget that poor
+    woman plodding along the weary road and darkness not far away. I went
+    slower and slower, and at last I turned.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It would not take me five minutes to help her," I said. "I must be
+    careful, but I need not be a churl." And I rode rapidly back.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I came in sight of her just as she was turning into the gateway of a
+    pretty house yard. Doubtless she lived there. I turned again and spun
+    away faster than I had gone that day.
+</p>
+<p>
+    For more than a month I journeyed and sojourned in a beautiful river
+    valley and among the low foot-hills of the mountains. The weather was
+    fair, the scenery was pleasing, and at last I came to believe that I
+    had passed the boundaries of Cathay. I took no tablets from my little
+    box. I did not feel that I had need of them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the course of time I ceased to travel north-ward. My vacation was
+    not very near its end, but I chose to turn my face towards the scene
+    of my coming duties. I made a wide circuit, I rode slowly, and I
+    stopped often.
+</p>
+<p>
+    One day I passed through a village, and at the outer edge of it a
+    little girl, about four years old, tried to cross the road. Tripping,
+    she fell down almost in front of me. It was only by a powerful and
+    sudden exertion that I prevented myself from going over her, and as I
+    wheeled across the road my machine came within two feet of her. She
+    lay there yelling in the dust. I dismounted, and, picking her up I
+    carried her to the other side of the road. There I left her to toddle
+    homeward while I went on my way. I could not but sigh as I thought
+    that I was again in Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Two days after this I entered Waterton. There was another road, said
+    to be a very pleasant one, which lay to the westward, and which would
+    have taken me to Walford through a country new to me, but I wished to
+    make no further explorations in Cathay, and if one journeys back upon
+    a road by which he came he will find the scenery very different.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I spent the night at the hotel, and after breakfast I very reluctantly
+    went to call upon the Willoughbys. I forced myself to do this, for,
+    considering the cordiality they had shown me, it would have required
+    more incivility than I possessed to pass through the town without
+    paying my respects. But to my great joy none of the ladies was at
+    home. I hastened from the house with a buoyant step, and was soon
+    speeding away, and away, and away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The road was dry and hard, the sun was bright, but there was a fresh
+    breeze in my face, and I rolled along at a swift and steady rate. On,
+    on I went, until, before the sun had reached its highest point, I
+    wheeled out of the main road, rolled up a gravel path, and dismounted
+    in front of the Holly Sprig Inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I leaned my bicycle against a tree and went in-doors. The place did
+    not seem so quiet as when I first saw it. I had noticed a lady sitting
+    under a tree in front of the house. There was a nurse-maid attending a
+    child who was playing on the grass. Entering the hall, I glanced into
+    the large room which I had called the "office," and saw a man there
+    writing at a table.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently a maid-servant came into the hall. She was not one I had
+    noticed before. I asked if I could see Mrs. Chester, and she said she
+    would go and look for her. There were chairs in the hall, and I might
+    have waited for her there, but I did not. I entered the parlor, and
+    was pleased to find it unoccupied. I went to the upper end of the
+    room, as far as possible from the door.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a few minutes I heard a step in the hall. I knew it, and it was
+    strange how soon I had learned to know it. She stopped in front of the
+    office, then she went on towards the porch, and turning she came into
+    the parlor, first looking towards the front of the room and then
+    towards the place where I stood.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The light from a window near me fell directly upon her as she
+    approached me, and I could see that there was a slight flush on her
+    face, but before she reached me it had disappeared. She did not greet
+    me. She did not offer me her hand. In fact, from what afterwards
+    happened, I believe that she did not consider me at that moment a fit
+    subject for ordinary greeting. She stood up in front of me. She gazed
+    steadfastly into my face. Her features wore something of their
+    ordinary pleasant expression, but to this there was added a certain
+    determination which I had never seen there before. She gave her head a
+    little quick shake.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, sir!" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This reception amazed me. I had been greatly agitated as I heard her
+    approach, turning over in my mind what I should first say to her, but
+    now I forgot everything I had prepared. "No what?" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0030"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-30.png">
+<img src="images/bc-30s.png" width="142" height="200"
+alt="'No, Sir,' She Said'"><br />'No, Sir,' She Said'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "'No' means that I will not marry you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood speechless. "Of course you are thinking," she continued, "that
+    you have never asked me to marry you. But that isn't at all necessary.
+    As soon as I saw you standing there, back two weeks before your
+    vacation is over, and when I got a good look at your face, I knew
+    exactly what you had come for. I was afraid when you left here that
+    you would come back for that, so I was not altogether unprepared. I
+    spoke promptly so as to spare you and to make it easier for me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Easier!" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Easier, because the sooner you know that I will not marry you the
+    better it will be for you and for me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now I could restrain myself no longer. "Why can't I marry you?" I
+    asked, speaking very rapidly, and, I am afraid, with imprudent energy.
+    "Is it any sort of condition or circumstance which prevents? Do you
+    think that I am forcing myself upon you at a time when I ought not to
+    do it? If so, you have mistaken me. Ever since I left here I have
+    thought of scarcely anything but you, and I have returned thus early
+    simply to tell you that I love you! I had to do that! I could not
+    wait! But as to all else, I can wait, and wait, and wait, as long as
+    you please. You can tell me to go away and come back at whatever time
+    you think it will be right for you to give me an answer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "This is the right time," she said, "and I have given you your answer.
+    But, unfortunately, I did not prevent you from saying what you came to
+    say. So now I will tell you that the conditions and circumstances to
+    which you allude have nothing to do with the matter. I have a reason
+    for my decision which is of so much more importance than any other
+    reason that it is the only one which need be considered."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What is that?" I asked, quickly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is because I keep a tavern," she answered. "It would be wrong and
+    wicked for you to marry a woman who keeps a tavern."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now my face flushed. I could feel it burning. "Keep a tavern!" I
+    exclaimed. "That is a horrible way to put it! But why should you think
+    for an instant that I cared for that? Do you suppose I consider that a
+    dishonorable calling? I would be only too glad to adopt it myself and
+    help you keep a tavern, as you call it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is the trouble!" she exclaimed. "That is the greatest trouble. I
+    believe you would. I believe that you think that the life would just
+    suit you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then sweep away the tavern!" I exclaimed. "Banish it. Leave it. Put
+    it out of all thought or consideration. I can wait for you. I can make
+    a place and a position for you. I can&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, you cannot," she interrupted. "At least, not for a long time,
+    unless one of your scholars dies and leaves you a legacy. It is the
+    future that I am thinking about. No matter what you might sweep away,
+    and to what position you might attain, it could always be said, 'He
+    married a woman who used to keep a tavern.' Now, every one who is a
+    friend to you, who knows what is before you, if you choose to try for
+    it, should do everything that can be done to prevent such a thing ever
+    being said of you. I am a friend to you, and I am going to prevent
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood unable to say one word. Her voice, her eyes, even the manner
+    in which she stood before me, assured me that she meant everything she
+    said. It was almost impossible to believe that such an amiable
+    creature could turn into such an icicle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not want you to feel worse than you can help," she said, "but it
+    was necessary for me to speak as firmly and decidedly as I could, and
+    now it is all settled."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I knew it was all settled. I knew it as well as if it had been settled
+    for years. But, with my eyes still ardently fixed on her, I remembered
+    the little flush when she came into the room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Tell me one thing," said I, "and I will go. If it were not for what
+    you say about your position in life, and all that&mdash;if there had not
+    been such a place as this inn&mdash;then could you&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She moved away from me. "You are as great a bear as the other one!"
+    she exclaimed, and turning she left the room by a door in the rear.
+    But in the next moment she ran back, holding out her hand. "Good-bye!"
+    she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I took her hand, but held it not a second. Then she was gone. I stood
+    looking at the door which she had closed behind her, and then I left
+    the house. There was no reason why I should stay in that place another
+    minute.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I was about to mount my bicycle the boy came around the corner of
+    the inn. Upon his face was a diabolical grin. The thought rushed into
+    my mind that he might have been standing beneath the parlor window.
+    Instinctively I made a movement towards him, but he did not run. I
+    turned my eyes away from him and mounted. I could not kill a boy in
+    the presence of a nurse-maid.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> was about to turn in the direction of Walford, but then into my
+    trouble-tossed mind there came the recollection that I had intended,
+    no matter what happened, to call on the Larramies before I went home.
+    I owed it to them, and at this moment their house seemed like a port
+    of refuge.
+
+<p>
+    The Larramies received me with wide-opened eyes and outstretched
+    hands. They were amazed to see me before the end of my vacation, for
+    no member of that family had ever come back from a vacation before it
+    was over; but they showed that they were delighted to have me with
+    them, be it sooner or later than they had expected, and I had not been
+    in the house ten minutes before I received three separate invitations
+    to make that house my home until school began again.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The house was even livelier than when I left it. There was a married
+    couple visiting there, enthusiastic devotees of golf; one of Mr.
+    Walter's college friends was with him; and, to my surprise, Miss Amy
+    Willoughby was there again.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Genevieve received me with the greatest warmth, and I could see that
+    her hopes of a gentleman friend revived. Little Clara demanded to be
+    kissed as soon as she saw me, and I think she now looked upon me as a
+    permanent uncle or something of that kind. As soon as possible I was
+    escorted by the greater part of the family to see the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith had welcomed me as if I had been an old friend. It warmed
+    my heart to receive the frank and cordial handshake she gave me. She
+    said very little, but there was a certain interrogation in her eyes
+    which assured me that she had much to ask when the time came. As for
+    me, I was in no hurry for that time to come. I did not feel like
+    answering questions, and with as much animation as I could assume I
+    talked to everybody as we went to see the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This animal had grown very fat and super-contented, but I found that
+    the family were in the condition of Gentleman Waife in Bulwer's novel,
+    and were now wondering what they would do with it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You see," cried Percy, who was the principal showman, "the neighbors
+    are all on pins and needles about him. Ever since the McKenna sisters
+    spread the story that Orso was in the habit of getting under beds,
+    there isn't a person within five miles of here who can go to bed
+    without looking under it to see if there is a bear there. There are
+    two houses for sale about a mile down the road, and we don't know any
+    reason why people should want to go away except it's the bear. Nearly
+    all the dogs around here are kept chained up for fear that Orso will
+    get hold of them, and there is a general commotion, I can tell you. At
+    first it was great fun, but it is getting a little tiresome now. We
+    have been talking about shooting him, and then I shall have his bones,
+    which I am going to set up as a skeleton, and it is my opinion that
+    you ought to have the skin."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Several demurrers now arose, for nobody seemed to think that I would
+    want such an ugly skin as that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ugly!" cried Percy, who was evidently very anxious to pursue his
+    study of comparative anatomy. "It's a magnificent skin. Look at that
+    long, heavy fur. Why, if you take that skin and have it all cleaned,
+    and combed out, and dyed some nice color, it will be fit to put into
+    any room."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Genevieve was in favor of combing and cleaning, oiling and dyeing the
+    hide of the bear without taking it off.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If you would do that," she declared, "he would be a beautiful bear,
+    and we would give him away. They would be glad to have him at Central
+    Park."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Larramies would not listen to my leaving that day. There were a
+    good many people in the house, but there was room enough for me, and,
+    when we had left the bear without solving the problem of his final
+    disposition, there were so many things to be done and so many things
+    to be said that it was late in the afternoon before Miss Edith found
+    the opportunity of speaking to me for which she had been waiting so
+    long.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said she, as we walked together away from the golf links, but
+    not towards the house, "what have you to report?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Report?" I repeated, evasively.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, you promised to do that, and I always expect people to fulfil
+    their promises to me. You came here by the way of the Holly Sprig Inn,
+    didn't you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assented. "A very roundabout way," she said. "It would have been
+    seven miles nearer if you had come by the cross-road. But I suppose
+    you thought you must go there first."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is what I thought," I answered.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Have you been thinking about her all the time you have been away?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Nearly all the time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And actually cut off a big slice of your vacation in order to see
+    her?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I replied that this was precisely the state of the case.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But, after all, you weren't successful. You need not tell me anything
+    about that&mdash;I knew it as soon as I saw you this morning. But I will
+    ask you to answer one thing: Is the decision final?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I sighed&mdash;I could not help it, but she did not even smile. "Yes," I
+    said, "the affair is settled definitely."
+</p>
+<p>
+    For a minute or so we walked on silently, and then she said: "I do not
+    want you to think I am hard-hearted, but I must say what is in me. I
+    congratulate you, and, at the same time, I am sorry for her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this amazing speech I turned suddenly towards her, and we both
+    stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said she, standing before me with her clear eyes fixed upon my
+    face, "you are to be congratulated. I think it is likely she is the
+    most charming young woman you are ever likely to meet&mdash;and I know a
+    great deal more about her than you do, for I have known her for a long
+    time, and your acquaintance is a very short one&mdash;she has qualities you
+    do not know anything about; she is lovely! But for all that it would
+    be very wrong for you to marry her, and I am glad she had sense enough
+    not to let you do it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why do you say that?" I asked, a little sharply.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course you don't like it," she replied, "but it is true. She may
+    be as lovely as you think her&mdash;and I am sure she is. She may be of
+    good family, finely educated, and a great many more things, but all
+    that goes for nothing beside the fact that for over five years she has
+    been the landlady of a little hotel."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not care a snap for that!" I exclaimed. "I like her all the
+    better for it. I&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That makes it worse," she interrupted, and as she spoke I could not
+    but recollect that a similar remark had been made to me before. "I
+    have not the slightest doubt that you would have been perfectly
+    willing to settle down as the landlord of a little hotel. But if you
+    had not&mdash;even if you had gone on in the course which father has
+    marked out for you, and you ought to hear him talk about you&mdash;you
+    might have become famous, rich, nobody knows what, perhaps President
+    of a college, but still everybody would have known that your wife was
+    the young woman who used to keep the Holly Sprig Inn, and asked the
+    people who came there if they objected to a back room, and if they
+    wanted tea or coffee for their breakfast. Of course Mrs. Chester
+    thought too much of you to let you consider any such foolishness."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I made no answer to this remark. I thought the young woman was taking
+    a great deal upon herself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course," she continued, "it would have been a great thing for Mrs.
+    Chester, and I honor her that she stood up stiffly and did the thing
+    she ought to do. I do not know what she said when she gave you her
+    final answer, but whatever it was it was the finest compliment she
+    could have paid you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled grimly. "She likened me to a bear," I said. "Do you call that
+    a compliment?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Edith Larramie looked at me, her eyes sparkling. "Tell me one thing,"
+    she said. "When she spoke to you in that way weren't you trying to
+    find out how she felt about the matter exclusive of the inn?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not help smiling again as I assented.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "There!" she exclaimed. "I am beginning to have the highest respect
+    for my abilities as a forecaster of human probabilities. It was like
+    you to try to find out that, and it was like her to snub you. But
+    let's walk on. Would you like me to give you some advice."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am afraid your advice is not worth very much," I answered, "but I
+    will hear it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, then," she said, "I advise you to fall in love with somebody
+    else just as soon as you can. That is the best way to get this affair
+    out of your mind, and until you do that you won't be worth anything."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I felt that I now knew this girl so well that I could say anything to
+    her. "Very well, then," said I; "suppose I fall in love with you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That isn't a very nice speech," she said. "There is a little bit of
+    spitefulness in it. But it doesn't mean anything, anyway. I am out of
+    the competition, and that is the reason I can speak to you so freely.
+    Moreover, that is the reason I know so much about the matter. I am not
+    biassed. But you need have no trouble&mdash;there's Amy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Don't say Amy to me, I beg of you!" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why not?" she persisted. "She is very pretty. She is as good as she
+    can be. She is rich. And if she were your wife you would want her to
+    talk more than she does, you would be so glad to listen to her. I
+    might say more about Amy, but I won't."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would it be very impolite," said I, "if I whistled?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't know," she said, "but you needn't do it. I will consider it
+    done. Now I will speak of Bertha Putney. I was bound to mention Amy
+    first, because she is my dear friend, but Miss Putney is a grand girl.
+    And I do not mind telling you that she takes a great interest in you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How do you know that?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I have seen her since you were here&mdash;she lunched with us. As soon as
+    she heard your name mentioned&mdash;and that was bound to happen, for this
+    family has been talking about you ever since they first knew you&mdash;she
+    began to ask questions. Of course the bear came up, and she wanted to
+    know every blessed thing that happened. But when she found out that
+    you got the bear at the Holly Sprig her manner changed, and she
+    talked no more about you at the table.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But in the afternoon she had a great deal to say to me. I did not
+    know exactly what she was driving at, and I may have told her too
+    much. We said a great many things&mdash;some of which I remember and some I
+    do not&mdash;but I am sure that I never knew a woman to take more interest
+    in a man than she takes in you. So it is my opinion that if you would
+    stop at the Putneys' on your way home you might do a great deal to
+    help you get rid of the trouble you are now in. It makes me feel
+    something like a spy in a camp to talk this way, but I told you I was
+    your friend, and I am going to be one. Spies are all right when they
+    are loyal to their own side."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was very glad to have such a girl on my side, but this did not seem
+    to be a very good time to talk about the advantages of a call upon
+    Miss Putney.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In spite of all the entreaties of the Larramie family, I persisted in
+    my intention of going on to Walford the next morning, and, in reply to
+    their assurances that I would find it dreadfully dull in that little
+    village during the rest of my vacation, I told them that I should be
+    very much occupied and should have no time to be dull. I was going
+    seriously to work to prepare myself for my profession. For a year or
+    two I had been deferring this important matter, waiting until I had
+    laid by enough money to enable me to give up school-teaching and to
+    apply myself entirely to the studies which would be necessary. All
+    this would give me enough to do, and vacation was the time in which I
+    ought to do it. The distractions of the school session were very much
+    in the way of a proper contemplation of my own affairs.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That sounds very well," said Miss Edith, when there was no one by,
+    "but if you cannot get the Holly Sprig Inn out of your mind, I do not
+    believe you will do very much 'proper contemplation.' Take my advice
+    and stop at the Putneys'. It can do you no harm, and it might help to
+    free your mind of distractions a great deal worse than those of the
+    school."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "By filling it with other distractions, I suppose you mean," I
+    answered. "A fickle-minded person you must think me. But it pleases me
+    so much to have you take an interest in me that I do not resent any of
+    your advice."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She laughed. "I like to give advice," she said, "but I must admit that
+    I sometimes think better of a person if he does not take it. But I
+    will say&mdash;and this is all the advice I am going to give you at
+    present&mdash;that if you want to be successful in making love, you must
+    change your methods. You cannot expect to step up in front of a girl
+    and stop her short as if she were a runaway horse. A horse doesn't
+    like that sort of thing, and a girl doesn't like it. You must take
+    more time about it. A runaway girl doesn't hurt anybody, and, if you
+    are active enough, you can jump in behind and take the reins and stop
+    her gradually without hurting her feelings, and then, most likely, you
+    can drive her for all the rest of your life."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You ought to have that speech engraved in uncial characters on a slab
+    of stone," said I. "Any museum would be glad to have it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had two reasons besides the one I gave for wishing to leave this
+    hospitable house. In the first place, Edith Larramie troubled me. I
+    did not like to have any one know so much about my mental interior&mdash;or
+    to think she knew so much. I did not like to feel that I was being
+    managed. I had a strong belief that if anybody jumped into a vehicle
+    she was pulling he would find that she was doing her own driving and
+    would allow no interferences. I liked her very much, but I was sure
+    that away from her I would feel freer in mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The other reason for my leaving was Amy Willoughby. During my little
+    visit to her house my acquaintance with her had grown with great
+    rapidity. Now I seemed to know her very well, and the more I knew her
+    the better I liked her. It may be vanity, but I think she wanted me to
+    like her, and one reason for believing this was the fact that when she
+    was with me&mdash;and I saw a great deal of her during the afternoon and
+    evening I spent with the Larramies&mdash;she did not talk so much, and when
+    she did speak she invariably said something I wanted to hear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Remembering the remarks which had been made about her by her friend
+    Edith, I could not but admit that she was a very fine girl, combining
+    a great many attractive qualities, but I rebelled against every
+    conviction I had in regard to her. I did not want to think about her
+    admirable qualities. I did not want to believe that in time they would
+    impress me more forcibly than they did now. I did not want people to
+    imagine that I would come to be so impressed. If I stayed there I
+    might almost look upon her in the light of a duty.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The family farewell the next morning was a tumultuous one. Invitations
+    to ride up again during my vacation, to come and spend Saturdays and
+    Sundays, were intermingled with earnest injunctions from Genevieve in
+    regard to a correspondence which she wished to open with me for the
+    benefit of her mind, and declarations from Percy that he would let me
+    know all about the bear as soon as it was decided what would be the
+    best thing to happen to him, and entreaties from little Clara that I
+    would not go away without kissing her good-bye.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But amid the confusion Miss Edith found a chance to say a final word
+    to me. "Don't you try," she said, as I was about to mount my bicycle,
+    "to keep those holly sprigs in your brain until Christmas. They are
+    awfully stickery, they will not last, and, besides, there will not be
+    any Christmas."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And how about New-Year's Day?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is the way to talk," said she. "Keep your mind on that and you
+    will be all right."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I rode along I could not forget that it would be necessary for me
+    to pass the inn. I had made inquiries, but there were no byways which
+    would serve my purpose. There was nothing for me to do but keep on,
+    and on I kept. I should pass so noiselessly and so swiftly that I did
+    not believe any one would notice me, unless, indeed, it should be the
+    boy. I earnestly hoped that I should not see the boy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Whether or not I was seen from the inn as I passed it I do not know.
+    In fact, I did not know when I passed it. No shout of immature
+    diabolism caught my ear, no scent of lemon came into my nostrils, and
+    I saw nothing but the line of road directly in front of me.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVIII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/w.png" alt="W">hen I was positively certain that I had left the little inn far
+    behind me, I slackened my speed, and, perceiving a spreading tree by
+    the road-side, I dismounted and sat down in the shade. It was a hot
+    day, and unconsciously I had been working very hard. Several persons
+    on wheels passed along the road, and every time I saw one approaching
+    I was afraid that it might be somebody I knew, who might stop and sit
+    by me in the shade. I was now near enough to Walford to meet with
+    people from that neighborhood, and I did not want to meet with any one
+    just now. I had a great many things to think about and just then I was
+    busy trying to make up my mind whether or not it would be well for me
+    to stop at the Putneys'.
+
+<p>
+    If I should pass without stopping, some one in the lodge would
+    probably see me, and the family would know of my discourtesy, but,
+    although it would have been a very simple thing to do, and a very
+    proper thing, I did not feel sure that I wanted to stop. If Edith
+    Larramie had never said anything about it, I think I would surely have
+    made a morning call upon the Putneys.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After I had cooled off a little I rose to remount; I had not decided
+    anything, but it was of no use to sit there any longer. Glancing along
+    the road towards Walford, I saw in the distance some one approaching
+    on a wheel. Involuntarily I stood still and watched the on-coming
+    cyclist, who I saw was a woman. She moved steadily and rapidly on the
+    other side of the road. Very soon I recognized her. It was Miss
+    Putney.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she came nearer and nearer I was greatly impressed with her
+    appearance. Her costume was as suitable and becoming for the occasion
+    as if it had been an evening dress for a ball, and she wheeled better
+    than any woman cyclist I ever saw. Her head was erect, her eyes
+    straight before her, and her motion was rhythm of action.
+</p>
+<p>
+    With my hand on my wheel I moved a few steps towards the middle of the
+    road. I was about to take off my cap when she turned her eyes upon me.
+    She even moved her head a little so as to gaze upon me a few seconds
+    longer. Her face was quiet and serene, her eyes were large, clear, and
+    observant. In them was not one gleam of recognition. Turning them
+    again upon the road in front of her, she sped on and away.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0031"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-31.png">
+<img src="images/bc-31s.png" width="200" height="177"
+alt="'Cut Like That'"><br />'Cut Like That'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    For some minutes I stood looking after her, utterly astonished. I do
+    not think in all my life I had ever been cut like that. What did it
+    mean? Could she care enough about me to resent my stopping at the
+    Holly Sprig? Was it possible that she could have known what had been
+    likely to happen there, and what had happened there? All this was very
+    improbable, but in Cathay people seemed to know a great many things.
+    Anyway, she had solved my problem for me. I need give no further
+    thought to a stop at her father's mansion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I mounted and rode on, but not rapidly. I was very much moved. My soul
+    grew warm as I thought of the steady gaze of the eyes which that girl
+    had fixed upon me. For a mile or so I moved steadily and quietly in a
+    mood of incensed dignity. I pressed the pedals with a hard and cruel
+    tread. I did not understand. I could scarcely believe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Soon, however, I began to move a little faster. Somehow or other I
+    became conscious that there was a bicycle at some distance behind me.
+    I pushed on a little faster. I did not wish to be overtaken by
+    anybody. Now I was sure there was a wheel behind me. I could not hear
+    it, but I knew it was there.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently I became certain that my instincts had not deceived me, for
+    I heard the quick sound of a bicycle bell. This was odd, for surely no
+    one would ring for me to get out of the way. Then there was another
+    tinkle, a little nearer.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now I sped faster and faster. I heard the bell violently ringing. Then
+    I thought, but I am not sure, that I heard a voice. I struck out with
+    the thrust of a steam-engine, and the earth slipped backward beneath
+    me like the water of a mill-race. I passed wagons as if they had been
+    puffs of smoke, and people on wheels as though they were flying
+    cinders.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In some ten minutes I slackened speed and looked back. For a long
+    distance behind me not a bicycle was in sight. I now pursued my
+    homeward way with a warm body and a lacerated heart. I hated this
+    region which I had called Cathay. Its inhabitants were not barbarians,
+    but I was suffering from their barbarities. I had come among them
+    clean, whole, with an upright bearing. I was going away torn, bloody,
+    and downcast.
+</p>
+<p>
+    If the last words of the lady of the Holly Sprig meant the sweet thing
+    I thought they meant, then did they make the words which preceded them
+    all the more bitter. The more friendly and honest the counsels of
+    Edith Larramie had grown, the deeper they had cut into my heart. Even
+    the more than regard with which my soul prompted me to look back to
+    Amy Willoughby was a pain to me. My judgment would enrage me if it
+    should try to compel me to feel as I did not want to feel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But none of these wounds would have so pained and disturbed me had it
+    not been for the merciless gaze which that dark-eyed girl had fixed
+    upon me as she passed me standing in the road. And if she had gone too
+    far and had done more than her own nature could endure, and if it were
+    she who had been pursuing me, then the wound was more cruel and the
+    smart deeper. If she believed me a man who would stop at the ringing
+    of her bell, then was I ashamed of myself for having given her that
+    impression.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0019"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIX
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; now proposed to wheel my way in one long stretch to Walford. I took
+    no interest in rest or in refreshment. Simply to feel that I had done
+    with this cycle of Cathay would be to me rest, refreshment, and,
+    perhaps, the beginning of peace.
+
+<p>
+    The sun was high in the heavens, and its rays were hot, but still I
+    kept steadily on until I saw a female figure by the road-side waving a
+    handkerchief. I had not yet reached her, but she had stopped, was
+    looking at me, and was waving energetically. I could not be mistaken.
+    I turned and wheeled up in front of her. It was Mrs. Burton, the
+    mother of the young lady who had injured her ankle on the day when I
+    set out for my journey through Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am so glad to see you," she said, as she shook hands with me. "I
+    knew you as soon as my eyes first fell upon you. You know I have
+    often seen you on the road before we became acquainted with you. We
+    have frequently talked about you since you were here, and we did not
+    expect you would be coming back so soon. Mr. Burton has been hoping
+    that he would have a chance to know you better. He is very fond of
+    school-masters. He was an intimate friend of Godfrey Chester, who had
+    the school at Walford some years before you came&mdash;when the boys and
+    girls used to go to school together&mdash;and of the man who came
+    afterwards. He was a little too elderly, perhaps, but Mr. Burton liked
+    him too, and now he hopes that he is going to know you. But excuse me
+    for keeping you standing so long in the road. You must come in. We
+    shall have dinner in ten minutes. I was just coming home from a
+    neighbor's when I caught sight of you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I declined with earnestness. Mr. Burton might be a very agreeable man,
+    but I wanted to make no new acquaintances then. I must keep on to
+    Walford.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But the good lady would listen to no refusals of her hospitality. I
+    was just in time. I must need a mid-day rest and something to eat. She
+    was very sorry that Mr. Burton was not at home. He nearly always was
+    at home, but to-day he had gone to Waterton. But if I would be
+    contented to take dinner with her daughter and herself, they would be
+    delighted to have me do so. She made a motion to open the gate for me,
+    but I opened it for her, and we both went in. The daughter met us at
+    the top of the garden walk. She came towards me as a cool summer
+    breeze comes upon a hot and dusty world. There was no flush upon her
+    face, but her eyes and lips told me that she was glad to see me before
+    she spoke a word or placed her soft, white hand in mine. At the first
+    touch of that hand I felt glad that Mrs. Burton had stopped me in the
+    road. Here was peace.
+</p>
+<p>
+    That dinner was the most soothing meal of which I had ever partaken. I
+    did the carving, my companions did the questioning, and nearly all the
+    conversation was about myself. Ordinarily I would not have liked this,
+    but every word which was said by these two fair ladies&mdash;for the
+    sweetness of the mother was merely more seasoned than that of the
+    daughter&mdash;was so filled with friendly interest that it gratified me to
+    make my answers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    They seemed to have heard a great deal about me during my wanderings
+    through Cathay. They knew, of course, that I had stopped with the
+    Putneys, for I had told them that, but they had also heard that I had
+    spent a night at the Holly Sprig, and had afterwards stayed with the
+    Larramies. But of anything which had happened which in the slightest
+    degree had jarred upon my feelings they did not appear to have heard
+    the slightest mention.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I might have supposed that only good and happy news thought it worth
+    while to stop at that abode of peace. As I looked upon the serene and
+    tender countenance of Mrs. Burton I wondered how a cloud rising from
+    want of sympathy with early peas ever could have settled over this
+    little family circle; but it was the man who had caused the cloud. I
+    knew it. It is so often the man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we had finished dinner and had gone out to sit in the cool
+    shadows of the piazza, I let my gaze rest as often as I might upon the
+    fair face of that young girl. Several times her eyes met mine, but
+    their lids never drooped, their tender light did not brighten. I felt
+    that she was so truly glad to see me that her pleasure in the meeting
+    was not affected one way or the other by the slight incident of my
+    looking at her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    If ever a countenance told of innocence, purity, and truth, her
+    countenance told of them. I believe that if she had thought it
+    pleased me to look at her, it would have pleased her to know that it
+    gave me pleasure.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I talked with her and looked at her, and as I looked at her mother
+    and talked with her, it was impressed upon me that if there is one
+    thing in this world which is better than all else, it is peace, that
+    peace which comprises so many forms of happiness and deep content.
+    That the thoughts which came to me could come to a heart so lacerated,
+    so torn, so full of pain as mine had been that morning, seemed
+    wonderful, and yet they came.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Once or twice I tried to banish these thoughts. It seemed
+    disrespectful to myself to entertain them so soon after other thoughts
+    which I now wished to banish utterly. I am not a hero of romance. I am
+    only a plain human being, and such is the constitution of my nature
+    that the more troubled and disturbed is my soul, the more welcome is
+    purity, truth, and peace.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But, after all, my feelings were not quite natural, and the change in
+    them was too sudden. It was the consequence of too violent a reaction,
+    but, such as it was, it was complete. I would not be hasty. I would
+    not be deficient in self-respect. But if at that moment I had known
+    that this was the time to declare what I wished to have, I would
+    unhesitatingly have asked for beauty, purity, and peace.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A maid came out upon the piazza who wanted something. Mrs. Burton half
+    rose, but her daughter forestalled her. "I will go," said she. "Excuse
+    me one minute."
+</p>
+<p>
+    If my face expressed the sentiment, "Oh, that the mother had gone!" I
+    did not intend that it should do so. Mrs. Burton then began to talk
+    about her daughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "She is like her father," she said, "in so many ways. For one thing,
+    she is very fond of school-masters. I do not know exactly why this
+    should be, but her teachers always seem to be her friends. In fact,
+    she is to marry a school-master&mdash;that is, an assistant professor at
+    Yale. He is in Europe now, but we expect him back early in the fall."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A short time after this, when the daughter had returned and I rose to
+    go, the young girl put her soft, white hand into mine exactly as she
+    had done when I arrived, and the light in her eyes showed me, just as
+    it had showed me before, the pleasure she had taken in my visit. But
+    the mother's farewell was different from her greeting. I could see in
+    her kind air a certain considerate sympathy which was not there
+    before. She had been very prompt to tell me of her daughter's
+    engagement.
+</p>
+<p>
+    That young angel of peace and truth would not have deemed it necessary
+    to say a word about the matter, even to a young man who was a
+    school-master, and between whom and her family a mutual interest was
+    rapidly growing. But with the mother it was otherwise. She had seen
+    the shadows pass away from my countenance as I sat and talked upon
+    that cool piazza, my eyes bent upon her daughter. Mothers know.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0020"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XX
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    BACK FROM CATHAY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">he next morning, being again settled in my rooms in Walford, I went
+    to call upon the Doctor and his daughter. The Doctor was not at home,
+    but his daughter was glad to see me.
+
+<p>
+    "And how do you like your cycle of Cathay?" she asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not like it at all," I answered. "It has taken me upon a dreary
+    round. I am going to change it for another as soon as I have an
+    opportunity."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then it has not been a wheel of fortune to you?" she remarked. "And
+    as for that country which you figuratively called Cathay, did you find
+    that pleasant?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "In some ways, yes, but in others not. You see, I came back before my
+    vacation was over, and I do not care to go there any more."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She now wanted me to tell her where I had really been and what had
+    happened to me, and I gave her a sketch of my adventures. Of course I
+    could not enter deeply into particulars, for that would make too long
+    a story, but I told her where I had stopped, and my accounts of the
+    bear and the horse were deeply interesting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It seems to me," she said, when I had finished, "that if things had
+    been a little different, you might have had an extremely pleasant
+    tour. For instance, if Mr. Godfrey Chester had been living, I think
+    you would have liked him very much, and it is probable that you would
+    have been glad to stay at his inn for several days. It is a beautiful
+    country thereabout."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did you know him?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she said; "he was my teacher during part of my school-days
+    here. And then there is Mr. Burton; father is very fond of him. He is
+    a man of great intelligence. It was unfortunate that you did not see
+    more of him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Perhaps you know Mr. Putney?" I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," she answered. "I have heard a great deal about him. He seems to
+    be a stiff sort of a man. But as to Mr. Larramie, everybody likes him.
+    He is a great favorite throughout the county, and his son Walter is a
+    rising young man. I am glad you made the acquaintance of the
+    Larramies."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So am I," I said, "very glad indeed. And, by-the-way, do you know a
+    young man named Willoughby? I never heard his first name, but he lives
+    at Waterton."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, the Willoughbys of Waterton," she said. "I have heard a great
+    deal about them. Father used to know the old gentleman. He was a great
+    collector of rare books, but he is dead now. If you had met him you
+    would have found him a man of your own tastes."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I was going away she stopped me for a moment. "I forgot to ask
+    you," she said; "did you take any of those capsules I gave you when
+    you were starting off on your cycle?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I, "I took some of them." But I could not well explain the
+    capricious way in which I had endeavored to guard against the germs of
+    malaria, and to call my own attention to the threatening germs of
+    erratic fancy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then you do not think they did you any good?" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am not sure," I replied. "I cannot say anything about that. But of
+    one thing I am certain, and that is, that if any germs of any kind
+    entered my system, it is perfectly free from them now."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am glad to hear that," she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was about a week after this that I received a letter from Percy
+    Larramie. "I thought you would like to know about the bear," he wrote.
+    "Somebody must have forgotten to feed him, and he broke his chain and
+    got away. He went straight over to the Holly Sprig Inn, and I expect
+    he did that because the inn was the last place he had seen his master.
+    I did not know bears cared so much for masters. He didn't stay long at
+    the inn, but he stayed long enough to bite a boy. Then he went into
+    the woods.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "As soon as we heard of it we all set off on a bear-hunt. It was jolly
+    fun, although I did not so much as catch a sight of him. Father shot
+    him at a three-hundred-foot range. It was a Winchester rifle with a
+    thirty-two cartridge. It was a beautiful shot, Walter said, and I wish
+    I had made it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We took his skin off and tore it only in two or three places, which
+    can be mended. Would you like to have the skin, and do you care
+    particularly about the head? If you don't, I would like to have it,
+    because without it the skeleton will not be perfect."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I wrote to Percy that I did not desire so much as a single hair of the
+    beast. I did not tell him so, but I despised the bears of Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was just before the Christmas holidays when I finally made up my
+    mind that of all the women in the world the Doctor's daughter was the
+    one for me, and when I told her so she did not try to conceal that
+    this was also her own opinion. I had seen the most charming qualities
+    in other women, and my somewhat rapid and enthusiastic study of them
+    had so familiarized me with them that I was enabled readily to
+    perceive their existence in others. I found them all in the Doctor's
+    daughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Her father was very well pleased when he heard of our compact. It was
+    plain that he had been waiting to hear of it. When he furthermore
+    heard that I had decided to abandon all thought of the law, and to
+    study medicine instead, his satisfaction was complete. He arranged
+    everything with affectionate prudence. I should read with him,
+    beginning immediately, even before I gave up my school. I should
+    attend the necessary medical courses, and we need be in no hurry to
+    marry. We were both young, and when I was ready to become his
+    assistant it would be time enough for him to give me his daughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We were sitting together in the Doctor's library and had been looking
+    over some of the papers of the Walford Literary Society, of which we
+    were both officers, when I said, looking at her signature:
+    "By-the-way, I wish you would tell me one thing. What does the initial
+    'E.' stand for in your name? I never knew any one to use it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," she said; "I do not like it. It was given to me by my mother's
+    sister, who was a romantic young lady. It is Europa. And I only hope,"
+    she added, quickly, "that you may have fifty years of it."
+</p>
+<hr>
+<p>
+    Three years of the fifty have now passed, and each one of the young
+    women I met in Cathay has married. The first one to go off was Edith
+    Larramie. She married the college friend of her brother who was at the
+    house when I visited them. When I met her in Walford shortly after I
+    heard of her engagement, she took me aside in her old way and told me
+    she wanted me always to look upon her as my friend, no matter how
+    circumstances might change with her or me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You do not know how much of a friend I was to you," she said, "and it
+    is not at all necessary you should know. But I will say that when I
+    saw you getting into such a dreadful snarl in our part of the
+    country, I determined, if there were no other way to save you, I would
+    marry you myself! But I did not do it, and you ought to be very glad
+    of it, for you would have found that a little of me, now and then,
+    would be a great deal more to your taste than to have me always."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0032"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-32.png">
+<img src="images/bc-32s.png" width="126" height="200"
+alt="Europa"><br />Europa</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester married the man who had courted her before she fell in
+    love with her school-master. It appeared that the fact of her having
+    been the landlady of the Holly Sprig made no difference in his case.
+    He was too rich to have any prospects which might be interfered with.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Amy Willoughby married Walter Larramie. That was a thing which might
+    well have been expected. I was very glad to hear it, for I shall never
+    fail to be interested in the Larramies.
+</p>
+<p>
+    About a year ago there was a grand wedding at the Putney city mansion.
+    The daughter of the family was married to an Italian gentleman with a
+    title. I read of the affair in the newspapers, and having heard, in
+    addition, a great many details of the match from the gossips of
+    Walford, I supposed myself to be fully informed in regard to this
+    grand alliance, and was therefore very much surprised to receive,
+    personally, an announcement of the marriage upon a very large and
+    stiff card, on which were given, in full, the various titles and
+    dignities of the noble bridegroom. I did not believe Mr. Putney had
+    sent me this card, nor that his wife had done so; certainly the Count
+    did not send it. But no matter how it came to me, I was very sure I
+    owed it to the determination, on the part of some one, that by no
+    mischance should I fail to know exactly what had happened. I heard
+    recently that the noble lady and her husband expect to spend the
+    summer at her father's country-house, and some people believe that
+    they intend to make it their permanent home.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Doctor strongly advises that Europa and I should go before long
+    and settle in the Cathay region. He thinks that it will be a most
+    excellent field for me to begin my labors in, and he knows many
+    families there who would doubtless give me their practice.
+</p>
+<br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12334 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+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
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+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #12334 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12334)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Bicycle of Cathay, by Frank R. 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: A Bicycle of Cathay
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Release Date: May 13, 2004  [eBook #12334]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: iso-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BICYCLE OF CATHAY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Asad Razzaki, and Project Gutenberg
+Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 12334-h.htm or 12334-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/3/12334/12334-h/12334-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/3/12334/12334-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+A BICYCLE OF CATHAY
+
+A Novel
+
+By Frank R. Stockton
+
+Author of "The Great Stone of Sardis," "The Associate Hermits" etc.
+
+Illustrated by Orson Lowell
+
+1900
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The doctor's daughter]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+   II. A BAD TWIST
+
+  III. THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+
+   IV. A BIT OF ADVICE
+
+    V. THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+
+   VI. THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+
+  VII. MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+
+ VIII. ORSO
+
+   IX. A RUNAWAY
+
+    X. THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+
+   XI. THE THREE MCKENNAS
+
+  XII. BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+
+ XIII. A MAN WITH A LETTER
+
+  XIV. MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+   XV. MISS WILLOUGHBY
+
+  XVI. AN ICICLE
+
+ XVII. A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+
+XVIII. REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+
+  XIX. BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+
+   XX. BACK FROM CATHAY
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+HALF-TITLE
+
+"I PUT ON MY COAT"
+
+"THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN HARD"
+
+"ON MY RIGHT A LIGHTED DOORWAY"
+
+A FEW THOUGHTS
+
+"THE BEAUTY OF HER TEETH"
+
+"I KICKED OFF MY EMBROIDERED SLIPPERS"
+
+"IT WOULD BE WELL FOR ME TO SWALLOW A CAPSULE"
+
+"AS SOON AS I HAD SPOKEN THESE WORDS"
+
+"I DISMOUNTED AND APPROACHED THE WALL"
+
+"I THOUGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS"
+
+"I WENT OUT FOR A WALK"
+
+MRS. CHESTER
+
+"SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WALFORD"
+
+"BUT WE WERE NOT ALONE"
+
+"TO MY LEFT I SAW A LINE OF TREES"
+
+"HE WAS RUNNING AWAY"
+
+"HE SOON FELT THAT HE WAS UNDER CONTROL"
+
+"A LITTLE ARMY HAD THROWN ITSELF UPON ME"
+
+"'WOULD IT BE EASIER TO MANAGE A BOY OR A BEAR?'"
+
+"I TAPPED MY LEFT PALM"
+
+"THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH UPON HER FACE"
+
+"THE SCENE VIVIDLY RECURRED TO MY MIND"
+
+DECIPHERING THE DAGO'S LETTER
+
+"'I DON'T THINK YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THIS LETTER'"
+
+"'DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HIT IT WITH AN APPLE?'"
+
+"TALKING ABOUT BABY BEARS"
+
+"I HELD THAT PICTURE A GOOD WHILE"
+
+"'NO, SIR,' SHE SAID"
+
+"CUT LIKE THAT"
+
+EUROPA
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+
+It was a beautiful summer morning when slowly I wheeled my way along
+the principal street of the village of Walford. A little valise was
+strapped in front of my bicycle; my coat, rolled into a small compass,
+was securely tied under the seat, and I was starting out to spend my
+vacation.
+
+I was the teacher of the village school, which useful institution had
+been closed for the season the day before, much to the gratification
+of pedagogue and scholars. This position was not at all the summit of
+my youthful ambition. In fact, I had been very much disappointed when
+I found myself obliged to accept it, but when I left college my
+financial condition made it desirable for me to do something to
+support myself while engaged in some of the studies preparatory to a
+professional career.
+
+I have never considered myself a sentimental person, but I must admit
+that I did not feel very happy that morning, and this state of mind
+was occasioned entirely by the feeling that there was no one who
+seemed to be in the least sorry that I was going away. My boys were so
+delighted to give up their studies that they were entirely satisfied
+to give up their teacher, and I am sure that my vacation would have
+been a very long one if they had had the ordering of it. My landlady
+might have been pleased to have me stay, but if I had agreed to pay my
+board during my absence I do not doubt that my empty room would have
+occasioned her no pangs of regret. I had friends in the village, but
+as they knew it was a matter of course that I should go away during
+the vacation, they seemed to be perfectly reconciled to the fact.
+
+As I passed a small house which was the abode of my laundress, my
+mental depression was increased by the action of her oldest son. This
+little fellow, probably five years of age, and the condition of whose
+countenance indicated that his mother's art was seldom exercised upon
+it, was playing on the sidewalk with his sister, somewhat younger and
+much dirtier.
+
+As I passed the little chap he looked up and in a sharp, clear voice,
+he cried: "Good-bye! Come back soon!" These words cut into my soul.
+Was it possible that this little ragamuffin was the only one in that
+village who was sorry to see me depart and who desired my return? And
+the acuteness of this cut was not decreased by the remembrance that on
+several occasions when he had accompanied his mother to my lodging I
+had given him small coins.
+
+I was beginning to move more rapidly along the little path, well worn
+by many rubber tires, which edged the broad roadway, when I perceived
+the doctor's daughter standing at the gate of her father's front yard.
+As I knew her very well, and she happened to be standing there and
+looking in my direction, I felt that it would be the proper thing for
+me to stop and speak to her, and so I dismounted and proceeded to roll
+my bicycle up to the gate.
+
+As the doctor's daughter stood looking over the gate, her hands
+clasped the tops of the two central pickets.
+
+"Good-morning," said she. "I suppose, from your carrying baggage,
+that you are starting off for your vacation. How far do you expect to
+go on your wheel, and do you travel alone?"
+
+"My only plan," I answered, "is to ride over the hills and far away!
+How far I really do not know; and I shall be alone except for this
+good companion." And as I said this I patted the handle-bar of my
+bicycle.
+
+"Your wheel does seem to be a sort of a companion," she said; "not so
+good as a horse, but better than nothing. I should think, travelling
+all by yourself in this way, you would have quite a friendly feeling
+for it. Did you ever think of giving it a name?"
+
+"Oh yes," said I. "I have named it. I call it a 'Bicycle of Cathay.'"
+
+"Is there any sense in such a name?" she asked. "It is like part of a
+quotation from Tennyson, isn't it? I forget the first of it."
+
+"You are right," I said. "'Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle
+of Cathay.' I cannot tell you exactly why, but that seems to suggest a
+good name for a bicycle."
+
+"But your machine has two wheels," said she. "Therefore you ought to
+say, 'Better one hundred years of Europe than two cycles of Cathay.'"
+
+"I bow to custom," said I. "Every one speaks of a bicycle as a wheel,
+and I shall not introduce the plural into the name of my good steed."
+
+"And you don't know where your Cathay is to be?" she asked.
+
+I smiled and shook my head. "No," I answered, "but I hope my cycle
+will carry me safely through it."
+
+The doctor's daughter looked past me across the road. "I wish I were a
+man," said she, "and could go off as I pleased, as you do! It must be
+delightfully independent."
+
+I was about to remark that too much independence is not altogether
+delightful, but she suddenly spoke:
+
+"You carry very little with you for a long journey," and as she said
+this she grasped the pickets of the gate more tightly. I could see the
+contraction of the muscles of her white hands. It seemed as if she
+were restraining something.
+
+"Oh, this isn't all my baggage," I replied. "I sent on a large bag to
+Waterton. I suppose I shall be there in a couple of days, and then I
+shall forward the bag to some other place."
+
+"I do not suppose you have packed up any medicine among your other
+things?" she asked. "You don't look as if you very often needed
+medicine."
+
+I laughed as I replied that in the course of my life I had taken but
+little.
+
+"But if your cycle starts off rolling early in the morning," she said,
+"or keeps on late in the evening, you ought to be able to defend
+yourself against malaria. I do not know what sort of a country Cathay
+may be, but I should not be a bit surprised if you found it full of
+mists and morning vapors. Malaria has a fancy for strong people, you
+know. Just wait here a minute, please," and with that she turned and
+ran into the house.
+
+I had liked the doctor's daughter ever since I had begun to know her,
+although at first I had found it a little hard to become acquainted
+with her.
+
+She was the treasurer of the literary society of the village, and I
+was its secretary. We had to work together sometimes, and I found her
+a very straightforward girl in her accounts and in every other way.
+
+In about a minute she returned, carrying a little pasteboard box.
+
+"Here are some one-grain quinine capsules," she said. "They have no
+taste, and I am quite sure that if you get into a low country it would
+be a good thing for you to take at least one of them every morning.
+People may have given you all sorts of things for your journey, but I
+do not believe any one has given you this." And she handed me the box
+over the top of the gate.
+
+I did not say that her practical little present was the only thing
+that anybody had given me, but I thanked her very heartily, and
+assured her that I would take one every time I thought I needed it.
+Then, as it seemed proper to do so, I straightened up my bicycle as if
+I would mount it. Again her fingers clutched the top of the two
+palings.
+
+"When father comes home," she said, "he will be sorry to find that he
+had not a chance to bid you good-bye. And, by-the-way," she added,
+quickly, "you know there will be one more meeting of the society. Did
+you write out any minutes for the last evening, and would you like me
+to read them for you?"
+
+"Upon my word!" I exclaimed. "I have forgotten all about it. I made
+some rough notes, but I have written nothing."
+
+"Well, it doesn't matter in the least," said she, quickly. "I remember
+everything that happened, and I will write the minutes and read them
+for you; that is, if you want me to."
+
+I assured her that nothing would please me better, and we talked a
+little about the minutes, after which I thought I ought not to keep
+her standing at the gate any longer. So I took leave of her, and we
+shook hands over the gate. This was the first time I had ever shaken
+hands with the doctor's daughter, for she was a reserved girl, and
+hitherto I had merely bowed to her.
+
+As I sped away down the street and out into the open country my heart
+was a good deal lighter than it had been when I began my journey. It
+was certainly pleasant to leave that village, which had been my home
+for the greater part of a year, without the feeling that there was no
+one in it who cared for me, even to the extent of a little box of
+quinine capsules.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A BAD TWIST
+
+
+It was about the middle of the afternoon that I found myself bowling
+along a smooth highway, bordered by trees and stretching itself almost
+upon a level far away into the distance. Had I been a scorcher, here
+would have been a chance to do a little record-breaking, for I was a
+powerful and practised wheelman. But I had no desire to be extravagant
+with my energies, and so contented myself with rolling steadily on at
+a speed moderate enough to allow me to observe the country I was
+passing through.
+
+There were not many people on the road, but at some distance ahead of
+me I saw a woman on a wheel. She was not going rapidly, and I was
+gaining on her. Suddenly, with no reason whatever that I could see,
+her machine gave a twist, and, although she put out her foot to save
+herself, she fell to the ground. Instantly I pushed forward to assist
+her, but before I could reach her she was on her feet. She made a step
+towards her bicycle, which lay in the middle of the road, and then she
+stopped and stood still. I saw that she was hurt, but I could not help
+a sort of inward smile. "It is the old way of the world," I thought.
+"Would the Fates have made that young woman fall from her bicycle if
+there had been two men coming along on their wheels?"
+
+As I jumped from my machine and approached her she turned her head and
+looked at me. She was a pale girl, and her face was troubled. When I
+asked her if she had hurt herself, she spoke to me without the
+slightest embarrassment or hesitation.
+
+"I twisted my foot in some way," she said, "and I do not know what I
+am going to do. It hurts me to make a step, and I am sure I cannot
+work my wheel."
+
+"Have you far to go?" I asked.
+
+"I live about two miles from here," she answered. "I do not think I
+have sprained my ankle, but it hurts. Perhaps, however, if I rest for
+a little while I may be able to walk."
+
+"I would not try to do that," said I. "Whatever has happened to your
+foot or ankle, you would certainly make it very much worse by walking
+such a distance. Perhaps I can ride on and get you a conveyance?"
+
+"You would have to go a long way to get one," she answered. "We do not
+keep a horse and I really--"
+
+"Don't trouble yourself in the least," I said. "I can take you to your
+home without any difficulty whatever. If you will mount your machine I
+can push you along very easily."
+
+"But then you would have to walk yourself," she said, quickly, "and
+push your wheel too."
+
+Of course it would not have been necessary for me to walk, for I could
+have ridden my bicycle and have pushed her along on her own, but under
+the circumstances I did not think it wise to risk this. So I accepted
+her suggestion of walking as if nothing else could be done.
+
+"Oh, I do not mind walking a bit," said I. "I am used to it, and as I
+have been riding for a long time, it would be a relief to me."
+
+She stood perfectly still, apparently afraid to move lest she should
+hurt her foot, but she raised her head and fixed a pair of very large
+blue eyes upon me. "It is too kind in you to offer to do this! But I
+do not see what else is to be done. But who is going to hold up my
+wheel while you help me to get on it?"
+
+"Oh, I will attend to all that," said I, and picking up her bicycle, I
+brought it to her. She made a little step towards it, and then
+stopped.
+
+"You mustn't do that," said I. "I will put you on." And holding her
+bicycle upright with my left hand, I put my right arm around her and
+lifted her to the seat. She was such a childlike, sensible young
+person that I did not think it necessary to ask any permission for
+this action, nor even to allude to its necessity.
+
+"Now you might guide yourself with the handle-bar," I said. "Please
+steer over to that tree where I have left my machine." I easily pushed
+her over to the tree, and when I had laid hold of my bicycle with my
+left hand, we slowly proceeded along the smooth road.
+
+"I think you would better take your feet from the pedals," said I,
+"and put them on the coasters--the motion must hurt you. It is better
+to have your injured foot raised, anyway, as that will keep the blood
+from running down into it and giving you more pain."
+
+She instantly adopted my suggestion, and presently said, "That is a
+great deal more pleasant, and I am sure it is better for my foot to
+keep it still. I do hope I haven't sprained my ankle! It is possible
+to give a foot a bad twist without spraining it, isn't it?"
+
+I assented, and as I did so I thought it would not be difficult to
+give a bad twist to any part of this slenderly framed young creature.
+
+"How did you happen to fall?" I asked--not that I needed to inquire,
+for my own knowledge of wheelcraft assured me that she had tumbled
+simply because she did not know how to ride.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea," she answered. "The first thing I knew
+I was going over, and I wish I had not tried to save myself. It would
+have been better to go down bodily."
+
+As we went on she told me that she had not had much practice, as it
+had been but a few weeks since she had become the possessor of a
+wheel, and that this was the first trip she had ever taken by herself.
+She had always gone in company with some one, but to-day she had
+thought she was able to take care of herself, like other girls.
+Finding her so entirely free from conventional embarrassment, I made
+bold to give her a little advice on the subject of wheeling in
+general, and she seemed entirely willing to be instructed. In fact, as
+I went on with my little discourse I began to think that I would much
+rather teach girls than boys. At first sight the young person under
+my charge might have been taken for a school-girl, but her
+conversation would have soon removed that illusion.
+
+We had not proceeded more than a mile when suddenly I felt a very
+gentle tap on the end of my nose, and at the same moment the young
+lady turned her head towards me and exclaimed: "It's going to rain! I
+felt a drop!"
+
+"I will walk faster," I said, "and no doubt I will get you to your
+house before the shower is upon us. At any rate, I hope you won't be
+much wet."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't matter about me in the least," she said. "I shall be
+at home and can put on dry clothes, but you will be soaked through and
+have to go on. You haven't any coat on!"
+
+If I had known there was any probability of rain I should have put on
+my coat before I started out on this somewhat unusual method of
+travelling, but there was no help for it now, and all I could do was
+to hurry on. From walking fast I began to trot. The drops were coming
+down quite frequently.
+
+"Won't that tire you dreadfully?" she said.
+
+"Not at all," I replied. "I could run like this for a long distance."
+
+[Illustration: "I PUT ON MY COAT"]
+
+She looked up at me with a little smile. I think she must have
+forgotten the pain in her foot.
+
+"It must be nice to be strong like that," she said.
+
+Now the rain came down faster, and my companion declared that I ought
+to stop and put on my coat. I agreed to this, and when I came to a
+suitable tree by the road-side, I carefully leaned her against it and
+detached my coat from my bicycle. But just as I was about to put it on
+I glanced at the young girl. She had on a thin shirt-waist, and I
+could see that the shoulders of it were already wet. I advanced
+towards her, holding out my coat. "I must lay this over you," I said.
+"I am afraid now that I shall not get you to your home before it
+begins to rain hard."
+
+She turned to me so suddenly that I made ready to catch her if her
+unguarded movement should overturn her machine. "You mustn't do that
+at all!" she said. "It doesn't matter whether I am wet or not. I do
+not have to travel in wet clothes, and you do. Please put on your coat
+and let us hurry!"
+
+I obeyed her, and away we went again, the rain now coming down hard
+and fast. For some minutes she did not say anything; but I did not
+wonder at this, for circumstances were not favorable to conversation.
+But presently, in spite of the rain and our haste, she spoke:
+
+"It must seem dreadfully ungrateful and hard-hearted in me to say to
+you, after all you have done for me, that you must go on in the rain.
+Anybody would think that I ought to ask you to come into our house and
+wait until the storm is over. But, really, I do not see how I can do
+it."
+
+I urged her not for a moment to think of me. I was hardy, and did not
+mind rain, and when I was mounted upon my wheel the exercise would
+keep me warm enough until I reached a place of shelter.
+
+"I do not like it," she said. "It is cruel and inhuman, and nothing
+you can say will make it any better. But the fact is that I find
+myself in a very--Well, I do not know what to say about it. You are
+the school-teacher at Walford, are you not?"
+
+This question surprised me, and I assented quickly, wondering what
+would come next.
+
+"I thought so," she said. "I have seen you on the road on your wheel,
+and some one told me who you were. And now, since you have been so
+kind to me, I am going to tell you exactly why I cannot ask you to
+stop at our house. Everything is all wrong there to-day, and if I
+don't explain what has happened, you might think that things are
+worse than they really are, and I wouldn't want anybody to think
+that."
+
+[Illustration: "THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN HARD"]
+
+I listened with great attention, for I saw that she was anxious to
+free herself of the imputation of being inhospitable, and although the
+heavy rain and my rapid pace made it sometimes difficult to catch her
+words, I lost very little of her story.
+
+"You see," said she, "my father is very fond of gardening, and he
+takes great pride in his vegetables, especially the early ones. He has
+peas this year ahead of everybody else in the neighborhood, and it was
+only day before yesterday that he took me out to look at them. He has
+been watching them ever since they first came up out of the ground,
+and when he showed me the nice big pods and told me they would be
+ready to pick in a day or two, he looked so proud and happy that you
+might have thought his peas were little living people. I truly believe
+that even at prayer-time he could not help thinking how good those
+peas would taste.
+
+"But this morning when he came in from the garden and told mother that
+he was going to pick our first peas, so as to have them perfectly
+fresh for dinner, she said that he would better not pick them to-day,
+because the vegetable man had been along just after breakfast, and he
+had had such nice green peas that she had bought some, and therefore
+he had better keep his peas for some other day.
+
+"Now, I don't want you to think that mother isn't just as good as
+gold, for she is. But she doesn't take such interest in garden things
+as father does, and to her all peas are peas, provided they are good
+ones. But when father heard what she had done I know that he felt
+exactly as if he had been stabbed in one of his tenderest places. He
+did not say one word, and he walked right out of the house, and since
+that they haven't spoken to each other. It was dreadful to sit at
+dinner, neither of them saying a word to the other, and only speaking
+to me. It was all so different from the way things generally are that
+I can scarcely bear it.
+
+"And I went out this afternoon for no other reason than to give them a
+chance to make it up between them. I thought perhaps they would do it
+better if they were alone with each other. But of course I do not know
+what has happened, and things may be worse than they were. I could not
+take a stranger into the house at such a time--they would not like to
+be found not speaking to each other--and, besides, I do not know--"
+
+Here I interrupted her, and begged her not to give another thought to
+the subject. I wanted very much to go on, and in every way it was the
+best thing I could do.
+
+As I finished speaking she pointed out a pretty house standing back
+from the road, and told me that was where she lived. In a very few
+minutes after that I had run her up to the steps of her piazza and was
+assisting her to dismount from her wheel.
+
+"It is awful!" she said. "This rain is coming down like a cataract!"
+
+"You must hurry in-doors," I answered. "Let me help you up the steps."
+And with this I took hold of her under the arms, and in a second I had
+set her down in front of the closed front door. I then ran down and
+brought up her wheel. "Do you think you can manage to walk in?" said
+I.
+
+"Oh yes!" she said. "If I can't do anything else, I can hop. My mother
+will soon have me all right. She knows all about such things."
+
+She looked at me with an anxious expression, and then said, "How do
+you think it would do for you to wait on the piazza until the rain is
+over?"
+
+"Good-bye," I said, with a laugh, and bounding down to the front
+gate, where I had left my bicycle, I mounted and rode away.
+
+The rain came down harder and harder. The road was full of little
+running streams, and liquid mud flew from under my whirling wheels. It
+was not late in the afternoon, but it was actually getting dark, and I
+seemed to be the only living creature out in this tremendous storm. I
+looked from side to side for some place into which I could run for
+shelter, but here the road ran between broad open fields. My coat had
+ceased to protect me, and I could feel the water upon my skin.
+
+But in spite of my discomforts and violent exertions I found myself
+under the influence of some very pleasurable emotions, occasioned by
+the incident of the slender girl. Her childlike frankness was charming
+to me. There was not another girl in a thousand who would have told me
+that story of the peas. I felt glad that she had known who I was when
+she was talking to me, and that her simple confidences had been given
+to me personally, and not to an entire stranger who had happened
+along. I wondered if she resembled her father or her mother, and I had
+no doubt that to possess such a daughter they must both be excellent
+people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+
+
+Thinking thus, I almost forgot the storm, but coming to a slight
+descent where the road was very smooth I became conscious that my
+wheel was inclined to slip, and if I were not careful I might come to
+grief. But no sooner had I reached the bottom of the declivity than I
+beheld on my right a lighted doorway. Without the slightest hesitation
+I turned through the wide gateway, the posts of which I could scarcely
+see, and stopped in front of a small house by the side of a driveway.
+Waiting for no permission, I carried my bicycle into a little covered
+porch. I then approached the door, for I was now seeking not only
+shelter but an opportunity to dry myself. I do not believe a sponge
+could have been more thoroughly soaked than I was.
+
+At the very entrance I was met by a little man in short jacket and
+top-boots.
+
+"I heard your step," said he. "Been caught in the rain, eh? Well, this
+is a storm! And now what're we going to do? You must come in. But
+you're in a pretty mess, I must say! Hi, Maria!"
+
+At these words a large, fresh-looking woman came into the little hall.
+
+"Maria," said the man, "here's a gentleman that's pretty nigh drowned,
+and he's dripping puddles big enough to swim in."
+
+The woman smiled. "Really, sir," said she, "you've had a hard time.
+Wheeling, I suppose. It's an awful time to be out. It's so dark that I
+lighted a lamp to make things look a little cheery. But you must come
+in until the rain is over, and try and dry yourself."
+
+"But how about the hall, Maria?" said the man. "There'll be a dreadful
+slop!"
+
+"Oh, I'll make that all right," she said. She disappeared, and quickly
+returned with a couple of rugs, which she laid, wrong side up, on the
+polished floor of the hallway. "Now you can step on those, sir, and
+come into the kitchen. There's a fire there."
+
+I thanked her, and presently found myself before a large stove, on
+which it was evident, from the odors, that supper was preparing. In a
+certain way the heat was grateful, but in less than a minute I was
+bound to admit to myself that I felt as if I were enveloped in a vast
+warm poultice. The little man and his wife--if wife she were, for she
+looked big enough to be his mother, and young enough to be his
+daughter--stood talking in the hall, and I could hear every word they
+said.
+
+[Illustration: "ON MY RIGHT A LIGHTED DOORWAY"]
+
+"It's of no use for him to try to dry himself," she said, "for he's
+wet to the bone. He must change his clothes, and hang those he's got
+on before the fire."
+
+"Change his clothes!" exclaimed the man. "How ever can he do that?
+I've nothing that'll fit him, and of course he has brought nothing
+along with him."
+
+"Never you mind," said she. "Something's got to be got. Take him into
+the little chamber. And don't consider the floor; that can be wiped
+up."
+
+She came into the kitchen and spoke to me. "You must come and change
+your clothes," she said. "You'll catch your death of cold, else.
+You're the school-master from Walford, I think, sir? Indeed, I'm sure
+of it, for I've seen you on your wheel."
+
+Smiling at the idea that through the instrumentality of my bicycle I
+had been making myself known to the people of the surrounding
+country, I followed the man into a small bed-chamber on the
+ground-floor.
+
+"Now," said he, "the quicker you get off your wet clothes and give
+yourself a good rub-down the better it will be for you. And I'll go
+and see what I can do in the way of something for you to put on."
+
+I asked him to bring me the bag from my bicycle, and after doing so he
+left me.
+
+Very soon I heard talking outside of my door, and as both my
+entertainers had clear, high voices, I could hear distinctly what they
+said.
+
+"Go get him the corduroys," said she. "He's a well-made man, but he's
+no bigger than your father was."
+
+"The corduroys?" he said, somewhat doubtfully, I thought.
+
+"Yes," she replied. "Go get them! I should be glad to have them put to
+some use."
+
+"But what for a coat?" said he. "There's nothing in the house that he
+could get on."
+
+"That's true," said she. "But he must have something. You can get him
+the Duke's dressing-gown."
+
+"What!" exclaimed the man. "You don't mean--"
+
+"Yes, I do mean," said she. "It's big enough for anybody, and it'll
+keep him from ketching cold. Go fetch it!"
+
+In a short time there was a knock at my door, and the little man
+handed me in a pair of yellow corduroy trousers and a large and gaudy
+dressing-gown. "There!" said he. "They'll keep you warm until your own
+clothes dry."
+
+With a change of linen from my bag, which had fortunately kept its
+contents dry, the yellow trousers, and a wonderful dressing-gown, made
+of some blue stuff embroidered with gold and lined throughout with
+crimson satin, I made a truly gorgeous appearance. But it struck me
+that it would be rather startling to a beholder were I to appear
+barefooted in such raiment, for my shoes and stockings were as wet as
+the rest of my clothes. I had not finished dressing before the little
+man knocked again, this time with some gray socks and a pair of
+embroidered slippers.
+
+"These'll fit you, I think," said he, "for I'll lay you ten shillings
+that I'm as big in the feet as you are."
+
+I would have been glad to gaze at myself in a full-length mirror, but
+there was no opportunity for the indulgence of such vanity; and before
+leaving the room I sat down for a moment to give a few thoughts to
+the situation. My mind first reverted to the soaked condition of my
+garments and the difficulty of getting them dry enough for me to put
+them on and continue my journey. Then I found that I had dropped the
+subject and was thinking of the slender girl, wondering if she had
+really hurt herself very much, congratulating myself that I had been
+fortunate enough to be on hand to help her in her need, and
+considering what a plight she would have been in if she had been
+caught in that terrible rain and utterly unable to get herself to
+shelter.
+
+Suddenly I stopped short in my thinking, and going to my bag I took
+from it the little box of quinine capsules which had been given to me
+by the doctor's daughter, and promptly proceeded to swallow one of
+them.
+
+"It may be of service to me," I said to myself.
+
+When I made my appearance in the hallway I met the little man, who
+immediately burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Lord, sir!" said he. "You must excuse me, but you look like a king on
+a lark! Walk into the parlor, sir, and sit down and make yourself
+comfortable. She's hurrying up supper to give you something warm after
+your wettin'. Would you like a little nip of whiskey, sir, to keep
+the damp out?"
+
+[Illustration: A Few Thoughts]
+
+I declined the whiskey, and seated myself in the neatly-furnished
+parlor. It was wonderful, I thought, to fall into such a hospitable
+household, and then I began to ask myself whether or not it would be
+the proper thing to offer to pay for my entertainment. I thought I had
+quite properly divined the position in life of the little man. This
+small house, so handsomely built and neatly kept, must be a lodge upon
+some fine country place, and the man was probably the head gardener,
+or something of the kind.
+
+It was not long before my hostess came into the room, but she did not
+laugh at my appearance. She was a handsome woman, erect and broad,
+with a free and powerful step. She smiled as she spoke to me.
+
+"You may think that that's an over-handsome gown for such as us to be
+owning. It was given to my man by the Duke of Radford. That was before
+we were married, and he was an undergardener then. The Duchess
+wouldn't let the Duke wear it, because it was so gay, and there wasn't
+none of the servants that would care to take it, for fear they'd be
+laughed at, until they offered it to John. And John, you must know,
+he'd take anything! But I came in to tell you supper's ready; and, if
+you like, I'll bring you something in here, and you can eat it on that
+table, or--"
+
+Here I interrupted my good hostess, and declared that, while I should
+be glad to have some supper, I would not eat any unless I might sit
+down with her husband and herself; and, as this proposition seemed to
+please her, the three of us were soon seated around a very tastefully
+furnished table in a dining-room looking out upon a pretty lawn. The
+rain had now almost ceased, and from the window I could see beautiful
+stretches of grass, interspersed with ornamental trees and
+flower-beds.
+
+The meal was plain but abundant, with an appetizing smell pervading it
+which is seldom noticed in connection with the tables of the rich.
+When we had finished supper I found that the skies had nearly cleared
+and that it was growing quite light again. I asked permission to step
+out upon a little piazza which opened from the dining-room and smoke a
+pipe, and while I was sitting there enjoying the beauty of the
+sunlight on the sparkling grass and trees I again heard the little man
+and his wife talking to each other.
+
+"It can't be done," said he, speaking very positively. "I've orders
+about that, and there's no getting round them."
+
+"It's got to be done!" said she, "and there's an end of it! The
+clothes won't be dry until morning, and it won't do to put them too
+near the stove, or they'll shrink so he can't get them on. And he
+can't go away to hunt up lodgings wearing the Duke's dressing-gown and
+them yellow breeches!"
+
+"Orders is orders," said the man, "and unless I get special leave, it
+can't be done."
+
+"Well, then, go and get special leave," said she, "and don't stand
+there talking about it!"
+
+There was no doubt that my lodging that night was the subject of this
+conversation, but I had no desire to interfere with the good
+intentions of my hostess. I must stay somewhere until my clothes were
+dry, and I should be glad to stop in my present comfortable quarters.
+
+So I sat still and smoked, and very soon I heard the big shoes of the
+little man grating upon the gravel as he walked rapidly away from the
+house. Now came the good woman out upon the piazza to ask me if I had
+found my tobacco dry. "Because if it's damp," said she, "my man has
+some very good 'baccy in his jar."
+
+I assured her that my pouch had kept dry; and then, as she seemed
+inclined to talk, I begged her to sit down if she did not mind the
+pipe. Down she sat, and steadily she talked. She congratulated herself
+on her happy thought to light the hall lamp, or I might never have
+noticed the house in the darkness, and she would have been sorry
+enough if I had had to keep on the road for another half-hour in that
+dreadful rain.
+
+On she talked in the most cheerful and communicative way, until
+suddenly she rose with a start. "He's coming himself, sir!" she said,
+"with Miss Putney."
+
+"Who is 'he'?" I asked.
+
+"It's the master, sir Mr. Putney, and his daughter. Just stay here
+where you are, sir, and make yourself comfortable. I'll go and speak
+to them."
+
+Left to myself, I knocked out my pipe and sat wondering what would
+happen next. A thing happened which surprised me very much. Upon a
+path which ran in front of the little piazza there appeared two
+persons--one, an elderly gentleman, with gray side-whiskers and a pale
+face, attired in clothes with such an appearance of newness that it
+might well have been supposed this was the first time he had worn
+them; the other, a young lady, rather small in stature, but
+extremely pleasant to look upon. She had dark hair and large blue
+eyes; her complexion was rich, and her dress of light silk was
+wonderfully well shaped.
+
+[Illustration: "The beauty of her teeth"]
+
+All this I saw at a glance, and immediately afterwards I also
+perceived that she had most beautiful teeth; for when she beheld me as
+I rose from my chair and stood in my elevated position before her she
+could not restrain a laugh; but for this apparent impoliteness I did
+not blame her at all.
+
+But not so much as a smile came upon the countenance of the elderly
+gentleman. He, too, was small, but he had a deep voice. "Good-evening,
+sir," said he. "I am told that you are the school-master at Walford,
+and that you were overtaken by the storm."
+
+I assured him that these were the facts, and stood waiting to hear
+what he would say next.
+
+"It was very proper indeed, sir, that my gardener and his wife should
+take you under the protection of this roof, but as I hear that it is
+proposed that you should spend the night here, I have come down to
+speak about it. I will tell you at once, sir, that I have given my man
+the most positive orders that he is not to allow any one to spend a
+night in this house. It is so conveniently near to the road that I
+should not know what sort of persons were being entertained here if I
+allowed him any such privilege."
+
+As he spoke the young lady stood silently gazing at me. There was a
+remnant of a smile upon her face, but I could also see that she was a
+little annoyed. I was about to make some sort of an independent answer
+to the gentleman's remarks, but he anticipated me.
+
+"I do not want you to think, sir, on account of what I have said, that
+I intend to drive you off my property at this hour of the evening, and
+in your inappropriate clothing. I have heard of you, sir, and you
+occupy a position of trust and, to a certain degree, of honor, in your
+village. Therefore, while I cannot depart from my rule--for I wish to
+make no precedent of that kind--I will ask you to spend the night at
+my house. You need not be annoyed by the peculiarity of your attire.
+If you desire to avoid observation you can remain here until it grows
+darker, and then you can walk up to the mansion. I shall have a
+bed-room prepared for you, and whenever you choose you can occupy it.
+I have been informed that you have had something to eat, and it is as
+well, for perhaps your dress would prevent you from accepting an
+invitation to our evening meal."
+
+I still held my brier-wood pipe in my hand, and I felt inclined to
+hurl it at the dapper head of the consequential little gentleman, but
+with such a girl standing by it would have been impossible to treat
+him with any disrespect, and as I looked at him I felt sure that his
+apparent superciliousness was probably the result of too much money
+and too little breeding.
+
+The young lady said nothing, but she turned and looked steadily at her
+father. Her countenance was probably in the habit of very promptly
+expressing the state of her mind, and it now seemed to say to her
+father, "I hope that what you have said will not make him decline what
+you offer!"
+
+My irritation quickly disappeared. I had now entered into my Cathay,
+and I must take things as I found them there. As I could not stay
+where I was, and could not continue my journey, it would be a sensible
+thing to overlook the man's manner and accept his offer, and I
+accordingly did so. I think he was pleased more than he cared to
+express.
+
+"Very good, sir!" said he. "As soon as it grows a little darker I
+shall be glad to have you walk up to my house. As I said before, I am
+sure you would not care to do so now, as you might provoke remarks
+even from the servants. Good-evening, sir, until I see you again."
+
+During all this time the young lady had not spoken, but as the two
+disappeared around the corner of the house I heard her voice. She
+spoke very clearly and distinctly, and she said, "It would have been a
+great deal more gracious if you had asked him to come at once, without
+all that----" The rest of her remarks were lost to me.
+
+The little man and his wife presently came out on the porch. Her
+countenance expressed a sort of resignation to thwarted hospitality.
+
+"It's the way of the world, sir!" she said. "The ups are always up and
+the downs are always down! I expect they will be glad to have company
+at the house, for it must be dreadfully lonely up there--which might
+be said of this house as well."
+
+It soon became dark enough for me to walk through the grounds without
+hurting the sensibilities of their proprietor, and as I arose to go
+the good wife of the gardener brought me my cap.
+
+"I dried that out for you, sir, for I knew you would want it, and
+to-morrow morning my man will take your clothes up to the house."
+
+I thanked her for her thoughtful kindness, and was about to depart,
+but the little man was not quite ready for me to go.
+
+"If you don't mind, sir," said he, "and would step back there in the
+light just for one minute, I would like to take another look at you. I
+don't suppose I'll ever see anybody again wearing the Duke's
+dressing-gown. By George, sir, you do look real royal!"
+
+His wife looked at me admiringly. "Yes, sir," said she, "and I wish it
+was the fashion for gentlemen to dress something like that every day.
+But I will say, sir, that if you don't want people to be staring at
+you, and will just wrap that gown round you so that the lining won't
+be seen, you won't look so much out of the way."
+
+As I walked along the smooth, hard driveway I adopted the suggestion
+of the gardener's wife; but as I approached the house, and saw that
+even the broad piazza was lighted by electric lamps, I was seized with
+the fancy to appear in all my glory, and I allowed my capacious robe
+to float out on each side of me in crimson brightness.
+
+The gentleman stood at the top of the steps. "I have been waiting for
+you, sir," said he. He looked as if he were about to offer me his
+hand, but probably considered this an unnecessary ceremony under the
+circumstances. "Would you like to retire to your room, sir, or would
+you prefer--prefer sitting out here to enjoy the cool of the evening?
+Here are chairs and seats, sir, of all variety of comfort. My family
+and I frequently sit out here in the evenings, but to-night the air is
+a little damp."
+
+I assured the gentleman that the air suited me very well, and that I
+would prefer not to retire so early; and so, not caring any longer to
+stand in front of the lighted doorway, I walked to one end of the
+piazza and took a seat.
+
+"We haven't yet--that is to say, we are still at the table," he
+remarked, as he followed me; "but if there is anything that you would
+like to have, I should be--"
+
+I interrupted him by declaring that I had supped heartily and did not
+want for anything in the world, and then, with some sort of an
+inarticulate excuse, he left me. I knew very well that this nervously
+correct personage had jumped up from his dinner in order that he might
+meet me at the door and thus prevent my unconventional attire from
+shocking any of the servants.
+
+It was very quiet and pleasant on the piazza, but, although I could
+hear that a great deal of talking was going on inside, no words came
+to me. In a short time, however, a man-servant in livery came out
+upon the piazza and approached me with a tray on which were a cup of
+coffee and some cigars. I could not refrain from smiling as I saw the
+man.
+
+"The old fellow has been forced to conquer his prejudices," I said to
+myself, "and to submit to the mortification of allowing me to be seen
+by his butler!"
+
+I think, however, that even had the master been regarding us he would
+have seen no reason for mortification in the manner of his servant.
+The man was extremely polite and attentive, suggesting various
+refreshments, such as wine and biscuits, and I never was treated by a
+lackey with more respect.
+
+Leaning back in a comfortable chair, I sipped my coffee and puffed
+away at a perfectly delightful Havana cigar. "Cathay is not a bad
+place," said I, to myself. "Its hospitality is a little queer, but as
+to gorgeousness, luxury, and----" I was about to add another quality
+when my mind was diverted by a light step on the piazza, and, turning
+my head, I beheld the young lady I had seen before. Instantly I rose
+and laid aside my cigar.
+
+"Please do not disturb yourself," she said. "I simply came out to give
+a little message from my father. Sit down again, and I will take this
+seat for a moment. My father's health is delicate," she said, "and we
+do not like him to be out in the night air, especially after a rain.
+So I came in his stead to tell you that if you would like to come into
+the house you must do so without the slightest hesitation, because my
+mother and I do not mind that dressing-gown any more than if it were
+an ordinary coat. We are very glad to have the opportunity of
+entertaining you, for we know some people in Walford--not very many,
+but some--and we have heard you and your school spoken of very
+highly. So we want you to make yourself perfectly at home, and come in
+or sit out here, just as your own feelings in regard to extraordinary
+fine clothes shall prompt you."
+
+At this she reassured me as to the beauty of her teeth. "As long as
+you will sit out here," said I, to myself, "there will be no in-doors
+for me."
+
+She seemed to read my thoughts, and said: "If you will go on with your
+smoking, I will wait and ask you some things about Walford. I dearly
+love the smell of a good cigar, and father never smokes. He always
+keeps them, however, in case of gentlemen visitors."
+
+She then went on to talk about some Walford people, and asked me if I
+knew Mary Talbot. I replied in the affirmative, for Miss Talbot was a
+member of our literary society, and the young lady informed me that
+Mary Talbot had a brother in my school--a fact of which I was aware to
+my sorrow--and it was on account of this brother that she had first
+happened to see me.
+
+"See me!" I exclaimed, with surprise.
+
+"Yes," said she. "I drove over to the village one day this spring, and
+Mary and I were walking past your school-house, and the door was wide
+open, for it was so warm, and we stopped so that Mary might point out
+her brother to me; and so, as we were looking in, of course I saw
+you."
+
+"And you recognized me," I said, "when you saw me at the gardener's
+house?"
+
+"We call that the lodge," said she. "Not that I care in the least what
+name you give it. And while we are on a personal subject, I want to
+ask you to excuse me for laughing at you when I first saw you in that
+astounding garb. It was very improper, I know, but the apparition was
+so sudden I could not help it."
+
+I had never met a young lady so thoroughly self-contained as this one.
+None of the formalities of society had been observed in regard to our
+acquaintance with each other, but she talked with me with such an easy
+grace and with such a gentle assurance that there was no need of
+introduction or presentation; I felt acquainted with her on the spot.
+I had no doubt that her exceptionally gracious demeanor was due to the
+fact that nobody else in the house seemed inclined to be gracious, and
+she felt hospitality demanded that something of the kind should be
+offered me by some one of the family.
+
+We talked together for some minutes longer, and then, apparently
+hearing something in the house which I did not notice, she rose rather
+abruptly.
+
+"I must go in," she said; "but don't you stay out here a second longer
+than you want to."
+
+She had left me but a very short time when her father came out on the
+piazza, his coat buttoned up nearly to his chin. "I have been
+detained, sir," he said, "by a man who came to see me on business. I
+cannot remain with you out here, for the air affects me; but if you
+will come in, sir, I shall be glad to have you do so, without regard
+to your appearance. My wife is not strong and she has retired, and if
+it pleases you I shall be very glad to have you tell me something of
+your duties and success in Walford. Or, if you are fatigued, your
+room is ready for you, and my man will show you to it."
+
+I snatched at the relief held out to me. To sit in the company of that
+condescending prig, to bore him and to be bored by him, was a doleful
+grievance I did not wish to inflict upon myself, and I eagerly
+answered that the day had been a long and hard one, and that I would
+be glad to go to bed.
+
+This was an assertion which was doubly false, for I was not in the
+least tired or sleepy; and just as I had made the statement and was
+entering the hall I saw that the young lady was standing at the parlor
+door; but it was too late now for me to change my mind.
+
+"Brownster," said Mr. Putney to his butler, "will you give this
+gentleman a candle and show him to his room?"
+
+Brownster quietly bowed, and stepping to a table in the corner, on
+which stood some brass bed-room candlesticks, he lighted one of the
+candles and stood waiting.
+
+The gentleman moved towards his daughter, and then he stopped and
+turned to me. "We have breakfast," he said, "at half-past eight But if
+that is too late for you," he added, with a certain hesitation, "you
+can have--"
+
+At this moment I distinctly saw his daughter punch him with her elbow,
+and as I had no desire to make an early start, and wished very much to
+enjoy a good breakfast in Cathay, I quickly declared that I was in no
+hurry, and that the family breakfast hour would suit me perfectly.
+
+The young lady disappeared into the parlor, and I moved towards the
+butler; but my host, probably thinking that he had not been quite as
+attentive to me as his station demanded, or wishing to let me see what
+a fine house he possessed, stepped up to me and asked me to look into
+the billiard-room, the door of which I was about to pass. After some
+remarks of deprecatory ostentation, in which he informed me that in
+building his house he thought only of comfort and convenience, and
+nothing of show, he carelessly invited my attention to the
+drawing-room, the library, the music-room, and the little
+sitting-room, all of which were furnished with as much stiffness and
+hardness and inharmonious coloring as money could command.
+
+When we had finished the round of these rooms he made me a bow as
+stiff as one of his white and gold chairs, and I followed the butler
+up the staircase. The man with the light preceded me into a room on
+the second floor, and just as I was about to enter after him I saw the
+young lady come around a corner of the hall with a lighted candle in
+her hand.
+
+[Illustration: "I kicked off my embroidered slippers"]
+
+"Good-night," she said, with a smile so charming that I wanted to stop
+and tell her something about Mary Talbot's brother; but she passed on,
+and I went into my room.
+
+It seemed perfectly ridiculous to me that people should carry around
+bed-room candles in a house lighted from top to bottom by electricity,
+but I had no doubt that this was one of the ultra-conventional customs
+from which the dapper gentleman would not allow his family to depart.
+I did not believe for a moment that his daughter would conform to such
+nonsense except to please her parent.
+
+The softly moving and attentive Brownster put the candle on the table,
+blew it out, and touched a button, thereby lighting up a very
+handsomely furnished room. Then, after performing every possible
+service for me, with a bow he left me. Throwing myself into a great
+easy chair, I kicked off my embroidered slippers and put my feet upon
+another chair gay with satin stripes. Raising my eyes, I saw in front
+of me a handsome mirror extending from the floor nearly to the
+ceiling, and at the magnificent personage which therein met my gaze I
+could not help laughing aloud.
+
+I rose, stood before the mirror, folded my gorgeous gown around me,
+spread it out, contrasting the crimson glory of its lining with the
+golden yellow of my trousers, and wondered in my soul how that
+exceedingly handsome girl with the bright eyes could have controlled
+her risibilities as she sat with me on the piazza. I could see that
+she had a wonderful command of herself, but this exercise of it seemed
+superhuman.
+
+I walked around the sumptuously furnished chamber, looking at the
+pictures and bric-à-brac; I wondered that the master of the house was
+willing to put me in a room like this--I had expected a hall bed-room,
+at the best; I sat down by an open window, for it was very early yet
+and I did not want to go to bed, but I had scarcely seated myself when
+I heard a tap at the door. I could not have explained it, but this tap
+made me jump, and I went to the door and opened it instead of calling
+out. There stood the butler, with a tray in his hand on which was a
+decanter of wine, biscuits, cheese, and some cigars.
+
+"It's so early, sir," said Brownster, "that she said--I mean, sir, I
+thought that you might like something to eat, and if you want to enjoy
+a cigar before retiring, as many gentlemen do, you need not mind
+smoking here. These rooms are so well ventilated, sir, that every
+particle of odor will be out in no time." Placing the tray upon a
+table, he retired.
+
+[Illustration: "IT WOULD BE WELL FOR ME TO SWALLOW A CAPSULE"]
+
+For an hour or more I sat sipping my wine, puffing smoke into rings,
+and allowing my mind to dwell pleasingly upon the situation, the most
+prominent feature of which seemed to me to be a young lady with bright
+eyes and white teeth, and dressed in a perfectly-fitting gown.
+
+When at last I thought I ought to go to bed, I stood and gazed at my
+little valise. I had left it on the porch and had totally forgotten
+it, but here it was upon a table, where it had been placed, no doubt,
+by the thoughtful Brownster. I opened it and took out the box of
+capsules. I did not feel that I had taken cold in the night air; this
+was not a time to protect myself against morning mists; but still I
+thought it would be well for me to swallow a capsule, and I did so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A BIT OF ADVICE
+
+
+The next morning I awoke about seven o'clock. My clothes, neatly
+brushed and folded, were on a chair near the bed, with my
+brightly-blackened shoes near by. I rose, quickly dressed myself, and
+went forth into the morning air. I met no one in the house, and the
+hall door was open. For an hour or more I walked about the beautiful
+grounds. Sometimes I wandered near the house, among the flower-beds
+and shrubs; sometimes I followed the winding path to a considerable
+distance; occasionally I sat down in a covered arbor; and then I
+sought the shade of a little grove, in which there were hammocks and
+rustic chairs. But I met no one, and I saw no one except some men
+working near the stables. I would have been glad to go down to the
+lodge and say "Good-morning" to my kind entertainers there, but for
+some reason or other it struck me that that neat little house was too
+much out of the way.
+
+When I had had enough walking I retired to the piazza and sat there,
+until Brownster, with a bow, came and informed me that breakfast was
+served.
+
+The young lady, in the freshest of summer costumes, met me at the door
+and bade me "Good-morning," but the greeting of her father was not by
+any means cordial, although his manner had lost some of the stiff
+condescension which had sat so badly upon him the evening before. The
+mother was a very pleasant little lady of few words and a general air
+which indicated an intimate acquaintance with back seats.
+
+The breakfast was a remarkably good one. When the meal was over, Mr.
+Putney walked with me into the hall. "I must now ask you to excuse me,
+sir," said he, "as this is the hour when I receive my manager and
+arrange with him for the varied business of the day. Good-morning,
+sir. I wish you a very pleasant journey." And, barely giving me a
+chance to thank him for his entertainment, he disappeared into the
+back part of the house.
+
+The young lady was standing at the front of the hall. "Won't you
+please come in," she said, "and see mother? She wants to talk to you
+about Walford."
+
+I found the little lady in a small room opening from the parlor, and
+also, to my great surprise, I found her extremely talkative and
+chatty. She asked me so many questions that I had little chance to
+answer them, and she told me a great deal more about Walford and its
+people and citizens than I had learned during my nine months'
+residence in the village. I was very glad to give her an opportunity
+of talking, which was a pleasure, I imagined, she did not often enjoy;
+but as I saw no signs of her stopping, I was obliged to rise and take
+leave of her.
+
+The young lady accompanied me into the hall. "I must get my valise," I
+said, "and then I must be off. And I assure you--"
+
+"No, do not trouble yourself about your valise," she interrupted.
+"Brownster will attend to that--he will take it down to the lodge.
+And as to your gorgeous raiment, he will see that that is all properly
+returned to its owners."
+
+I picked up my cap, and she walked with me out upon the piazza. "I
+suppose you saw everything on our place," she asked, "when you were
+walking about this morning?"
+
+A little surprised, I answered that I had seen a good deal, but I did
+not add that I had not found what I was looking for.
+
+"We have all sorts of hot-houses and green-houses," she said, "but
+they are not very interesting at this time of the year, otherwise I
+would ask you to walk through them before you go." She then went on to
+tell me that a little building which she pointed out was a
+mushroom-house. "And you will think it strange that it should be there
+when I tell you that not one of our family likes mushrooms or ever
+tastes one. But the manager thinks that we ought to grow mushrooms,
+and so we do it."
+
+As she was talking, the thought came to me that there were some people
+who might consider this young lady a little forward in her method of
+entertaining a comparative stranger, but I dismissed this idea. With
+such a peculiarly constituted family it was perhaps necessary for her
+to put herself forward, in regard, at least, to the expression of
+hospitality.
+
+"One thing I must show you," she said, suddenly, "and that is the
+orchid-house! Are you fond of orchids?"
+
+"Under certain circumstances," I said, unguardedly, "I could be fond
+of apple-cores." As soon as I had spoken these words I would have
+been glad to recall them, but they seemed to make no impression
+whatever on her.
+
+We walked to the orchid-house, we went through it, and she explained
+all its beauties, its singularities, and its rarities. When we came
+out again, I asked myself: "Is she in the habit of doing all this to
+chance visitors? Would she treat a Brown or a Robinson in the way she
+is treating me?" I could not answer my question, but if Brown and
+Robinson had appeared at that moment I should have been glad to knock
+their heads together.
+
+I did not want to go; I would have been glad to examine every building
+on the place, but I knew I must depart; and as I was beginning to
+express my sense of the kindness with which I had been treated, she
+interrupted by asking me if I expected to come back this way.
+
+"No," said I, "that is not my plan. I expect to ride on to Waterton,
+and there I shall stop for a day or two and decide what section of the
+country I shall explore next."
+
+"And to-day?" she said. "Where have you planned to spend the night?"
+
+"I have been recommended to stop at a little inn called the 'Holly
+Sprig,'" I replied. "It is a leisurely day's journey from Walford, and
+I have been told that it is a pleasant place and a pretty country. I
+do not care to travel all the time, and I want to stop a little when I
+find interesting scenery."
+
+[Illustration: "As soon as I had spoken these words"]
+
+"Oh, I know the Holly Sprig Inn," said she, speaking very quickly,
+"and I would advise you not to stop there. We have lunched there two
+or three times when we were out on long drives. There is a much better
+house about five miles the other side of the Holly Sprig. It is really
+a large, handsome hotel, with good service and everything you
+want--where people go to spend the summer."
+
+I thanked her for her information and bade her good-bye. She shook my
+hand very cordially and I walked away. I had gone but a very few steps
+when I wanted to turn around and look back, but I did not.
+
+Before I had reached the lodge, where I had left my bicycle, I met
+Brownster, and when I saw him I put my hand into my pocket. He had
+certainly been very attentive.
+
+"I carried your valise, sir," he said, "to the lodge, and I took the
+liberty of strapping it to your handle-bar. You will find everything
+all right, sir, and the--other clothes will be properly attended to."
+
+I thanked him, and then handed him some money. To my surprise, he did
+not offer to take it. He smiled a little and bowed.
+
+"Would you mind, sir," he said, "if you did not give me anything? I
+assure you, sir, that I'd very much rather that you wouldn't give me
+anything." And with this he bowed and rapidly disappeared.
+
+"Well," said I, to myself, as I put my money back into my pocket, "it
+is a queer country, this Cathay."
+
+As I approached the lodge, I felt that perhaps I had received a
+lesson, but I was not sure. I would wait and let circumstances decide.
+The gardener was away attending to his duties; but his wife was there,
+and when she came forward, with a frank, cheery greeting, I instantly
+decided that I had had a lesson. I thanked her, as earnestly as I knew
+how, for what she had done for me, and then I added:
+
+"You and your husband have treated me with such kind hospitality that
+I am not going to offer you anything in return for what you have
+done."
+
+"You would have hurt us, sir, if you had," said she.
+
+Then, in order to change the subject, I spoke of the honor which had
+been bestowed upon me by being allowed to wear the Duke's
+dressing-gown. She smiled, and replied:
+
+"Honors would always be easy for you, sir, if you only chose to take
+them."
+
+As I rode away I thought that the last remark of the gardener's wife
+seemed to show a mental brightness above her station, although I did
+not know exactly what she meant. "Can it be," I asked myself, "that
+she fancies that good family, six feet of athletic muscle, and no
+money would be considered sufficient to make matrimonial honors easy
+on that estate?" If such an idea had come into her head, it certainly
+was a very foolish one, and I determined to drive it from my mind by
+thinking of something else.
+
+Suddenly I slackened my speed. I stopped and put one foot to the
+ground. What a hard-hearted wretch I thought myself to be! Here I was
+thinking of all sorts of nonsense and speeding away without a thought
+of the young girl who had hurt herself the day before and who had been
+helped by me to her home! She lived but a few miles back, and I had
+determined, the evening before, to run down and see how she was
+getting on before starting on my day's journey.
+
+I turned and went bowling back over the road on which I had been so
+terribly drenched the previous afternoon. In a very little while my
+bicycle was leaning against the fence of the pretty house by the
+road-side, and I had entered the front yard. The slender girl was
+sitting on the piazza behind some vines. When she saw me she quickly
+closed the book she was reading, drew one foot from a little stool,
+and rose to meet me. There was more color on her face than I had
+supposed would be likely to find its way there, and her bright eyes
+showed that she was not only surprised but glad to see me.
+
+"I thought you were ever so far on your journey!" she said. "And how
+did you get through that awful storm?"
+
+"I want to know first about your foot," I said--"how is that?"
+
+"My own opinion is," she answered, "that it is nearly well. Mother
+knew exactly what to do for it; she wrapped it in wet cloths and dry
+cloths, and this morning I scarcely think of it. But there is one
+thing I want to tell you before you meet father and mother--for they
+want to see you, I know. We talked a great deal about you last night.
+You may have thought it strange I told you about the peas, but I had
+to do it to explain why I could not ask you to stop. Now I want to
+tell you that this accident made everything all right. As soon as
+father and mother knew that I was hurt they forgot everything else,
+and neither of them remembered that there was such a thing as a
+pea-vine in the world. It really seems as if my tumble was a most
+lucky thing. And now you must come in. They will never forgive me if I
+let you go away without seeing them."
+
+The mother, a pleasant little woman, full of cheerful gratitude to me
+for having done so much for her daughter, and the father, tall and
+slender, hurrying in from the garden, his face beaming with a friendly
+enthusiasm, apologizing for the mud on his clothes, and almost in the
+same breath telling me of the obligations under which I had placed
+him, both seemed to me at the first glance to be such kind,
+simple-hearted, simple-mannered people that I could not help
+contrasting this family with the one under whose roof I had passed the
+night.
+
+I spent half an hour with these good people, patiently listening to
+their gratitude and to their deep regrets that I had been allowed to
+go on in the storm; but I succeeded in allaying their friendly regrets
+by assuring them that it would have been impossible to keep me from
+going on, so certain had I been that I could reach the little town of
+Vernon before the storm grew violent. Then I was obliged to tell them
+that I did not reach Vernon, and how I had spent the night.
+
+"With the Putneys!" exclaimed the mother. "I am sure you could not
+have been entertained in a finer house!"
+
+They asked me many questions and I told them many things, and I soon
+discovered that they took a generous interest in the lives of other
+people. They spoke of the good this rich family had done in the
+neighborhood during the building of their great house and the
+improvement of their estate, and not a word did I hear of ridicule or
+scandalous comment, although in good truth there was opportunity
+enough for it.
+
+The young lady asked me if I had seen Miss Putney, and when I replied
+that I had, she inquired if I did not think that she was a very pretty
+girl. "I do not know her," she said, "but I have often seen her when
+she was out driving. I do not believe there is any one in this part of
+the country who dresses better than she does."
+
+I laughed, and told her that I thought I knew somebody who dressed
+much finer even than Miss Putney, and then I described the incident
+of the Duke's dressing-gown. This delighted them all, and before I
+left I was obliged to give every detail of my gorgeous attire.
+
+It was about eleven o'clock when at last I tore myself away from this
+most attractive little family. To live as they lived, to be interested
+in the things that interested them--for the house seemed filled with
+books and pictures--to love nature, to love each other, and to think
+well of their fellow-beings, even of the super-rich--seemed to me to
+be an object for which a man of my temperament should be willing to
+strive and thankful to win. After meeting her parents I did not wonder
+that I had thought the slender girl so honest-hearted and so lovable.
+It was true that I had thought that.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+
+
+The day was fine, and the landscape lay clean and sharply defined
+under the blue sky and white clouds. I sped along in a cheerful mood,
+well pleased with what my good cycle had so far done for me. Again I
+passed the open gate of the Putney estate, and glanced through it at
+the lodge. I saw no one, and was glad of it--better pleased, perhaps,
+than I could have given good reason for. When I had gone on a few
+hundred yards I was suddenly startled by a voice--a female voice.
+
+"Well! well!" cried some one on my right, and turning, I saw, above a
+low wall, the head and shoulders of the young lady with the dark eyes
+with whom I had parted an hour or so before. A broad hat shaded her
+face, her eyes were very dark and very wide open, and I saw some of
+her beautiful teeth, although she was not smiling or laughing. It
+was plain that she had not come down there to see me pass; she was
+genuinely astonished; I dismounted and approached the wall.
+
+[Illustration: "I dismounted and approached the wall"]
+
+"I thought you were miles and miles on your way!" said she. It
+occurred to me that I had recently heard a remark very like this, and
+yet the words, as they came from the slender girl and from this one,
+seemed to have entirely different meanings. She was desirous,
+earnestly desirous, to know how I came to be passing this place at
+this time, when I had left their gate so long before, and, as I was
+not unwilling to gratify her curiosity, I told her the whole story of
+the accident the day before, and of everything which had followed it.
+
+"And you went all the way back," she said, "to inquire after that
+Burton girl?"
+
+"Do you know her?" I asked.
+
+"No," she said, "I do not know her; but I have seen her often, and I
+know all about her family. They seem to be of such little consequence,
+one way or the other, that I can scarcely understand how things could
+so twist themselves that you should consider it necessary to go back
+there this morning before you really started on your day's journey."
+
+I do not remember what I said, but it was something commonplace, no
+doubt, but I imagined I perceived a little pique in the young lady. Of
+course I did not object to this, for nothing could be more flattering
+to a young man than the exhibition of such a feeling on an occasion
+such as this.
+
+But if she felt any pique she quickly brushed it out of sight, for, as
+I have said before, she was a young woman who had great command of
+herself. Of course I said to her that I was very glad to have this
+chance of seeing her again, and she answered, with a laugh:
+
+"If you really are glad, you ought to thank the Burton girl. This is
+one of my favorite walks. The path runs along inside the wall for a
+considerable distance and then turns around the little hill over
+there, and so leads back to the house. When I happened to look over
+the wall and saw you I was truly surprised."
+
+The ground was lower on the outside of the wall than on the inside,
+and as I stood and looked almost into the eyes of this girl, as she
+leaned with her arms upon the smooth top of the wall, the idea which
+the gardener's wife put into my head came into it again. This was a
+beautiful face, and the expression upon it was different from
+anything I had seen there before. Her surprise had disappeared, her
+pique had gone, but a very great interest in the incident of my
+passing this spot at the moment of her being there was plainly
+evident. As I gazed at her my blood ran warmer through my veins, and
+there came upon me a feeling of the olden time--of the days when the
+brave cavalier rode up to the spot where, waiting for him, his lady
+sat upon her impatient jennet.
+
+Without the least hesitation, I asked:
+
+"Do you ride a wheel?"
+
+She looked wonderingly at me for a moment, and then broke into a
+laugh.
+
+"Why on earth do you ask such a question as that? I have a bicycle,
+but I am not a very good rider, and I never venture out upon the
+public road by myself."
+
+"You shouldn't think of such a thing," said I; and then I stood
+silent, and my mind showed me two young people, each mounted, not upon
+a swift steed, but upon a far swifter pair of wheels, skimming onward
+through the summer air, still rolling on, on, on, through country
+lanes and woodland roads, laughing at pursuit if they heard the
+trampling of eager hoofs behind them, with never a telegraph wire to
+stretch menacingly above them, and so on, on, on, their eyes
+sparkling, their hearts beating high with youthful hope.
+
+Again, through the tender mists of the afternoon, I saw them returning
+from some secluded Gretna Green to bend their knees and bow their
+heads before the lord of the fair bride's home.
+
+When all this had passed through my brain, I wondered how such a pair
+would be received. I knew the gardener and his wife would welcome
+them, to begin with; Brownster would be very glad to see them; and I
+believe the mother would stand with tears of joy and open arms, in
+whatever quiet room she might feel free to await them. Moreover, when
+the sterner parent heard my tale and read my pedigree, might he not
+consider good name on the one side an equivalent for good money on the
+other?
+
+I looked up at her; she did not ask me what I had been thinking about
+nor remark upon my silence. She, too, had been wrapped in revery; her
+face was grave. She raised her arms from the wall and stood up.
+
+It was plainly time for me to do something, and she decided the point
+for me by slightly moving away from the wall. "Some time, when you are
+riding out from Walford," she said, "we should be glad to have you
+stop and take luncheon. Father likes to have people at luncheon."
+
+"I should be delighted to do so," said I; and if she had asked me to
+delay my journey and take luncheon with them that day I think I should
+have accepted the invitation. But she did not do that, and she was not
+a young lady who would stand too long by a public road talking to a
+young man. She smiled very sweetly and held out her hand over the
+wall. "Good-bye again," she said. As I took her hand I felt very much
+inclined to press it warmly, but I refrained. Her grasp was firm and
+friendly, and I would have liked very much to know whether or not it
+was more so than was her custom.
+
+I was mounting my wheel when she called to me again. "Now, I suppose,"
+she said, "you are going straight on?"
+
+"Oh yes," I replied, with emphasis, "straight on."
+
+"And the name of the hotel where you will stay to-night," said she,
+"it is the Cheltenham. I forgot it when I spoke to you before. I do
+not believe, really, it is more than three miles beyond the other
+little place where you thought of stopping."
+
+Then she walked away from the wall and I mounted. I moved very slowly
+onward, and as I turned my head I saw that a row of straggling bushes
+which grew close to the wall were now between her and me. But I also
+saw, or thought I saw, between the leaves and boughs, that her face
+was towards me, and that she was waving her handkerchief. If I had
+been sure of that, I think I should have jumped over the wall, pushed
+through the bushes, and should have asked her to give me that
+handkerchief, that I might fasten it on the front of my cap as, in
+olden days, a knight going forth to his adventures bound upon his
+helmet the glove of his lady-love.
+
+But I was not sure of it, and, seized by a sudden energetic
+excitement, I started off at a tremendous rate of speed. The ground
+flew backward beneath me as if I had been standing on the platform of
+a railroad car. Not far ahead of me there came from a side road into
+the main avenue on which I was travelling a Scorcher, scorching. As he
+spun away in front of me, his body bent forward until his back was
+nearly horizontal, and his green-stockinged legs striking out behind
+him with the furious rapidity of a great frog trying to push his head
+into the mud, he turned back his little face with a leer of triumphant
+derision at every moving thing which might happen to be behind him.
+
+[Illustration: "I THOUGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS"]
+
+At the sight of this green-legged Scorcher my blood rose, and it was
+with me as if I had heard the clang of trumpets and the clash of arms.
+I leaned slightly forward; I struck out powerfully, swiftly, and
+steadily; I gained upon the Scorcher; I sent into his emerald legs a
+thrill of startled fear, as if he had been a terrified hare bounding
+madly away from a pursuing foe, and I passed him as if I had been a
+swift falcon swooping by a quarry unworthy of his talons.
+
+On, on I sped, not deigning even to look back. The same spirit
+possessed me as that which fired the hearts of the olden knights. I
+would have been glad to meet with another Scorcher, and yet another,
+that for the sake of my fair lady I might engage with each and humble
+his pride in the dust.
+
+"It is true," I said to myself, with an inward laugh, "I carry no
+glove or delicate handkerchief bound upon my visor--" but at this
+point my mind wandered. I went more slowly, and at last I stopped and
+sat down under the shade of a way-side tree. I thought for a few
+minutes, and then I said to myself, "It seems to me this would be a
+good time to take one of those capsules," and I took one. I then
+fancied that perhaps I ought to take two, but I contented myself with
+one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+
+
+In the middle of the day I stopped at Vernon, and the afternoon was
+well advanced when I came in sight of a little way-side house with a
+broad unfenced green in front of it, and a swinging sign which told
+the traveller that this was the "Holly Sprig Inn."
+
+I dismounted on the opposite side of the road and gazed upon the
+smoothly shaven greensward in front of the little inn; upon the pretty
+upper windows peeping out from their frames of leaves; upon the
+queerly-shaped projections of the building; upon the low portico which
+shaded the doorway; and upon the gentle stream of blue smoke which
+rose from the great gray chimney.
+
+Then I turned and looked over the surrounding country. There were
+broad meadows slightly descending to a long line of trees, between
+which I could see the glimmering of water. On the other side of the
+road, and extending back of the inn, there were low, forest-crowned
+hills. Then my eyes, returning to nearer objects, fell upon an
+old-fashioned garden, with bright flowers and rows of box, which lay
+beyond the house.
+
+"Why on earth," I thought, "should I pass such a place as this and go
+on to the Cheltenham, with its waiters in coat tails, its nurse-maids,
+and its rows of people on piazzas? She could not know my tastes, and
+perhaps she had thought but little on the subject, and had taken her
+ideas from her father. He is just the man to be contented with nothing
+else than a vast sprawling hotel, with disdainful menials expecting
+tips."
+
+I rolled my bicycle along the little path which ran around the green,
+and knocked upon the open door of Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+In a few moments a boy came into the hall. He was not dressed like an
+ordinary hotel attendant, but his appearance was decent, and he might
+have been a sub-clerk or a head hall-boy.
+
+"Can I obtain lodging here for the night?" I asked.
+
+The boy looked at me from head to foot, and an expression such as
+might be produced by too much lemon juice came upon his face.
+
+"No," said he; "we don't take cyclers."
+
+This reception was something novel to me, who had cycled over
+thousands of miles, and I was not at all inclined to accept it at the
+hands of the boy. I stepped into the hall. "Can I see the master of
+this house?" said I.
+
+"There ain't none," he answered, gruffly.
+
+"Well, then, I want to see whoever is in charge."
+
+He looked as if he were about to say that he was in charge, but he had
+no opportunity for such impertinence. A female figure came into the
+hall and advanced towards me. She stopped in an attitude of
+interrogation.
+
+"I was just inquiring," I said, with a bow--for I saw that the
+new-comer was not a servant--"if I could be accommodated here for the
+night, but the boy informed me that cyclers are not received here."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, and turned as if she would speak to the boy,
+but he had vanished. "That is a mistake, sir," she said to me. "Very
+few wheelmen do stop here, as they prefer a hotel farther on, but we
+are glad to entertain them when they come."
+
+It was not very light in the hall in which we stood, but I could see
+that this lady was young, that she was of medium size, and
+good-looking.
+
+"Will you walk in, sir, and register?" she said. "I will have your
+wheel taken around to the back."
+
+I followed her into a large apartment to the right of the
+hall--evidently a room of general assembly. Near the window was a desk
+with a great book on it. As I stood before this desk and she handed me
+a pen, her face was in the full light of the window, and glancing at
+it, the thought struck me that I now knew why Miss Putney did not wish
+me to stop at the Holly Sprig Inn. I almost laughed as I turned away
+my head to write my name. I was amused, and at the same time I could
+not help feeling highly complimented. It cannot but be grateful to the
+feelings of a young man to find that a very handsome woman objects to
+his making the acquaintance of an extremely pretty one.
+
+When I laid down the pen she stepped up and looked at my name and
+address.
+
+"Oh," said she, "you are the schoolmaster at Walford?" She seemed to
+be pleased by this discovery, and smiled in a very engaging way as she
+said, "I am much interested in that school, for I received a great
+part of my education there." "Indeed!" said I, very much surprised.
+"But I do not exactly understand. It is a boys' school."
+
+"I know that," she answered, "but both boys and girls used to go
+there. Now the girls have a school of their own."
+
+As she spoke I could not help contrasting in my mind what the school
+must have been with what it was now.
+
+She stepped to the door and told a woman who was just entering the
+room to show me No. 2. The woman said something which I did not hear,
+although her tones indicated surprise, and then conducted me to my
+room.
+
+This was an exceedingly pleasant chamber on the first floor at the
+back of the house. It was furnished far better than the quarters
+generally allotted to me in country inns, or, in fact, in hostelries
+of any kind. There was great comfort and even simple elegance in its
+appointments.
+
+I would have liked to ask the maid some questions, but she was an
+elderly woman, who looked as if she might be the mother of the
+lemon-juice boy, and as she said not a word to me while she made a few
+arrangements in the room, I did not feel emboldened to say anything to
+her.
+
+When I left my room and went out on the little porch, I soon came to
+the conclusion that this was not a house of great resort. I saw
+nobody in front and I heard nobody within. There seemed to be an air
+of quiet greenness about the surroundings, and the little porch was a
+charming place in which to sit and look upon the evening landscape.
+
+After a time the boy came to tell me that supper was ready. He did so
+as if he were informing me that it was time to take medicine and he
+had just taken his.
+
+Supper awaited me in a very pleasant room, through the open windows of
+which there came a gentle breeze which made me know that there was a
+flower-garden not far away. The table was a small one, round, and on
+it there was supper for one person. I seated myself, and the elderly
+woman waited on me. I was so grateful that the boy was not my
+attendant that my heart warmed towards her, and I thought she might
+not consider it much out of the way if I said something.
+
+"Did I arrive after the regular supper-time?" I asked. "I am sorry if
+I put the establishment to any inconvenience."
+
+"What's inconvenience in your own house isn't anything of the kind in
+a tavern," she said. "We're used to that. But it doesn't matter
+to-day. You're the only transient; that is, that eats here," she
+added.
+
+I wanted very much to ask something about the lady who had gone to
+school in Walford, but I thought it would be well to approach that
+subject by degrees.
+
+"Apparently," said I, "your house is not full."
+
+"No," said she, "not at this precise moment of time. Do you want some
+more tea?"
+
+The tone in which she said this made me feel sure she was the mother
+of the boy, and when she had given me the tea, and looked around in a
+general way to see that I was provided with what else I needed, she
+left the room.
+
+After supper I looked into the large room where I had registered; it
+was lighted, and was very comfortably furnished with easy-chairs and a
+lounge, but it was an extremely lonely place, and, lighting a cigar, I
+went out for a walk. It was truly a beautiful country, and, illumined
+by the sunset sky, with all its forms and colors softened by the
+growing dusk, it was more charming to me than it had been by daylight.
+
+As I returned to the inn I noticed a man standing at the entrance of a
+driveway which appeared to lead back to the stable-yards. "Here is
+some one who may talk," I thought, and I stopped.
+
+[Illustration: "WENT OUT FOR A WALK"]
+
+"This ought to be a good country for sport," I said--"fishing, and
+that sort of thing."
+
+"You're stoppin' here for the night?" he asked. I presumed from his
+voice and appearance that he was a stable-man, and from his tone that
+he was disappointed that I had not brought a horse with me.
+
+I assented to his question, and he said:
+
+"I never heard of no fishin'. When people want to fish, they go to a
+lake about ten miles furder on."
+
+"Oh, I do not care particularly about fishing," I said, "but there
+must be a good many pleasant roads about here."
+
+"There's this one," said he. "The people on wheels keep to it." With
+this he turned and walked slowly towards the back of the house.
+
+"A lemon-loving lot!" thought I, and as I approached the porch I saw
+that the lady who had gone to school at Walford was standing there. I
+did not believe she had been eating lemons, and I stepped forward
+quickly for fear that she should depart before I reached her.
+
+"Been taking a walk?" she said, pleasantly. There was something in the
+general air of this young woman which indicated that she should have
+worn a little apron with pockets, and that her hands should have been
+jauntily thrust into those pockets; but her dress included nothing of
+the sort.
+
+The hall lamp was now lighted, and I could see that her attire was
+extremely neat and becoming. Her face was in shadow, but she had
+beautiful hair of a ruddy brown. I asked myself if she were the "lady
+clerk" of the establishment, or the daughter of the keeper of the inn.
+She was evidently a person in some authority, and one with whom it
+would be proper for me to converse, and as she had given me a very
+good opportunity to open conversation, I lost no time in doing so.
+
+"And so you used to live in Walford?" I said.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, and then she began to speak of the pleasant
+days she had spent in that village. As she talked I endeavored to
+discover from her words who she was and what was her position. I did
+not care to discuss Walford. I wanted to talk about the Holly Sprig
+Inn, but I could not devise a courteous question which would serve my
+purpose.
+
+Presently our attention was attracted by the sound of singing at the
+corner of the little lawn most distant from the house. It was growing
+dark, and the form of the singer could barely be discerned upon a
+bench under a great oak. The voice was that of a man, and his song
+was an Italian air from one of Verdi's operas. He sang in a low tone,
+as if he were simply amusing himself and did not wish to disturb the
+rest of the world.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHESTER]
+
+"That must be the Italian who is stopping here for the night," she
+said. "We do not generally take such people; but he spoke so civilly,
+and said it was so hard to get lodging for his bear--"
+
+"His bear!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Oh yes," she answered, with a little laugh, "he has a bear with him.
+I suppose it dances, and so makes a living for its master. Anyway, I
+said he might stay and lodge with our stable-man. He would sing very
+well if he had a better voice--don't you think so?"
+
+"We do not generally accommodate," "I said he might stay"--these were
+phrases which I turned over in my mind. If she were the lady clerk she
+might say "we"--even the boy said "we"--but "I said he might stay" was
+different. A daughter of a landlord or a landlady might say that.
+
+I made a remark about the difficulty of finding lodging for man and
+beast, if the beast happened to be a bear, and I had scarcely finished
+it when from the house there came a shrill voice, flavored with lemon
+without any sugar, and it said, "Mrs. Chester!"
+
+"Excuse me," said the young lady, and immediately she went in-doors.
+
+Here was a revelation! Mrs. Chester! Strange to say, I had not thought
+of her as a married woman; and yet, now that I recalled her manner of
+perfect self-possession, she did suggest the idea of a satisfied young
+wife. And Mr. Chester--what of him? Could it be possible? Hardly.
+There was nothing about her to suggest a widow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+
+
+I sat on that porch a good while, but she did not come out again. Why
+should she? Nobody came out, and within I could hear no sound of
+voices. I might certainly recommend this inn as a quiet place. The
+Italian and the crickets continued singing and chirping, but they only
+seemed to make the scene more lonely.
+
+I went in-doors. On the left hand of the hall was a door which I had
+not noticed before, but which was now open. There was a light within,
+and I saw a prettily-furnished parlor. There was a table with a lamp
+on it, and by the table sat the lady, Mrs. Chester. I involuntarily
+stopped, and, looking up, she invited me to come in. Instantly I
+accepted the invitation, but with a sort of an apology for the
+intrusion.
+
+"Oh, this is the public parlor," she said, "although everything about
+this house seems private at present. We generally have families
+staying with us in the summer, but last week nearly all of them went
+away to the sea-shore. In a few days, however, we expect to be full
+again."
+
+She immediately began to talk about Walford, for evidently the subject
+interested her, and I answered all her questions as well as I could.
+
+"You may know that my husband taught that school. I was his scholar
+before I became his wife."
+
+I had heard of a Mr. Chester who, before me, had taught the school,
+but, although the information had not interested me at the time, now
+it did. I wished very much to ask what Mr. Chester was doing at
+present, but I waited.
+
+"I went to boarding-school after I left Walford," said she, "and so
+for a time lost sight of the village, although I have often visited it
+since."
+
+"How long is it since Mr. Chester gave up the school there?" I asked.
+
+This proved to be a very good question indeed. "About six years," she
+said. "He gave it up just before we were married. He did not like
+teaching school, and as the death of his father put him into the
+possession of some money, he was able to change his mode of life. It
+was by accident that we settled here as innkeepers. We happened to
+pass the place, and Mr. Chester was struck by its beauty. It was not
+an inn then, but he thought it would make a charming one, and he also
+thought that this sort of life would suit him exactly. He was a
+student, a great reader, and a lover of rural sports--such as fishing
+and all that."
+
+[Illustration: "SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WALFORD"]
+
+"Was." Here was a dim light. "Was" must mean that Mr. Chester had
+been. If he were living, he would still be a reader and a student.
+
+"Did he find the new life all that he expected?" I said, hesitating a
+little at the word did, as it was not impossible that I might be
+mistaken.
+
+"Oh yes, and more. I think the two years he spent here were the
+happiest of his life."
+
+I was not yet quite sure about the state of affairs; he might be in an
+insane asylum, or he might be a hopeless invalid up-stairs.
+
+"If he had lived," she continued, "I suppose this would have been a
+wonderfully beautiful place, for he was always making improvements.
+But it is four years now since his death, and in that time there has
+been very little change in the inn."
+
+I do not remember what answer I made to this remark, but I gazed out
+upon the situation as if it were an unrolled map.
+
+"When you wrote your name in the book," she said, "it seemed to me as
+if you had brought a note of introduction, and I am sure I am very
+glad to be acquainted with you, for, you know, you are my husband's
+successor. He did not like teaching, but he was fond of his scholars,
+and he always had a great fancy for school-teachers. Whenever one of
+them stopped here--which happened two or three times--he insisted that
+he should be put into our best room, if it happened to be vacant, and
+that is the reason I have put you into it to-day."
+
+This was charming. She was such an extremely agreeable young person
+that it was delightful for me to think of myself in any way as her
+husband's successor.
+
+There was a step at the door. I turned and saw the elderly servant.
+
+"Mrs. Chester," she said, "I'm goin' up," and every word was flavored
+with citric acid.
+
+"Good-night," said Mrs. Chester, taking up her basket and her work.
+"You know, you need not retire until you wish to do so. There is a
+room opposite, where gentlemen smoke."
+
+I did not enter the big, lonely room. I went to my own chamber,
+which, I had just been informed, was the best in the house. I sat down
+in an easy-chair by the open window. I looked up to the twinkling
+stars.
+
+Reading, studying, fishing, beautiful country, and all that. And he
+did not like school-teaching! No wonder he was happier here than he
+had ever been before! My eyes wandered around the tastefully furnished
+room. "Her husband's successor," I said to myself, pondering. "He did
+not like school-teaching, and he was so happy here." Of course he was
+happy. "Died and left him some money." There was no one to leave me
+any money, but I had saved some for the time when I should devote
+myself entirely to my profession. Profession--I thought. After all,
+what is there in a profession? Slavery; anxiety. And he chose a life
+of reading, studying, fishing, and everything else.
+
+I turned to the window and again looked up into the sky. There was a
+great star up there, and it seemed to wink cheerfully at me as the
+words came into my mind, "her husband's successor."
+
+When I opened my little valise, before going to bed, I saw the box the
+doctor's daughter had given me.
+
+After sitting so long at the open window, thought I, it might be well
+to take one of these capsules, and I swallowed one.
+
+When I was called to breakfast the next morning I saw that the table
+was laid with covers for two. In a moment my hostess entered and bade
+me good-morning. We sat down at the table; and the elderly woman
+waited. I could now see that her face was the color of a shop-worn
+lemon.
+
+As for the lady who had gone to school at Walford--I wondered what
+place in the old school-room she had occupied--she was more charming
+than ever. Her manner was so cordial and cheerful that I could not
+doubt that she considered the entry of my name in her book as a
+regular introduction. She asked me about my plan of travel, how far I
+would go in a day, and that sort of thing. The elderly woman was very
+grim, and somehow or other I did not take very much interest in my
+plan of travel, but the meal was an extremely pleasant one for all
+that.
+
+The natural thing for me to do after I finished my breakfast was to
+pay my bill and ride away, but I felt no inclination for anything of
+the sort. In fact, the naturalness of departure did not strike me. I
+went out on the little porch and gazed upon the bright, fresh morning
+landscape, and as I did so I asked myself why I should mount my
+bicycle and wheel away over hot and dusty roads, leaving all this
+cool, delicious beauty behind me.
+
+What could I find more enjoyable than this? Why should I not spend a
+few days at this inn, reading, studying, fishing? Here I wondered why
+that man told me such a lie about the fishing. If I wanted to exercise
+on my wheel I felt sure there were pretty roads hereabout. I had
+plenty of time before me--my whole vacation. Why should I be consumed
+by this restless desire to get on?
+
+I could not help smiling as I thought of my somewhat absurd fancies of
+the night before; but they were pleasant fancies, and I did not wonder
+that they had come to me. It certainly is provocative of pleasant
+fancies to have an exceedingly attractive young woman talk of you in
+any way as her husband's successor.
+
+I could not make up my mind what I ought to do, and I walked back into
+the hall. I glanced into the parlor, but it was unoccupied. Then I
+went into the large room on the right; no one was there, and I stood
+by the window trying to make up my mind in regard to proposing a brief
+stay at the inn.
+
+It really did not seem necessary to give the matter much thought. Here
+was a place of public entertainment, and, as I was one of the public,
+why should I not be entertained? I had stopped at many a road-side
+hostelry, and in each one of them I knew I would be welcome to stay as
+long as I was willing to pay.
+
+Still, there was something, some sort of an undefined consciousness,
+which seemed to rise in the way of an off-hand proposal to stay at
+this inn for several days, when I had clearly stated that I wished to
+stop only for the night.
+
+While I was still turning over this matter in my mind Mrs. Chester
+came into the room. I had expected her. The natural thing for her to
+do was to come in and receive the amount I owed her for her
+entertainment of me, but as I looked at her I could not ask her for my
+bill. It seemed to me that such a thing would shock her sensibilities.
+Moreover, I did not want her bill.
+
+It was plain enough, however, that she expected me to depart, for she
+asked me where I proposed to stop in the middle of the day, and she
+suggested that she should have a light luncheon put up for me. She
+thought probably a wheelman would like that sort of thing, for then he
+could stop and rest wherever it suited him.
+
+"Speaking of stopping," said I, "I am very glad that I did not do as I
+was advised to do and go on to the Cheltenham. I do not know anything
+about that hotel, but I am sure it is not so charming as this
+delightful little inn with its picturesque surroundings."
+
+"I am glad you did not," she answered. "Who advised you to go on to
+the Cheltenham?"
+
+"Miss Putney," said I. "Her father's place is between here and
+Walford. I stopped there night before last." And then, as I was glad
+of an opportunity to prolong the interview, I told her the history of
+my adventures at that place.
+
+Mrs. Chester was amused, and I thought I might as well tell her how I
+came to be delayed on the road and so caught in the storm, and I
+related my experience with Miss Burton. I would have been glad to go
+still farther back and tell her how I came to take the school at
+Walford, and anything else she might care to listen to.
+
+When I told her about Miss Burton she sat down in a chair near by and
+laughed heartily.
+
+"It is wonderfully funny," she said, "that you should have met those
+two young ladies and should then have stopped here."
+
+"You know them?" I said, promptly taking another chair.
+
+"Oh yes," she answered. "I know them both; and, as I have mentioned
+that your meeting with them seemed funny to me, I suppose I ought to
+tell you the reason. Some time ago a photographer in Walford, who has
+taken a portrait of me and also of Miss Putney and Miss Burton, took
+it into his head to print the three on one card and expose them for
+sale with a ridiculous inscription under them. This created a great
+deal of talk, and Miss Putney made the photographer destroy his
+negative and all the cards he had on hand. After that we were talked
+about as a trio, and, I expect, a good deal of fun was made of us. And
+now it seems a little odd--does it not?--that you have become
+acquainted with all the members of this trio as soon as you left
+Walford. But I must not keep you in this way." And she rose.
+
+Now was my opportunity to make known my desire to be kept, but before
+I could do so the boy hurriedly came into the room.
+
+"The Dago wants to see you," he said. "He's in an awful hurry."
+
+"Excuse me," said Mrs. Chester. "It is that Italian who was singing
+outside last night. I thought he had gone. Would you mind waiting a
+few minutes?"
+
+It was getting harder and harder to enunciate my proposition to make a
+sojourn at the inn. I wished that I had spoken sooner. It is so much
+easier to do things promptly.
+
+While I was waiting the elderly woman came in. "Do you want the boy to
+take your little bag out and strap it on?" said she.
+
+Evidently there was no want of desire to speed the departing guest.
+"Oh, I will attend to that myself," said I, but I made no step to do
+it. When my hostess came back I wanted to be there.
+
+Presently she did come back. She ran in hurriedly, and her face was
+flushed. "Here is a very bad piece of business," she said. "That man's
+bear has eaten the tire off one of your wheels!"
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, and my heart bounded within me. Here, perhaps,
+was the solution of all my troubles. If by any happy chance my bicycle
+had been damaged, of course I could not go on.
+
+"Come and see," she said, and, following her through the back hall
+door, we entered a large, enclosed yard. Not far from the house was a
+shed, and in front of this lay my bicycle on its side in an apparently
+disabled condition. An Italian, greatly agitated, was standing by it.
+He was hatless, and his tangled black hair hung over his swarthy face.
+At the other end of the yard was a whitish-brown bear, not very large,
+and chained to a post.
+
+I approached my bicycle, earnestly hoping that the bear had been
+attempting to ride it, but I found that he had been trying to do
+something very different. He had torn the pneumatic tire from one of
+the wheels, and nearly the whole of it was lying scattered about in
+little bits upon the ground.
+
+"How did this happen?" I said to the Italian, feeling very much
+inclined to give him a dollar for the good offices of the beast.
+
+The man began immediately to pour out an explanation upon me. His
+English was as badly broken as the torn parts of my tire, but I had no
+trouble in understanding. The bear had got loose in the night. He had
+pulled up a little post to which he had been chained. The man had not
+known it was such a weak post. The bear was never muzzled at night. He
+had gone about looking for something to eat. He was very fond of
+India-rubber--or, as the man called it, "Injer-rub." He always ate up
+India-rubber shoes wherever he could find them. He would eat them off
+a man's feet if the man should be asleep. He liked the taste of
+Injer-rub. He did not swallow it. He dropped it all about in little
+bits.
+
+[Illustration: BUT WE WERE NOT ALONE]
+
+Then the man sprang towards me and seized the injured wheel. "See!" he
+exclaimed. "He eat your Injer-rub, but he no break your machine!"
+
+This was very true. The wheel did not seem to be injured, but still I
+could not travel without a tire. This was the most satisfactory
+feature of the affair. If he and I had been alone together I would
+have handed the man two dollars, and told him to go in peace with his
+bear and give himself no more trouble.
+
+But we were not alone. The stable-man who had lied to me about the
+fishing was there; the boy who had lied to me about the reception of
+cyclers was there; the lemon-faced woman was there, standing close to
+Mrs. Chester; and there were two maids looking out of the window of
+the kitchen.
+
+"This is very bad indeed!" said Mrs. Chester, addressing the Italian.
+"You have damaged this gentleman's wheel, and you must pay him for
+it."
+
+Now the Italian began to tear his hair. Never before had I seen any
+one tear his hair. More than that, he shed tears, and declared he had
+no money. After he had paid his bill he would not have a cent in the
+world. His bear had ruined him. He was in despair.
+
+"What are you going to do?" said Mrs. Chester to me. "You cannot use
+your bicycle."
+
+Before I could answer, the elderly woman exclaimed: "You ought to come
+in, Mrs. Chester! This is no place for you! Suppose that beast should
+break loose again! Let the gentleman settle it with the man."
+
+I do not think my hostess wanted to go, but she accompanied her grim
+companion into the house.
+
+"I suppose there is no place near here where I can have a new tire put
+on this wheel?" said I to the stable-man.
+
+"Not nearer than Waterton," he replied; "but we could take you and
+your machine there in a wagon."
+
+"That's so," said the boy. "I'll drive."
+
+I glared upon the two fellows as if they had been a couple of fiends
+who were trying to put a drop of poison into my cup of joy. To be
+dolefully driven to Waterton by that boy! What a picture! How
+different from my picture!
+
+The Italian sat down on the ground and embraced his knees with his
+arms. He moaned and groaned, and declared over and over again that he
+was ruined; that he had no money to pay.
+
+In regard to him my mind was made up. I would forgive him his debt and
+send him away with my blessing, even if I found no opportunity of
+rewarding him for his great service to me.
+
+I would go in and speak to Mrs. Chester about it. Of course it would
+not be right to do anything without consulting her, and now I could
+boldly tell her that it would suit me very well to stop at the inn
+until my wheel could be sent away and repaired.
+
+As I entered the large room the elderly woman came out. She was
+plainly in a bad humor. Mrs. Chester was awaiting me with an anxious
+countenance, evidently much more troubled about the damage to my
+bicycle than I was. I hastened to relieve her mind.
+
+"It does not matter a bit about the damage done by the bear," I said.
+"I should not wonder if that wheel would be a great deal better for a
+new tire, anyway. And, as for that doleful Italian, I do not want to
+be hard on him, even if he has a little money in his pocket."
+
+But my remarks did not relieve her, while my cheerful and contented
+tones seemed to add to her anxiety.
+
+"But you cannot travel," she said, "and there is no place about here
+where you could get a new tire."
+
+It was very plain that no one in this house entertained the idea that
+it would be a good thing for me to rest here quietly until my bicycle
+could be sent away and repaired. In fact, my first statement, that I
+wished to stop but for the night, was accepted with general approval.
+
+I did not deem it necessary to refer to the man's offer, to send me
+and my machine to Waterton in a wagon, and I was just on the point of
+boldly announcing that I was in no hurry whatever to get on, and that
+it would suit me very well to wait here for a few days, when the boy
+burst into the room, one end of his little neck-tie flying behind him.
+
+"The Dago's put!" he shouted. "He's put off and gone!"
+
+We looked at him in amazement.
+
+"Gone!" I exclaimed. "Shall I go after him? Has he paid his bill?"
+
+"No, you needn't do that," said the boy. "He cut across the fields
+like a chipmunk--skipped right over the fences! You'd never ketch him,
+and you needn't try! He's off for the station. I'll tell you all
+about it," said the boy, turning to his mistress, who had been too
+much startled to ask any questions. "When he went into the
+house"--jerking his head in my direction--"I was left alone with the
+Dago, and he begun to talk to me. He asked me a lot of things. He
+rattled on so I couldn't understand half he said. He wanted to know
+how much a tire cost; he wanted to know how much his bill would be,
+and if he'd have to pay for the little post that was broke.
+
+"Then he asked if I thought that if he'd promise to send you the money
+would the gentleman let him go without payin' for the tire, and he
+wanted to know what your name was; and when I told him you hadn't no
+husband, and what your name was, he asked me to say it over again, and
+then he made me say it once more--the whole of it; and while I was
+tellin' him that I'd write it down for him if he wanted to send you
+the money, he give a big jump and he stuck his head out like a bull.
+He looked so queer that I was gettin' skeered; and then he says,
+almost whisperin': 'I go! I go away! I leave my bear! If she sell him,
+that pay everything! I come back no more--never! never!'
+
+"I saw he was goin' to scoot, and I made a grab at him, but he give me
+a push that nearly tore my collar off, and away he went. You never see
+anybody run like he run. He was out of sight in no time."
+
+"And he left his bear!" she exclaimed, in horror. "What on earth am I
+to do with a bear?" She looked at me, and in spite of her annoyance
+and perplexity she could not help joining me when I laughed outright.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+ORSO
+
+
+Mrs. Chester and I hurried back to the yard. There was the bear,
+sitting calmly on his haunches, but there was no Italian.
+
+"Now that his master is gone," my hostess exclaimed, "I am afraid of
+him! I will not go any farther! Can you imagine anything that can be
+done with that beast?"
+
+I had no immediate answer to give, and I was still very much amused at
+the absurdity of the situation. Had any one ever before paid his bill
+in such fashion? At this moment the stable-man approached us from one
+of the outbuildings. "This is my hostler," she said. "Perhaps he can
+suggest something."
+
+"This is a bad go, ma'am," said he. "The horse was out in the pasture
+all night, but this morning when I went to bring him up I couldn't
+make him come near the stable. He smells that bear! It seems to drive
+him crazy!"
+
+"It's awful!" she said. "What are we going to do, John? Do you think
+the animal will become dangerous when he misses his master?"
+
+"Oh, there's nothin' dangerous about him," answered John. "I was
+sittin' talkin' to that Dago last night after supper, and he says his
+bear's tamer than a cat. He is so mild-tempered that he wouldn't hurt
+nobody. The Dago says he sleeps close up to him of cold nights to keep
+himself warm. There ain't no trouble about his bein' dangerous, but
+you can't bring the horse into the stable while he's about. If anybody
+was to drive into this yard without knowin' they'd be a circus, I can
+tell you! Horses can't stand bears."
+
+She looked at me in dismay. "Couldn't he be shot and buried?" she
+asked.
+
+I had my doubts on that point. A tame bear is a valuable animal, and I
+could not advise her to dispose of the property of another person in
+that summary way.
+
+"But he must be got away," she said. "We can't have a bear here. He
+must be taken away some way or other. Isn't there any place where he
+could be put until the Italian comes back?"
+
+"That Dago's never comin' back," said the boy, solemnly. "If you'd
+a-seen him scoot, you'd a-knowed that he was dead skeered, and would
+never turn up here no more, bear or no bear."
+
+Mrs. Chester looked at me. She was greatly worried, but she was also
+amused, and she could not help laughing.
+
+"Isn't this a dreadful predicament?" she said. "What in the world am I
+to do?" At this moment there was an acidulated voice from the kitchen.
+"Mrs. Whittaker wants to see you, Mrs. Chester," it cried, "right
+away!"
+
+"Oh, dear!" said she. "Here is more trouble! Mrs. Whittaker is an
+invalid lady who is so nervous that she could not sleep one night
+because she heard a man had killed a snake at the back of the barn,
+and what she will say when she hears that we have a bear here without
+a master I do not know. I must go to her, and I do wish you could
+think of something that I can do;" as she said this she looked at me
+as if it were a natural thing for her to rely upon me. For a moment it
+made me think of the star that had winked the night before.
+
+Mrs. Chester hurried into the house, and in company with the
+stable-man I crossed the yard towards the bear.
+
+"You are sure he is gentle?" said I.
+
+"Mild as milk!" said the man. "I was a-playin' with him last night.
+He'll let you do anything with him! If you box his ears, he'll lay
+over flat down on his side!"
+
+When we were within a few feet of the bear he sat upright, dangled his
+fore paws in front of him, and, with his head on one side, he partly
+opened his mouth and lolled out his tongue. "I guess he's beggin' for
+his breakfust," said John.
+
+"Can't you get him something to eat?" I asked. "He ought to be fed, to
+begin with."
+
+The man went back to the kitchen, and I walked slowly around the bear,
+looking at the chain and the post, and trying to see what sort of a
+collar was almost hidden under his shaggy hair. Apparently he seemed
+securely attached, and then--as he was at the end of his chain--I went
+up to him and gently patted one paw. He did not object to this, and
+turning his head he let his tongue loll out on the other side, fixing
+his little black eyes upon me with much earnestness. When the man came
+with the pan of scraps from the kitchen I took it from him and placed
+it on the ground in front of the bear. Instantly the animal dropped to
+his feet and began to eat with earnest rapidity.
+
+"I wonder how much he'd take in for one meal," said John, "if you'd
+give him all he wanted? I guess that Dago never let him have any
+more'n he could help."
+
+As the bear was licking the tin pan I stood and looked at him. "I
+wonder if he would be tame with strangers?" said I. "Do you suppose we
+could take him away from this post if we wanted to?"
+
+"Oh yes," said John. "I wouldn't be afraid to take him anywheres, only
+there isn't any place to take him to." He then stepped quite close to
+the bear. "Hey, horsey!" said he. "Hey, old horsey! Good old horsey!"
+
+"Is that his name?" I asked.
+
+"That's what the Dago called him," said John. "Hey, horsey! Good
+horsey!" And he stooped and unfastened the chain from the post.
+
+I imagined that the Italian had called the bear "Orso," perhaps with
+some diminutive, but I did not care to discuss this. I was very much
+interested to see what the man was going to do. With the end of the
+chain in his hand, John now stepped in front of the bear and said,
+"Come along, horsey!" and, to my surprise, the bear began to shamble
+after him as quietly as if he had been following his old master.
+"See!" cried John. "He'll go anywheres I choose to take him!" and he
+began to lead him about the yard.
+
+As he approached the kitchen there came a fearful scream from the open
+window.
+
+"Take him away! Take him away!" I heard, in the shrillest accents.
+
+"They're dreadfully skeered," said John, as he led the bear back; "but
+he wouldn't hurt nobody! It would be a good thing, though, to put his
+muzzle on; that's it hangin' over there by the shed; it's like a
+halter, and straps up his jaws. The Dago said there ain't no need for
+it, but he puts it on when he's travellin' along the road to keep
+people from bein' skeered."
+
+"It would be well to put it on," said I. "I wonder if we can get him
+into it?"
+
+"I guess he'd let you do anything you'd a mind to," replied John, as
+he again fastened the chain to the post.
+
+I took down the muzzle and approached the bear. He did not growl, but
+stood perfectly still and looked at me. I put the muzzle over his
+head, and, holding myself in readiness to elude a sudden snap, I
+strapped up his jaws. The creature made no snap--he gazed at me with
+mild resignation.
+
+"As far as he goes," said John, "he's all right; but as far as
+everything else goes--especially horses--they're all wrong. He's got
+to be got rid of some way."
+
+I had nothing more to say to John, and I went into the house. I met
+Mrs. Chester in the hall.
+
+"I have had a bad time up-stairs," she said. "Mrs. Whittaker declares
+that she will not stay an hour in a house where there is a bear
+without a master; but as she has a terrible sciatica and cannot
+travel, I do not know what she is going to do. Her trained nurse, I
+believe, is now putting on her bonnet to depart."
+
+As she spoke, the joyful anticipation of a few days at the Holly Sprig
+Inn began to fade away. I did not blame the bear as the present cause
+of my disappointment. He had done all he could for me. It was his
+wretched master who had done the mischief by running away and leaving
+him. But no matter what had happened, I saw my duty plainly before me.
+I had not been encouraged to stay, but it is possible that I might
+have done so without encouragement, but now I saw that I must go. The
+Fates, who, as I had hoped, had compelled my stay, now compelled my
+departure.
+
+"Do not give yourself another thought upon the subject," I said. "I
+will settle the whole matter, and nobody need be frightened or
+disturbed. The Cheltenham Hotel is only a few miles farther on, and I
+shall have to walk there anyway. I will start immediately and take the
+bear with me. I am sure that he will allow me to lead him wherever I
+please. I have tried him, and I find that he is a great deal gentler
+than most children."
+
+She exclaimed, in horror: "You must not think of it! He might spring
+upon you and tear you to pieces!"
+
+"Oh, he will not do that," I answered. "He is not that sort of a
+bear--and, besides, he is securely muzzled. I muzzled him myself, and
+he did not mind it in the least. Oh, you need not be afraid of the
+bear; he has had his breakfast and he is in perfect good-humor with
+the world. It will not take me long to reach the hotel, and I shall
+enjoy the walk, and when I get there I will be sure to find some shed
+or out-house where the beast can be shut up until it can be decided
+what to do with him. I can leave him there and have him legally
+advertised, and then--if nothing else can be done--he can be shot. I
+shall be very glad to have his skin; it will be worth enough to cover
+his bill here, and the damages to my bicycle. I shall send for that
+as soon as I reach the hotel. I can go to Waterton by train and take
+it with me. I can have it made all right in Waterton. So now, you see,
+I have settled everything satisfactorily."
+
+She looked at me earnestly, and, although there was a certain
+solicitude in her gaze, I could also see there signs of great relief.
+"But isn't there some other way of getting that bear to the hotel?"
+she said. "It will be dreadful for you to have to walk there and lead
+him."
+
+"It's the only way to do it," I answered. "You could not hitch a bear
+behind a wagon--the horse would run away and jerk his head off. The
+only way to take a bear about the country is to lead him, and I do not
+mind it in the least. As I have got to go without my bicycle I would
+like to have some sort of company. Anyway, the bear must go, and as I
+am on the road to the Cheltenham I shall be very glad to take him
+along with me."
+
+"I think you are wonderfully brave," she said, "and very good. If I
+can persuade myself it will be perfectly safe for you, it will
+certainly be a great relief to me."
+
+I was now engaged in a piece of self-sacrifice, and I felt that I must
+do it thoroughly and promptly. "I will go and get my valise," I said,
+"for I ought to start immediately."
+
+"Oh, I will send that!" she exclaimed.
+
+"No," I answered; "it does not weigh anything, and I can sling it over
+my shoulder. By-the-way," I said, turning as I was about to leave the
+room, "I have forgotten something." I put my hand into my pocket; it
+would not do to forget that I was, after all, only a departing guest.
+
+"No, no," she replied, quickly, "I am your debtor. When you find out
+how much damage you have suffered, and what is to be done with the
+bear, all that can be settled. You can write to me, but I will have
+nothing to do with it now."
+
+With my valise over my shoulder I returned to the hall to take leave
+of my hostess. Now she seemed somewhat contrite. Fate and she had
+conquered, I was going away, and she was sorry for me.
+
+"I think it is wonderfully good of you to do all this," she said. "I
+wish I could do something for you."
+
+I would have been glad to suggest that she might ask me to come again,
+and it would also have pleased me to say that I did not believe that
+her husband, if he could express his opinion, would commend her
+apparent inhospitality to his successor. But I made no such remarks,
+and offered my hand, which she cordially clasped as if I were an old
+friend and were going away to settle in the Himalayas.
+
+I went into the yard to get Orso. He was lying down when I approached
+him, but I think he knew from my general appearance that I was
+prepared to take the road, and he rose to his feet as much as to say,
+"I am ready." I unfastened the chain from the post, and, with the best
+of wishes for good-luck from John, who now seemed to be very well
+satisfied with me, I walked around the side of the house, the bear
+following as submissively as if he had been used to my leadership all
+his life.
+
+I did not see the boy nor the lemon-faced woman, and I was glad of it.
+I believe they would have cast evil eyes upon me, and there is no
+knowing what that bear might have done in consequence.
+
+Mrs. Chester was standing in the door as I reached the road.
+"Good-bye!" she cried, "and good fortune go with you!" I raised my
+hat, and gave Orso a little jerk with the chain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A RUNAWAY
+
+
+He was a very slow walker, that bear. If I had been alone I would have
+been out of sight of the inn in less than five minutes. As it was, I
+looked back after a considerable time to see if I really were out of
+sight of the house, and I found I was not. She was still standing in
+the doorway, and when I turned she waved her handkerchief. Now that I
+had truly left and was gone, she seemed to be willing to let me know
+better than before what a charming woman she was. I took off my hat
+again and pressed forward.
+
+For a couple of miles, perhaps, I walked thoughtfully, and I do not
+believe I once thought of the bear shambling silently behind me. I had
+been dreaming a day-dream--not building a castle in the air, for I had
+seen before me a castle already built. I had simply been dreaming
+myself into it, into its life, into its possessions, into the
+possession of everything which belonged to it.
+
+It had been a fascinating vision. It had suited my fancy better than
+any vision of the future which I had ever had. I was not ambitious; I
+loved the loveliness of life. I was a student, and I had a dream of
+life which would not interfere with the society of my books. I loved
+all rural pleasures, and I had dreamed of a life where these were
+spread out ready for my enjoyment. I was a man formed to love, and
+there had come to me dreams of this sort of thing.
+
+My dreams had even taken practical shape. As I was dressing myself
+that morning I had puzzled my brain to find a pretext for taking the
+first step, which would be to remain a few days at the inn.
+
+The pretext for doing this had appeared to me. For a moment I had
+snatched at it and shown my joy, and then it had utterly
+disappeared--the vision, the fancy, the anticipations, the plans, the
+vine-covered home in the air, all were destroyed as completely as if
+it had been the tire of my bicycle scattered about in little bits upon
+the ground.
+
+"Come along, old Orso!" I exclaimed, endeavoring to mend my pace, and
+giving the bear a good pull upon his chain. But the ugly creature did
+not walk any faster; he simply looked at me with an air as if he would
+say that if I kept long upon the road I would learn to take it easy,
+and maintained the deliberate slouch of his demeanor.
+
+Presently I stopped, and Orso was very willing to imitate me in that
+action. I found, to my surprise, that I was not walking upon a
+macadamized road: such was the highway which passed the inn and led, I
+had been told, to the Cheltenham. I was now upon a road of gravel and
+clay, smooth enough and wide enough, but of a different character from
+that on which I had started that morning. I looked about me. Across a
+field to my left I saw a line of trees which seemed to indicate a
+road. I had a dim recollection of having passed a road which seemed to
+turn to the left, but I had been thinking very earnestly, and had paid
+little attention to it. Probably that road was the main road and this
+the one which turned off.
+
+I determined to investigate. It would not do to wander out of my way
+with my present encumbrance. It was now somewhat after noon; the
+country people were eating their dinners or engaged about their barns;
+there was nobody upon the road. At some distance ahead of me was a
+small house standing well back behind a little group of trees, and I
+decided to go there and make inquiries. And as it would not do at all
+to throw a rural establishment into a state of wild confusion by
+leading a bear up to its door, I conducted Orso to the side of the
+road and chained him to a fence-post. He was perfectly satisfied and
+lay down, his nose upon his fore-paws.
+
+[Illustration: "TO MY LEFT I SAW A LINE OF TREES"]
+
+I found three women in the little house. They were in a side kitchen
+eating their dinner, and I wondered what the bear would have done if
+he had smelled that dinner. They told me that I was not on the main
+road, and would have to go back more than half a mile in order to
+regain it.
+
+When I was out on the road again I said to myself that if I could
+possibly make Orso step along at a little more lively pace I might get
+to the hotel in time for a very late luncheon, and I was beginning to
+think that I had not been wise in declining portable refreshment, when
+I heard a noise ahead of me. At a considerable distance along the
+road, and not far from where I had left the bear, I saw a horse
+attached to a vehicle approaching me at a furious speed. He was
+running away! The truth flashed upon me--he had been frightened by
+Orso!
+
+I ran a few steps towards the approaching horse. His head was high in
+the air, and the vehicle swayed from side to side. It was a tall
+affair with two wheels, and on the high seat sat a lady vainly tugging
+at the reins. My heart sank. What dreadful thing had I done!
+
+I stood in the middle of the road. It seemed but a few seconds before
+the horse was upon me. He swerved to one side, but I was ready for
+that. I dashed at his bridle, but caught the end of his cumbrous bit
+in my right hand. I leaned forward with all the strength that dwelt in
+my muscles and nerves. The horse's glaring eye was over my face, and I
+felt the round end of a shaft rise up under my arm. A pair of
+outstretched forelegs slid past me. I saw the end of a banged tail
+switching in the dust. The horse was on his haunches. He was stopped.
+
+Before I had time to recover an erect attitude and to let up the horse
+the occupant of the vehicle was on the ground She had skipped down
+with wonderful alacrity on the side opposite to me, and was coming
+round by the back of the cart. The horse was now standing on his four
+legs, trembling in every fibre, and with eyes that were still wild and
+staring. Holding him firmly, I faced the lady as she stopped near me.
+She was a young woman in a jaunty summer costume and a round straw
+hat. She did not seem to be quite mistress of herself; she was not
+pale, but perhaps that was because her face was somewhat browned by
+the sun, but her step was not steady, and she breathed hard. Under
+ordinary circumstances she would have been assisted to the side of the
+road, where she might sit down and recover herself, and have water
+brought to her. But I could do nothing of that sort. I could not leave
+that shivering horse.
+
+[Illustration: "HE WAS RUNNING AWAY"]
+
+"Are you hurt?" I asked.
+
+"Oh no," she said, "but I am shaken up a bit. I cannot tell you how
+grateful I am! I don't believe I ever can tell you!"
+
+"Do not speak of that." I said, quickly. "Perhaps you would feel
+better if you were to sit down somewhere."
+
+"Oh, I don't want to sit down," said she. "I am so glad to have my
+feet on the solid earth again that that is enough for me. It was a
+bear that frightened him--a bear lying down by the side of the road a
+little way back. He never ran away before, but when he saw that bear
+he gave a great shy and a bolt, and he was off. I just got a glimpse
+of the beast."
+
+I was very anxious to change the conversation, and suggested that I
+lead the horse into the shade, for the sun was blazing down upon us.
+The horse submitted to be led to the side of the road, but he was very
+nervous, and looked everywhere for the approach of shaggy bears.
+
+"It is perfectly dreadful," she said, when she again approached me,
+"for people to leave bears about in that way. I suppose he was
+fastened, for it could not have been a wild beast. They do not lie
+down by the side of the road. I do not say that I was rattled, but I
+expected every second that there would be a smash, and there would
+have been if it had not been for--"
+
+"It is a wonder you were not thrown out," I interrupted, "those carts
+are so tall."
+
+"Yes," she answered, "and if I hadn't slipped off the driving-cushion
+at the first shy I would have been out sure. I never had anything
+happen like this, but who could have expected a great bear by the side
+of the road?"
+
+"Have you far to go?" I asked.
+
+"Not very--about three miles. I made a call this morning on the other
+road, and was driving home. My name is Miss Larramie. My father's
+place is on this road. He is Henry Esmond Larramie." I had heard of
+the gentleman, but had never met him. "I am not afraid of horses,"
+she continued, "but I do not know about driving this one now. He looks
+as if he were all ready to bolt again."
+
+"Oh, it would not do for you to drive him," I said. "That would be
+extremely risky."
+
+"I might walk home," she said, "but I could not leave the horse."
+
+"Let me think a minute," said I. Then presently I asked, "Will this
+horse stand if he is hitched?"
+
+"Oh yes," she answered; "I always hitch him when I make calls. There
+is a big strap under the seat which goes around his neck, and then
+through a ring in his bit. He has to stand--he can't get away."
+
+"Very well, then," said I; "I will tell you what I will do. I will tie
+him to this tree. I think he is quieter, and if you will stand by him
+and talk to him--he knows you?"
+
+"Oh yes," she answered, "and I can feed him with grass. But why do you
+want to tie him? What are you going to do?"
+
+As she spoke she brought me the tie strap, and I proceeded to fasten
+the horse to a tree.
+
+"Now, then," said I, "I must go and get the bear and take him away
+somewhere out of sight. It will never do to leave him there. Some
+other horse might be coming along."
+
+"You get the bear!" she said, surprised.
+
+"Yes," I answered; "he is my bear, and--"
+
+She stepped back, her eyes expanded and her lower jaw dropped. "_Your_
+bear!" she cried, and with that her glance seemed to run all over me
+as if she were trying to find some resemblance to a man who exhibited
+a bear.
+
+"Yes," I replied; "I left him there while I went to ask my way. It was
+a dreadful thing to do, but I must leave him there no longer. I will
+tell you all about it when I come back."
+
+I had decided upon a plan of action. I ran down the road to the bear,
+took down some bars of the fence, and then, untying him, I led him
+over a field to a patch of woodland. Orso shuffled along humbly as if
+it did not make any difference to him where he went, and when I
+reached the woods I entered it by an old cart-road, and soon struck
+off to one side among some heavy underbrush. Finding a spot where it
+would be impossible for the beast to be seen from the road, I fastened
+him securely to a tree. He looked after me regretfully, and I think I
+heard him whine, but I am not sure of that. I hurried back to the
+road, replaced the bars, and very soon had joined the young lady.
+
+"Well," said she, "never in this world would I have thought that was
+your bear! But what is to be done now? This horse gave a jump as soon
+as he heard you running this way."
+
+"Now," said I, "I will drive you to your house, or, if you are afraid,
+you can walk, and I will take him home for you if you will give me the
+directions."
+
+"Oh, I am not a bit afraid," she said. "I am sure you can manage
+him--you seem to be able to manage animals. But will not this be a
+great inconvenience to you? Are you going this way? And won't you have
+to come back after your bear? I can't believe that you are really
+leading a bear about."
+
+I laughed as I unfastened the horse. "It will not take me long to come
+back," I said. "Now, I will get in first, and, when I have him
+properly in hand, you can mount on the other side."
+
+The young lady appeared to have entirely recovered from the effects of
+her fright, and was by my side in a moment. The horse danced a little
+as we started and tried to look behind him, but he soon felt that he
+was under control, and trotted off finely.
+
+I now thought that I ought to tell her who I was, for I did not want
+to be taken for a travelling showman, although I really did not
+suppose that she would make such a mistake.
+
+"So you are the school-master at Walford!" said she. "I have heard
+about you. Little Billy Marshall is one of your scholars."
+
+I admitted that he was, and that I was afraid he did not do me very
+much credit.
+
+"Perhaps not," she said, "but he is a good boy. His mother sometimes
+works for us; she does quite heavy jobs of sewing, and Billy brings
+them up by train. He was here a little more than a week ago, and I
+asked him how he was getting on at school, and if he had a good
+teacher, and he said the man was pretty good. But I want to know about
+the bear. How in the world did you happen to be leading a bear?"
+
+I related the ursine incident, which amused her very much, and, as she
+was a wheelwoman herself, she commiserated with me sincerely on the
+damage to my machine.
+
+"So you stopped at the Holly Sprig?" she said. "And how did you like
+the mistress of that little inn?"
+
+I replied that I had found her very interesting.
+
+"Yes, she is an interesting woman," said my companion, "and a very
+pretty one, too. Some people wonder why she continues to keep the inn,
+but perhaps she has to. You know, her husband was murdered."
+
+[Illustration: "He soon felt that he was under control"]
+
+"No, I did not!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "I knew he was not
+living--but murdered! That is dreadful! How did that happen?"
+
+"Nobody knows," she answered. "They had not been married very long--I
+do not know how long--when he was killed. He went to New York on
+business by himself, and did not come back. They were searching for
+him days and days--ever so long, and they could find no clew. At
+last--it may have been a month afterwards--or perhaps it was more--it
+was found that he had been murdered. His body had been discovered, and
+was supposed to be that of somebody else, and had been buried in
+whatever place the authorities buried people in such cases. Then it
+was too late to get it or to identify it, or to do anything. Wasn't
+that perfectly awful?"
+
+This story gave me a peculiar shock. I could not have imagined that
+that charming and apparently light-hearted young woman at the Holly
+Sprig had ever been crushed down by such a sorrow as this. But I did
+not ask any more questions. The young girl by my side probably knew no
+more than she had already told me. Besides, I did not want to hear any
+more.
+
+"'Royal' goes along just as if nothing had happened," she said,
+admiringly regarding the horse. "Now, I wonder if it will be safe for
+me to drive him again?"
+
+"I should be very sorry," I answered, "if my thoughtlessness had
+rendered him unsafe for you; but if he could be led up and down past
+the place where he saw the bear until he becomes convinced that there
+is now nothing dreadful in that spot, he may soon be all right again."
+
+"Do you know," she said, suddenly turning towards me, "what I would
+like better than anything else in this world? I would like to be able
+to stand in the middle of the road and stop a horse as you did!"
+
+I laughed and assured her that I knew there were a great many things
+in the world which it would be much better for her to do than that.
+
+"Nothing would please me so much," she said, decisively, "not one
+single, solitary thing! There's our gate. Turn in here, please."
+
+I drove up a winding road which led to a house standing among trees on
+a slight elevation. "Please let me out here," she said, when I reached
+the end of the porch. "I will send a man to take the horse."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+
+
+I think I did not have to wait ten seconds after her departure, for a
+stable-man had seen us approach and immediately came forward. I jumped
+down from the cart and looked in the direction of the road. I thought
+if I were to make a cross-cut over the lawn and some adjacent fields I
+should get back to my bear much quicker than if I returned the way I
+had come. But this thought had scarcely shaped itself in my mind when
+I heard the approach of hurrying feet, and in the next moment a little
+army had thrown itself upon me.
+
+There was a tall, bright-faced man, with side whiskers and a flowing
+jacket, who came forward with long steps and outstretched hand; there
+was a lady behind him, with little curls on the side of her head; and
+there were some boys and girls and other people. And nearly in front
+of the whole of them was the young lady I had brought to the house.
+Each one of them seized me by the hand; each one of them told me what
+a great thing I had done; each of them thanked me from the bottom of
+his or her heart for saving the life of his or her daughter or sister,
+and not one of them gave me a chance to say that as I had done all the
+mischief I could not be too thankful that I had been able to avert
+evil consequences. From the various references to the details of the
+incident I concluded that the young lady had dashed into the house and
+had given a full account of everything which had happened in less time
+than it would have taken me to arrange my ideas for such a recital.
+
+As soon as I could get a chance I thanked them all for their gracious
+words, and said that as I was in a hurry I must take my leave.
+Thereupon arose a hubbub of voices. "Not at dinner-time!" exclaimed
+Mr. Larramie. "We would never listen to such a thing!"
+
+"And you need not trouble yourself about your bear," cried my young
+lady, whose Christian name I soon discovered to be Edith. "He can live
+on barks and roots until we have time to attend to him. He is used to
+that in his native wilds."
+
+[Illustration: "A LITTLE ARMY HAD THROWN ITSELF UPON US."]
+
+Now everybody wanted to know everything about the bear, and great was
+the hilarity which my account occasioned.
+
+"Come in! Come in!" exclaimed Mr. Larramie. "The bear will be all
+right if you tied him well. You have just time to get ready for
+dinner." And noticing a glance I had given to my garments, he
+continued: "You need not bother about your clothes. We are all in
+field costume. Oh, I did not see you had a valise. Now, hurry in, all
+of you!"
+
+That dinner was a most lively meal. Everybody seemed to be talking at
+once, yet they all found time to eat. The father talked so much that
+his daughter Edith took the carving-fork from him and served out the
+mutton-chops herself. The mother, from the other end of the table,
+with tears in her eyes, continually asked me if I would not have
+something or other, and how I could ever screw up my courage to go
+about with an absolutely strange bear.
+
+There was a young man, apparently the oldest son, with a fine, frank
+manner and very broad shoulders. He was so wonderfully developed about
+the bust that he seemed almost deformed, his breast projecting so far
+that it gave him the appearance of being round-shouldered in front.
+This, my practised eye told me, was the result of undue exercise in
+the direction of chest-expansion. He was a good-natured fellow, and
+overlooked my not answering several of his questions, owing to the
+evident want of opportunity to do so.
+
+There was a yellow-haired girl with a long plait down her back; there
+was a half-grown boy, wearing a blue calico shirt with a red cravat;
+there was a small girl who sat by her mother; and there was a young
+lady, very upright and slender, who did not seem to belong to the
+family, for she never used the words "father" and "mother," which were
+continually in the mouths of the others. This young lady talked
+incessantly, and fired her words after the manner of a Gatling gun,
+without taking aim at anybody in particular. Sometimes she may have
+been talking to me, but, as she did not direct her gaze towards me on
+such occasions, I did not feel bound to consider any suppositions in
+regard to the matter.
+
+I, of course, was the principal object of general attention. They
+wanted to know what I really thought of Billy Marshall as a scholar.
+They wanted to know if I would have some more. They wanted to know if
+I had had any previous experience with bears. The father asked which
+I thought it would be easier to manage, a boy or a bear. The boy Percy
+wanted to know how I placed my feet when I stood up in front of a
+runaway horse. Others asked if I intended to go back to my school at
+Walford, and how I liked the village, and if I were president of the
+literary society there, which Mrs. Larramie thought I ought to be, on
+account of my scholastic position.
+
+[Illustration: "'WOULD IT BE EASIER TO MANAGE A BOY OR A BEAR?'"]
+
+But before the meal was over the bear had come to be the absorbing
+subject of conversation. I was asked my plans about him, and they were
+all disapproved.
+
+"It would be of no use to take him to the Cheltenham," said Walter,
+the oldest son. "They couldn't keep him there. They have too many
+horses--a livery-stable. They wouldn't let you come on the place with
+him."
+
+"Of course not," said Mr. Larramie. "And, besides, why should you take
+him there? It would be a poor place anyway. They wouldn't keep him
+until his owner turned up. They wouldn't have anything to do with him.
+What you want to do is to bring your bear here. We have a hay-barn out
+in the fields. He could sleep in the hay, and we could give him a long
+chain so that he could have a nice range."
+
+The younger members of the family were delighted with this
+suggestion. Nothing would please them better than to have a bear on
+the place. Each one of them was ready to take entire charge of it, and
+Percy declared that he would go into the woods and hunt for wild-bee
+honey with which to feed it. Even Mrs. Larramie assured me that if a
+bear were well chained, at a suitable distance, she would have no
+fears whatever of it.
+
+I accepted the proposition, for I was glad to get rid of the animal in
+a way which would please so many people, and after dinner was over,
+and I had smoked a cigar with my host and his son Walter, I said that
+it was time for me to go and get the bear.
+
+"But you won't go by the main road," said Mr. Larramie. "That makes a
+great curve below here to avoid a hill. If I understood you properly,
+you left the bear not far from a small house inhabited by three
+women?"
+
+"They're the McKenna sisters," added Walter.
+
+"Yes," said the father, "and their house is not more than two miles
+from here by a field road. I will go with you."
+
+I exclaimed that I would not put him to so much trouble, but my words
+were useless. The Walter son declared that he would go also, that he
+would like the walk; the Percy son declared he was going if anybody
+went; and Genevieve, the girl with the yellow plait, said that she
+wished she were a boy so that she could go too, and she wished she
+could go anyway, boy or no boy, and as her father said that there was
+no earthly reason why she should not go, she ran for her hat.
+
+Miss Edith looked as if she would like to go, but she did not say so;
+and, as for me, I agreed to every proposition. It would certainly be
+great fun to do things with this lively household.
+
+We started off without the boy, but it was not long before he came
+running after us, and to my horror I perceived that he carried a
+rifle.
+
+"What are you going to do with that, Percy?" exclaimed his father.
+
+"I don't expect to do anything with it," the boy replied, "but I
+thought it would be a good thing to bring it along--especially as
+Genevieve is with us. Nobody knows what might happen."
+
+"That's true," exclaimed Walter, "and the fact that Genevieve is along
+is the best reason in the world for your not bringing a gun. You
+better go take it back."
+
+To this Percy strongly objected. He was going out on a sort of a
+bear-hunt, and to him half the pleasure would be lost if he did not
+carry a gun. I am not a coward, but a boy with a gun is a terror to
+me. My expression may have intimated my state of mind, for Mr.
+Larramie said to me that we had now gone so far that it would be a
+pity to send Percy back, and that he did not think there would be any
+danger, for his boy had been taught how to carry a gun properly.
+
+"We are all out-of-door people and sportsmen," he said, "and we begin
+early. But I suppose what you are thinking about is the danger of some
+of us ending soon. But we need not be afraid of that. Walk in front,
+Percy, and keep the barrel pointed downward."
+
+When we came in sight of the house of the three McKennas, Walter
+proposed that we make a détour towards the woods. "For," said he, "if
+those good women see a party like this with a gun among them, they
+will be sure to think it is a case of escaped criminal, or something
+of that kind, and be frightened out of their wits."
+
+We skirted the edge of the trees until we came to the opening of the
+wood road, which I recognized immediately, and, asking Percy and the
+others to keep back, I went on by myself.
+
+"I don't think people would frighten that sort of a bear," I heard
+Genevieve say. "He must be used to crowds around him when he's
+dancing."
+
+I presently reached the place where I had turned from the road. It was
+a natural break in the woods. There was the tree to which I had tied
+the bear, but there was no bear.
+
+I stood aghast, and in a moment the rest of the party were clustered
+around me. "Is this where you left him?" they cried. "And is he gone?
+Are you sure this is the place?"
+
+Yes, I was sure of it. I have an excellent eye for locality, and I
+knew that I had chained the bear to the small oak in front of me. At
+that moment there was a scream from Genevieve. "Look! Look!" she
+cried. "There he is, just ready to spring!"
+
+We all looked up, and, sure enough, on the lower branch of the oak,
+half enveloped in foliage, we saw the bear extended at full length and
+blinking down at us. I gave a shout of delight.
+
+"Now, keep back, all of you!" I cried. "Bears don't spring from trees,
+but it will be better for you to be out of the way while I try to get
+him down."
+
+I walked up to the oak-tree, and then I found that the bear was still
+firmly attached to it. His chain had been fastened loosely around the
+trunk; he had climbed up to the branch and pulled the chain with him.
+
+I now called upon Orso to come down, but apparently he did not
+understand English, and lay quietly upon the branch, his head towards
+the trunk of the tree. I extended my hand up towards the chain, and
+found that I could nearly reach it. "Shall I give you a lift?" cried
+Walter, and I accepted the offer. It was a hard piece of work for him,
+but he was a professed athlete, and he would have lifted me if it had
+cracked his spine. I reached up and unhooked the chain. It was then
+long enough for me to stand on the ground and hold the end of it.
+
+Now I began to pull. "Come down!" I said. "Come down, Orso!" But Orso
+did not move.
+
+"Bears don't come down head-foremost," cried Percy; "they turn around
+and come down backwards. You ought to have a chain to his tail if you
+want to pull him down."
+
+"He hasn't got any tail!" exclaimed Genevieve.
+
+I was in a quandary. I might as well try to break the branch as to
+pull the bear down. "If we had only thought of bringing a bucket of
+meat!" cried Percy.
+
+"Would you mind holding the chain," I said to Walter, "while I try to
+drive him down?" Of course the developed young man was not afraid to
+do anything I was not afraid to do, and he took the chain. There was
+a pine-tree growing near the oak, and, mounting into this, I found
+that with a long stick which Mr. Larramie handed me I could just reach
+the bear. "Go down!" I said, tapping him on the haunches, but he did
+not move.
+
+"Can't you speak to him in Italian?" said Genevieve. "Tame bears know
+Italian. Doesn't anybody know the Italian for 'Come down out of a
+tree?'" But such knowledge was absent from the party.
+
+"Try him in Latin," cried Percy. "That must be a good deal like
+Italian, anyway."
+
+To this suggestion Mr. Larramie made no answer; he had left college
+before any of the party present had been born; Mr. Walter looked a
+little confused; he had graduated several years before, and his
+classics were rusty. I felt that my pedagogical position made it
+incumbent upon me to take immediate action, but for the life of me I
+could not think of an appropriate phrase.
+
+"Give him high English!" cried Mr. Larramie. "That's often classic
+enough! Tell him to descend!"
+
+"Orso, descend!" I cried, giving a little foreign twang to the words.
+Immediately the bear began to twist like a caterpillar upon the limb,
+he extended his hind-legs towards the trunk, he seized it with his
+fore-paws. He began slowly to move downward.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Percy, "that hit him like a rifle-ball! Hurrah for
+high English! That's good enough for me!"
+
+"Look at his hind hands!" cried Genevieve. "He has worn all the hair
+off his palms!"
+
+I hurried from the tree and reached the ground before the bear. Then
+taking the end of the chain, I advised the others to move out of the
+woods while I followed with the bear. They all obeyed except
+Genevieve, who wanted very much to linger behind and help me lead him.
+But this I would not permit.
+
+The bear followed me with his usual docility until we had emerged from
+the woods. Then he gave a little start, and fixed his eyes upon Percy,
+who stood at a short distance, his rifle in his hand. I had not
+supposed that this bear was afraid of anything, but now I had reason
+to believe that he was afraid of guns, for the instant he saw the
+armed boy he made the little start I have mentioned, and followed it
+up by a great bolt which jerked the chain from my hand, and the next
+instant Orso was bounding away in great lopes, his chain rattling
+behind him.
+
+Promptly Percy brought his rifle to his shoulder. "Don't you fire!" I
+shouted. "Put down your gun and leave it here. It frightens him!" And
+with that we were all off in hot pursuit.
+
+"Cut him off from the woods!" shouted Mr. Walter, who was in advance.
+"If he gets in the woods we'll lose him sure!"
+
+We followed this good advice, and at the top of our speed we
+endeavored to get between the beast and the trees. To a certain extent
+we succeeded in our object, for some of us were fast runners, and
+Orso, perceiving that he might be cut off from a woody retreat, turned
+almost at right angles and made directly for the house.
+
+"He's after the three McKennas!" screamed Genevieve, as she turned to
+follow the bear, and from being somewhat in the rear she was now in
+advance of us, and dashed across the field at a most wonderful rate
+for a girl.
+
+The rest of us soon passed her, but before we reached the house the
+bear disappeared behind some out-buildings. Then we saw him again. He
+dashed through the gate of a back yard. He seemed to throw himself
+against the house. He disappeared through a door-way. There was a
+great crash as of crockery and tin. There were screams. There was
+rattling and banging, and then all was still. When we reached the
+house we heard no sound.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE THREE McKENNAS
+
+
+I was in advance, and as I entered the door-way through which the bear
+had disappeared, I found myself in the kitchen where I had seen the
+three women at their dinner. Wild confusion had been brought about in
+a second. A table had been over-turned, broken dishes and tin things
+were scattered on the floor, a wooden chair lay upon its back, and the
+room seemed deserted. The rest of the party quickly rushed in behind
+me, and great were their exclamations at the scene of havoc.
+
+"I hope nothing has happened to the McKenna sisters," cried Mr.
+Larramie. "They must have been in here!"
+
+I did not suppose that anything serious had occurred, for the bear's
+jaws were securely strapped, but with anxious haste I went into the
+other part of the house. Across a hallway I saw an open door, and
+from the room within came groans, or perhaps I should call them
+long-drawn wails of woe.
+
+I was in the room in a moment, and the others crowded through the
+door-way behind me. It was a good-sized bedroom, probably the
+"spare-room" of the first floor. In one corner was a tall and wide
+high-posted bedstead, and in the very middle of it sat an elderly
+woman drawn up into the smallest compass into which she could possibly
+compress herself. Her eyes were closed, her jaws were dropped, her
+spectacles hung in front of her mouth, her gray hair straggled over
+her eyes, and her skin was of a soapy whiteness.
+
+She paid no attention to the crowd of people in the room. Evidently
+she was frightened out of her senses. Every moment she emitted a
+doleful wail. As we stood gazing at her, and before we had time to
+speak to her, she seemed to be seized by an upheaving spasm, the
+influence of which was so great that she actually rose in the air, and
+as she did so her wail intensified itself into a shriek, and as she
+came down again with a sudden thump all the breath in her body seemed
+to be bounced out in a gasp of woe.
+
+"It's Susan McKenna!" exclaimed Walter. "What in the world is the
+matter with her? Miss Susan, are you hurt?"
+
+She made no answer, but again she rose, again she gave vent to a wild
+wail, and again she came down with a thump.
+
+Percy was now on his knees near the bed. "It's the bear!" he cried.
+"He's under there, and he's humping himself!"
+
+"Sacking bottom!" cried the practical Genevieve "There isn't room
+enough for him!"
+
+Stooping down I saw the bear under the bed, now crowding himself back
+as far as possible into a corner. No part of his chain was exposed to
+view, and for a moment I did not see how I was going to get him out.
+But the first thing was to get rid of the woman.
+
+"Come, Miss Susan," said Mr. Larramie, "let me help you off the bed,
+and you can go into another room, and then we will attend to this
+animal. You need not be afraid to get down. He won't hurt you."
+
+But the McKenna sister paid no attention to these remarks. She kept
+her eyes closed; she moaned and wailed. So long as that horrible demon
+was under the bed she would not have put as much as one of her toes
+over the edge for all the money in the world!
+
+In every way I tried to induce the bear to come out, but he paid no
+attention to me. He had been frightened, and he was now in darkness
+and security. Suddenly a happy thought struck me. I glanced around the
+room, and then I rushed into the hall. Genevieve followed me. "What do
+you want?" she said.
+
+"I am looking for some overshoes!" I cried. "India-rubber ones!"
+
+Instantly Genevieve began to dash around. In a few moments she had
+opened a little closet which I had not noticed. "Here is one!" she
+cried, "but it's torn--the heel is nearly off! Perhaps the other
+one--"
+
+"Give me that!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't matter about its being torn!"
+With the old overshoe in my hand I ran back into the room, where Mr.
+Larramie was still imploring the McKenna sister to get down from the
+bed. I stooped and thrust the shoe under as far as I could reach.
+Almost immediately I saw a movement in the shaggy mass in the corner.
+I wriggled the shoe, and a paw was slightly extended. Then I drew it
+away slowly from under the bed.
+
+Now, Miss Susan McKenna rose in the air higher than she had yet gone.
+A maddening wail went up, and for a moment she tottered on the apex
+of an elevation like a wooden idol upheaved by an earthquake. Before
+she had time to tumble over she sank again with a thump. The great
+hairy bear, looking twice as large in that room as he appeared in the
+open air, came out from under the foot of the bed, and as I dangled
+the old rubber shoe in front of his nose he would have seized upon it
+if his jaws had not been strapped together. I got hold of the chain
+and conducted him quietly outside, amid the cheers and hand-clapping
+of Percy and Genevieve.
+
+I chained Orso to a post of the fence, and, removing his muzzle, I
+gave him the old rubber shoe.
+
+"Shall I bring him some more?" cried Genevieve, full of zeal in good
+works. But I assured her that one would do for the present.
+
+I now hurried into the house to find out what had happened to the
+persons and property of the McKenna sisters.
+
+"Where are the other two?" cried Genevieve, who was darting from one
+room to another; "the bear can't have swallowed them."
+
+It was not long before Percy discovered the two missing sisters in the
+cellar. They were seated on the ground with their aprons over their
+heads.
+
+It was some time before quiet was restored in that household. To the
+paralyzing terror occasioned by the sudden advent of the bear
+succeeded wild lamentations over the loss of property. I assured them
+that I was perfectly willing to make good the loss, but Mr. Larramie
+would not allow me to say anything on the subject.
+
+"It is not your affair," said he. "The bear would have done no damage
+whatever had it not been for the folly of Percy in bringing his gun--I
+suppose the animal has been shot at some time or other--and my
+weakness in allowing him to keep it. I will attend to these damages.
+The amount is very little, I imagine, principally cheap crockery, and
+the best thing you can do is to start off slowly with your bear. The
+women will not be able to talk reasonably until it is off the
+premises. I will catch up with you presently."
+
+When the bear and I, with the rest of the party, were fairly out of
+sight of the house, we stopped and waited for Mr. Larramie, and it was
+not long before he joined us.
+
+When we reached the hay-barn we were met by the rest of the Larramie
+family, all anxious to see the bear. Even Miss Edith, who had had one
+glimpse of the beast, was very glad indeed to assure me that she did
+not wonder in the least that I had supposed there would be no harm in
+leaving such a mild creature for a little while by the side of the
+road, and I was sure from the exclamations of the rest of the family
+that Orso would not suffer for want of care and attention during his
+stay in the hay-barn.
+
+I was immensely relieved to get rid of the bear and to leave him in
+such good quarters, for it now appeared to me quite reasonable that I
+might have had difficulty in lodging him anywhere on the premises of
+the Cheltenham, and under any circumstances I very much preferred
+appearing at that hotel without an ursine companion. As soon as we
+reached the house I told Mr. Larramie that it was now necessary for me
+to hurry on, and asked if there were not some way to the hotel which
+would not make it necessary for me to go back to the main road.
+
+The good gentleman fairly shouted at me. "You aren't going to any
+hotel!" he declared. "Do you suppose we are heathens, to let you start
+off at this late hour in the afternoon for a hotel? You have nothing
+to do with hotels--you spend the night with us, sir! If you are
+thinking about your clothes, pray dismiss the subject from your mind.
+If it will make you feel better satisfied, we will all put on golf
+suits. In the morning we will get your machine from the Holly Sprig,
+and when you want to go on we will send you and it to Waterton in a
+wagon. It is not a long drive, and it is much the pleasanter way to
+manage your business."
+
+The family showed themselves delighted when they heard that I was to
+spend the night with them, and I did not object to the plan, for I had
+not the slightest desire to go to a summer hotel. Just before I went
+up to my room to get ready for supper, the young Genevieve came to me
+upon the porch.
+
+"Would you mind," she said, "letting me feel your muscle?"
+
+Very much surprised, I reached out my arm for her inspection, and she
+clasped her long thin fingers around my _biceps flexor cubiti._
+Apparently, the inspection was very satisfactory to her.
+
+"I would give anything," she said, "if I had muscle like that!"
+
+I laughed heartily. "My dear little girl," said I, "you would be
+sorry, indeed, if you had anything of the sort. When you grow up and
+go to parties, how would you like to show bare arms shaped like mine?
+You would be a spectacle, indeed."
+
+"Well," said she, "perhaps you are right. I might not care to have
+them bulge, but I would like to have them hard."
+
+It was a lively supper and an interesting evening. Miss Edith sat
+opposite to me at table--I gave her this title because I was informed
+that there was an elder sister who was away on a visit. I could see
+that she regarded me as her especial charge. She did not ask me what I
+would have, but she saw that every possible want was attended to. As
+the table was lighted by a large hanging-lamp, I had a better view of
+her features than I had yet obtained. She was not handsome. Her eyes
+were too wide apart, her nose needed perhaps an eighth of an inch in
+length, and her well-shaped mouth would not have suffered by a slight
+reduction. But there was a cheerful honesty in her expression and in
+her words which gave me the idea that she was a girl to believe in.
+
+After supper we played round games, and the nervous young lady talked.
+She could not keep her mind on cards, and therefore played no game. In
+the course of the evening Mrs. Larramie took occasion to say to me,
+and her eyes were very full as she spoke, that she did not want me to
+think she had forgotten that that day I had given her her daughter,
+and although the others--greatly to my satisfaction--did not indulge
+in any such embarrassing expressions of gratitude, they did not fail
+to let me know the high estimation in which they held me. The little
+girl, Clara, sat close to me while I was playing, every now and then
+gently stroking my arm, and when she was taken off to bed she ran back
+to say to me that the next time I brought a bear to their house she
+hoped I would also bring some little ones. Even Percy took occasion to
+let me know that, under the circumstances, he was willing to overlook
+entirely the fact of my being a school-master.
+
+After the games, when the family was scattering--not to their several
+bed-chambers, but apparently to various forms of recreation or study
+which seemed to demand their attention--Miss Edith asked me if I would
+not like to take a walk and look at the stars. As this suggestion was
+made in the presence of her parents, I hesitated a moment, expecting
+some discreet objection. But none came, and I assented most willingly
+to a sub-astral promenade.
+
+There was a long, flagged walk which led to the road, and backward and
+forward upon this path we walked many, many times.
+
+"I like starlight better than moonlight," said Miss Edith, "for it
+doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. You cannot do anything
+by starlight except simply walk about, and if there are any trees,
+that isn't easy. You know this, you don't expect anything more, and
+you're satisfied. But moonlight is different. Sometimes it is so
+bright out-of-doors when the moon is full that you are apt to think
+you could play golf or croquet, or even sit on a bench and read. But
+it isn't so. You can't do any of these things--at least, you can't do
+them with any satisfaction. And yet, month after month, if you live in
+the country, the moon deceives you into thinking that for a great many
+things she is nearly as good as the sun. But all she does is to make
+the world beautiful, and she doesn't do that as well as the sun does
+it. The stars make no pretences, and that is the reason I like them
+better.
+
+"But I did not bring you out here to tell you all this," she
+continued, offering me no opportunity of giving my opinions on the
+stars and moon. "I simply wanted to say that I am so glad and thankful
+to be walking about on the surface of the earth with whole bones and
+not a scratch from head to foot"--at this point my heart began to
+sink: I never do know what to say when people are grateful to
+me--"that I am going to show you my gratitude by treating you as I
+know you would like to be treated. I shall not pour out my gratitude
+before you and make you say things which are incorrect, for you are
+bound to do that if you say anything--"
+
+"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said; "but now let us
+talk some more about the stars."
+
+"Oh, bother the stars!" said she. "But I will drop the subject of
+gratitude as soon as I have said that if you ever come to know me
+better than you do now, you will know that in regard to such things I
+am the right kind of a girl."
+
+I had not the slightest doubt that she was entirely correct. And then
+she began to talk about golf, and after that of croquet.
+
+"I consider that the finest out-door game we have," she said, "because
+there is more science in it than you find in any of the others. Your
+brains must work when you play croquet with intelligent opponents."
+
+"The great trouble about it is," I said, "that it is often so easy."
+
+"But you can get rid of that objection," she replied, "if you have a
+bad ground. Croquet needs hazards just as much as golf does. The
+finest games I have ever seen were played on a bad ground."
+
+So we talked and walked until some of the lights in the upper windows
+of the house had gone out. We ascended to the porch, and just before
+entering the front door she turned to me.
+
+"I wish I could go to sleep to-night with the same right to feel
+proud, self-confident, superior, that you have. Good-night." And she
+held out her hand and gave mine a strong, hearty shake.
+
+I smiled as she left me standing on the porch. This was the same spot
+on which her sister Genevieve had felt my muscle. "This is an
+appreciative family," I said, and, guided by the sound of voices, I
+found Mr. Larramie and his son Walter in the billiard-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+
+
+Before going to bed that night I did not throw myself into an
+easy-chair and gaze musingly out into the night. On the contrary, I
+stood up sturdily with my back to the mantel-piece, and with the
+forefinger of my right hand I tapped my left palm.
+
+"Now, then," said I to myself, "as soon as my bicycle is put into
+working order I shall imitate travellers in hot countries--I shall
+ride all night, and I shall rest all day. There are too many young
+women in Cathay. They turn up one after another with the regularity of
+a continuous performance. No sooner is the curtain rung down on one
+act than it is rung up on another. Perhaps after a while I may get out
+of Cathay, and then again I may ride by day."
+
+In taking my things from my valise, I pulled out the little box which
+the doctor's daughter had given me, but I did not open it. "No,"
+said I, "there is no need whatever that I should take a capsule
+to-night."
+
+[Illustration: "I TAPPED MY LEFT PALM."]
+
+After breakfast the next day Mr. Larramie came to me. "Do you know,"
+said he, "I feel ashamed on account of the plans I made for you."
+
+I did not know, for I could see no earthly reason for such feeling.
+
+"I arranged," said he, "to send to the Holly Sprig for your machine,
+and then to have you and it driven over to Waterton. Now this I
+consider brutish. My wife told me that it was, and I agree with her
+perfectly. It will take several days to repair that injured
+wheel--Walter tells me you cannot expect it in less than three
+days--and what will you do in Waterton all that time? It isn't a
+pretty country, the hotels are barely good enough for a night's stop,
+and there isn't anything for you to do. Even if you hired a wheel you
+would find it stupid exploring that country. Now, sir, that plan is
+brushed entirely out of sight. Your bicycle shall be sent on, and when
+you hear that it is repaired and ready for use, you can go on yourself
+if you wish to."
+
+"My dear sir," I exclaimed, "this is entirely too much!"
+
+He put his hands upon my shoulders and looked me squarely in the
+face. "Too much!" said he, "too much! That may be your opinion, but I
+can tell you you have the whole of the rest of the world against you.
+That is, you would have if they all knew the circumstances. Now you
+are only one, and if you want to know how many people are opposed to
+you, I have no doubt Percy can tell you, but I am not very well posted
+in regard to the present population of the world."
+
+There was no good reason that I could offer why I should go and sit
+solitary in Waterton for three days, and if I had had any such reason
+I know it would have been treated with contempt. So I submitted--not
+altogether with an easy mind, and yet seeing cause for nothing but
+satisfaction and content.
+
+"Another thing," said Mr. Larramie; "I have thought that you would
+like to attend to your bicycle yourself. Perhaps you will want to take
+it apart before you send it away. Percy will be glad to drive to the
+Holly Sprig, and you can go with him. Then, when you come back, I will
+have my man take your machine to Waterton. I have a young horse very
+much in need of work, and I shall be glad to have an excuse for giving
+him some travelling to do." I stood astounded. Go back to the Holly
+Sprig! This arrangement had been made without reference to me. It had
+been supposed, of course, that I would be glad to go and attend to the
+proper packing of my bicycle. Even now, Percy, running across the
+yard, called to me that he would be ready to start in two minutes.
+
+When I took my seat in the wagon, Mr. Larramie was telling me that he
+would like me to inform Mrs. Chester that he would keep the bear until
+it was reasonable to suppose that the owner would not come for it, and
+that then he would either sell it or buy it himself, and make
+satisfactory settlement with her.
+
+I know I did not hear all that he said, for my mind was wildly busy
+trying to decide what I ought to do. Should I jump down even now and
+decline to go to the Holly Sprig, or should I go on and attend to my
+business like a sensible man? There was certainly no reason why I
+should do anything else, but when the impatient Percy started, my mind
+was not in the least made up; I remained on the seat beside him simply
+because I was there.
+
+Percy was a good driver, and glad to exhibit his skill. He was also in
+a lively mood, and talked with great freedom. "Do you know," said he,
+"that Edith wanted to drive you over to the inn? Think of that! But it
+had all been cut and dried that I should go, and I was not going to
+listen to any such nonsense. Besides, you might want somebody to help
+you take your machine apart and pack it up."
+
+I was well satisfied to be accompanied by the boy and not by his
+sister, and with the wheels and his tongue rattling along together, we
+soon reached the inn.
+
+Percy drove past it and was about to turn into the entrance of the
+yard, but I stopped him. "I suppose your wheel is back there," he
+said.
+
+"Yes," said I, "but I will get out here."
+
+"All right," he replied, "I'll drive around to the sheds."
+
+At the open door of the large room I met Mrs. Chester, evidently on
+her way out-of-doors. She wore a wide straw hat, her hands were
+gloved, and she carried a basket and a pair of large shears. When she
+saw me there was a sudden flush upon her face, but it disappeared
+quickly. Whether this meant that she was agreeably surprised to see me
+again, or whether it showed that she resented my turning up again so
+soon after she thought she was finally rid of me, I did not know. It
+does not do to predicate too much upon the flushes of women.
+
+[Illustration: "THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH"]
+
+I hastened to inform her why I had come, and now, having recovered
+from her momentary surprise, she asked me to walk in and sit down, an
+invitation which I willingly accepted, for I did not in the least
+object to detaining her from her garden.
+
+Now she wanted to know how I had managed to get on with the bear, and
+what the people at the Cheltenham said about it, and when I went on to
+tell her the whole story, which I did at considerable length, she was
+intensely interested. She shuddered at the runaway, she laughed
+heartily at the uprising of the McKenna sister, and she listened
+earnestly to everything I had to say about the Larramies.
+
+"You seem to have a wonderful way," she exclaimed, "of falling in
+with--" I think she was going to say "girls," but she changed it to
+"people."
+
+"Yes," said I. "I should not have imagined that I could make so many
+good friends in such a short time."
+
+Then I went on to give her Mr. Larramie's message, and to say more
+things about the bear. I was glad to think of any subject which might
+prolong the conversation. So far she was interested, and all that we
+said seemed perfectly natural to the occasion, but this could not
+last, and I felt within me a strong desire to make some better use of
+this interview.
+
+I had not expected to see her again, certainly not so soon, and here I
+was alone with her, free to say what I chose; but what should I say? I
+had not premeditated anything serious. In fact, I was not sure that I
+wished to say anything which should be considered absolutely serious
+and definite, but if I were ever to do anything definite--and the more
+I talked with this bright-eyed and merry-hearted young lady the
+stronger became the longing to say something definite--now was the
+time to prepare the way for what I might do or say hereafter.
+
+I was beginning to grow nervous, for the right thing to say would not
+present itself, when Percy strode into the room. "Good-morning, Mrs.
+Chester," said he, and then, turning to me, he declared that he had
+been waiting in the yard, and began to think I might have forgotten I
+had come for my wheel.
+
+Of course I rose and she rose, and we followed Percy to the back door
+of the house. Outside I saw that the boy of the inn was holding the
+horse, and that the wheel was already placed in the back part of the
+wagon.
+
+"I've got everything all right, I think," said Percy. "I didn't
+suppose it was necessary to wait for you, but you'd better take a look
+at it to see if you think it will travel without rubbing or damaging
+itself."
+
+I stepped to the wagon and found that the bicycle was very well
+placed. "Now, then," said Percy, taking the reins and mounting to his
+seat, "all you've got to do is to get up, and we'll be off."
+
+I turned to the back door, but she was not there. "Wait a minute,"
+said I, and I hurried into the house. She was not in the hall. I
+looked into the large room. She was not there. I went into the parlor,
+and out upon the front porch. Then I went back into the house to seek
+some one who might call her. I was even willing to avail myself of the
+services of citric acid, for I could not leave that house without
+speaking to her again.
+
+In a moment Mrs. Chester appeared from some inner room. I believe she
+suspected that I had something to say to her which had nothing to do
+with the bear or the Larramies, for I had been conscious that my
+speech had been a little rambling, as if I were earnestly thinking of
+something else than what I was saying, and that she desired I should
+be taken away without an opportunity to unburden my mind; but now,
+hearing me tramping about and knowing that I was looking for her, she
+was obliged to show herself.
+
+As she came forward I noticed that her expression had changed
+somewhat. There was nothing merry about her eyes; I think she was
+slightly pale, and her brows were a little contracted, as if she were
+doing something she did not want to do.
+
+"I hope you found everything all right," she said.
+
+I looked at her steadily. "No," said I, "everything is not all right."
+
+A slight shade of anxiety came upon her face. "I am sorry to hear
+that," she said. "Was your wheel injured more than you thought?"
+
+"Wheel!" I exclaimed. "I was not thinking of wheels! I will tell you
+what is not all right! It is not right for me to go away without
+saying to you that I--"
+
+At this moment there was a strong, shrill whistle from the front of
+the house. A most unmistakable sense of relief showed itself upon
+her face. She ran to the front door, and called out, "Yes, he is
+coming."
+
+[Illustration: "THE SCENE VIVIDLY RECURRED TO MY MIND"]
+
+There was nothing for me to do but to follow her. I greatly disliked
+going away without saying what I wanted to say, and I would have been
+willing to speak even at the front door, but she gave me no chance.
+
+"Good-bye," she said, extending her hand. It was gloved. It gave no
+clasp--it invited none. As I could not say the words which were on my
+tongue, I said nothing, and, raising my cap, I hurried away.
+
+To make up for lost time, Percy drove very rapidly. "I came mighty
+near having a fight while you were in the house," said he. "It was
+that boy at the inn. He's a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully
+impertinent. He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the
+bear had hurt you. He said he believed you were really afraid of the
+beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.
+
+"I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith's runaway, and then he
+said, fair and square, that he didn't believe you stopped the horse.
+He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you
+came along and grabbed him and took all the credit. He said he
+thought you were that sort of a fellow.
+
+"That's the time I was going to pitch into him, but then I thought it
+would be a pretty low-down thing for me to be fighting a country
+tavern-boy, so I simply gave him my opinion of him. I don't believe
+he'd have held the horse, only he thought it would make you get away
+quicker. He hates you. Did you ever kick him or anything?"
+
+I laughed, and, telling Percy that I had never kicked the boy, I
+thanked him for his championship of me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A MAN WITH A LETTER
+
+
+When my unfortunate bicycle had been started on its way to Waterton, I
+threw myself into the family life of the Larramies, determined not to
+let them see any perturbations of mind which had been caused by the
+extraordinary promptness of the younger son. If a man had gone with me
+instead of that boy, I would have had every opportunity of saying what
+I wanted to say to the mistress of the Holly Sprig. I may state that I
+frequently found myself trying to determine what it was I wanted to
+say.
+
+I did my best to suppress all thoughts relating to things outside of
+this most hospitable and friendly house. I went to see the bear with
+the younger members of the family. I played four games of tennis, and
+in the afternoon the whole family went to fish in a very pretty
+mill-pond about a mile from the house. A good many fish were caught,
+large and small, and not one of the female fishers, except Miss
+Willoughby, the nervous young lady, and little Clara, would allow me
+to take a fish from her hook. Even Mrs. Larramie said that if she
+fished at all she thought she ought to do everything for herself, and
+not depend upon other people.
+
+As much as possible I tried to be with Mr. Larramie and Walter. I had
+not the slightest distaste for the company of the ladies, but there
+was a consciousness upon me that there were pleasant things in which a
+man ought to restrict himself. There was nothing chronic about this
+consciousness. It was on duty for this occasion only.
+
+That night at the supper-table the conversation took a peculiar turn.
+Mr. Larramie was the chief speaker, and it pleased him to hold forth
+upon the merits of Mrs. Chester. He said, and his wife and others of
+the company agreed with him, that she was a lady of peculiarly
+estimable character; that she was out of place; that every one who
+knew her well felt that she was out of place; but that she so graced
+her position that she almost raised it to her level. Over and over
+again her friends had said to her that a lady such as she was--still
+young, of a good family, well educated, who had travelled, and moved
+in excellent society--should not continue to be the landlady of a
+country inn, but the advice of her friends had had no effect upon her.
+
+It was not known whether it was necessary for her to continue the
+inn-keeping business, but the general belief was that it was not
+necessary. It was supposed that she had had money when she married
+Godfrey Chester, and he was not a poor man.
+
+Then came a strange revelation, which Mr. Larramie dwelt upon with
+considerable earnestness. There was an idea, he said, that Mrs.
+Chester kept up the Holly Sprig because she thought it would be her
+husband's wish that she should do so. He had probably said something
+about its being a provision for her in case of his death. At any rate,
+she seemed desirous to maintain the establishment exactly as he had
+ordered it in his life, making no change whatever, very much as if she
+had expected him to come back, and wished him to find everything as he
+had left it.
+
+"Of course she doesn't expect him to come back," said Mr. Larramie,
+"because it must now be four years since the time of his supposed
+murder--"
+
+"Supposed!" I cried, with much more excited interest than I would have
+shown if I had taken proper thought before speaking.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Larramie, "that is a fine point. I said 'supposed'
+because the facts of the case are not definitely known. There can be
+no reasonable doubt, however, that he is dead, for even if this fact
+had not been conclusively proved by the police investigations, it
+might now be considered proved by his continued absence. It would have
+been impossible for Mr. Chester alive to keep away from his wife for
+four years--they were devoted to each other. Furthermore, the exact
+manner of his death is not known--although it must have been a
+murder--and for these reasons I used the word 'supposed.' But, really,
+so far as human judgment can go, the whole matter is a certainty. I
+have not the slightest doubt in the world that Mrs. Chester so
+considers it, and yet, as she does not positively know it--as she has
+not the actual proofs that her husband is no longer living--she
+refuses in certain ways, in certain ways only, to consider herself a
+widow."
+
+"And what ways are those?" I asked, in a voice which, I hope,
+exhibited no undue emotion.
+
+"She declines to marry again," said Mrs. Larramie, now taking up the
+conversation. "Of course, such a pretty woman--I may say, such a
+charming woman--would have admirers, and I know that she has had some
+most excellent offers, but she has always refused to consider any of
+them. There was one gentleman, a man of wealth and position, who had
+proposed to her before she married Mr. Chester, who came on here to
+offer himself again, but she cut off everything he had to say by
+telling him that as she did not positively know that her husband was
+not living, she could not allow a word of that sort to be said to her.
+I know this, because she told me so herself."
+
+There was a good deal more talk of the sort, and of course it
+interested me greatly, although I tried not to show it, but I could
+not help wondering why the subject had been brought forward in such an
+impressive manner upon the present occasion. It seemed to me that
+there was something personal in it--personal to me. Had that boy Percy
+been making reports?
+
+In the evening I found out all about it, and in a very straightforward
+and direct fashion. I discovered Miss Edith by herself, and asked her
+if all that talk about Mrs. Chester had been intended for my benefit,
+and, if so, why.
+
+She laughed. "I expected you to come and ask me about that," she said,
+"for of course you could see through a good deal of it. It is all
+father's kindness and goodness. Percy was a little out of temper when
+he came back, and he spun a yarn about your being sweet on Mrs.
+Chester, and how he could hardly get you away from her, and all that.
+He had an idea that you wanted to go there and live, at least for the
+summer. Something a boy said to him made him think that. So father
+thought that if you had any notions about Mrs. Chester you ought to
+have the matter placed properly before you without any delay, and I
+expect his reason for mentioning it at the supper-table was that it
+might then seem like a general subject of conversation, whereas it
+would have been very pointed indeed if he had taken you apart and
+talked to you about it."
+
+"Indeed it would," said I. "And if you will allow me, I will say that
+boys are unmitigated nuisances! If they are not hearing what they
+ought not to hear, they are imagining what they ought not to
+imagine--"
+
+"And telling things that they ought not to tell," she added, with a
+laugh.
+
+"Which is an extremely bad thing," said I, "when there is nothing to
+tell."
+
+For the rest of that evening I was more lively than is my wont, for it
+was a very easy thing to be lively in that family. I do not think I
+gave any one reason to suppose that I was a man whose attention had
+been called to a notice not to trespass.
+
+As usual, I communed with myself before going to bed. Wherefore this
+feeling of disappointment? What did it mean? Would I have said
+anything of importance, of moment, to Mrs. Chester, if the boy Percy
+had given me an opportunity? What would I have said? What could I have
+said? I could see that she did not wish that I should say anything,
+and now I knew the reason for it. It was all plain enough on her side.
+Even if she had allowed herself any sort of emotion regarding me, she
+did not wish me to indulge in anything of the kind. But as for myself.
+I could decide nothing about myself.
+
+I smiled grimly as my eyes fell upon the little box of capsules. My
+first thought was that I should take two of them, but then I shook my
+head. "It would be utterly useless," I said; "they would do me no
+good."
+
+In the course of the next morning I found myself alone. I put on my
+cap, lighted a pipe, and started down the flag walk to the gate. In a
+few moments I heard running steps behind me, and, turning, I saw Miss
+Edith. "Don't look cross," she said. "Were you going for a walk?"
+
+I scouted the idea of crossness, and said that I had thought of taking
+a stroll.
+
+"That seems funny," said she, "for nobody in this house ever goes out
+for a lonely walk. But you cannot go just yet. There's a man at the
+back of the house with a letter for you."
+
+"A letter!" I exclaimed. "Who in the world could have sent a letter to
+me here?"
+
+"The only way to find out," she answered, "is to go and see."
+
+Under a tree at the back of the house I found a young negro man, very
+warm and dusty, who handed me a letter, which, to my surprise, bore no
+address. "How do you know this is for me?" said I.
+
+He was a good-natured looking fellow. "Oh, I know it's for you, sir,"
+said he. "They told me at the little tavern--the Holly something--that
+I'd find you here. You're the gentleman that had a bicycle tire eat
+up by a bear, ain't you?"
+
+I admitted that I was, and still, without opening the letter, I asked
+him, where it came from.
+
+"That was given to me in New York, sir," said he, "by a Dago, one of
+these I-talians. He gave me the money to go to Blackburn Station in
+the cars, and then I walked over to the tavern. He said he thought I'd
+find you there, sir. He told me just what sort of a lookin' man you
+was, sir, and that letter is for you, and no mistake. He didn't know
+your name, or he'd put it on."
+
+"Oh, it is from the owner of the bear," said I.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the man, "that's him. He did own a bear--he told
+me--that eat up your tire."
+
+I now tore open the blank envelope, and found it contained a letter on
+a single sheet, and in this was a folded paper, very dirty. The letter
+was apparently written in Italian, and had no signature. I ran my eye
+along the opening lines, and soon found that it would be a very
+difficult piece of business for me to read it. I was a fair French and
+German scholar, but my knowledge of Italian was due entirely to its
+relationship with Latin. I told the man to rest himself somewhere, and
+went to the house, and, finding Miss Edith, I informed her that I had
+a letter from the bear man, and asked her if she could read Italian.
+
+"I studied the language at school," she said, "but I have not
+practised much. However, let us go into the library--there is a
+dictionary there--and perhaps we can spell it out."
+
+We spread the open sheet upon the library-table, and laid the folded
+paper near by, and, sitting side by side, with a dictionary before us,
+we went to work. It was very hard work.
+
+"I think," said my companion, after ten minutes' application, "that
+the man who sent you this letter writes Italian about as badly as we
+read it. I think I could decipher the meaning of his words if I knew
+what letters those funny scratches were intended to represent. But let
+us stick to it. After a while we may get a little used to the writing,
+and I must admit that I have a curiosity to know what the man has to
+say about his bear."
+
+After a time the work became easier. Miss Edith possessed an acuteness
+of perception which enabled her to decipher almost illegible words by
+comparing them with others which were better written. We were at last
+enabled to translate the letter. The substance of it was as follows:
+
+The writer came to New York on a ship. There was a man on the ship,
+an Italian man, who was very wicked. He did very wicked things to the
+writer. When he got to New York he kept on being wicked. He was so
+wicked that the writer made up his mind to kill him. He waited for him
+one night for two hours.
+
+[Illustration: DECIPHERING THE DAGO'S LETTERS]
+
+At last the moment came. It was very dark, and the victim came,
+walking fast. The avenger sprang from a door-way and plunged his knife
+into the back of the victim. The man fell, and the moment he fell the
+writer of the letter knew that he was not the man he had intended to
+kill. The wicked man would not have been killed so easily. He turned
+over the man. He was dead. His eyes were used to the darkness, and he
+could see that he was the wrong man.
+
+The coat of the murdered man had fallen open, and a paper showed
+itself in an inside pocket. The Italian waited only long enough to
+snatch this paper. He wanted to have something which had belonged to
+that poor, wrongly murdered man. After that he heard no more about the
+great mistake he had committed. He could not read the newspapers, and
+he asked nobody any questions. He put the paper away and kept it. He
+often thought he ought to burn the paper, but he did not do it. He was
+afraid. The paper had a name on it, and he was sure it was the name
+of the man he had killed. He thought as long as he kept the paper
+there was a chance for his forgiveness.
+
+This was all four years ago. He worked hard, and after a while he
+bought a bear. When his bear ate up the India-rubber on my bicycle he
+was very much frightened, for he was afraid he might be sent to
+prison. But that was not the fright that made him run away.
+
+When he talked to the boy and asked him the name of the keeper of the
+inn, and the boy told him what it was, the earth seemed to open and he
+saw hell. The name was the name that was on the paper he had taken
+from the man he had killed by mistake, and this was his wife whose
+house he was staying at. He was seized with such a horror and such a
+fear that everything might be found out, and that he would be
+arrested, that he ran away to the railroad and took a train for New
+York.
+
+He did not want his bear. He did not want to be known as the man who
+had been going about with a bear. One thing he wanted, and that was to
+get back to Italy, where he would be safe. He was going back very soon
+in a ship. He had changed his name. He could not be found any more.
+But he knew his soul would never have any peace if he did not send
+the paper to the wife of the man he had made a mistake about. But he
+could not write a letter to her, so he sent it to me, for me to give
+her the paper and to tell her what he had written in the letter. He
+left America forever. Nobody in this country would ever see him again.
+He was gone. He was lost to all people in this country, but his soul
+felt better now that he had done that which would make the lady whose
+husband he had killed know how it had happened. The bear he would give
+to her. That was all that he could do for her.
+
+There was no formal close to the letter; the writer had said what he
+had to say and stopped.
+
+Miss Edith and I looked at each other. Her eyes had grown large and
+bright. "Now, shall we examine the paper?"
+
+"I do not know that we have a right to do so," I said. I know my voice
+was trembling, for I was very much agitated. "That belongs to--to
+her!"
+
+"I think," said Miss Edith, "that we ought to look at it. It is merely
+a folded paper. I do not think we ought to thrust information upon
+Mrs. Chester without knowing what it is. Perhaps the man made a
+mistake in the name. We may do a great deal of mischief if we do not
+know exactly what we are about." And so saying she took the paper and
+opened it.
+
+It was nothing but a grocery bill, but it was made out to--Godfrey
+Chester, Dr. Evidently it was for goods supplied to the inn. It was
+receipted.
+
+For a few moments I said nothing, and then I exclaimed, in tones which
+made my companion gaze very earnestly at me: "I must go to her
+immediately! I must take these papers! She must know everything!"
+
+"Excuse me," said Miss Edith, "but don't you think that something
+ought to be done about apprehending this man--this Italian? Let us go
+and question his messenger." We went out together, she carrying,
+tightly clasped, both the letter and the bill.
+
+The black man could tell us very little. An Italian he had never seen
+before had given him the letter to take to Holly Sprig Inn, and give
+to the gentleman who had had his tire eaten by a bear. If the
+gentleman was not there, he was to ask to have it sent to him. That
+was everything he knew.
+
+"Did the Italian give you money to go back with?" asked Miss Edith,
+and the man rather reluctantly admitted that he did.
+
+"Well, you can keep that for yourself," said she, "and we'll pay your
+passage back. But we would like you to wait here for a while. There
+may be some sort of an answer."
+
+The man laughed. "'Taint no use sendin' no answer," said he; "I
+couldn't find that Dago again. They're all so much alike. He said he
+was goin' away on a ship. You see it was yesterday he gave me that
+letter. I 'spect he'll be a long way out to sea before I get back,
+even if I did know who he was and what ship he was goin' on. But if
+you want me to wait, I don't mind waitin'."
+
+"Very good," said Miss Edith; "you can go into the kitchen and have
+something to eat." And, calling a maid, she gave orders for the man's
+entertainment.
+
+"Now," said she, turning to me, "let us take a walk through the
+orchard. I want to talk to you."
+
+"No," said I, "I can't talk at present. I must go immediately to the
+inn with those papers. It is right that not a moment should be lost in
+delivering this most momentous message which has been intrusted to
+me."
+
+"But I must speak to you first," said she, and she walked rapidly
+towards the orchard. As she still held the papers in her hand, I was
+obliged to follow her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+
+As soon as we had begun to walk under the apple-trees she turned to me
+and said: "I don't think you ought to take this letter and the bill to
+Mrs. Chester. It would not be right. There would be something cruel
+about it."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Of course I do not know exactly the state of the case," she answered,
+"but I will tell you what I think about it as far as I know. You must
+not be offended at what I say. If I am a friend to anybody--and I
+would be ashamed if I were not a friend to you--I must tell him just
+what I think about things, and this is what I think about this thing:
+I ought to take these papers to Mrs. Chester. I know her well enough,
+and it is a woman who ought to go to her at such a time."
+
+"That message was intrusted to me," I said. "Of course it was," she
+answered, "but the bear man did not know what he was doing. He did not
+understand the circumstances."
+
+[Illustration: "'I DON'T THINK YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THIS LETTER'"]
+
+"What circumstances?" I asked.
+
+She gave me a look as if she were going to take aim at me and wanted
+to be sure of my position. Then she said: "Percy told us he thought
+you were courting Mrs. Chester. That was pure impertinence on his
+part, and perhaps what father said at the table was impertinence too,
+but I know he said it because he thought there might be something in
+Percy's chatter, and that you ought to understand how things stood.
+Now, you may think it impertinence on my part if you choose, but it
+really does seem to me that you are very much interested in Mrs.
+Chester. Didn't you intend to walk down to the Holly Sprig when you
+were starting out by yourself this morning?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "I did."
+
+"I thought so," she replied. "That, of course, was your own business,
+and what father said about her being unwilling to marry again need not
+have made any difference to you if you had chosen not to mind it. But
+now, don't you think, if you look at the matter fairly and squarely,
+it would be pretty hard on Mrs. Chester if you were to go down to her
+and make her understand that she really is a widow, and that now she
+is free to listen to you if you want to say anything to her? This may
+sound a little hard and cruel, but don't you think it is the way she
+would have to look at it?"
+
+She stopped as she spoke, and I turned and stood silent, looking at
+her.
+
+"My first thought was," she said, "to advise you to tell father about
+all this, and take his advice about telling her, but I don't think you
+would like that. Now, would you like that?"
+
+"No," I answered, "I certainly would not."
+
+"And don't you really think I ought to go to her with the message, and
+then come back and tell you how she took it and what she said?"
+
+For nearly a minute I did not speak, but I knew she was right, and at
+last I admitted it.
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so!" she exclaimed. "As soon as dinner is
+over I shall drive to the Holly Sprig."
+
+We still walked on, and she proposed that we should go to the top of a
+hill beyond the orchard, where there was a pretty view.
+
+"You may think me a strange sort of a girl," she said, presently, "but
+I can't help it. I suppose I am strange. I have often thought I would
+like very much to talk freely and honestly with a man about the
+reasons which people have for falling in love with each other. Of
+course I could not ask my father or brother, because they would simply
+laugh at me and tell me that falling in love was very much like the
+springing up of weeds--generally without reason and often
+objectionable. But you would be more likely to tell me something which
+would be of advantage to me in my studies."
+
+"Your studies!" I exclaimed. "What in the world are you studying?"
+
+"Well, I am studying human nature--not as a whole, of course, that's
+too large a subject, but certain phases of it--and I particularly want
+to know why such queer people come together and get married. Now I
+have great advantages in such a study, much greater than most girls
+have."
+
+"What are they?" I asked.
+
+"The principal one is that I never intend to marry. I made up my mind
+to that a good while ago. There is a great deal of work that I want to
+do in this world, and I could not do it properly if I were tied to a
+man. I would either have to submit myself to his ways, or he would
+have to submit himself to my ways, and that would not suit me. In the
+one case I should not respect him, and in the other I should not
+respect myself."
+
+"But suppose," said I, "you should meet a man who should be in perfect
+harmony with you in all important points?"
+
+"Ah," she said, "that sort of thing never happens. You might as well
+expect to pick up two pebbles exactly alike. I don't believe in it.
+But if at any time during the rest of my life you show me any examples
+of such harmony, I will change my opinions. I believe that if I can
+wait long enough, society will catch up with me. Everything looks that
+way to me."
+
+"It may be that you are right," I answered. "Society is getting on
+famously. But what is it you want to ask me?"
+
+"Simply this," she replied. "What is it which interests you so much in
+Mrs. Chester?"
+
+I looked at her in astonishment. "Truly," I exclaimed, "that is a
+remarkable question."
+
+"I know it," she replied, "and I suppose you are saying to yourself,
+'Here is a girl who has known me less than three days, and yet she
+asks me to tell her about my feeling towards another woman.' But,
+really, it seems to me that as you have not known that other woman
+three days, as much friendship and confidence might spring up in the
+one case as affection in the other."
+
+"Affection!" said I. "Have I said anything about affection?"
+
+"No, you have not," she replied; "and if there isn't any affection, of
+course that ends this special study on my part."
+
+We reached the top of the hill, but I forgot to look out upon the
+view. "I think you are a strange girl," I said, "but I like you, and I
+have a mind to try to answer your question. I have not been able quite
+to satisfy myself about my feelings towards Mrs. Chester, but now I
+think I can say that I have an affection for her."
+
+"Good!" she exclaimed. "I like that! That is an honest answer if ever
+there was one. But tell me why it is that you have an affection for
+her. It must have been almost a case of love at first sight."
+
+"It isn't easy to give reasons for such feelings," I said. "They
+spring up, as your father would say, very much like weeds."
+
+"Indeed they do," she interpolated; "sometimes they grow in the middle
+of a gravel path where they cannot expect to be allowed to stay."
+
+I reflected a moment. "I don't mind talking about these things to
+you," I said. "It seems almost like talking to myself."
+
+"That is a compliment I appreciate," she said. "And now go on. Why do
+you care for her?"
+
+"Well," said I, "in the first place, she is very handsome. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Oh yes! In fact, I think she is almost what might be called exactly
+beautiful."
+
+"Then she has such charming manners," I continued. "And she is so
+sensible--although you may not think I had much chance to find out
+that. Moreover, there is a certain sympathetic cordiality about her--"
+
+"Which, of course," interrupted my companion, "you suppose she would
+not show to any man but you."
+
+"Yes," said I. "I am speaking honestly now, and that's the way it
+strikes me. Of course I may be a fool, but I did think that a sympathy
+had arisen between us which would not arise between her and anybody
+else."
+
+Miss Edith laughed heartily. "I am getting to know a great deal about
+one side of the subject," she said. "And now tell me--is that all? I
+don't believe it is."
+
+"No," I answered, "it is not. There is something more which makes her
+attractive to me. I cannot exactly explain it except by saying that it
+is her surrounding atmosphere--it is everything that pertains to her.
+It is the life she lives, it is her home, it is the beauty and peace,
+the sense of charm which infuses her and everything that belongs to
+her."
+
+"Beautiful!" said Miss Edith. "I expected an answer like that, but not
+so well put. Now let me translate it into plain, simple language. What
+you want is to give up your present life, which must be awfully
+stupid, and go and help Mrs. Chester keep the Holly Sprig. That would
+suit you exactly. A charming wife, charming surroundings, charming
+sense of living, a life of absolute independence! But don't think,"
+she added, quickly, "that I am imputing any sordid motives to you. I
+meant nothing of the kind. You would do just as much to make the inn
+popular as she would. I expect you would make her rich."
+
+"Miss Edith Larramie," said I, "you are a heartless deceiver! It makes
+my blood run cold to hear you speak in that way."
+
+"Never mind that," she said, "but tell me, didn't you think it would
+be just lovely to live with her in that delightful little inn?"
+
+I could not help smiling at her earnestness, but I answered that I did
+think so.
+
+She nodded her head reflectively. "Yes," she said, "I was right. I
+think you ought to admit that I am a good judge of human nature--at
+least, in some people and under certain circumstances."
+
+"You are," said I. "I admit that. Now answer me a question. What do
+you think of it?"
+
+"I don't like it," she said. "And don't you see," she added, with
+animation, "what an advantage I possess in having determined never to
+marry? Very few other girls would be willing to speak to you so
+plainly. They would be afraid you would think that they wanted you,
+but, as I don't want anybody, you and I can talk over things of this
+kind like free and equal human beings. So I will say again that I
+don't like your affection for Mrs. Chester. It disappoints me."
+
+"Disappoints you!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," she said, "that is the word. You must remember that my
+acquaintance with you began with a sort of a bump. A great deal
+happened in an instant. I formed high ideas of you, and among them
+were ideas of the future. You can't help that when you are thinking of
+people who interest you. Your mind will run ahead. When I found out
+about Mrs. Chester I was disappointed. It might be all very
+delightful, but you ought to do better than that!"
+
+[Illustration: "'DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HIT IT WITH AN APPLE?'"]
+
+"How old are you?" I asked.
+
+"Twenty-two last May," she replied.
+
+"Isn't that the dinner-bell I hear in the distance?" I said.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "and we will go down."
+
+On the way she stopped, and we stood facing each other. "I am greatly
+obliged to you," she said, "for giving me your confidence in this way,
+and I want you to believe that I shall be thoroughly loyal to you, and
+that I never will breathe anything you have said. But I also want you
+to know that I do not change any of my opinions. Now we understand
+each other, don't we?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, "but I think I understand you better than you
+understand me."
+
+"Not a bit of it," she replied; "that's nonsense. Do you see that
+flower-pot on the top of the stump by the little hill over there?
+Percy has been firing at it with his air-gun. Do you think you could
+hit it with an apple? Let's each take three apples and try."
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Miss Edith returned from the Holly
+Sprig, where she and Genevieve had driven in a pony-cart. I was with
+the rest of the family on the golf links a short distance from the
+house, and it was some time before she got a chance to speak to me,
+but she managed at last.
+
+"How did she take the news?" I eagerly asked.
+
+The girl hesitated. "I don't think I ought to tell you all she said
+and did. It was really a private interview between us two, and I know
+she would not want me to say much about it. And I don't think you
+would want to hear everything."
+
+I hastened to assure her that I would not ask for the particulars of
+the conversation. I only wished to know the general effect of the
+message upon her. That was legitimate enough, as, in fact, she
+received the message through me.
+
+"Well, she was very much affected, and it would have been dreadful if
+you had gone. Oh the whole, however, I cannot help thinking that the
+Italian's letter was a great relief to her, particularly because she
+found that her husband had been killed by mistake. She said that one
+of the greatest loads upon her soul had been the feeling that he had
+had an enemy who hated him enough to kill him. But now the case is
+very different, and it is a great comfort to her to know it."
+
+"And about the murderer?" I said. "Did you ask her if she wanted steps
+taken to apprehend him?"
+
+"Yes," she said, "I did speak of it, and she is very anxious that
+nothing shall be done in that direction. Even if the Italian should be
+caught, she would not have the affair again publicly discussed and
+dissected. She believes the man's story, and she never wants to hear
+of him again. Indeed, I think that if it should be proved that the
+Italian killed Mr. Chester on purpose, it would be the greatest blow
+that could be inflicted upon her."
+
+"Then," said I, "I might as well let the negro man go his way. I have
+not paid him his passage-money to the city. I knew he would wait until
+he got it, and it might be desirable to take him into custody."
+
+"Oh no," she said. "Mrs. Chester spoke about that. She doesn't want
+the man troubled in any way. He knew nothing of the message he
+carried. Now I am going to tell father about it--she asked me to do
+it."
+
+That evening was a merry one. We had charades, and a good many other
+things were going on. Miss Willoughby was an admirable actress, and
+Miss Edith was not bad, although she could never get rid of her
+personality. I was in a singular state of mind. I felt as if I had
+been relieved from a weight. My spirits were actually buoyant.
+
+"You should not be so unreasonably gay," said Miss Edith to me. "That
+may be your way when you get better acquainted with people, but I am
+afraid some of the family will think that you are in such good spirits
+because Mrs. Chester now knows that she is a widow."
+
+"Oh, there is no danger of their thinking anything of that sort," I
+said. "Don't you suppose they will attribute my good spirits to the
+fact that the man who took my bicycle to Waterton brought back my big
+valise, so that I am enabled to look like a gentleman in the parlor?
+And then, as he also brought word that my bicycle will be all ready
+for me to-morrow, don't you think it is to be expected of me that I
+should try to make myself as agreeable as possible on this my last
+evening with all you good friends?"
+
+She shook her head. "Those excuses will not pass. You are abnormally
+cheerful. My study of you is extremely interesting, but not altogether
+satisfactory."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MISS WILLOUGHBY
+
+
+It was decreed the next day that I should not leave until after
+dinner. They would send me over to Blackburn Station by a cross-road,
+and I could then reach Waterton in less than an hour. "There is
+another good thing about this arrangement," said Miss Edith, for it
+was she who announced it to me, "and that is that you can take charge
+of Amy."
+
+I gazed at her mystified, and she said, "Don't you know that Miss
+Willoughby is going in the same train with you?"
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, far too forcibly.
+
+"Yes. Her visit ends to-day. She lives in Waterton. But why should
+that affect you so wonderfully? I am sure you cannot object to an hour
+in the train with Amy Willoughby. She may talk a good deal, but you
+must admit that she talks well."
+
+"Object!" I said. "Of course I don't object. She talks very well
+indeed, and I shall be glad to have the pleasure of her company."
+
+"No one would have thought so," she said, looking at me with a
+criticising eye, "who had seen you when you heard she was going."
+
+"It was the suddenness," I said.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "and your delicate nerves."
+
+In my soul I cried out to myself: "Am I ever to break free from young
+women! Is there to be a railroad accident between here and Waterton!
+If so, I shall save the nearest old gentleman!"
+
+I believe the Larramies were truly sorry to have me go. Each one of
+them in turn told me so. Mrs. Larramie again said to me, with tears in
+her eyes, that it made her shudder to think what that home might be if
+it had not been for me.
+
+Mr. Larramie and Walter promised to get up some fine excursions if I
+would stay a little longer, and Genevieve made me sit down beside her
+under a tree.
+
+"I am awfully sorry you are going," she said. "I always wanted a
+gentleman friend, and I believe if you'd stay a little longer you'd be
+one. You see, Walter is really too old for me to confide in, and Percy
+thinks he's too old--and that's a great deal worse. But you're just
+the age I like. There are so many things I would say to you if you
+lived here."
+
+Little Clara, cried when she heard I was going, and I felt myself
+obliged to commit the shameful deception of talking about baby bears
+and my possible return to this place.
+
+Miss Edith accompanied us to the station, and when I took leave of her
+on the platform she gave me a good, hearty handshake. "I believe that
+we shall see each other again," she said, "and when we meet I want you
+to make a report, and I hope it will be a good one!"
+
+"About what?" I asked.
+
+She smiled in gentle derision, and the conductor cried, "All aboard!"
+
+I found a vacant seat, and, side by side, Miss Willoughby and I sped
+on towards Waterton.
+
+For some time I had noticed that Miss Willoughby had ceased to look
+past me when she spoke to me, and now she fixed her eyes fully upon me
+and said:
+
+"I am always sorry when I go away from that house, for I think the
+people who live there are the dearest in the world, excepting my own
+mother and aunt, who are nearer to me than anybody else, although, if
+I needed a mother, Mrs. Larramie would take me to her heart, I am
+sure, just as if I were her own daughter, and I am not related to them
+in any way, although I have always looked upon Edith as a sister, and
+I don't believe that if I had a real sister she could possibly have
+been as dear a girl as Edith, who is so lovable and tender and
+forgiving--whenever there is anything to forgive--and who, although
+she is a girl of such strong character and such a very peculiar way of
+thinking about things, has never said a hard word to me in all her
+life, even when she found that our opinions were different, which was
+something she often did find, for she looks upon everything in this
+world in her own way, and bases all her judgments upon her own
+observations and convictions, while I am very willing to let those
+whom I think I ought to look up to and respect judge for me--at least
+in a great many things, but of course not in all matters, for there
+are some things which we must decide for ourselves without reference
+to other people's opinions, though I should be sorry indeed if I had
+so many things to decide as Edith has, or rather chooses to have, for
+if she would depend more upon other people I think it would not only
+be easier for her, but really make her happier, for if you could hear
+some of the wonderful things which she has discussed with me after
+we have gone to bed at night it would really make your head ache--that
+is, if you are subject to that sort of thing, which I am if I am kept
+awake too long, but I am proud to say that I don't think I ever
+allowed Edith to suppose that I was tired of hearing her talk, for
+when any one is as lovely as she is I think she ought to be allowed to
+talk about what she pleases and just along as she pleases."
+
+[Illustration: "TALKING ABOUT BABY BEARS"]
+
+Surprising as it may appear, nothing happened on that railroad
+journey. No cow of Cathay blundered in front of the locomotive; no
+freight train came around a curve going in the opposite direction upon
+the same track; everything went smoothly and according to schedule.
+Miss Willoughby did not talk all the time. She was not the greatest
+talker I ever knew; she was not even the fastest; she was always
+willing to wait until her turn came, but she had wonderful endurance
+for a steady stretch. She never made a bad start, she never broke, she
+went steadily over the track until the heat had been run.
+
+When the time came for me to speak she listened with great interest,
+and sometimes at my words her eyes sparkled almost as much as they
+did when she was speaking herself. She knew a great many things, and
+I was pleased to find out that she was especially interested in the
+good qualities of the people she knew. I never heard so many gracious
+sentiments in so short a time.
+
+Miss Willoughby's residence was but a short distance from the station
+at Waterton; and as she thought it entirely unnecessary to take a cab,
+I attended to her baggage, and offered to walk with her to her home
+and carry her little bag. I was about to leave her at the door, but
+this she positively forbade. I must step in for a minute or two to see
+her mother and her aunt. They had heard of me, and would never forgive
+her if she let me go without their seeing me. As the door opened
+immediately, we went in.
+
+Miss Willoughby's mother and aunt were two most charming elderly
+ladies, immaculately dainty in their dress, cordial of manner, bright
+of eye, and diminutive of hand, producing the impression of gentle
+goodness set off by soft white muslin, folded tenderly.
+
+They had heard of me. In the few days in which I had been with the
+Larramies, Miss Willoughby had written of me. They insisted that I
+should stay to supper, for what good reason could there be for my
+taking that meal at the hotel--not a very good one--when they would be
+so glad to have me sup with them and talk about our mutual friends?
+
+I had no reasonable objection to offer, and, returning to the station,
+I took my baggage to the hotel, where I prepared to sup with the
+Willoughby family.
+
+They were now a little family of three, although there was a brother
+who had started away the day before on a bicycling tour very like my
+own, and they were both so delighted to have Amy visit the Larramies,
+and they were both so delighted to have her come back.
+
+The supper was a delicate one, suitable for canary birds, but at an
+early stage of the meal a savory little sirloin steak was brought on
+which had been cooked especially for me. Of course I could not be
+expected to be satisfied with thin dainties, no matter how tasteful
+they might be.
+
+This house was the abode of intelligence, cultivated taste, and
+opulence. It was probably the finest mansion of the town. In every
+room there were things to see, and after supper we looked at them,
+and, as I wandered from pictures to vases and carved ivory, the
+remarks of the two elder ladies and Miss Willoughby seemed like a
+harmonized chorus accompanying the rest of the performance. Each spoke
+at the right time, each in her turn said the thing she ought to say.
+It was a rare exhibition of hospitable enthusiasm, tempered by
+sympathetic consideration for me and for each other.
+
+I soon discovered that many of the water-color drawings on the walls
+were the work of Miss Willoughby, and when she saw I was interested in
+them she produced a portfolio of her sketches. I liked her coloring
+very much. It was sometimes better than her drawing. It was dainty,
+delicate, and suggestive. One picture attracted me the moment my eyes
+fell upon it; it was one of the most carefully executed, and it
+represented the Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+"You recognize that!" said Miss Willoughby, evidently pleased. "You
+see that light-colored spot in the portico? That's Mrs. Chester; she
+stood there when I was making the drawing. It is nothing but two or
+three little dabs, but that is the way she looked at a distance.
+Around on this side is the corner of the yard where the bear tried to
+eat up the tire of your bicycle."
+
+I gazed and gazed at the little light-colored spot in the portico. I
+gave it form, light, feeling. I could see perfect features, blue
+eyes which looked out at me, a form of simple grace.
+
+[Illustration: "'I HELD THAT PICTURE A GOOD WHILE'"]
+
+I held that picture a good while, saying little, and scarcely
+listening to Miss Willoughby's words. At last I felt obliged to
+replace it in the portfolio. If the artist had been a poor girl, I
+would have offered to buy it; if I had known her better, I would have
+asked her to give it to me; but I could do nothing but put it back.
+
+Glancing at the clock I saw that it was time for me to go, but when I
+announced this fact the ladies very much demurred. Why should I go to
+that uncomfortable hotel? They would send for my baggage. There was
+not the least reason in the world why I should spend the night in that
+second-rate establishment.
+
+"See," said Mrs. Willoughby, opening the door of a room in the rear of
+the parlor, "if you will stay with us to-night we will lodge you in
+the chamber of the favored guest. All the pictures on the walls were
+done by my daughter."
+
+I looked into the room. It was the most charming and luxurious bedroom
+I had ever seen. It was lighted, and the harmony of its furnishings
+was a treat to the eye.
+
+But I stood firm in my purpose to depart. I would not spend the night
+in that house. There would be a fire, burglars, I knew not what!
+Against all kind entreaties I urged the absolute necessity of my
+starting away by the very break of day, and I could not disturb a
+private family by any such proceeding. They saw that I was determined
+to go, and they allowed me to depart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AN ICICLE
+
+
+My room at the hotel was as dreary as a stubble-field upon a November
+evening. The whole house was new, varnished, and hard. My bedroom was
+small. A piece of new ingrain carpet covered part of the hard
+varnished floor. Four hard walls and a ceiling, deadly white,
+surrounded me. The hard varnished bedstead (the mattress felt as if it
+were varnished) nearly filled the little room. Two stiff chairs, and a
+yellow window-shade which looked as if it were made of varnished wood,
+glittered in the feeble light of a glass lamp, while the ghastly
+grayish pallor of the ewer and basin on the wash-stand was thrown into
+bold relief by the intenser whiteness of the wall behind it.
+
+I put out my light as soon as possible and resolutely closed my eyes,
+for a street lamp opposite my window would not allow the room to fade
+into obscurity, and, as long as the hardness of the bed prevented me
+from sleeping, my thoughts ran back to the chamber of the favored
+guest, but my conscience stood by me. Cathay is a country where it is
+necessary to be very careful.
+
+I did not leave Waterton until after nine o'clock the next day, for,
+although I was early at the shop to which my bicycle had been sent, it
+was not quite ready for me, and I had to wait. Fortunately no
+Willoughby came that way.
+
+But when at last I mounted my wheel I sped away rapidly towards the
+north. I had ordered my baggage expressed to a town fifty miles away,
+and I hoped that if I rode steadily and kept my eyes straight in front
+of me I might safely get out of Cathay, for the boundaries of that
+fateful territory could not extend themselves indefinitely.
+
+Towards the close of the afternoon I saw a female in front of me, her
+back to me, walking, and pushing a bicycle.
+
+"Now," said I to myself, "she is doing that because she likes it, and
+it is none of my business." I gazed over the fields on the other side
+of the road, but as I passed her I could not help giving a glance at
+her machine. The air was gone from the tire of the hind wheel.
+
+"Ah," said I to myself, "perhaps her pump is out of order, or it may
+be that she does not know how to work it. It is getting late. She may
+have to go a long distance. I could pump it up for her in no time.
+Even if there is a hole in it I could mend it." But I did not stop. I
+had steeled my heart against any more adventures in Cathay.
+
+But my conscience did not stand by me. I could not forget that poor
+woman plodding along the weary road and darkness not far away. I went
+slower and slower, and at last I turned.
+
+"It would not take me five minutes to help her," I said. "I must be
+careful, but I need not be a churl." And I rode rapidly back.
+
+I came in sight of her just as she was turning into the gateway of a
+pretty house yard. Doubtless she lived there. I turned again and spun
+away faster than I had gone that day.
+
+For more than a month I journeyed and sojourned in a beautiful river
+valley and among the low foot-hills of the mountains. The weather was
+fair, the scenery was pleasing, and at last I came to believe that I
+had passed the boundaries of Cathay. I took no tablets from my little
+box. I did not feel that I had need of them.
+
+In the course of time I ceased to travel north-ward. My vacation was
+not very near its end, but I chose to turn my face towards the scene
+of my coming duties. I made a wide circuit, I rode slowly, and I
+stopped often.
+
+One day I passed through a village, and at the outer edge of it a
+little girl, about four years old, tried to cross the road. Tripping,
+she fell down almost in front of me. It was only by a powerful and
+sudden exertion that I prevented myself from going over her, and as I
+wheeled across the road my machine came within two feet of her. She
+lay there yelling in the dust. I dismounted, and, picking her up I
+carried her to the other side of the road. There I left her to toddle
+homeward while I went on my way. I could not but sigh as I thought
+that I was again in Cathay.
+
+Two days after this I entered Waterton. There was another road, said
+to be a very pleasant one, which lay to the westward, and which would
+have taken me to Walford through a country new to me, but I wished to
+make no further explorations in Cathay, and if one journeys back upon
+a road by which he came he will find the scenery very different.
+
+I spent the night at the hotel, and after breakfast I very reluctantly
+went to call upon the Willoughbys. I forced myself to do this, for,
+considering the cordiality they had shown me, it would have required
+more incivility than I possessed to pass through the town without
+paying my respects. But to my great joy none of the ladies was at
+home. I hastened from the house with a buoyant step, and was soon
+speeding away, and away, and away.
+
+The road was dry and hard, the sun was bright, but there was a fresh
+breeze in my face, and I rolled along at a swift and steady rate. On,
+on I went, until, before the sun had reached its highest point, I
+wheeled out of the main road, rolled up a gravel path, and dismounted
+in front of the Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+I leaned my bicycle against a tree and went in-doors. The place did
+not seem so quiet as when I first saw it. I had noticed a lady sitting
+under a tree in front of the house. There was a nurse-maid attending a
+child who was playing on the grass. Entering the hall, I glanced into
+the large room which I had called the "office," and saw a man there
+writing at a table.
+
+Presently a maid-servant came into the hall. She was not one I had
+noticed before. I asked if I could see Mrs. Chester, and she said she
+would go and look for her. There were chairs in the hall, and I might
+have waited for her there, but I did not. I entered the parlor, and
+was pleased to find it unoccupied. I went to the upper end of the
+room, as far as possible from the door.
+
+In a few minutes I heard a step in the hall. I knew it, and it was
+strange how soon I had learned to know it. She stopped in front of the
+office, then she went on towards the porch, and turning she came into
+the parlor, first looking towards the front of the room and then
+towards the place where I stood.
+
+The light from a window near me fell directly upon her as she
+approached me, and I could see that there was a slight flush on her
+face, but before she reached me it had disappeared. She did not greet
+me. She did not offer me her hand. In fact, from what afterwards
+happened, I believe that she did not consider me at that moment a fit
+subject for ordinary greeting. She stood up in front of me. She gazed
+steadfastly into my face. Her features wore something of their
+ordinary pleasant expression, but to this there was added a certain
+determination which I had never seen there before. She gave her head a
+little quick shake.
+
+"No, sir!" she said.
+
+This reception amazed me. I had been greatly agitated as I heard her
+approach, turning over in my mind what I should first say to her, but
+now I forgot everything I had prepared. "No what?" I exclaimed.
+
+[Illustration: "'NO, SIR,' SHE SAID"]
+
+"'No' means that I will not marry you."
+
+I stood speechless. "Of course you are thinking," she continued, "that
+you have never asked me to marry you. But that isn't at all necessary.
+As soon as I saw you standing there, back two weeks before your
+vacation is over, and when I got a good look at your face, I knew
+exactly what you had come for. I was afraid when you left here that
+you would come back for that, so I was not altogether unprepared. I
+spoke promptly so as to spare you and to make it easier for me."
+
+"Easier!" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Easier, because the sooner you know that I will not marry you the
+better it will be for you and for me."
+
+Now I could restrain myself no longer. "Why can't I marry you?" I
+asked, speaking very rapidly, and, I am afraid, with imprudent energy.
+"Is it any sort of condition or circumstance which prevents? Do you
+think that I am forcing myself upon you at a time when I ought not to
+do it? If so, you have mistaken me. Ever since I left here I have
+thought of scarcely anything but you, and I have returned thus early
+simply to tell you that I love you! I had to do that! I could not
+wait! But as to all else, I can wait, and wait, and wait, as long as
+you please. You can tell me to go away and come back at whatever time
+you think it will be right for you to give me an answer."
+
+"This is the right time," she said, "and I have given you your answer.
+But, unfortunately, I did not prevent you from saying what you came to
+say. So now I will tell you that the conditions and circumstances to
+which you allude have nothing to do with the matter. I have a reason
+for my decision which is of so much more importance than any other
+reason that it is the only one which need be considered."
+
+"What is that?" I asked, quickly.
+
+"It is because I keep a tavern," she answered. "It would be wrong and
+wicked for you to marry a woman who keeps a tavern."
+
+Now my face flushed. I could feel it burning. "Keep a tavern!" I
+exclaimed. "That is a horrible way to put it! But why should you think
+for an instant that I cared for that? Do you suppose I consider that a
+dishonorable calling? I would be only too glad to adopt it myself and
+help you keep a tavern, as you call it."
+
+"That is the trouble!" she exclaimed. "That is the greatest trouble. I
+believe you would. I believe that you think that the life would just
+suit you."
+
+"Then sweep away the tavern!" I exclaimed. "Banish it. Leave it. Put
+it out of all thought or consideration. I can wait for you. I can make
+a place and a position for you. I can--"
+
+"No, you cannot," she interrupted. "At least, not for a long time,
+unless one of your scholars dies and leaves you a legacy. It is the
+future that I am thinking about. No matter what you might sweep away,
+and to what position you might attain, it could always be said, 'He
+married a woman who used to keep a tavern.' Now, every one who is a
+friend to you, who knows what is before you, if you choose to try for
+it, should do everything that can be done to prevent such a thing ever
+being said of you. I am a friend to you, and I am going to prevent
+it."
+
+I stood unable to say one word. Her voice, her eyes, even the manner
+in which she stood before me, assured me that she meant everything she
+said. It was almost impossible to believe that such an amiable
+creature could turn into such an icicle.
+
+"I do not want you to feel worse than you can help," she said, "but it
+was necessary for me to speak as firmly and decidedly as I could, and
+now it is all settled."
+
+I knew it was all settled. I knew it as well as if it had been settled
+for years. But, with my eyes still ardently fixed on her, I remembered
+the little flush when she came into the room.
+
+"Tell me one thing," said I, "and I will go. If it were not for what
+you say about your position in life, and all that--if there had not
+been such a place as this inn--then could you--"
+
+She moved away from me. "You are as great a bear as the other one!"
+she exclaimed, and turning she left the room by a door in the rear.
+But in the next moment she ran back, holding out her hand. "Good-bye!"
+she said.
+
+I took her hand, but held it not a second. Then she was gone. I stood
+looking at the door which she had closed behind her, and then I left
+the house. There was no reason why I should stay in that place another
+minute.
+
+As I was about to mount my bicycle the boy came around the corner of
+the inn. Upon his face was a diabolical grin. The thought rushed into
+my mind that he might have been standing beneath the parlor window.
+Instinctively I made a movement towards him, but he did not run. I
+turned my eyes away from him and mounted. I could not kill a boy in
+the presence of a nurse-maid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+
+
+I was about to turn in the direction of Walford, but then into my
+trouble-tossed mind there came the recollection that I had intended,
+no matter what happened, to call on the Larramies before I went home.
+I owed it to them, and at this moment their house seemed like a port
+of refuge.
+
+The Larramies received me with wide-opened eyes and outstretched
+hands. They were amazed to see me before the end of my vacation, for
+no member of that family had ever come back from a vacation before it
+was over; but they showed that they were delighted to have me with
+them, be it sooner or later than they had expected, and I had not been
+in the house ten minutes before I received three separate invitations
+to make that house my home until school began again.
+
+The house was even livelier than when I left it. There was a married
+couple visiting there, enthusiastic devotees of golf; one of Mr.
+Walter's college friends was with him; and, to my surprise, Miss Amy
+Willoughby was there again.
+
+Genevieve received me with the greatest warmth, and I could see that
+her hopes of a gentleman friend revived. Little Clara demanded to be
+kissed as soon as she saw me, and I think she now looked upon me as a
+permanent uncle or something of that kind. As soon as possible I was
+escorted by the greater part of the family to see the bear.
+
+Miss Edith had welcomed me as if I had been an old friend. It warmed
+my heart to receive the frank and cordial handshake she gave me. She
+said very little, but there was a certain interrogation in her eyes
+which assured me that she had much to ask when the time came. As for
+me, I was in no hurry for that time to come. I did not feel like
+answering questions, and with as much animation as I could assume I
+talked to everybody as we went to see the bear.
+
+This animal had grown very fat and super-contented, but I found that
+the family were in the condition of Gentleman Waife in Bulwer's novel,
+and were now wondering what they would do with it.
+
+"You see," cried Percy, who was the principal showman, "the neighbors
+are all on pins and needles about him. Ever since the McKenna sisters
+spread the story that Orso was in the habit of getting under beds,
+there isn't a person within five miles of here who can go to bed
+without looking under it to see if there is a bear there. There are
+two houses for sale about a mile down the road, and we don't know any
+reason why people should want to go away except it's the bear. Nearly
+all the dogs around here are kept chained up for fear that Orso will
+get hold of them, and there is a general commotion, I can tell you. At
+first it was great fun, but it is getting a little tiresome now. We
+have been talking about shooting him, and then I shall have his bones,
+which I am going to set up as a skeleton, and it is my opinion that
+you ought to have the skin."
+
+Several demurrers now arose, for nobody seemed to think that I would
+want such an ugly skin as that.
+
+"Ugly!" cried Percy, who was evidently very anxious to pursue his
+study of comparative anatomy. "It's a magnificent skin. Look at that
+long, heavy fur. Why, if you take that skin and have it all cleaned,
+and combed out, and dyed some nice color, it will be fit to put into
+any room."
+
+Genevieve was in favor of combing and cleaning, oiling and dyeing the
+hide of the bear without taking it off.
+
+"If you would do that," she declared, "he would be a beautiful bear,
+and we would give him away. They would be glad to have him at Central
+Park."
+
+The Larramies would not listen to my leaving that day. There were a
+good many people in the house, but there was room enough for me, and,
+when we had left the bear without solving the problem of his final
+disposition, there were so many things to be done and so many things
+to be said that it was late in the afternoon before Miss Edith found
+the opportunity of speaking to me for which she had been waiting so
+long.
+
+"Well," said she, as we walked together away from the golf links, but
+not towards the house, "what have you to report?"
+
+"Report?" I repeated, evasively.
+
+"Yes, you promised to do that, and I always expect people to fulfil
+their promises to me. You came here by the way of the Holly Sprig Inn,
+didn't you?"
+
+I assented. "A very roundabout way," she said. "It would have been
+seven miles nearer if you had come by the cross-road. But I suppose
+you thought you must go there first."
+
+"That is what I thought," I answered.
+
+"Have you been thinking about her all the time you have been away?"
+
+"Nearly all the time."
+
+"And actually cut off a big slice of your vacation in order to see
+her?"
+
+I replied that this was precisely the state of the case.
+
+"But, after all, you weren't successful. You need not tell me anything
+about that--I knew it as soon as I saw you this morning. But I will
+ask you to answer one thing: Is the decision final?"
+
+I sighed--I could not help it, but she did not even smile. "Yes," I
+said, "the affair is settled definitely."
+
+For a minute or so we walked on silently, and then she said: "I do not
+want you to think I am hard-hearted, but I must say what is in me. I
+congratulate you, and, at the same time, I am sorry for her."
+
+At this amazing speech I turned suddenly towards her, and we both
+stopped.
+
+"Yes," said she, standing before me with her clear eyes fixed upon my
+face, "you are to be congratulated. I think it is likely she is the
+most charming young woman you are ever likely to meet--and I know a
+great deal more about her than you do, for I have known her for a long
+time, and your acquaintance is a very short one--she has qualities you
+do not know anything about; she is lovely! But for all that it would
+be very wrong for you to marry her, and I am glad she had sense enough
+not to let you do it."
+
+"Why do you say that?" I asked, a little sharply.
+
+"Of course you don't like it," she replied, "but it is true. She may
+be as lovely as you think her--and I am sure she is. She may be of
+good family, finely educated, and a great many more things, but all
+that goes for nothing beside the fact that for over five years she has
+been the landlady of a little hotel."
+
+"I do not care a snap for that!" I exclaimed. "I like her all the
+better for it. I--"
+
+"That makes it worse," she interrupted, and as she spoke I could not
+but recollect that a similar remark had been made to me before. "I
+have not the slightest doubt that you would have been perfectly
+willing to settle down as the landlord of a little hotel. But if you
+had not--even if you had gone on in the course which father has
+marked out for you, and you ought to hear him talk about you--you
+might have become famous, rich, nobody knows what, perhaps President
+of a college, but still everybody would have known that your wife was
+the young woman who used to keep the Holly Sprig Inn, and asked the
+people who came there if they objected to a back room, and if they
+wanted tea or coffee for their breakfast. Of course Mrs. Chester
+thought too much of you to let you consider any such foolishness."
+
+I made no answer to this remark. I thought the young woman was taking
+a great deal upon herself.
+
+"Of course," she continued, "it would have been a great thing for Mrs.
+Chester, and I honor her that she stood up stiffly and did the thing
+she ought to do. I do not know what she said when she gave you her
+final answer, but whatever it was it was the finest compliment she
+could have paid you."
+
+I smiled grimly. "She likened me to a bear," I said. "Do you call that
+a compliment?"
+
+Edith Larramie looked at me, her eyes sparkling. "Tell me one thing,"
+she said. "When she spoke to you in that way weren't you trying to
+find out how she felt about the matter exclusive of the inn?"
+
+I could not help smiling again as I assented.
+
+"There!" she exclaimed. "I am beginning to have the highest respect
+for my abilities as a forecaster of human probabilities. It was like
+you to try to find out that, and it was like her to snub you. But
+let's walk on. Would you like me to give you some advice."
+
+"I am afraid your advice is not worth very much," I answered, "but I
+will hear it."
+
+"Well, then," she said, "I advise you to fall in love with somebody
+else just as soon as you can. That is the best way to get this affair
+out of your mind, and until you do that you won't be worth anything."
+
+I felt that I now knew this girl so well that I could say anything to
+her. "Very well, then," said I; "suppose I fall in love with you?"
+
+"That isn't a very nice speech," she said. "There is a little bit of
+spitefulness in it. But it doesn't mean anything, anyway. I am out of
+the competition, and that is the reason I can speak to you so freely.
+Moreover, that is the reason I know so much about the matter. I am not
+biassed. But you need have no trouble--there's Amy."
+
+"Don't say Amy to me, I beg of you!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Why not?" she persisted. "She is very pretty. She is as good as she
+can be. She is rich. And if she were your wife you would want her to
+talk more than she does, you would be so glad to listen to her. I
+might say more about Amy, but I won't."
+
+"Would it be very impolite," said I, "if I whistled?"
+
+"I don't know," she said, "but you needn't do it. I will consider it
+done. Now I will speak of Bertha Putney. I was bound to mention Amy
+first, because she is my dear friend, but Miss Putney is a grand girl.
+And I do not mind telling you that she takes a great interest in you."
+
+"How do you know that?" I asked.
+
+"I have seen her since you were here--she lunched with us. As soon as
+she heard your name mentioned--and that was bound to happen, for this
+family has been talking about you ever since they first knew you--she
+began to ask questions. Of course the bear came up, and she wanted to
+know every blessed thing that happened. But when she found out that
+you got the bear at the Holly Sprig her manner changed, and she
+talked no more about you at the table.
+
+"But in the afternoon she had a great deal to say to me. I did not
+know exactly what she was driving at, and I may have told her too
+much. We said a great many things--some of which I remember and some I
+do not--but I am sure that I never knew a woman to take more interest
+in a man than she takes in you. So it is my opinion that if you would
+stop at the Putneys' on your way home you might do a great deal to
+help you get rid of the trouble you are now in. It makes me feel
+something like a spy in a camp to talk this way, but I told you I was
+your friend, and I am going to be one. Spies are all right when they
+are loyal to their own side."
+
+I was very glad to have such a girl on my side, but this did not seem
+to be a very good time to talk about the advantages of a call upon
+Miss Putney.
+
+In spite of all the entreaties of the Larramie family, I persisted in
+my intention of going on to Walford the next morning, and, in reply to
+their assurances that I would find it dreadfully dull in that little
+village during the rest of my vacation, I told them that I should be
+very much occupied and should have no time to be dull. I was going
+seriously to work to prepare myself for my profession. For a year or
+two I had been deferring this important matter, waiting until I had
+laid by enough money to enable me to give up school-teaching and to
+apply myself entirely to the studies which would be necessary. All
+this would give me enough to do, and vacation was the time in which I
+ought to do it. The distractions of the school session were very much
+in the way of a proper contemplation of my own affairs.
+
+"That sounds very well," said Miss Edith, when there was no one by,
+"but if you cannot get the Holly Sprig Inn out of your mind, I do not
+believe you will do very much 'proper contemplation.' Take my advice
+and stop at the Putneys'. It can do you no harm, and it might help to
+free your mind of distractions a great deal worse than those of the
+school."
+
+"By filling it with other distractions, I suppose you mean," I
+answered. "A fickle-minded person you must think me. But it pleases me
+so much to have you take an interest in me that I do not resent any of
+your advice."
+
+She laughed. "I like to give advice," she said, "but I must admit that
+I sometimes think better of a person if he does not take it. But I
+will say--and this is all the advice I am going to give you at
+present--that if you want to be successful in making love, you must
+change your methods. You cannot expect to step up in front of a girl
+and stop her short as if she were a runaway horse. A horse doesn't
+like that sort of thing, and a girl doesn't like it. You must take
+more time about it. A runaway girl doesn't hurt anybody, and, if you
+are active enough, you can jump in behind and take the reins and stop
+her gradually without hurting her feelings, and then, most likely, you
+can drive her for all the rest of your life."
+
+"You ought to have that speech engraved in uncial characters on a slab
+of stone," said I. "Any museum would be glad to have it."
+
+I had two reasons besides the one I gave for wishing to leave this
+hospitable house. In the first place, Edith Larramie troubled me. I
+did not like to have any one know so much about my mental interior--or
+to think she knew so much. I did not like to feel that I was being
+managed. I had a strong belief that if anybody jumped into a vehicle
+she was pulling he would find that she was doing her own driving and
+would allow no interferences. I liked her very much, but I was sure
+that away from her I would feel freer in mind.
+
+The other reason for my leaving was Amy Willoughby. During my little
+visit to her house my acquaintance with her had grown with great
+rapidity. Now I seemed to know her very well, and the more I knew her
+the better I liked her. It may be vanity, but I think she wanted me to
+like her, and one reason for believing this was the fact that when she
+was with me--and I saw a great deal of her during the afternoon and
+evening I spent with the Larramies--she did not talk so much, and when
+she did speak she invariably said something I wanted to hear.
+
+Remembering the remarks which had been made about her by her friend
+Edith, I could not but admit that she was a very fine girl, combining
+a great many attractive qualities, but I rebelled against every
+conviction I had in regard to her. I did not want to think about her
+admirable qualities. I did not want to believe that in time they would
+impress me more forcibly than they did now. I did not want people to
+imagine that I would come to be so impressed. If I stayed there I
+might almost look upon her in the light of a duty.
+
+The family farewell the next morning was a tumultuous one. Invitations
+to ride up again during my vacation, to come and spend Saturdays and
+Sundays, were intermingled with earnest injunctions from Genevieve in
+regard to a correspondence which she wished to open with me for the
+benefit of her mind, and declarations from Percy that he would let me
+know all about the bear as soon as it was decided what would be the
+best thing to happen to him, and entreaties from little Clara that I
+would not go away without kissing her good-bye.
+
+But amid the confusion Miss Edith found a chance to say a final word
+to me. "Don't you try," she said, as I was about to mount my bicycle,
+"to keep those holly sprigs in your brain until Christmas. They are
+awfully stickery, they will not last, and, besides, there will not be
+any Christmas."
+
+"And how about New-Year's Day?" I asked.
+
+"That is the way to talk," said she. "Keep your mind on that and you
+will be all right."
+
+As I rode along I could not forget that it would be necessary for me
+to pass the inn. I had made inquiries, but there were no byways which
+would serve my purpose. There was nothing for me to do but keep on,
+and on I kept. I should pass so noiselessly and so swiftly that I did
+not believe any one would notice me, unless, indeed, it should be the
+boy. I earnestly hoped that I should not see the boy.
+
+Whether or not I was seen from the inn as I passed it I do not know.
+In fact, I did not know when I passed it. No shout of immature
+diabolism caught my ear, no scent of lemon came into my nostrils, and
+I saw nothing but the line of road directly in front of me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+
+
+When I was positively certain that I had left the little inn far
+behind me, I slackened my speed, and, perceiving a spreading tree by
+the road-side, I dismounted and sat down in the shade. It was a hot
+day, and unconsciously I had been working very hard. Several persons
+on wheels passed along the road, and every time I saw one approaching
+I was afraid that it might be somebody I knew, who might stop and sit
+by me in the shade. I was now near enough to Walford to meet with
+people from that neighborhood, and I did not want to meet with any one
+just now. I had a great many things to think about and just then I was
+busy trying to make up my mind whether or not it would be well for me
+to stop at the Putneys'.
+
+If I should pass without stopping, some one in the lodge would
+probably see me, and the family would know of my discourtesy, but,
+although it would have been a very simple thing to do, and a very
+proper thing, I did not feel sure that I wanted to stop. If Edith
+Larramie had never said anything about it, I think I would surely have
+made a morning call upon the Putneys.
+
+After I had cooled off a little I rose to remount; I had not decided
+anything, but it was of no use to sit there any longer. Glancing along
+the road towards Walford, I saw in the distance some one approaching
+on a wheel. Involuntarily I stood still and watched the on-coming
+cyclist, who I saw was a woman. She moved steadily and rapidly on the
+other side of the road. Very soon I recognized her. It was Miss
+Putney.
+
+As she came nearer and nearer I was greatly impressed with her
+appearance. Her costume was as suitable and becoming for the occasion
+as if it had been an evening dress for a ball, and she wheeled better
+than any woman cyclist I ever saw. Her head was erect, her eyes
+straight before her, and her motion was rhythm of action.
+
+With my hand on my wheel I moved a few steps towards the middle of the
+road. I was about to take off my cap when she turned her eyes upon me.
+She even moved her head a little so as to gaze upon me a few seconds
+longer. Her face was quiet and serene, her eyes were large, clear, and
+observant. In them was not one gleam of recognition. Turning them
+again upon the road in front of her, she sped on and away.
+
+[Illustration: "CUT LIKE THAT"]
+
+For some minutes I stood looking after her, utterly astonished. I do
+not think in all my life I had ever been cut like that. What did it
+mean? Could she care enough about me to resent my stopping at the
+Holly Sprig? Was it possible that she could have known what had been
+likely to happen there, and what had happened there? All this was very
+improbable, but in Cathay people seemed to know a great many things.
+Anyway, she had solved my problem for me. I need give no further
+thought to a stop at her father's mansion.
+
+I mounted and rode on, but not rapidly. I was very much moved. My soul
+grew warm as I thought of the steady gaze of the eyes which that girl
+had fixed upon me. For a mile or so I moved steadily and quietly in a
+mood of incensed dignity. I pressed the pedals with a hard and cruel
+tread. I did not understand. I could scarcely believe.
+
+Soon, however, I began to move a little faster. Somehow or other I
+became conscious that there was a bicycle at some distance behind me.
+I pushed on a little faster. I did not wish to be overtaken by
+anybody. Now I was sure there was a wheel behind me. I could not hear
+it, but I knew it was there.
+
+Presently I became certain that my instincts had not deceived me, for
+I heard the quick sound of a bicycle bell. This was odd, for surely no
+one would ring for me to get out of the way. Then there was another
+tinkle, a little nearer.
+
+Now I sped faster and faster. I heard the bell violently ringing. Then
+I thought, but I am not sure, that I heard a voice. I struck out with
+the thrust of a steam-engine, and the earth slipped backward beneath
+me like the water of a mill-race. I passed wagons as if they had been
+puffs of smoke, and people on wheels as though they were flying
+cinders.
+
+In some ten minutes I slackened speed and looked back. For a long
+distance behind me not a bicycle was in sight. I now pursued my
+homeward way with a warm body and a lacerated heart. I hated this
+region which I had called Cathay. Its inhabitants were not barbarians,
+but I was suffering from their barbarities. I had come among them
+clean, whole, with an upright bearing. I was going away torn, bloody,
+and downcast.
+
+If the last words of the lady of the Holly Sprig meant the sweet thing
+I thought they meant, then did they make the words which preceded them
+all the more bitter. The more friendly and honest the counsels of
+Edith Larramie had grown, the deeper they had cut into my heart. Even
+the more than regard with which my soul prompted me to look back to
+Amy Willoughby was a pain to me. My judgment would enrage me if it
+should try to compel me to feel as I did not want to feel.
+
+But none of these wounds would have so pained and disturbed me had it
+not been for the merciless gaze which that dark-eyed girl had fixed
+upon me as she passed me standing in the road. And if she had gone too
+far and had done more than her own nature could endure, and if it were
+she who had been pursuing me, then the wound was more cruel and the
+smart deeper. If she believed me a man who would stop at the ringing
+of her bell, then was I ashamed of myself for having given her that
+impression.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+
+
+I now proposed to wheel my way in one long stretch to Walford. I took
+no interest in rest or in refreshment. Simply to feel that I had done
+with this cycle of Cathay would be to me rest, refreshment, and,
+perhaps, the beginning of peace.
+
+The sun was high in the heavens, and its rays were hot, but still I
+kept steadily on until I saw a female figure by the road-side waving a
+handkerchief. I had not yet reached her, but she had stopped, was
+looking at me, and was waving energetically. I could not be mistaken.
+I turned and wheeled up in front of her. It was Mrs. Burton, the
+mother of the young lady who had injured her ankle on the day when I
+set out for my journey through Cathay.
+
+"I am so glad to see you," she said, as she shook hands with me. "I
+knew you as soon as my eyes first fell upon you. You know I have
+often seen you on the road before we became acquainted with you. We
+have frequently talked about you since you were here, and we did not
+expect you would be coming back so soon. Mr. Burton has been hoping
+that he would have a chance to know you better. He is very fond of
+school-masters. He was an intimate friend of Godfrey Chester, who had
+the school at Walford some years before you came--when the boys and
+girls used to go to school together--and of the man who came
+afterwards. He was a little too elderly, perhaps, but Mr. Burton liked
+him too, and now he hopes that he is going to know you. But excuse me
+for keeping you standing so long in the road. You must come in. We
+shall have dinner in ten minutes. I was just coming home from a
+neighbor's when I caught sight of you."
+
+I declined with earnestness. Mr. Burton might be a very agreeable man,
+but I wanted to make no new acquaintances then. I must keep on to
+Walford.
+
+But the good lady would listen to no refusals of her hospitality. I
+was just in time. I must need a mid-day rest and something to eat. She
+was very sorry that Mr. Burton was not at home. He nearly always was
+at home, but to-day he had gone to Waterton. But if I would be
+contented to take dinner with her daughter and herself, they would be
+delighted to have me do so. She made a motion to open the gate for me,
+but I opened it for her, and we both went in. The daughter met us at
+the top of the garden walk. She came towards me as a cool summer
+breeze comes upon a hot and dusty world. There was no flush upon her
+face, but her eyes and lips told me that she was glad to see me before
+she spoke a word or placed her soft, white hand in mine. At the first
+touch of that hand I felt glad that Mrs. Burton had stopped me in the
+road. Here was peace.
+
+That dinner was the most soothing meal of which I had ever partaken. I
+did the carving, my companions did the questioning, and nearly all the
+conversation was about myself. Ordinarily I would not have liked this,
+but every word which was said by these two fair ladies--for the
+sweetness of the mother was merely more seasoned than that of the
+daughter--was so filled with friendly interest that it gratified me to
+make my answers.
+
+They seemed to have heard a great deal about me during my wanderings
+through Cathay. They knew, of course, that I had stopped with the
+Putneys, for I had told them that, but they had also heard that I had
+spent a night at the Holly Sprig, and had afterwards stayed with the
+Larramies. But of anything which had happened which in the slightest
+degree had jarred upon my feelings they did not appear to have heard
+the slightest mention.
+
+I might have supposed that only good and happy news thought it worth
+while to stop at that abode of peace. As I looked upon the serene and
+tender countenance of Mrs. Burton I wondered how a cloud rising from
+want of sympathy with early peas ever could have settled over this
+little family circle; but it was the man who had caused the cloud. I
+knew it. It is so often the man.
+
+When we had finished dinner and had gone out to sit in the cool
+shadows of the piazza, I let my gaze rest as often as I might upon the
+fair face of that young girl. Several times her eyes met mine, but
+their lids never drooped, their tender light did not brighten. I felt
+that she was so truly glad to see me that her pleasure in the meeting
+was not affected one way or the other by the slight incident of my
+looking at her.
+
+If ever a countenance told of innocence, purity, and truth, her
+countenance told of them. I believe that if she had thought it
+pleased me to look at her, it would have pleased her to know that it
+gave me pleasure.
+
+As I talked with her and looked at her, and as I looked at her mother
+and talked with her, it was impressed upon me that if there is one
+thing in this world which is better than all else, it is peace, that
+peace which comprises so many forms of happiness and deep content.
+That the thoughts which came to me could come to a heart so lacerated,
+so torn, so full of pain as mine had been that morning, seemed
+wonderful, and yet they came.
+
+Once or twice I tried to banish these thoughts. It seemed
+disrespectful to myself to entertain them so soon after other thoughts
+which I now wished to banish utterly. I am not a hero of romance. I am
+only a plain human being, and such is the constitution of my nature
+that the more troubled and disturbed is my soul, the more welcome is
+purity, truth, and peace.
+
+But, after all, my feelings were not quite natural, and the change in
+them was too sudden. It was the consequence of too violent a reaction,
+but, such as it was, it was complete. I would not be hasty. I would
+not be deficient in self-respect. But if at that moment I had known
+that this was the time to declare what I wished to have, I would
+unhesitatingly have asked for beauty, purity, and peace.
+
+A maid came out upon the piazza who wanted something. Mrs. Burton half
+rose, but her daughter forestalled her. "I will go," said she. "Excuse
+me one minute."
+
+If my face expressed the sentiment, "Oh, that the mother had gone!" I
+did not intend that it should do so. Mrs. Burton then began to talk
+about her daughter.
+
+"She is like her father," she said, "in so many ways. For one thing,
+she is very fond of school-masters. I do not know exactly why this
+should be, but her teachers always seem to be her friends. In fact,
+she is to marry a school-master--that is, an assistant professor at
+Yale. He is in Europe now, but we expect him back early in the fall."
+
+A short time after this, when the daughter had returned and I rose to
+go, the young girl put her soft, white hand into mine exactly as she
+had done when I arrived, and the light in her eyes showed me, just as
+it had showed me before, the pleasure she had taken in my visit. But
+the mother's farewell was different from her greeting. I could see in
+her kind air a certain considerate sympathy which was not there
+before. She had been very prompt to tell me of her daughter's
+engagement.
+
+That young angel of peace and truth would not have deemed it necessary
+to say a word about the matter, even to a young man who was a
+school-master, and between whom and her family a mutual interest was
+rapidly growing. But with the mother it was otherwise. She had seen
+the shadows pass away from my countenance as I sat and talked upon
+that cool piazza, my eyes bent upon her daughter. Mothers know.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BACK FROM CATHAY
+
+
+The next morning, being again settled in my rooms in Walford, I went
+to call upon the Doctor and his daughter. The Doctor was not at home,
+but his daughter was glad to see me.
+
+"And how do you like your cycle of Cathay?" she asked.
+
+"I do not like it at all," I answered. "It has taken me upon a dreary
+round. I am going to change it for another as soon as I have an
+opportunity."
+
+"Then it has not been a wheel of fortune to you?" she remarked. "And
+as for that country which you figuratively called Cathay, did you find
+that pleasant?"
+
+"In some ways, yes, but in others not. You see, I came back before my
+vacation was over, and I do not care to go there any more."
+
+She now wanted me to tell her where I had really been and what had
+happened to me, and I gave her a sketch of my adventures. Of course I
+could not enter deeply into particulars, for that would make too long
+a story, but I told her where I had stopped, and my accounts of the
+bear and the horse were deeply interesting.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, when I had finished, "that if things had
+been a little different, you might have had an extremely pleasant
+tour. For instance, if Mr. Godfrey Chester had been living, I think
+you would have liked him very much, and it is probable that you would
+have been glad to stay at his inn for several days. It is a beautiful
+country thereabout."
+
+"Did you know him?" I asked.
+
+"Oh yes," she said; "he was my teacher during part of my school-days
+here. And then there is Mr. Burton; father is very fond of him. He is
+a man of great intelligence. It was unfortunate that you did not see
+more of him."
+
+"Perhaps you know Mr. Putney?" I said.
+
+"No," she answered. "I have heard a great deal about him. He seems to
+be a stiff sort of a man. But as to Mr. Larramie, everybody likes him.
+He is a great favorite throughout the county, and his son Walter is a
+rising young man. I am glad you made the acquaintance of the
+Larramies."
+
+"So am I," I said, "very glad indeed. And, by-the-way, do you know a
+young man named Willoughby? I never heard his first name, but he lives
+at Waterton."
+
+"Oh, the Willoughbys of Waterton," she said. "I have heard a great
+deal about them. Father used to know the old gentleman. He was a great
+collector of rare books, but he is dead now. If you had met him you
+would have found him a man of your own tastes."
+
+When I was going away she stopped me for a moment. "I forgot to ask
+you," she said; "did you take any of those capsules I gave you when
+you were starting off on your cycle?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "I took some of them." But I could not well explain the
+capricious way in which I had endeavored to guard against the germs of
+malaria, and to call my own attention to the threatening germs of
+erratic fancy.
+
+"Then you do not think they did you any good?" she said.
+
+"I am not sure," I replied. "I cannot say anything about that. But of
+one thing I am certain, and that is, that if any germs of any kind
+entered my system, it is perfectly free from them now."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," she said.
+
+It was about a week after this that I received a letter from Percy
+Larramie. "I thought you would like to know about the bear," he wrote.
+"Somebody must have forgotten to feed him, and he broke his chain and
+got away. He went straight over to the Holly Sprig Inn, and I expect
+he did that because the inn was the last place he had seen his master.
+I did not know bears cared so much for masters. He didn't stay long at
+the inn, but he stayed long enough to bite a boy. Then he went into
+the woods.
+
+"As soon as we heard of it we all set off on a bear-hunt. It was jolly
+fun, although I did not so much as catch a sight of him. Father shot
+him at a three-hundred-foot range. It was a Winchester rifle with a
+thirty-two cartridge. It was a beautiful shot, Walter said, and I wish
+I had made it.
+
+"We took his skin off and tore it only in two or three places, which
+can be mended. Would you like to have the skin, and do you care
+particularly about the head? If you don't, I would like to have it,
+because without it the skeleton will not be perfect."
+
+I wrote to Percy that I did not desire so much as a single hair of the
+beast. I did not tell him so, but I despised the bears of Cathay.
+
+It was just before the Christmas holidays when I finally made up my
+mind that of all the women in the world the Doctor's daughter was the
+one for me, and when I told her so she did not try to conceal that
+this was also her own opinion. I had seen the most charming qualities
+in other women, and my somewhat rapid and enthusiastic study of them
+had so familiarized me with them that I was enabled readily to
+perceive their existence in others. I found them all in the Doctor's
+daughter.
+
+Her father was very well pleased when he heard of our compact. It was
+plain that he had been waiting to hear of it. When he furthermore
+heard that I had decided to abandon all thought of the law, and to
+study medicine instead, his satisfaction was complete. He arranged
+everything with affectionate prudence. I should read with him,
+beginning immediately, even before I gave up my school. I should
+attend the necessary medical courses, and we need be in no hurry to
+marry. We were both young, and when I was ready to become his
+assistant it would be time enough for him to give me his daughter.
+
+We were sitting together in the Doctor's library and had been looking
+over some of the papers of the Walford Literary Society, of which we
+were both officers, when I said, looking at her signature:
+"By-the-way, I wish you would tell me one thing. What does the initial
+'E.' stand for in your name? I never knew any one to use it."
+
+"No," she said; "I do not like it. It was given to me by my mother's
+sister, who was a romantic young lady. It is Europa. And I only hope,"
+she added, quickly, "that you may have fifty years of it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Three years of the fifty have now passed, and each one of the young
+women I met in Cathay has married. The first one to go off was Edith
+Larramie. She married the college friend of her brother who was at the
+house when I visited them. When I met her in Walford shortly after I
+heard of her engagement, she took me aside in her old way and told me
+she wanted me always to look upon her as my friend, no matter how
+circumstances might change with her or me.
+
+"You do not know how much of a friend I was to you," she said, "and it
+is not at all necessary you should know. But I will say that when I
+saw you getting into such a dreadful snarl in our part of the
+country, I determined, if there were no other way to save you, I would
+marry you myself! But I did not do it, and you ought to be very glad
+of it, for you would have found that a little of me, now and then,
+would be a great deal more to your taste than to have me always."
+
+[Illustration: EUROPA]
+
+Mrs. Chester married the man who had courted her before she fell in
+love with her school-master. It appeared that the fact of her having
+been the landlady of the Holly Sprig made no difference in his case.
+He was too rich to have any prospects which might be interfered with.
+
+Amy Willoughby married Walter Larramie. That was a thing which might
+well have been expected. I was very glad to hear it, for I shall never
+fail to be interested in the Larramies.
+
+About a year ago there was a grand wedding at the Putney city mansion.
+The daughter of the family was married to an Italian gentleman with a
+title. I read of the affair in the newspapers, and having heard, in
+addition, a great many details of the match from the gossips of
+Walford, I supposed myself to be fully informed in regard to this
+grand alliance, and was therefore very much surprised to receive,
+personally, an announcement of the marriage upon a very large and
+stiff card, on which were given, in full, the various titles and
+dignities of the noble bridegroom. I did not believe Mr. Putney had
+sent me this card, nor that his wife had done so; certainly the Count
+did not send it. But no matter how it came to me, I was very sure I
+owed it to the determination, on the part of some one, that by no
+mischance should I fail to know exactly what had happened. I heard
+recently that the noble lady and her husband expect to spend the
+summer at her father's country-house, and some people believe that
+they intend to make it their permanent home.
+
+The Doctor strongly advises that Europa and I should go before long
+and settle in the Cathay region. He thinks that it will be a most
+excellent field for me to begin my labors in, and he knows many
+families there who would doubtless give me their practice.
+
+
+
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+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Bicycle of Cathay, by Frank R. Stockton</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+    <!--
+ body { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; }
+   p {  text-indent:   1em;
+        margin-top:    .75em;
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+        text-align:    justify;
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+    .poem p     { margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; }
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Bicycle of Cathay, by Frank R. Stockton</h1>
+<pre>
+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 <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: A Bicycle of Cathay</p>
+<p>Author: Frank R. Stockton</p>
+<p>Release Date: May 13, 2004  [eBook #12334]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BICYCLE OF CATHAY***</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center><b>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Asad Razzaki,<br>
+           and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</b></center>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>A BICYCLE OF CATHAY</h1>
+<h3>A Novel</h3>
+<h2>By Frank R. Stockton</h2>
+<h3>Author of "The Great Stone of Sardis"<br />"The Associate Hermits" etc.</h3>
+<h4>Illustrated by</h4>
+<h3>Orson Lowell</h3>
+<h4>1900</h4>
+<hr>
+<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a><center>
+<a href="images/bc-01.png">
+<img src="images/bc-01s.png" width="141" height="200"alt="The Doctor's Daughter"><br />The Doctor's Daughter</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<hr>
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0001">CHAPTER I</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0002">CHAPTER II</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0003">CHAPTER III</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0005">CHAPTER V</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0010">CHAPTER X</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0013">CHAPTER XIII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0014">CHAPTER XIV</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0015">CHAPTER XV</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0016">CHAPTER XVI</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0017">CHAPTER XVII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0018">CHAPTER XVIII</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0019">CHAPTER XIX</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0020">CHAPTER XX</a></p>
+<hr>
+<h3>List of Illustrations</h3>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0001">The Doctor's Daughter </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0002">Half Title</a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0003">"I Put on My Coat" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0004">"The Rain Was Coming Down Hard" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0005">"On My Right a Lighted Doorway" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0006">A Few Thoughts </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0007">"The Beauty of Her Teeth" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0008">"I Kicked off My Embroidered Slippers" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0009">"It Would Be Well for Me to Swallow a Capsule" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0010">"As Soon As I Had Spoken These Words" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0011">"I Dismounted and Approached the Wall" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0012">"I Thought for a Few Moments" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0013">"Went out for a Walk" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0014">Mrs. Chester </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0015">"She Began to Talk About Walford" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0016">But We Were Not Alone </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0017">"To My Left I Saw a Line of Trees" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0018">"He Was Running Away" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0019">"He Soon Felt That he Was Under Control" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0020">"A Little Army Had Thrown Itself Upon Us." </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0021">"'Would It Be Easier to Manage a Boy Or A Bear?'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0022">"I Tapped My Left Palm." </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0023">"There Was a Sudden Flush" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0024">"The Scene Vividly Recurred to My Mind" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0025">Deciphering the Dago's Letters </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0026">"'I Don't Think You Ought to Take This Letter'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0027">"'Do You Think You Could Hit It With an Apple?'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0028">"Talking About Baby Bears" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0029">"'I Held That Picture a Good While'" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0030">"'No, Sir,' She Said" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0031">"Cut Like That" </a></p>
+<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0032">Europa </a></p>
+<hr>
+
+<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a><center>
+<a href="images/bc-02.png">
+<img src="images/bc-02s.png" width="250" height="143" alt="Half Title"></a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<h2>A BICYCLE OF CATHAY</h2>
+<br />
+<hr>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2><br />
+<h4>THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER</h4>
+<hr><br />
+<img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">t was a beautiful summer morning when slowly I wheeled my way along
+    the principal street of the village of Walford. A little valise was
+    strapped in front of my bicycle; my coat, rolled into a small compass,
+    was securely tied under the seat, and I was starting out to spend my
+    vacation.
+<p> I was the teacher of the village school, which useful institution had
+    been closed for the season the day before, much to the gratification
+    of pedagogue and scholars. This position was not at all the summit of
+    my youthful ambition. In fact, I had been very much disappointed when
+    I found myself obliged to accept it, but when I left college my
+    financial condition made it desirable for me to do something to
+    support myself while engaged in some of the studies preparatory to a
+    professional career.</p>
+<p>
+    I have never considered myself a sentimental person, but I must admit
+    that I did not feel very happy that morning, and this state of mind
+    was occasioned entirely by the feeling that there was no one who
+    seemed to be in the least sorry that I was going away. My boys were so
+    delighted to give up their studies that they were entirely satisfied
+    to give up their teacher, and I am sure that my vacation would have
+    been a very long one if they had had the ordering of it. My landlady
+    might have been pleased to have me stay, but if I had agreed to pay my
+    board during my absence I do not doubt that my empty room would have
+    occasioned her no pangs of regret. I had friends in the village, but
+    as they knew it was a matter of course that I should go away during
+    the vacation, they seemed to be perfectly reconciled to the fact.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I passed a small house which was the abode of my laundress, my
+    mental depression was increased by the action of her oldest son. This
+    little fellow, probably five years of age, and the condition of whose
+    countenance indicated that his mother's art was seldom exercised upon
+    it, was playing on the sidewalk with his sister, somewhat younger and
+    much dirtier.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I passed the little chap he looked up and in a sharp, clear voice,
+    he cried: "Good-bye! Come back soon!" These words cut into my soul.
+    Was it possible that this little ragamuffin was the only one in that
+    village who was sorry to see me depart and who desired my return? And
+    the acuteness of this cut was not decreased by the remembrance that on
+    several occasions when he had accompanied his mother to my lodging I
+    had given him small coins.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was beginning to move more rapidly along the little path, well worn
+    by many rubber tires, which edged the broad roadway, when I perceived
+    the doctor's daughter standing at the gate of her father's front yard.
+    As I knew her very well, and she happened to be standing there and
+    looking in my direction, I felt that it would be the proper thing for
+    me to stop and speak to her, and so I dismounted and proceeded to roll
+    my bicycle up to the gate.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As the doctor's daughter stood looking over the gate, her hands
+    clasped the tops of the two central pickets.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-morning," said she. "I suppose, from your carrying baggage,
+    that you are starting off for your vacation. How far do you expect to
+    go on your wheel, and do you travel alone?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My only plan," I answered, "is to ride over the hills and far away!
+    How far I really do not know; and I shall be alone except for this
+    good companion." And as I said this I patted the handle-bar of my
+    bicycle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Your wheel does seem to be a sort of a companion," she said; "not so
+    good as a horse, but better than nothing. I should think, travelling
+    all by yourself in this way, you would have quite a friendly feeling
+    for it. Did you ever think of giving it a name?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," said I. "I have named it. I call it a 'Bicycle of Cathay.'"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Is there any sense in such a name?" she asked. "It is like part of a
+    quotation from Tennyson, isn't it? I forget the first of it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You are right," I said. "'Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle
+    of Cathay.' I cannot tell you exactly why, but that seems to suggest a
+    good name for a bicycle."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But your machine has two wheels," said she. "Therefore you ought to
+    say, 'Better one hundred years of Europe than two cycles of Cathay.'"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I bow to custom," said I. "Every one speaks of a bicycle as a wheel,
+    and I shall not introduce the plural into the name of my good steed."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you don't know where your Cathay is to be?" she asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled and shook my head. "No," I answered, "but I hope my cycle
+    will carry me safely through it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The doctor's daughter looked past me across the road. "I wish I were a
+    man," said she, "and could go off as I pleased, as you do! It must be
+    delightfully independent."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was about to remark that too much independence is not altogether
+    delightful, but she suddenly spoke:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You carry very little with you for a long journey," and as she said
+    this she grasped the pickets of the gate more tightly. I could see the
+    contraction of the muscles of her white hands. It seemed as if she
+    were restraining something.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, this isn't all my baggage," I replied. "I sent on a large bag to
+    Waterton. I suppose I shall be there in a couple of days, and then I
+    shall forward the bag to some other place."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not suppose you have packed up any medicine among your other
+    things?" she asked. "You don't look as if you very often needed
+    medicine."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed as I replied that in the course of my life I had taken but
+    little.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But if your cycle starts off rolling early in the morning," she said,
+    "or keeps on late in the evening, you ought to be able to defend
+    yourself against malaria. I do not know what sort of a country Cathay
+    may be, but I should not be a bit surprised if you found it full of
+    mists and morning vapors. Malaria has a fancy for strong people, you
+    know. Just wait here a minute, please," and with that she turned and
+    ran into the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had liked the doctor's daughter ever since I had begun to know her,
+    although at first I had found it a little hard to become acquainted
+    with her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She was the treasurer of the literary society of the village, and I
+    was its secretary. We had to work together sometimes, and I found her
+    a very straightforward girl in her accounts and in every other way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In about a minute she returned, carrying a little pasteboard box.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Here are some one-grain quinine capsules," she said. "They have no
+    taste, and I am quite sure that if you get into a low country it would
+    be a good thing for you to take at least one of them every morning.
+    People may have given you all sorts of things for your journey, but I
+    do not believe any one has given you this." And she handed me the box
+    over the top of the gate.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not say that her practical little present was the only thing
+    that anybody had given me, but I thanked her very heartily, and
+    assured her that I would take one every time I thought I needed it.
+    Then, as it seemed proper to do so, I straightened up my bicycle as if
+    I would mount it. Again her fingers clutched the top of the two
+    palings.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "When father comes home," she said, "he will be sorry to find that he
+    had not a chance to bid you good-bye. And, by-the-way," she added,
+    quickly, "you know there will be one more meeting of the society. Did
+    you write out any minutes for the last evening, and would you like me
+    to read them for you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Upon my word!" I exclaimed. "I have forgotten all about it. I made
+    some rough notes, but I have written nothing."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, it doesn't matter in the least," said she, quickly. "I remember
+    everything that happened, and I will write the minutes and read them
+    for you; that is, if you want me to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured her that nothing would please me better, and we talked a
+    little about the minutes, after which I thought I ought not to keep
+    her standing at the gate any longer. So I took leave of her, and we
+    shook hands over the gate. This was the first time I had ever shaken
+    hands with the doctor's daughter, for she was a reserved girl, and
+    hitherto I had merely bowed to her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I sped away down the street and out into the open country my heart
+    was a good deal lighter than it had been when I began my journey. It
+    was certainly pleasant to leave that village, which had been my home
+    for the greater part of a year, without the feeling that there was no
+    one in it who cared for me, even to the extent of a little box of
+    quinine capsules.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER II
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A BAD TWIST
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />
+    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">t was about the middle of the afternoon that I found myself bowling
+    along a smooth highway, bordered by trees and stretching itself almost
+    upon a level far away into the distance. Had I been a scorcher, here
+    would have been a chance to do a little record-breaking, for I was a
+    powerful and practised wheelman. But I had no desire to be extravagant
+    with my energies, and so contented myself with rolling steadily on at
+    a speed moderate enough to allow me to observe the country I was
+    passing through.
+
+<p>
+    There were not many people on the road, but at some distance ahead of
+    me I saw a woman on a wheel. She was not going rapidly, and I was
+    gaining on her. Suddenly, with no reason whatever that I could see,
+    her machine gave a twist, and, although she put out her foot to save
+    herself, she fell to the ground. Instantly I pushed forward to assist
+    her, but before I could reach her she was on her feet. She made a step
+    towards her bicycle, which lay in the middle of the road, and then she
+    stopped and stood still. I saw that she was hurt, but I could not help
+    a sort of inward smile. "It is the old way of the world," I thought.
+    "Would the Fates have made that young woman fall from her bicycle if
+    there had been two men coming along on their wheels?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I jumped from my machine and approached her she turned her head and
+    looked at me. She was a pale girl, and her face was troubled. When I
+    asked her if she had hurt herself, she spoke to me without the
+    slightest embarrassment or hesitation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I twisted my foot in some way," she said, "and I do not know what I
+    am going to do. It hurts me to make a step, and I am sure I cannot
+    work my wheel."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Have you far to go?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I live about two miles from here," she answered. "I do not think I
+    have sprained my ankle, but it hurts. Perhaps, however, if I rest for
+    a little while I may be able to walk."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I would not try to do that," said I. "Whatever has happened to your
+    foot or ankle, you would certainly make it very much worse by walking
+    such a distance. Perhaps I can ride on and get you a conveyance?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You would have to go a long way to get one," she answered. "We do not
+    keep a horse and I really&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Don't trouble yourself in the least," I said. "I can take you to your
+    home without any difficulty whatever. If you will mount your machine I
+    can push you along very easily."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But then you would have to walk yourself," she said, quickly, "and
+    push your wheel too."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of course it would not have been necessary for me to walk, for I could
+    have ridden my bicycle and have pushed her along on her own, but under
+    the circumstances I did not think it wise to risk this. So I accepted
+    her suggestion of walking as if nothing else could be done.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I do not mind walking a bit," said I. "I am used to it, and as I
+    have been riding for a long time, it would be a relief to me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stood perfectly still, apparently afraid to move lest she should
+    hurt her foot, but she raised her head and fixed a pair of very large
+    blue eyes upon me. "It is too kind in you to offer to do this! But I
+    do not see what else is to be done. But who is going to hold up my
+    wheel while you help me to get on it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I will attend to all that," said I, and picking up her bicycle, I
+    brought it to her. She made a little step towards it, and then
+    stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You mustn't do that," said I. "I will put you on." And holding her
+    bicycle upright with my left hand, I put my right arm around her and
+    lifted her to the seat. She was such a childlike, sensible young
+    person that I did not think it necessary to ask any permission for
+    this action, nor even to allude to its necessity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now you might guide yourself with the handle-bar," I said. "Please
+    steer over to that tree where I have left my machine." I easily pushed
+    her over to the tree, and when I had laid hold of my bicycle with my
+    left hand, we slowly proceeded along the smooth road.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think you would better take your feet from the pedals," said I,
+    "and put them on the coasters&mdash;the motion must hurt you. It is better
+    to have your injured foot raised, anyway, as that will keep the blood
+    from running down into it and giving you more pain."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She instantly adopted my suggestion, and presently said, "That is a
+    great deal more pleasant, and I am sure it is better for my foot to
+    keep it still. I do hope I haven't sprained my ankle! It is possible
+    to give a foot a bad twist without spraining it, isn't it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assented, and as I did so I thought it would not be difficult to
+    give a bad twist to any part of this slenderly framed young creature.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How did you happen to fall?" I asked&mdash;not that I needed to inquire,
+    for my own knowledge of wheelcraft assured me that she had tumbled
+    simply because she did not know how to ride.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I haven't the slightest idea," she answered. "The first thing I knew
+    I was going over, and I wish I had not tried to save myself. It would
+    have been better to go down bodily."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As we went on she told me that she had not had much practice, as it
+    had been but a few weeks since she had become the possessor of a
+    wheel, and that this was the first trip she had ever taken by herself.
+    She had always gone in company with some one, but to-day she had
+    thought she was able to take care of herself, like other girls.
+    Finding her so entirely free from conventional embarrassment, I made
+    bold to give her a little advice on the subject of wheeling in
+    general, and she seemed entirely willing to be instructed. In fact, as
+    I went on with my little discourse I began to think that I would much
+    rather teach girls than boys. At first sight the young person under
+    my charge might have been taken for a school-girl, but her
+    conversation would have soon removed that illusion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We had not proceeded more than a mile when suddenly I felt a very
+    gentle tap on the end of my nose, and at the same moment the young
+    lady turned her head towards me and exclaimed: "It's going to rain! I
+    felt a drop!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I will walk faster," I said, "and no doubt I will get you to your
+    house before the shower is upon us. At any rate, I hope you won't be
+    much wet."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, it doesn't matter about me in the least," she said. "I shall be
+    at home and can put on dry clothes, but you will be soaked through and
+    have to go on. You haven't any coat on!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    If I had known there was any probability of rain I should have put on
+    my coat before I started out on this somewhat unusual method of
+    travelling, but there was no help for it now, and all I could do was
+    to hurry on. From walking fast I began to trot. The drops were coming
+    down quite frequently.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Won't that tire you dreadfully?" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not at all," I replied. "I could run like this for a long distance."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-03.png">
+<img src="images/bc-03s.png" width="200" height="173"
+alt="'I Put on My Coat'"><br />'I Put on My Coat'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    She looked up at me with a little smile. I think she must have
+    forgotten the pain in her foot.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It must be nice to be strong like that," she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now the rain came down faster, and my companion declared that I ought
+    to stop and put on my coat. I agreed to this, and when I came to a
+    suitable tree by the road-side, I carefully leaned her against it and
+    detached my coat from my bicycle. But just as I was about to put it on
+    I glanced at the young girl. She had on a thin shirt-waist, and I
+    could see that the shoulders of it were already wet. I advanced
+    towards her, holding out my coat. "I must lay this over you," I said.
+    "I am afraid now that I shall not get you to your home before it
+    begins to rain hard."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She turned to me so suddenly that I made ready to catch her if her
+    unguarded movement should overturn her machine. "You mustn't do that
+    at all!" she said. "It doesn't matter whether I am wet or not. I do
+    not have to travel in wet clothes, and you do. Please put on your coat
+    and let us hurry!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I obeyed her, and away we went again, the rain now coming down hard
+    and fast. For some minutes she did not say anything; but I did not
+    wonder at this, for circumstances were not favorable to conversation.
+    But presently, in spite of the rain and our haste, she spoke:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It must seem dreadfully ungrateful and hard-hearted in me to say to
+    you, after all you have done for me, that you must go on in the rain.
+    Anybody would think that I ought to ask you to come into our house and
+    wait until the storm is over. But, really, I do not see how I can do
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I urged her not for a moment to think of me. I was hardy, and did not
+    mind rain, and when I was mounted upon my wheel the exercise would
+    keep me warm enough until I reached a place of shelter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not like it," she said. "It is cruel and inhuman, and nothing
+    you can say will make it any better. But the fact is that I find
+    myself in a very&mdash;Well, I do not know what to say about it. You are
+    the school-teacher at Walford, are you not?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    This question surprised me, and I assented quickly, wondering what
+    would come next.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thought so," she said. "I have seen you on the road on your wheel,
+    and some one told me who you were. And now, since you have been so
+    kind to me, I am going to tell you exactly why I cannot ask you to
+    stop at our house. Everything is all wrong there to-day, and if I
+    don't explain what has happened, you might think that things are
+    worse than they really are, and I wouldn't want anybody to think
+    that."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-04.png">
+<img src="images/bc-04s.png" width="127" height="200"
+alt="'The Rain Was Coming Down Hard'"><br />'The Rain Was Coming Down Hard'
+</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I listened with great attention, for I saw that she was anxious to
+    free herself of the imputation of being inhospitable, and although the
+    heavy rain and my rapid pace made it sometimes difficult to catch her
+    words, I lost very little of her story.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You see," said she, "my father is very fond of gardening, and he
+    takes great pride in his vegetables, especially the early ones. He has
+    peas this year ahead of everybody else in the neighborhood, and it was
+    only day before yesterday that he took me out to look at them. He has
+    been watching them ever since they first came up out of the ground,
+    and when he showed me the nice big pods and told me they would be
+    ready to pick in a day or two, he looked so proud and happy that you
+    might have thought his peas were little living people. I truly believe
+    that even at prayer-time he could not help thinking how good those
+    peas would taste.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But this morning when he came in from the garden and told mother that
+    he was going to pick our first peas, so as to have them perfectly
+    fresh for dinner, she said that he would better not pick them to-day,
+    because the vegetable man had been along just after breakfast, and he
+    had had such nice green peas that she had bought some, and therefore
+    he had better keep his peas for some other day.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now, I don't want you to think that mother isn't just as good as
+    gold, for she is. But she doesn't take such interest in garden things
+    as father does, and to her all peas are peas, provided they are good
+    ones. But when father heard what she had done I know that he felt
+    exactly as if he had been stabbed in one of his tenderest places. He
+    did not say one word, and he walked right out of the house, and since
+    that they haven't spoken to each other. It was dreadful to sit at
+    dinner, neither of them saying a word to the other, and only speaking
+    to me. It was all so different from the way things generally are that
+    I can scarcely bear it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And I went out this afternoon for no other reason than to give them a
+    chance to make it up between them. I thought perhaps they would do it
+    better if they were alone with each other. But of course I do not know
+    what has happened, and things may be worse than they were. I could not
+    take a stranger into the house at such a time&mdash;they would not like to
+    be found not speaking to each other&mdash;and, besides, I do not know&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Here I interrupted her, and begged her not to give another thought to
+    the subject. I wanted very much to go on, and in every way it was the
+    best thing I could do.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I finished speaking she pointed out a pretty house standing back
+    from the road, and told me that was where she lived. In a very few
+    minutes after that I had run her up to the steps of her piazza and was
+    assisting her to dismount from her wheel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is awful!" she said. "This rain is coming down like a cataract!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You must hurry in-doors," I answered. "Let me help you up the steps."
+    And with this I took hold of her under the arms, and in a second I had
+    set her down in front of the closed front door. I then ran down and
+    brought up her wheel. "Do you think you can manage to walk in?" said
+    I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes!" she said. "If I can't do anything else, I can hop. My mother
+    will soon have me all right. She knows all about such things."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked at me with an anxious expression, and then said, "How do
+    you think it would do for you to wait on the piazza until the rain is
+    over?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-bye," I said, with a laugh, and bounding down to the front
+    gate, where I had left my bicycle, I mounted and rode away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The rain came down harder and harder. The road was full of little
+    running streams, and liquid mud flew from under my whirling wheels. It
+    was not late in the afternoon, but it was actually getting dark, and I
+    seemed to be the only living creature out in this tremendous storm. I
+    looked from side to side for some place into which I could run for
+    shelter, but here the road ran between broad open fields. My coat had
+    ceased to protect me, and I could feel the water upon my skin.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But in spite of my discomforts and violent exertions I found myself
+    under the influence of some very pleasurable emotions, occasioned by
+    the incident of the slender girl. Her childlike frankness was charming
+    to me. There was not another girl in a thousand who would have told me
+    that story of the peas. I felt glad that she had known who I was when
+    she was talking to me, and that her simple confidences had been given
+    to me personally, and not to an entire stranger who had happened
+    along. I wondered if she resembled her father or her mother, and I had
+    no doubt that to possess such a daughter they must both be excellent
+    people.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER III
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">hinking thus, I almost forgot the storm, but coming to a slight
+    descent where the road was very smooth I became conscious that my
+    wheel was inclined to slip, and if I were not careful I might come to
+    grief. But no sooner had I reached the bottom of the declivity than I
+    beheld on my right a lighted doorway. Without the slightest hesitation
+    I turned through the wide gateway, the posts of which I could scarcely
+    see, and stopped in front of a small house by the side of a driveway.
+    Waiting for no permission, I carried my bicycle into a little covered
+    porch. I then approached the door, for I was now seeking not only
+    shelter but an opportunity to dry myself. I do not believe a sponge
+    could have been more thoroughly soaked than I was.
+
+<p>
+    At the very entrance I was met by a little man in short jacket and
+    top-boots.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I heard your step," said he. "Been caught in the rain, eh? Well, this
+    is a storm! And now what're we going to do? You must come in. But
+    you're in a pretty mess, I must say! Hi, Maria!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    At these words a large, fresh-looking woman came into the little hall.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Maria," said the man, "here's a gentleman that's pretty nigh drowned,
+    and he's dripping puddles big enough to swim in."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The woman smiled. "Really, sir," said she, "you've had a hard time.
+    Wheeling, I suppose. It's an awful time to be out. It's so dark that I
+    lighted a lamp to make things look a little cheery. But you must come
+    in until the rain is over, and try and dry yourself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But how about the hall, Maria?" said the man. "There'll be a dreadful
+    slop!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I'll make that all right," she said. She disappeared, and quickly
+    returned with a couple of rugs, which she laid, wrong side up, on the
+    polished floor of the hallway. "Now you can step on those, sir, and
+    come into the kitchen. There's a fire there."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked her, and presently found myself before a large stove, on
+    which it was evident, from the odors, that supper was preparing. In a
+    certain way the heat was grateful, but in less than a minute I was
+    bound to admit to myself that I felt as if I were enveloped in a vast
+    warm poultice. The little man and his wife&mdash;if wife she were, for she
+    looked big enough to be his mother, and young enough to be his
+    daughter&mdash;stood talking in the hall, and I could hear every word they
+    said.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0005"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-05.png">
+<img src="images/bc-05s.png" width="200" height="163"
+alt="'On My Right a Lighted Doorway'"><br />'On My Right a Lighted Doorway'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "It's of no use for him to try to dry himself," she said, "for he's
+    wet to the bone. He must change his clothes, and hang those he's got
+    on before the fire."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Change his clothes!" exclaimed the man. "How ever can he do that?
+    I've nothing that'll fit him, and of course he has brought nothing
+    along with him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Never you mind," said she. "Something's got to be got. Take him into
+    the little chamber. And don't consider the floor; that can be wiped
+    up."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She came into the kitchen and spoke to me. "You must come and change
+    your clothes," she said. "You'll catch your death of cold, else.
+    You're the school-master from Walford, I think, sir? Indeed, I'm sure
+    of it, for I've seen you on your wheel."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Smiling at the idea that through the instrumentality of my bicycle I
+    had been making myself known to the people of the surrounding
+    country, I followed the man into a small bed-chamber on the
+    ground-floor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said he, "the quicker you get off your wet clothes and give
+    yourself a good rub-down the better it will be for you. And I'll go
+    and see what I can do in the way of something for you to put on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I asked him to bring me the bag from my bicycle, and after doing so he
+    left me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Very soon I heard talking outside of my door, and as both my
+    entertainers had clear, high voices, I could hear distinctly what they
+    said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Go get him the corduroys," said she. "He's a well-made man, but he's
+    no bigger than your father was."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The corduroys?" he said, somewhat doubtfully, I thought.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she replied. "Go get them! I should be glad to have them put to
+    some use."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But what for a coat?" said he. "There's nothing in the house that he
+    could get on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's true," said she. "But he must have something. You can get him
+    the Duke's dressing-gown."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" exclaimed the man. "You don't mean&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, I do mean," said she. "It's big enough for anybody, and it'll
+    keep him from ketching cold. Go fetch it!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a short time there was a knock at my door, and the little man
+    handed me in a pair of yellow corduroy trousers and a large and gaudy
+    dressing-gown. "There!" said he. "They'll keep you warm until your own
+    clothes dry."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With a change of linen from my bag, which had fortunately kept its
+    contents dry, the yellow trousers, and a wonderful dressing-gown, made
+    of some blue stuff embroidered with gold and lined throughout with
+    crimson satin, I made a truly gorgeous appearance. But it struck me
+    that it would be rather startling to a beholder were I to appear
+    barefooted in such raiment, for my shoes and stockings were as wet as
+    the rest of my clothes. I had not finished dressing before the little
+    man knocked again, this time with some gray socks and a pair of
+    embroidered slippers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "These'll fit you, I think," said he, "for I'll lay you ten shillings
+    that I'm as big in the feet as you are."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would have been glad to gaze at myself in a full-length mirror, but
+    there was no opportunity for the indulgence of such vanity; and before
+    leaving the room I sat down for a moment to give a few thoughts to
+    the situation. My mind first reverted to the soaked condition of my
+    garments and the difficulty of getting them dry enough for me to put
+    them on and continue my journey. Then I found that I had dropped the
+    subject and was thinking of the slender girl, wondering if she had
+    really hurt herself very much, congratulating myself that I had been
+    fortunate enough to be on hand to help her in her need, and
+    considering what a plight she would have been in if she had been
+    caught in that terrible rain and utterly unable to get herself to
+    shelter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Suddenly I stopped short in my thinking, and going to my bag I took
+    from it the little box of quinine capsules which had been given to me
+    by the doctor's daughter, and promptly proceeded to swallow one of
+    them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It may be of service to me," I said to myself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I made my appearance in the hallway I met the little man, who
+    immediately burst into a roar of laughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Lord, sir!" said he. "You must excuse me, but you look like a king on
+    a lark! Walk into the parlor, sir, and sit down and make yourself
+    comfortable. She's hurrying up supper to give you something warm after
+    your wettin'. Would you like a little nip of whiskey, sir, to keep
+    the damp out?"
+</p>
+<a name="image-0006"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center><a href="images/bc-06.png">
+<img src="images/bc-06s.png" width="116" height="200"
+alt="A Few Thoughts"><br />A Few Thoughts</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I declined the whiskey, and seated myself in the neatly-furnished
+    parlor. It was wonderful, I thought, to fall into such a hospitable
+    household, and then I began to ask myself whether or not it would be
+    the proper thing to offer to pay for my entertainment. I thought I had
+    quite properly divined the position in life of the little man. This
+    small house, so handsomely built and neatly kept, must be a lodge upon
+    some fine country place, and the man was probably the head gardener,
+    or something of the kind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not long before my hostess came into the room, but she did not
+    laugh at my appearance. She was a handsome woman, erect and broad,
+    with a free and powerful step. She smiled as she spoke to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You may think that that's an over-handsome gown for such as us to be
+    owning. It was given to my man by the Duke of Radford. That was before
+    we were married, and he was an undergardener then. The Duchess
+    wouldn't let the Duke wear it, because it was so gay, and there wasn't
+    none of the servants that would care to take it, for fear they'd be
+    laughed at, until they offered it to John. And John, you must know,
+    he'd take anything! But I came in to tell you supper's ready; and, if
+    you like, I'll bring you something in here, and you can eat it on that
+    table, or&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Here I interrupted my good hostess, and declared that, while I should
+    be glad to have some supper, I would not eat any unless I might sit
+    down with her husband and herself; and, as this proposition seemed to
+    please her, the three of us were soon seated around a very tastefully
+    furnished table in a dining-room looking out upon a pretty lawn. The
+    rain had now almost ceased, and from the window I could see beautiful
+    stretches of grass, interspersed with ornamental trees and
+    flower-beds.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The meal was plain but abundant, with an appetizing smell pervading it
+    which is seldom noticed in connection with the tables of the rich.
+    When we had finished supper I found that the skies had nearly cleared
+    and that it was growing quite light again. I asked permission to step
+    out upon a little piazza which opened from the dining-room and smoke a
+    pipe, and while I was sitting there enjoying the beauty of the
+    sunlight on the sparkling grass and trees I again heard the little man
+    and his wife talking to each other.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It can't be done," said he, speaking very positively. "I've orders
+    about that, and there's no getting round them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's got to be done!" said she, "and there's an end of it! The
+    clothes won't be dry until morning, and it won't do to put them too
+    near the stove, or they'll shrink so he can't get them on. And he
+    can't go away to hunt up lodgings wearing the Duke's dressing-gown and
+    them yellow breeches!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Orders is orders," said the man, "and unless I get special leave, it
+    can't be done."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, then, go and get special leave," said she, "and don't stand
+    there talking about it!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was no doubt that my lodging that night was the subject of this
+    conversation, but I had no desire to interfere with the good
+    intentions of my hostess. I must stay somewhere until my clothes were
+    dry, and I should be glad to stop in my present comfortable quarters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    So I sat still and smoked, and very soon I heard the big shoes of the
+    little man grating upon the gravel as he walked rapidly away from the
+    house. Now came the good woman out upon the piazza to ask me if I had
+    found my tobacco dry. "Because if it's damp," said she, "my man has
+    some very good 'baccy in his jar."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured her that my pouch had kept dry; and then, as she seemed
+    inclined to talk, I begged her to sit down if she did not mind the
+    pipe. Down she sat, and steadily she talked. She congratulated herself
+    on her happy thought to light the hall lamp, or I might never have
+    noticed the house in the darkness, and she would have been sorry
+    enough if I had had to keep on the road for another half-hour in that
+    dreadful rain.
+</p>
+<p>
+    On she talked in the most cheerful and communicative way, until
+    suddenly she rose with a start. "He's coming himself, sir!" she said,
+    "with Miss Putney."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Who is 'he'?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's the master, sir Mr. Putney, and his daughter. Just stay here
+    where you are, sir, and make yourself comfortable. I'll go and speak
+    to them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Left to myself, I knocked out my pipe and sat wondering what would
+    happen next. A thing happened which surprised me very much. Upon a
+    path which ran in front of the little piazza there appeared two
+    persons&mdash;one, an elderly gentleman, with gray side-whiskers and a pale
+    face, attired in clothes with such an appearance of newness that it
+    might well have been supposed this was the first time he had worn
+    them; the other, a young lady, rather small in stature, but
+    extremely pleasant to look upon. She had dark hair and large blue
+    eyes; her complexion was rich, and her dress of light silk was
+    wonderfully well shaped.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0007"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-07.png">
+<img src="images/bc-07s.png" width="135" height="200"
+alt="'The Beauty of Her Teeth'"><br />'The Beauty of Her Teeth'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    All this I saw at a glance, and immediately afterwards I also
+    perceived that she had most beautiful teeth; for when she beheld me as
+    I rose from my chair and stood in my elevated position before her she
+    could not restrain a laugh; but for this apparent impoliteness I did
+    not blame her at all.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But not so much as a smile came upon the countenance of the elderly
+    gentleman. He, too, was small, but he had a deep voice. "Good-evening,
+    sir," said he. "I am told that you are the school-master at Walford,
+    and that you were overtaken by the storm."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured him that these were the facts, and stood waiting to hear
+    what he would say next.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It was very proper indeed, sir, that my gardener and his wife should
+    take you under the protection of this roof, but as I hear that it is
+    proposed that you should spend the night here, I have come down to
+    speak about it. I will tell you at once, sir, that I have given my man
+    the most positive orders that he is not to allow any one to spend a
+    night in this house. It is so conveniently near to the road that I
+    should not know what sort of persons were being entertained here if I
+    allowed him any such privilege."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As he spoke the young lady stood silently gazing at me. There was a
+    remnant of a smile upon her face, but I could also see that she was a
+    little annoyed. I was about to make some sort of an independent answer
+    to the gentleman's remarks, but he anticipated me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not want you to think, sir, on account of what I have said, that
+    I intend to drive you off my property at this hour of the evening, and
+    in your inappropriate clothing. I have heard of you, sir, and you
+    occupy a position of trust and, to a certain degree, of honor, in your
+    village. Therefore, while I cannot depart from my rule&mdash;for I wish to
+    make no precedent of that kind&mdash;I will ask you to spend the night at
+    my house. You need not be annoyed by the peculiarity of your attire.
+    If you desire to avoid observation you can remain here until it grows
+    darker, and then you can walk up to the mansion. I shall have a
+    bed-room prepared for you, and whenever you choose you can occupy it.
+    I have been informed that you have had something to eat, and it is as
+    well, for perhaps your dress would prevent you from accepting an
+    invitation to our evening meal."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I still held my brier-wood pipe in my hand, and I felt inclined to
+    hurl it at the dapper head of the consequential little gentleman, but
+    with such a girl standing by it would have been impossible to treat
+    him with any disrespect, and as I looked at him I felt sure that his
+    apparent superciliousness was probably the result of too much money
+    and too little breeding.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady said nothing, but she turned and looked steadily at her
+    father. Her countenance was probably in the habit of very promptly
+    expressing the state of her mind, and it now seemed to say to her
+    father, "I hope that what you have said will not make him decline what
+    you offer!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    My irritation quickly disappeared. I had now entered into my Cathay,
+    and I must take things as I found them there. As I could not stay
+    where I was, and could not continue my journey, it would be a sensible
+    thing to overlook the man's manner and accept his offer, and I
+    accordingly did so. I think he was pleased more than he cared to
+    express.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Very good, sir!" said he. "As soon as it grows a little darker I
+    shall be glad to have you walk up to my house. As I said before, I am
+    sure you would not care to do so now, as you might provoke remarks
+    even from the servants. Good-evening, sir, until I see you again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    During all this time the young lady had not spoken, but as the two
+    disappeared around the corner of the house I heard her voice. She
+    spoke very clearly and distinctly, and she said, "It would have been a
+    great deal more gracious if you had asked him to come at once, without
+    all that&mdash;&mdash;" The rest of her remarks were lost to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The little man and his wife presently came out on the porch. Her
+    countenance expressed a sort of resignation to thwarted hospitality.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's the way of the world, sir!" she said. "The ups are always up and
+    the downs are always down! I expect they will be glad to have company
+    at the house, for it must be dreadfully lonely up there&mdash;which might
+    be said of this house as well."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It soon became dark enough for me to walk through the grounds without
+    hurting the sensibilities of their proprietor, and as I arose to go
+    the good wife of the gardener brought me my cap.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I dried that out for you, sir, for I knew you would want it, and
+    to-morrow morning my man will take your clothes up to the house."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked her for her thoughtful kindness, and was about to depart,
+    but the little man was not quite ready for me to go.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If you don't mind, sir," said he, "and would step back there in the
+    light just for one minute, I would like to take another look at you. I
+    don't suppose I'll ever see anybody again wearing the Duke's
+    dressing-gown. By George, sir, you do look real royal!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    His wife looked at me admiringly. "Yes, sir," said she, "and I wish it
+    was the fashion for gentlemen to dress something like that every day.
+    But I will say, sir, that if you don't want people to be staring at
+    you, and will just wrap that gown round you so that the lining won't
+    be seen, you won't look so much out of the way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I walked along the smooth, hard driveway I adopted the suggestion
+    of the gardener's wife; but as I approached the house, and saw that
+    even the broad piazza was lighted by electric lamps, I was seized with
+    the fancy to appear in all my glory, and I allowed my capacious robe
+    to float out on each side of me in crimson brightness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The gentleman stood at the top of the steps. "I have been waiting for
+    you, sir," said he. He looked as if he were about to offer me his
+    hand, but probably considered this an unnecessary ceremony under the
+    circumstances. "Would you like to retire to your room, sir, or would
+    you prefer&mdash;prefer sitting out here to enjoy the cool of the evening?
+    Here are chairs and seats, sir, of all variety of comfort. My family
+    and I frequently sit out here in the evenings, but to-night the air is
+    a little damp."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assured the gentleman that the air suited me very well, and that I
+    would prefer not to retire so early; and so, not caring any longer to
+    stand in front of the lighted doorway, I walked to one end of the
+    piazza and took a seat.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We haven't yet&mdash;that is to say, we are still at the table," he
+    remarked, as he followed me; "but if there is anything that you would
+    like to have, I should be&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I interrupted him by declaring that I had supped heartily and did not
+    want for anything in the world, and then, with some sort of an
+    inarticulate excuse, he left me. I knew very well that this nervously
+    correct personage had jumped up from his dinner in order that he might
+    meet me at the door and thus prevent my unconventional attire from
+    shocking any of the servants.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was very quiet and pleasant on the piazza, but, although I could
+    hear that a great deal of talking was going on inside, no words came
+    to me. In a short time, however, a man-servant in livery came out
+    upon the piazza and approached me with a tray on which were a cup of
+    coffee and some cigars. I could not refrain from smiling as I saw the
+    man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The old fellow has been forced to conquer his prejudices," I said to
+    myself, "and to submit to the mortification of allowing me to be seen
+    by his butler!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I think, however, that even had the master been regarding us he would
+    have seen no reason for mortification in the manner of his servant.
+    The man was extremely polite and attentive, suggesting various
+    refreshments, such as wine and biscuits, and I never was treated by a
+    lackey with more respect.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Leaning back in a comfortable chair, I sipped my coffee and puffed
+    away at a perfectly delightful Havana cigar. "Cathay is not a bad
+    place," said I, to myself. "Its hospitality is a little queer, but as
+    to gorgeousness, luxury, and&mdash;&mdash;" I was about to add another quality
+    when my mind was diverted by a light step on the piazza, and, turning
+    my head, I beheld the young lady I had seen before. Instantly I rose
+    and laid aside my cigar.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Please do not disturb yourself," she said. "I simply came out to give
+    a little message from my father. Sit down again, and I will take this
+    seat for a moment. My father's health is delicate," she said, "and we
+    do not like him to be out in the night air, especially after a rain.
+    So I came in his stead to tell you that if you would like to come into
+    the house you must do so without the slightest hesitation, because my
+    mother and I do not mind that dressing-gown any more than if it were
+    an ordinary coat. We are very glad to have the opportunity of
+    entertaining you, for we know some people in Walford&mdash;not very many,
+    but some&mdash;and we have heard you and your school spoken of very
+    highly. So we want you to make yourself perfectly at home, and come in
+    or sit out here, just as your own feelings in regard to extraordinary
+    fine clothes shall prompt you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this she reassured me as to the beauty of her teeth. "As long as
+    you will sit out here," said I, to myself, "there will be no in-doors
+    for me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She seemed to read my thoughts, and said: "If you will go on with your
+    smoking, I will wait and ask you some things about Walford. I dearly
+    love the smell of a good cigar, and father never smokes. He always
+    keeps them, however, in case of gentlemen visitors."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She then went on to talk about some Walford people, and asked me if I
+    knew Mary Talbot. I replied in the affirmative, for Miss Talbot was a
+    member of our literary society, and the young lady informed me that
+    Mary Talbot had a brother in my school&mdash;a fact of which I was aware to
+    my sorrow&mdash;and it was on account of this brother that she had first
+    happened to see me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "See me!" I exclaimed, with surprise.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said she. "I drove over to the village one day this spring, and
+    Mary and I were walking past your school-house, and the door was wide
+    open, for it was so warm, and we stopped so that Mary might point out
+    her brother to me; and so, as we were looking in, of course I saw
+    you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you recognized me," I said, "when you saw me at the gardener's
+    house?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We call that the lodge," said she. "Not that I care in the least what
+    name you give it. And while we are on a personal subject, I want to
+    ask you to excuse me for laughing at you when I first saw you in that
+    astounding garb. It was very improper, I know, but the apparition was
+    so sudden I could not help it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had never met a young lady so thoroughly self-contained as this one.
+    None of the formalities of society had been observed in regard to our
+    acquaintance with each other, but she talked with me with such an easy
+    grace and with such a gentle assurance that there was no need of
+    introduction or presentation; I felt acquainted with her on the spot.
+    I had no doubt that her exceptionally gracious demeanor was due to the
+    fact that nobody else in the house seemed inclined to be gracious, and
+    she felt hospitality demanded that something of the kind should be
+    offered me by some one of the family.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We talked together for some minutes longer, and then, apparently
+    hearing something in the house which I did not notice, she rose rather
+    abruptly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I must go in," she said; "but don't you stay out here a second longer
+    than you want to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She had left me but a very short time when her father came out on the
+    piazza, his coat buttoned up nearly to his chin. "I have been
+    detained, sir," he said, "by a man who came to see me on business. I
+    cannot remain with you out here, for the air affects me; but if you
+    will come in, sir, I shall be glad to have you do so, without regard
+    to your appearance. My wife is not strong and she has retired, and if
+    it pleases you I shall be very glad to have you tell me something of
+    your duties and success in Walford. Or, if you are fatigued, your
+    room is ready for you, and my man will show you to it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I snatched at the relief held out to me. To sit in the company of that
+    condescending prig, to bore him and to be bored by him, was a doleful
+    grievance I did not wish to inflict upon myself, and I eagerly
+    answered that the day had been a long and hard one, and that I would
+    be glad to go to bed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was an assertion which was doubly false, for I was not in the
+    least tired or sleepy; and just as I had made the statement and was
+    entering the hall I saw that the young lady was standing at the parlor
+    door; but it was too late now for me to change my mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Brownster," said Mr. Putney to his butler, "will you give this
+    gentleman a candle and show him to his room?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Brownster quietly bowed, and stepping to a table in the corner, on
+    which stood some brass bed-room candlesticks, he lighted one of the
+    candles and stood waiting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The gentleman moved towards his daughter, and then he stopped and
+    turned to me. "We have breakfast," he said, "at half-past eight But if
+    that is too late for you," he added, with a certain hesitation, "you
+    can have&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this moment I distinctly saw his daughter punch him with her elbow,
+    and as I had no desire to make an early start, and wished very much to
+    enjoy a good breakfast in Cathay, I quickly declared that I was in no
+    hurry, and that the family breakfast hour would suit me perfectly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady disappeared into the parlor, and I moved towards the
+    butler; but my host, probably thinking that he had not been quite as
+    attentive to me as his station demanded, or wishing to let me see what
+    a fine house he possessed, stepped up to me and asked me to look into
+    the billiard-room, the door of which I was about to pass. After some
+    remarks of deprecatory ostentation, in which he informed me that in
+    building his house he thought only of comfort and convenience, and
+    nothing of show, he carelessly invited my attention to the
+    drawing-room, the library, the music-room, and the little
+    sitting-room, all of which were furnished with as much stiffness and
+    hardness and inharmonious coloring as money could command.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we had finished the round of these rooms he made me a bow as
+    stiff as one of his white and gold chairs, and I followed the butler
+    up the staircase. The man with the light preceded me into a room on
+    the second floor, and just as I was about to enter after him I saw the
+    young lady come around a corner of the hall with a lighted candle in
+    her hand.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0008"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-08.png">
+<img src="images/bc-08s.png" width="200" height="154"
+alt="'I Kicked off My Embroidered Slippers'"><br />'I Kicked off My Embroidered Slippers'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Good-night," she said, with a smile so charming that I wanted to stop
+    and tell her something about Mary Talbot's brother; but she passed on,
+    and I went into my room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It seemed perfectly ridiculous to me that people should carry around
+    bed-room candles in a house lighted from top to bottom by electricity,
+    but I had no doubt that this was one of the ultra-conventional customs
+    from which the dapper gentleman would not allow his family to depart.
+    I did not believe for a moment that his daughter would conform to such
+    nonsense except to please her parent.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The softly moving and attentive Brownster put the candle on the table,
+    blew it out, and touched a button, thereby lighting up a very
+    handsomely furnished room. Then, after performing every possible
+    service for me, with a bow he left me. Throwing myself into a great
+    easy chair, I kicked off my embroidered slippers and put my feet upon
+    another chair gay with satin stripes. Raising my eyes, I saw in front
+    of me a handsome mirror extending from the floor nearly to the
+    ceiling, and at the magnificent personage which therein met my gaze I
+    could not help laughing aloud.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I rose, stood before the mirror, folded my gorgeous gown around me,
+    spread it out, contrasting the crimson glory of its lining with the
+    golden yellow of my trousers, and wondered in my soul how that
+    exceedingly handsome girl with the bright eyes could have controlled
+    her risibilities as she sat with me on the piazza. I could see that
+    she had a wonderful command of herself, but this exercise of it seemed
+    superhuman.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I walked around the sumptuously furnished chamber, looking at the
+    pictures and bric-&agrave;-brac; I wondered that the master of the house was
+    willing to put me in a room like this&mdash;I had expected a hall bed-room,
+    at the best; I sat down by an open window, for it was very early yet
+    and I did not want to go to bed, but I had scarcely seated myself when
+    I heard a tap at the door. I could not have explained it, but this tap
+    made me jump, and I went to the door and opened it instead of calling
+    out. There stood the butler, with a tray in his hand on which was a
+    decanter of wine, biscuits, cheese, and some cigars.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's so early, sir," said Brownster, "that she said&mdash;I mean, sir, I
+    thought that you might like something to eat, and if you want to enjoy
+    a cigar before retiring, as many gentlemen do, you need not mind
+    smoking here. These rooms are so well ventilated, sir, that every
+    particle of odor will be out in no time." Placing the tray upon a
+    table, he retired.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0009"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-09.png">
+<img src="images/bc-09s.png" width="139" height="200"
+alt="'It Would Be Well for Me to Swallow a Capsule'"><br />'It Would Be Well for Me to Swallow a Capsule'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    For an hour or more I sat sipping my wine, puffing smoke into rings,
+    and allowing my mind to dwell pleasingly upon the situation, the most
+    prominent feature of which seemed to me to be a young lady with bright
+    eyes and white teeth, and dressed in a perfectly-fitting gown.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When at last I thought I ought to go to bed, I stood and gazed at my
+    little valise. I had left it on the porch and had totally forgotten
+    it, but here it was upon a table, where it had been placed, no doubt,
+    by the thoughtful Brownster. I opened it and took out the box of
+    capsules. I did not feel that I had taken cold in the night air; this
+    was not a time to protect myself against morning mists; but still I
+    thought it would be well for me to swallow a capsule, and I did so.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IV
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A BIT OF ADVICE
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">he next morning I awoke about seven o'clock. My clothes, neatly
+    brushed and folded, were on a chair near the bed, with my
+    brightly-blackened shoes near by. I rose, quickly dressed myself, and
+    went forth into the morning air. I met no one in the house, and the
+    hall door was open. For an hour or more I walked about the beautiful
+    grounds. Sometimes I wandered near the house, among the flower-beds
+    and shrubs; sometimes I followed the winding path to a considerable
+    distance; occasionally I sat down in a covered arbor; and then I
+    sought the shade of a little grove, in which there were hammocks and
+    rustic chairs. But I met no one, and I saw no one except some men
+    working near the stables. I would have been glad to go down to the
+    lodge and say "Good-morning" to my kind entertainers there, but for
+    some reason or other it struck me that that neat little house was too
+    much out of the way.
+
+<p>
+    When I had had enough walking I retired to the piazza and sat there,
+    until Brownster, with a bow, came and informed me that breakfast was
+    served.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady, in the freshest of summer costumes, met me at the door
+    and bade me "Good-morning," but the greeting of her father was not by
+    any means cordial, although his manner had lost some of the stiff
+    condescension which had sat so badly upon him the evening before. The
+    mother was a very pleasant little lady of few words and a general air
+    which indicated an intimate acquaintance with back seats.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The breakfast was a remarkably good one. When the meal was over, Mr.
+    Putney walked with me into the hall. "I must now ask you to excuse me,
+    sir," said he, "as this is the hour when I receive my manager and
+    arrange with him for the varied business of the day. Good-morning,
+    sir. I wish you a very pleasant journey." And, barely giving me a
+    chance to thank him for his entertainment, he disappeared into the
+    back part of the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady was standing at the front of the hall. "Won't you
+    please come in," she said, "and see mother? She wants to talk to you
+    about Walford."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I found the little lady in a small room opening from the parlor, and
+    also, to my great surprise, I found her extremely talkative and
+    chatty. She asked me so many questions that I had little chance to
+    answer them, and she told me a great deal more about Walford and its
+    people and citizens than I had learned during my nine months'
+    residence in the village. I was very glad to give her an opportunity
+    of talking, which was a pleasure, I imagined, she did not often enjoy;
+    but as I saw no signs of her stopping, I was obliged to rise and take
+    leave of her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady accompanied me into the hall. "I must get my valise," I
+    said, "and then I must be off. And I assure you&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, do not trouble yourself about your valise," she interrupted.
+    "Brownster will attend to that&mdash;he will take it down to the lodge.
+    And as to your gorgeous raiment, he will see that that is all properly
+    returned to its owners."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I picked up my cap, and she walked with me out upon the piazza. "I
+    suppose you saw everything on our place," she asked, "when you were
+    walking about this morning?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    A little surprised, I answered that I had seen a good deal, but I did
+    not add that I had not found what I was looking for.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We have all sorts of hot-houses and green-houses," she said, "but
+    they are not very interesting at this time of the year, otherwise I
+    would ask you to walk through them before you go." She then went on to
+    tell me that a little building which she pointed out was a
+    mushroom-house. "And you will think it strange that it should be there
+    when I tell you that not one of our family likes mushrooms or ever
+    tastes one. But the manager thinks that we ought to grow mushrooms,
+    and so we do it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she was talking, the thought came to me that there were some people
+    who might consider this young lady a little forward in her method of
+    entertaining a comparative stranger, but I dismissed this idea. With
+    such a peculiarly constituted family it was perhaps necessary for her
+    to put herself forward, in regard, at least, to the expression of
+    hospitality.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "One thing I must show you," she said, suddenly, "and that is the
+    orchid-house! Are you fond of orchids?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Under certain circumstances," I said, unguardedly, "I could be fond
+    of apple-cores." As soon as I had spoken these words I would have
+    been glad to recall them, but they seemed to make no impression
+    whatever on her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We walked to the orchid-house, we went through it, and she explained
+    all its beauties, its singularities, and its rarities. When we came
+    out again, I asked myself: "Is she in the habit of doing all this to
+    chance visitors? Would she treat a Brown or a Robinson in the way she
+    is treating me?" I could not answer my question, but if Brown and
+    Robinson had appeared at that moment I should have been glad to knock
+    their heads together.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not want to go; I would have been glad to examine every building
+    on the place, but I knew I must depart; and as I was beginning to
+    express my sense of the kindness with which I had been treated, she
+    interrupted by asking me if I expected to come back this way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said I, "that is not my plan. I expect to ride on to Waterton,
+    and there I shall stop for a day or two and decide what section of the
+    country I shall explore next."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And to-day?" she said. "Where have you planned to spend the night?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I have been recommended to stop at a little inn called the 'Holly
+    Sprig,'" I replied. "It is a leisurely day's journey from Walford, and
+    I have been told that it is a pleasant place and a pretty country. I
+    do not care to travel all the time, and I want to stop a little when I
+    find interesting scenery."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0010"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-10.png">
+<img src="images/bc-10s.png" width="163" height="200"
+alt="'As Soon As I Had Spoken These Words'"><br />'As Soon As I Had Spoken These Words'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Oh, I know the Holly Sprig Inn," said she, speaking very quickly,
+    "and I would advise you not to stop there. We have lunched there two
+    or three times when we were out on long drives. There is a much better
+    house about five miles the other side of the Holly Sprig. It is really
+    a large, handsome hotel, with good service and everything you
+    want&mdash;where people go to spend the summer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked her for her information and bade her good-bye. She shook my
+    hand very cordially and I walked away. I had gone but a very few steps
+    when I wanted to turn around and look back, but I did not.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before I had reached the lodge, where I had left my bicycle, I met
+    Brownster, and when I saw him I put my hand into my pocket. He had
+    certainly been very attentive.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I carried your valise, sir," he said, "to the lodge, and I took the
+    liberty of strapping it to your handle-bar. You will find everything
+    all right, sir, and the&mdash;other clothes will be properly attended to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I thanked him, and then handed him some money. To my surprise, he did
+    not offer to take it. He smiled a little and bowed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would you mind, sir," he said, "if you did not give me anything? I
+    assure you, sir, that I'd very much rather that you wouldn't give me
+    anything." And with this he bowed and rapidly disappeared.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said I, to myself, as I put my money back into my pocket, "it
+    is a queer country, this Cathay."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I approached the lodge, I felt that perhaps I had received a
+    lesson, but I was not sure. I would wait and let circumstances decide.
+    The gardener was away attending to his duties; but his wife was there,
+    and when she came forward, with a frank, cheery greeting, I instantly
+    decided that I had had a lesson. I thanked her, as earnestly as I knew
+    how, for what she had done for me, and then I added:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You and your husband have treated me with such kind hospitality that
+    I am not going to offer you anything in return for what you have
+    done."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You would have hurt us, sir, if you had," said she.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then, in order to change the subject, I spoke of the honor which had
+    been bestowed upon me by being allowed to wear the Duke's
+    dressing-gown. She smiled, and replied:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Honors would always be easy for you, sir, if you only chose to take
+    them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I rode away I thought that the last remark of the gardener's wife
+    seemed to show a mental brightness above her station, although I did
+    not know exactly what she meant. "Can it be," I asked myself, "that
+    she fancies that good family, six feet of athletic muscle, and no
+    money would be considered sufficient to make matrimonial honors easy
+    on that estate?" If such an idea had come into her head, it certainly
+    was a very foolish one, and I determined to drive it from my mind by
+    thinking of something else.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Suddenly I slackened my speed. I stopped and put one foot to the
+    ground. What a hard-hearted wretch I thought myself to be! Here I was
+    thinking of all sorts of nonsense and speeding away without a thought
+    of the young girl who had hurt herself the day before and who had been
+    helped by me to her home! She lived but a few miles back, and I had
+    determined, the evening before, to run down and see how she was
+    getting on before starting on my day's journey.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I turned and went bowling back over the road on which I had been so
+    terribly drenched the previous afternoon. In a very little while my
+    bicycle was leaning against the fence of the pretty house by the
+    road-side, and I had entered the front yard. The slender girl was
+    sitting on the piazza behind some vines. When she saw me she quickly
+    closed the book she was reading, drew one foot from a little stool,
+    and rose to meet me. There was more color on her face than I had
+    supposed would be likely to find its way there, and her bright eyes
+    showed that she was not only surprised but glad to see me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thought you were ever so far on your journey!" she said. "And how
+    did you get through that awful storm?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I want to know first about your foot," I said&mdash;"how is that?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My own opinion is," she answered, "that it is nearly well. Mother
+    knew exactly what to do for it; she wrapped it in wet cloths and dry
+    cloths, and this morning I scarcely think of it. But there is one
+    thing I want to tell you before you meet father and mother&mdash;for they
+    want to see you, I know. We talked a great deal about you last night.
+    You may have thought it strange I told you about the peas, but I had
+    to do it to explain why I could not ask you to stop. Now I want to
+    tell you that this accident made everything all right. As soon as
+    father and mother knew that I was hurt they forgot everything else,
+    and neither of them remembered that there was such a thing as a
+    pea-vine in the world. It really seems as if my tumble was a most
+    lucky thing. And now you must come in. They will never forgive me if I
+    let you go away without seeing them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The mother, a pleasant little woman, full of cheerful gratitude to me
+    for having done so much for her daughter, and the father, tall and
+    slender, hurrying in from the garden, his face beaming with a friendly
+    enthusiasm, apologizing for the mud on his clothes, and almost in the
+    same breath telling me of the obligations under which I had placed
+    him, both seemed to me at the first glance to be such kind,
+    simple-hearted, simple-mannered people that I could not help
+    contrasting this family with the one under whose roof I had passed the
+    night.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I spent half an hour with these good people, patiently listening to
+    their gratitude and to their deep regrets that I had been allowed to
+    go on in the storm; but I succeeded in allaying their friendly regrets
+    by assuring them that it would have been impossible to keep me from
+    going on, so certain had I been that I could reach the little town of
+    Vernon before the storm grew violent. Then I was obliged to tell them
+    that I did not reach Vernon, and how I had spent the night.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "With the Putneys!" exclaimed the mother. "I am sure you could not
+    have been entertained in a finer house!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    They asked me many questions and I told them many things, and I soon
+    discovered that they took a generous interest in the lives of other
+    people. They spoke of the good this rich family had done in the
+    neighborhood during the building of their great house and the
+    improvement of their estate, and not a word did I hear of ridicule or
+    scandalous comment, although in good truth there was opportunity
+    enough for it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady asked me if I had seen Miss Putney, and when I replied
+    that I had, she inquired if I did not think that she was a very pretty
+    girl. "I do not know her," she said, "but I have often seen her when
+    she was out driving. I do not believe there is any one in this part of
+    the country who dresses better than she does."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed, and told her that I thought I knew somebody who dressed
+    much finer even than Miss Putney, and then I described the incident
+    of the Duke's dressing-gown. This delighted them all, and before I
+    left I was obliged to give every detail of my gorgeous attire.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was about eleven o'clock when at last I tore myself away from this
+    most attractive little family. To live as they lived, to be interested
+    in the things that interested them&mdash;for the house seemed filled with
+    books and pictures&mdash;to love nature, to love each other, and to think
+    well of their fellow-beings, even of the super-rich&mdash;seemed to me to
+    be an object for which a man of my temperament should be willing to
+    strive and thankful to win. After meeting her parents I did not wonder
+    that I had thought the slender girl so honest-hearted and so lovable.
+    It was true that I had thought that.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER V
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">he day was fine, and the landscape lay clean and sharply defined
+    under the blue sky and white clouds. I sped along in a cheerful mood,
+    well pleased with what my good cycle had so far done for me. Again I
+    passed the open gate of the Putney estate, and glanced through it at
+    the lodge. I saw no one, and was glad of it&mdash;better pleased, perhaps,
+    than I could have given good reason for. When I had gone on a few
+    hundred yards I was suddenly startled by a voice&mdash;a female voice.
+
+<p>
+    "Well! well!" cried some one on my right, and turning, I saw, above a
+    low wall, the head and shoulders of the young lady with the dark eyes
+    with whom I had parted an hour or so before. A broad hat shaded her
+    face, her eyes were very dark and very wide open, and I saw some of
+    her beautiful teeth, although she was not smiling or laughing. It
+    was plain that she had not come down there to see me pass; she was
+    genuinely astonished; I dismounted and approached the wall.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0011"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-11.png">
+<img src="images/bc-11s.png" width="117" height="200"
+alt="'I Dismounted and Approached the Wall'"><br />'I Dismounted and Approached the Wall'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "I thought you were miles and miles on your way!" said she. It
+    occurred to me that I had recently heard a remark very like this, and
+    yet the words, as they came from the slender girl and from this one,
+    seemed to have entirely different meanings. She was desirous,
+    earnestly desirous, to know how I came to be passing this place at
+    this time, when I had left their gate so long before, and, as I was
+    not unwilling to gratify her curiosity, I told her the whole story of
+    the accident the day before, and of everything which had followed it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you went all the way back," she said, "to inquire after that
+    Burton girl?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do you know her?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," she said, "I do not know her; but I have seen her often, and I
+    know all about her family. They seem to be of such little consequence,
+    one way or the other, that I can scarcely understand how things could
+    so twist themselves that you should consider it necessary to go back
+    there this morning before you really started on your day's journey."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I do not remember what I said, but it was something commonplace, no
+    doubt, but I imagined I perceived a little pique in the young lady. Of
+    course I did not object to this, for nothing could be more flattering
+    to a young man than the exhibition of such a feeling on an occasion
+    such as this.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But if she felt any pique she quickly brushed it out of sight, for, as
+    I have said before, she was a young woman who had great command of
+    herself. Of course I said to her that I was very glad to have this
+    chance of seeing her again, and she answered, with a laugh:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If you really are glad, you ought to thank the Burton girl. This is
+    one of my favorite walks. The path runs along inside the wall for a
+    considerable distance and then turns around the little hill over
+    there, and so leads back to the house. When I happened to look over
+    the wall and saw you I was truly surprised."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The ground was lower on the outside of the wall than on the inside,
+    and as I stood and looked almost into the eyes of this girl, as she
+    leaned with her arms upon the smooth top of the wall, the idea which
+    the gardener's wife put into my head came into it again. This was a
+    beautiful face, and the expression upon it was different from
+    anything I had seen there before. Her surprise had disappeared, her
+    pique had gone, but a very great interest in the incident of my
+    passing this spot at the moment of her being there was plainly
+    evident. As I gazed at her my blood ran warmer through my veins, and
+    there came upon me a feeling of the olden time&mdash;of the days when the
+    brave cavalier rode up to the spot where, waiting for him, his lady
+    sat upon her impatient jennet.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Without the least hesitation, I asked:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do you ride a wheel?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked wonderingly at me for a moment, and then broke into a
+    laugh.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why on earth do you ask such a question as that? I have a bicycle,
+    but I am not a very good rider, and I never venture out upon the
+    public road by myself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You shouldn't think of such a thing," said I; and then I stood
+    silent, and my mind showed me two young people, each mounted, not upon
+    a swift steed, but upon a far swifter pair of wheels, skimming onward
+    through the summer air, still rolling on, on, on, through country
+    lanes and woodland roads, laughing at pursuit if they heard the
+    trampling of eager hoofs behind them, with never a telegraph wire to
+    stretch menacingly above them, and so on, on, on, their eyes
+    sparkling, their hearts beating high with youthful hope.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Again, through the tender mists of the afternoon, I saw them returning
+    from some secluded Gretna Green to bend their knees and bow their
+    heads before the lord of the fair bride's home.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When all this had passed through my brain, I wondered how such a pair
+    would be received. I knew the gardener and his wife would welcome
+    them, to begin with; Brownster would be very glad to see them; and I
+    believe the mother would stand with tears of joy and open arms, in
+    whatever quiet room she might feel free to await them. Moreover, when
+    the sterner parent heard my tale and read my pedigree, might he not
+    consider good name on the one side an equivalent for good money on the
+    other?
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked up at her; she did not ask me what I had been thinking about
+    nor remark upon my silence. She, too, had been wrapped in revery; her
+    face was grave. She raised her arms from the wall and stood up.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was plainly time for me to do something, and she decided the point
+    for me by slightly moving away from the wall. "Some time, when you are
+    riding out from Walford," she said, "we should be glad to have you
+    stop and take luncheon. Father likes to have people at luncheon."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I should be delighted to do so," said I; and if she had asked me to
+    delay my journey and take luncheon with them that day I think I should
+    have accepted the invitation. But she did not do that, and she was not
+    a young lady who would stand too long by a public road talking to a
+    young man. She smiled very sweetly and held out her hand over the
+    wall. "Good-bye again," she said. As I took her hand I felt very much
+    inclined to press it warmly, but I refrained. Her grasp was firm and
+    friendly, and I would have liked very much to know whether or not it
+    was more so than was her custom.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was mounting my wheel when she called to me again. "Now, I suppose,"
+    she said, "you are going straight on?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," I replied, with emphasis, "straight on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And the name of the hotel where you will stay to-night," said she,
+    "it is the Cheltenham. I forgot it when I spoke to you before. I do
+    not believe, really, it is more than three miles beyond the other
+    little place where you thought of stopping."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then she walked away from the wall and I mounted. I moved very slowly
+    onward, and as I turned my head I saw that a row of straggling bushes
+    which grew close to the wall were now between her and me. But I also
+    saw, or thought I saw, between the leaves and boughs, that her face
+    was towards me, and that she was waving her handkerchief. If I had
+    been sure of that, I think I should have jumped over the wall, pushed
+    through the bushes, and should have asked her to give me that
+    handkerchief, that I might fasten it on the front of my cap as, in
+    olden days, a knight going forth to his adventures bound upon his
+    helmet the glove of his lady-love.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But I was not sure of it, and, seized by a sudden energetic
+    excitement, I started off at a tremendous rate of speed. The ground
+    flew backward beneath me as if I had been standing on the platform of
+    a railroad car. Not far ahead of me there came from a side road into
+    the main avenue on which I was travelling a Scorcher, scorching. As he
+    spun away in front of me, his body bent forward until his back was
+    nearly horizontal, and his green-stockinged legs striking out behind
+    him with the furious rapidity of a great frog trying to push his head
+    into the mud, he turned back his little face with a leer of triumphant
+    derision at every moving thing which might happen to be behind him.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0012"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-12.png">
+<img src="images/bc-12s.png" width="174" height="200"
+alt="'I Thought for a Few Moments'"><br />'I Thought for a Few Moments'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    At the sight of this green-legged Scorcher my blood rose, and it was
+    with me as if I had heard the clang of trumpets and the clash of arms.
+    I leaned slightly forward; I struck out powerfully, swiftly, and
+    steadily; I gained upon the Scorcher; I sent into his emerald legs a
+    thrill of startled fear, as if he had been a terrified hare bounding
+    madly away from a pursuing foe, and I passed him as if I had been a
+    swift falcon swooping by a quarry unworthy of his talons.
+</p>
+<p>
+    On, on I sped, not deigning even to look back. The same spirit
+    possessed me as that which fired the hearts of the olden knights. I
+    would have been glad to meet with another Scorcher, and yet another,
+    that for the sake of my fair lady I might engage with each and humble
+    his pride in the dust.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is true," I said to myself, with an inward laugh, "I carry no
+    glove or delicate handkerchief bound upon my visor&mdash;" but at this
+    point my mind wandered. I went more slowly, and at last I stopped and
+    sat down under the shade of a way-side tree. I thought for a few
+    minutes, and then I said to myself, "It seems to me this would be a
+    good time to take one of those capsules," and I took one. I then
+    fancied that perhaps I ought to take two, but I contented myself with
+    one.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VI
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">n the middle of the day I stopped at Vernon, and the afternoon was
+    well advanced when I came in sight of a little way-side house with a
+    broad unfenced green in front of it, and a swinging sign which told
+    the traveller that this was the "Holly Sprig Inn."
+
+<p>
+    I dismounted on the opposite side of the road and gazed upon the
+    smoothly shaven greensward in front of the little inn; upon the pretty
+    upper windows peeping out from their frames of leaves; upon the
+    queerly-shaped projections of the building; upon the low portico which
+    shaded the doorway; and upon the gentle stream of blue smoke which
+    rose from the great gray chimney.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then I turned and looked over the surrounding country. There were
+    broad meadows slightly descending to a long line of trees, between
+    which I could see the glimmering of water. On the other side of the
+    road, and extending back of the inn, there were low, forest-crowned
+    hills. Then my eyes, returning to nearer objects, fell upon an
+    old-fashioned garden, with bright flowers and rows of box, which lay
+    beyond the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why on earth," I thought, "should I pass such a place as this and go
+    on to the Cheltenham, with its waiters in coat tails, its nurse-maids,
+    and its rows of people on piazzas? She could not know my tastes, and
+    perhaps she had thought but little on the subject, and had taken her
+    ideas from her father. He is just the man to be contented with nothing
+    else than a vast sprawling hotel, with disdainful menials expecting
+    tips."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I rolled my bicycle along the little path which ran around the green,
+    and knocked upon the open door of Holly Sprig Inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a few moments a boy came into the hall. He was not dressed like an
+    ordinary hotel attendant, but his appearance was decent, and he might
+    have been a sub-clerk or a head hall-boy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Can I obtain lodging here for the night?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The boy looked at me from head to foot, and an expression such as
+    might be produced by too much lemon juice came upon his face.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said he; "we don't take cyclers."
+</p>
+<p>
+    This reception was something novel to me, who had cycled over
+    thousands of miles, and I was not at all inclined to accept it at the
+    hands of the boy. I stepped into the hall. "Can I see the master of
+    this house?" said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "There ain't none," he answered, gruffly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, then, I want to see whoever is in charge."
+</p>
+<p>
+    He looked as if he were about to say that he was in charge, but he had
+    no opportunity for such impertinence. A female figure came into the
+    hall and advanced towards me. She stopped in an attitude of
+    interrogation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I was just inquiring," I said, with a bow&mdash;for I saw that the
+    new-comer was not a servant&mdash;"if I could be accommodated here for the
+    night, but the boy informed me that cyclers are not received here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" she exclaimed, and turned as if she would speak to the boy,
+    but he had vanished. "That is a mistake, sir," she said to me. "Very
+    few wheelmen do stop here, as they prefer a hotel farther on, but we
+    are glad to entertain them when they come."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not very light in the hall in which we stood, but I could see
+    that this lady was young, that she was of medium size, and
+    good-looking.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Will you walk in, sir, and register?" she said. "I will have your
+    wheel taken around to the back."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I followed her into a large apartment to the right of the
+    hall&mdash;evidently a room of general assembly. Near the window was a desk
+    with a great book on it. As I stood before this desk and she handed me
+    a pen, her face was in the full light of the window, and glancing at
+    it, the thought struck me that I now knew why Miss Putney did not wish
+    me to stop at the Holly Sprig Inn. I almost laughed as I turned away
+    my head to write my name. I was amused, and at the same time I could
+    not help feeling highly complimented. It cannot but be grateful to the
+    feelings of a young man to find that a very handsome woman objects to
+    his making the acquaintance of an extremely pretty one.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I laid down the pen she stepped up and looked at my name and
+    address.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh," said she, "you are the schoolmaster at Walford?" She seemed to
+    be pleased by this discovery, and smiled in a very engaging way as she
+    said, "I am much interested in that school, for I received a great
+    part of my education there." "Indeed!" said I, very much surprised.
+    "But I do not exactly understand. It is a boys' school."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I know that," she answered, "but both boys and girls used to go
+    there. Now the girls have a school of their own."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she spoke I could not help contrasting in my mind what the school
+    must have been with what it was now.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stepped to the door and told a woman who was just entering the
+    room to show me No. 2. The woman said something which I did not hear,
+    although her tones indicated surprise, and then conducted me to my
+    room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was an exceedingly pleasant chamber on the first floor at the
+    back of the house. It was furnished far better than the quarters
+    generally allotted to me in country inns, or, in fact, in hostelries
+    of any kind. There was great comfort and even simple elegance in its
+    appointments.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would have liked to ask the maid some questions, but she was an
+    elderly woman, who looked as if she might be the mother of the
+    lemon-juice boy, and as she said not a word to me while she made a few
+    arrangements in the room, I did not feel emboldened to say anything to
+    her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I left my room and went out on the little porch, I soon came to
+    the conclusion that this was not a house of great resort. I saw
+    nobody in front and I heard nobody within. There seemed to be an air
+    of quiet greenness about the surroundings, and the little porch was a
+    charming place in which to sit and look upon the evening landscape.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After a time the boy came to tell me that supper was ready. He did so
+    as if he were informing me that it was time to take medicine and he
+    had just taken his.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Supper awaited me in a very pleasant room, through the open windows of
+    which there came a gentle breeze which made me know that there was a
+    flower-garden not far away. The table was a small one, round, and on
+    it there was supper for one person. I seated myself, and the elderly
+    woman waited on me. I was so grateful that the boy was not my
+    attendant that my heart warmed towards her, and I thought she might
+    not consider it much out of the way if I said something.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did I arrive after the regular supper-time?" I asked. "I am sorry if
+    I put the establishment to any inconvenience."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What's inconvenience in your own house isn't anything of the kind in
+    a tavern," she said. "We're used to that. But it doesn't matter
+    to-day. You're the only transient; that is, that eats here," she
+    added.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I wanted very much to ask something about the lady who had gone to
+    school in Walford, but I thought it would be well to approach that
+    subject by degrees.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Apparently," said I, "your house is not full."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said she, "not at this precise moment of time. Do you want some
+    more tea?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    The tone in which she said this made me feel sure she was the mother
+    of the boy, and when she had given me the tea, and looked around in a
+    general way to see that I was provided with what else I needed, she
+    left the room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After supper I looked into the large room where I had registered; it
+    was lighted, and was very comfortably furnished with easy-chairs and a
+    lounge, but it was an extremely lonely place, and, lighting a cigar, I
+    went out for a walk. It was truly a beautiful country, and, illumined
+    by the sunset sky, with all its forms and colors softened by the
+    growing dusk, it was more charming to me than it had been by daylight.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I returned to the inn I noticed a man standing at the entrance of a
+    driveway which appeared to lead back to the stable-yards. "Here is
+    some one who may talk," I thought, and I stopped.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0013"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-13.png">
+<img src="images/bc-13s.png" width="115" height="200"
+alt="'Went out for a Walk'"><br />'Went out for a Walk'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "This ought to be a good country for sport," I said&mdash;"fishing, and
+    that sort of thing."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You're stoppin' here for the night?" he asked. I presumed from his
+    voice and appearance that he was a stable-man, and from his tone that
+    he was disappointed that I had not brought a horse with me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assented to his question, and he said:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I never heard of no fishin'. When people want to fish, they go to a
+    lake about ten miles furder on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I do not care particularly about fishing," I said, "but there
+    must be a good many pleasant roads about here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "There's this one," said he. "The people on wheels keep to it." With
+    this he turned and walked slowly towards the back of the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "A lemon-loving lot!" thought I, and as I approached the porch I saw
+    that the lady who had gone to school at Walford was standing there. I
+    did not believe she had been eating lemons, and I stepped forward
+    quickly for fear that she should depart before I reached her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Been taking a walk?" she said, pleasantly. There was something in the
+    general air of this young woman which indicated that she should have
+    worn a little apron with pockets, and that her hands should have been
+    jauntily thrust into those pockets; but her dress included nothing of
+    the sort.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The hall lamp was now lighted, and I could see that her attire was
+    extremely neat and becoming. Her face was in shadow, but she had
+    beautiful hair of a ruddy brown. I asked myself if she were the "lady
+    clerk" of the establishment, or the daughter of the keeper of the inn.
+    She was evidently a person in some authority, and one with whom it
+    would be proper for me to converse, and as she had given me a very
+    good opportunity to open conversation, I lost no time in doing so.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And so you used to live in Walford?" I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she replied, and then she began to speak of the pleasant
+    days she had spent in that village. As she talked I endeavored to
+    discover from her words who she was and what was her position. I did
+    not care to discuss Walford. I wanted to talk about the Holly Sprig
+    Inn, but I could not devise a courteous question which would serve my
+    purpose.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently our attention was attracted by the sound of singing at the
+    corner of the little lawn most distant from the house. It was growing
+    dark, and the form of the singer could barely be discerned upon a
+    bench under a great oak. The voice was that of a man, and his song
+    was an Italian air from one of Verdi's operas. He sang in a low tone,
+    as if he were simply amusing himself and did not wish to disturb the
+    rest of the world.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0014"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-14.png">
+<img src="images/bc-14s.png" width="80" height="200"
+alt="Mrs. Chester"><br />Mrs. Chester</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "That must be the Italian who is stopping here for the night," she
+    said. "We do not generally take such people; but he spoke so civilly,
+    and said it was so hard to get lodging for his bear&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "His bear!" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered, with a little laugh, "he has a bear with him.
+    I suppose it dances, and so makes a living for its master. Anyway, I
+    said he might stay and lodge with our stable-man. He would sing very
+    well if he had a better voice&mdash;don't you think so?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We do not generally accommodate," "I said he might stay"&mdash;these were
+    phrases which I turned over in my mind. If she were the lady clerk she
+    might say "we"&mdash;even the boy said "we"&mdash;but "I said he might stay" was
+    different. A daughter of a landlord or a landlady might say that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I made a remark about the difficulty of finding lodging for man and
+    beast, if the beast happened to be a bear, and I had scarcely finished
+    it when from the house there came a shrill voice, flavored with lemon
+    without any sugar, and it said, "Mrs. Chester!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Excuse me," said the young lady, and immediately she went in-doors.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Here was a revelation! Mrs. Chester! Strange to say, I had not thought
+    of her as a married woman; and yet, now that I recalled her manner of
+    perfect self-possession, she did suggest the idea of a satisfied young
+    wife. And Mr. Chester&mdash;what of him? Could it be possible? Hardly.
+    There was nothing about her to suggest a widow.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; sat on that porch a good while, but she did not come out again. Why
+    should she? Nobody came out, and within I could hear no sound of
+    voices. I might certainly recommend this inn as a quiet place. The
+    Italian and the crickets continued singing and chirping, but they only
+    seemed to make the scene more lonely.
+
+<p>
+    I went in-doors. On the left hand of the hall was a door which I had
+    not noticed before, but which was now open. There was a light within,
+    and I saw a prettily-furnished parlor. There was a table with a lamp
+    on it, and by the table sat the lady, Mrs. Chester. I involuntarily
+    stopped, and, looking up, she invited me to come in. Instantly I
+    accepted the invitation, but with a sort of an apology for the
+    intrusion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, this is the public parlor," she said, "although everything about
+    this house seems private at present. We generally have families
+    staying with us in the summer, but last week nearly all of them went
+    away to the sea-shore. In a few days, however, we expect to be full
+    again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She immediately began to talk about Walford, for evidently the subject
+    interested her, and I answered all her questions as well as I could.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You may know that my husband taught that school. I was his scholar
+    before I became his wife."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had heard of a Mr. Chester who, before me, had taught the school,
+    but, although the information had not interested me at the time, now
+    it did. I wished very much to ask what Mr. Chester was doing at
+    present, but I waited.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I went to boarding-school after I left Walford," said she, "and so
+    for a time lost sight of the village, although I have often visited it
+    since."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How long is it since Mr. Chester gave up the school there?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This proved to be a very good question indeed. "About six years," she
+    said. "He gave it up just before we were married. He did not like
+    teaching school, and as the death of his father put him into the
+    possession of some money, he was able to change his mode of life. It
+    was by accident that we settled here as innkeepers. We happened to
+    pass the place, and Mr. Chester was struck by its beauty. It was not
+    an inn then, but he thought it would make a charming one, and he also
+    thought that this sort of life would suit him exactly. He was a
+    student, a great reader, and a lover of rural sports&mdash;such as fishing
+    and all that."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0015"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-15.png">
+<img src="images/bc-15s.png" width="115" height="200"
+alt="'She Began to Talk About Walford'"><br />'She Began to Talk About Walford'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Was." Here was a dim light. "Was" must mean that Mr. Chester had
+    been. If he were living, he would still be a reader and a student.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did he find the new life all that he expected?" I said, hesitating a
+    little at the word did, as it was not impossible that I might be
+    mistaken.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes, and more. I think the two years he spent here were the
+    happiest of his life."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was not yet quite sure about the state of affairs; he might be in an
+    insane asylum, or he might be a hopeless invalid up-stairs.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If he had lived," she continued, "I suppose this would have been a
+    wonderfully beautiful place, for he was always making improvements.
+    But it is four years now since his death, and in that time there has
+    been very little change in the inn."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I do not remember what answer I made to this remark, but I gazed out
+    upon the situation as if it were an unrolled map.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "When you wrote your name in the book," she said, "it seemed to me as
+    if you had brought a note of introduction, and I am sure I am very
+    glad to be acquainted with you, for, you know, you are my husband's
+    successor. He did not like teaching, but he was fond of his scholars,
+    and he always had a great fancy for school-teachers. Whenever one of
+    them stopped here&mdash;which happened two or three times&mdash;he insisted that
+    he should be put into our best room, if it happened to be vacant, and
+    that is the reason I have put you into it to-day."
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was charming. She was such an extremely agreeable young person
+    that it was delightful for me to think of myself in any way as her
+    husband's successor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a step at the door. I turned and saw the elderly servant.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Mrs. Chester," she said, "I'm goin' up," and every word was flavored
+    with citric acid.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-night," said Mrs. Chester, taking up her basket and her work.
+    "You know, you need not retire until you wish to do so. There is a
+    room opposite, where gentlemen smoke."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not enter the big, lonely room. I went to my own chamber,
+    which, I had just been informed, was the best in the house. I sat down
+    in an easy-chair by the open window. I looked up to the twinkling
+    stars.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Reading, studying, fishing, beautiful country, and all that. And he
+    did not like school-teaching! No wonder he was happier here than he
+    had ever been before! My eyes wandered around the tastefully furnished
+    room. "Her husband's successor," I said to myself, pondering. "He did
+    not like school-teaching, and he was so happy here." Of course he was
+    happy. "Died and left him some money." There was no one to leave me
+    any money, but I had saved some for the time when I should devote
+    myself entirely to my profession. Profession&mdash;I thought. After all,
+    what is there in a profession? Slavery; anxiety. And he chose a life
+    of reading, studying, fishing, and everything else.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I turned to the window and again looked up into the sky. There was a
+    great star up there, and it seemed to wink cheerfully at me as the
+    words came into my mind, "her husband's successor."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I opened my little valise, before going to bed, I saw the box the
+    doctor's daughter had given me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After sitting so long at the open window, thought I, it might be well
+    to take one of these capsules, and I swallowed one.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I was called to breakfast the next morning I saw that the table
+    was laid with covers for two. In a moment my hostess entered and bade
+    me good-morning. We sat down at the table; and the elderly woman
+    waited. I could now see that her face was the color of a shop-worn
+    lemon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As for the lady who had gone to school at Walford&mdash;I wondered what
+    place in the old school-room she had occupied&mdash;she was more charming
+    than ever. Her manner was so cordial and cheerful that I could not
+    doubt that she considered the entry of my name in her book as a
+    regular introduction. She asked me about my plan of travel, how far I
+    would go in a day, and that sort of thing. The elderly woman was very
+    grim, and somehow or other I did not take very much interest in my
+    plan of travel, but the meal was an extremely pleasant one for all
+    that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The natural thing for me to do after I finished my breakfast was to
+    pay my bill and ride away, but I felt no inclination for anything of
+    the sort. In fact, the naturalness of departure did not strike me. I
+    went out on the little porch and gazed upon the bright, fresh morning
+    landscape, and as I did so I asked myself why I should mount my
+    bicycle and wheel away over hot and dusty roads, leaving all this
+    cool, delicious beauty behind me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    What could I find more enjoyable than this? Why should I not spend a
+    few days at this inn, reading, studying, fishing? Here I wondered why
+    that man told me such a lie about the fishing. If I wanted to exercise
+    on my wheel I felt sure there were pretty roads hereabout. I had
+    plenty of time before me&mdash;my whole vacation. Why should I be consumed
+    by this restless desire to get on?
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not help smiling as I thought of my somewhat absurd fancies of
+    the night before; but they were pleasant fancies, and I did not wonder
+    that they had come to me. It certainly is provocative of pleasant
+    fancies to have an exceedingly attractive young woman talk of you in
+    any way as her husband's successor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not make up my mind what I ought to do, and I walked back into
+    the hall. I glanced into the parlor, but it was unoccupied. Then I
+    went into the large room on the right; no one was there, and I stood
+    by the window trying to make up my mind in regard to proposing a brief
+    stay at the inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It really did not seem necessary to give the matter much thought. Here
+    was a place of public entertainment, and, as I was one of the public,
+    why should I not be entertained? I had stopped at many a road-side
+    hostelry, and in each one of them I knew I would be welcome to stay as
+    long as I was willing to pay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Still, there was something, some sort of an undefined consciousness,
+    which seemed to rise in the way of an off-hand proposal to stay at
+    this inn for several days, when I had clearly stated that I wished to
+    stop only for the night.
+</p>
+<p>
+    While I was still turning over this matter in my mind Mrs. Chester
+    came into the room. I had expected her. The natural thing for her to
+    do was to come in and receive the amount I owed her for her
+    entertainment of me, but as I looked at her I could not ask her for my
+    bill. It seemed to me that such a thing would shock her sensibilities.
+    Moreover, I did not want her bill.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was plain enough, however, that she expected me to depart, for she
+    asked me where I proposed to stop in the middle of the day, and she
+    suggested that she should have a light luncheon put up for me. She
+    thought probably a wheelman would like that sort of thing, for then he
+    could stop and rest wherever it suited him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Speaking of stopping," said I, "I am very glad that I did not do as I
+    was advised to do and go on to the Cheltenham. I do not know anything
+    about that hotel, but I am sure it is not so charming as this
+    delightful little inn with its picturesque surroundings."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am glad you did not," she answered. "Who advised you to go on to
+    the Cheltenham?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Miss Putney," said I. "Her father's place is between here and
+    Walford. I stopped there night before last." And then, as I was glad
+    of an opportunity to prolong the interview, I told her the history of
+    my adventures at that place.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester was amused, and I thought I might as well tell her how I
+    came to be delayed on the road and so caught in the storm, and I
+    related my experience with Miss Burton. I would have been glad to go
+    still farther back and tell her how I came to take the school at
+    Walford, and anything else she might care to listen to.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I told her about Miss Burton she sat down in a chair near by and
+    laughed heartily.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is wonderfully funny," she said, "that you should have met those
+    two young ladies and should then have stopped here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You know them?" I said, promptly taking another chair.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered. "I know them both; and, as I have mentioned
+    that your meeting with them seemed funny to me, I suppose I ought to
+    tell you the reason. Some time ago a photographer in Walford, who has
+    taken a portrait of me and also of Miss Putney and Miss Burton, took
+    it into his head to print the three on one card and expose them for
+    sale with a ridiculous inscription under them. This created a great
+    deal of talk, and Miss Putney made the photographer destroy his
+    negative and all the cards he had on hand. After that we were talked
+    about as a trio, and, I expect, a good deal of fun was made of us. And
+    now it seems a little odd&mdash;does it not?&mdash;that you have become
+    acquainted with all the members of this trio as soon as you left
+    Walford. But I must not keep you in this way." And she rose.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now was my opportunity to make known my desire to be kept, but before
+    I could do so the boy hurriedly came into the room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The Dago wants to see you," he said. "He's in an awful hurry."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Excuse me," said Mrs. Chester. "It is that Italian who was singing
+    outside last night. I thought he had gone. Would you mind waiting a
+    few minutes?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was getting harder and harder to enunciate my proposition to make a
+    sojourn at the inn. I wished that I had spoken sooner. It is so much
+    easier to do things promptly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    While I was waiting the elderly woman came in. "Do you want the boy to
+    take your little bag out and strap it on?" said she.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Evidently there was no want of desire to speed the departing guest.
+    "Oh, I will attend to that myself," said I, but I made no step to do
+    it. When my hostess came back I wanted to be there.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently she did come back. She ran in hurriedly, and her face was
+    flushed. "Here is a very bad piece of business," she said. "That man's
+    bear has eaten the tire off one of your wheels!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" I exclaimed, and my heart bounded within me. Here, perhaps,
+    was the solution of all my troubles. If by any happy chance my bicycle
+    had been damaged, of course I could not go on.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come and see," she said, and, following her through the back hall
+    door, we entered a large, enclosed yard. Not far from the house was a
+    shed, and in front of this lay my bicycle on its side in an apparently
+    disabled condition. An Italian, greatly agitated, was standing by it.
+    He was hatless, and his tangled black hair hung over his swarthy face.
+    At the other end of the yard was a whitish-brown bear, not very large,
+    and chained to a post.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I approached my bicycle, earnestly hoping that the bear had been
+    attempting to ride it, but I found that he had been trying to do
+    something very different. He had torn the pneumatic tire from one of
+    the wheels, and nearly the whole of it was lying scattered about in
+    little bits upon the ground.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How did this happen?" I said to the Italian, feeling very much
+    inclined to give him a dollar for the good offices of the beast.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The man began immediately to pour out an explanation upon me. His
+    English was as badly broken as the torn parts of my tire, but I had no
+    trouble in understanding. The bear had got loose in the night. He had
+    pulled up a little post to which he had been chained. The man had not
+    known it was such a weak post. The bear was never muzzled at night. He
+    had gone about looking for something to eat. He was very fond of
+    India-rubber&mdash;or, as the man called it, "Injer-rub." He always ate up
+    India-rubber shoes wherever he could find them. He would eat them off
+    a man's feet if the man should be asleep. He liked the taste of
+    Injer-rub. He did not swallow it. He dropped it all about in little
+    bits.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0016"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-16.png">
+<img src="images/bc-16s.png" width="143" height="200"
+alt="But We Were Not Alone"><br />But We Were Not Alone</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Then the man sprang towards me and seized the injured wheel. "See!" he
+    exclaimed. "He eat your Injer-rub, but he no break your machine!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was very true. The wheel did not seem to be injured, but still I
+    could not travel without a tire. This was the most satisfactory
+    feature of the affair. If he and I had been alone together I would
+    have handed the man two dollars, and told him to go in peace with his
+    bear and give himself no more trouble.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But we were not alone. The stable-man who had lied to me about the
+    fishing was there; the boy who had lied to me about the reception of
+    cyclers was there; the lemon-faced woman was there, standing close to
+    Mrs. Chester; and there were two maids looking out of the window of
+    the kitchen.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "This is very bad indeed!" said Mrs. Chester, addressing the Italian.
+    "You have damaged this gentleman's wheel, and you must pay him for
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now the Italian began to tear his hair. Never before had I seen any
+    one tear his hair. More than that, he shed tears, and declared he had
+    no money. After he had paid his bill he would not have a cent in the
+    world. His bear had ruined him. He was in despair.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What are you going to do?" said Mrs. Chester to me. "You cannot use
+    your bicycle."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before I could answer, the elderly woman exclaimed: "You ought to come
+    in, Mrs. Chester! This is no place for you! Suppose that beast should
+    break loose again! Let the gentleman settle it with the man."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I do not think my hostess wanted to go, but she accompanied her grim
+    companion into the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I suppose there is no place near here where I can have a new tire put
+    on this wheel?" said I to the stable-man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not nearer than Waterton," he replied; "but we could take you and
+    your machine there in a wagon."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's so," said the boy. "I'll drive."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I glared upon the two fellows as if they had been a couple of fiends
+    who were trying to put a drop of poison into my cup of joy. To be
+    dolefully driven to Waterton by that boy! What a picture! How
+    different from my picture!
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Italian sat down on the ground and embraced his knees with his
+    arms. He moaned and groaned, and declared over and over again that he
+    was ruined; that he had no money to pay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In regard to him my mind was made up. I would forgive him his debt and
+    send him away with my blessing, even if I found no opportunity of
+    rewarding him for his great service to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would go in and speak to Mrs. Chester about it. Of course it would
+    not be right to do anything without consulting her, and now I could
+    boldly tell her that it would suit me very well to stop at the inn
+    until my wheel could be sent away and repaired.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I entered the large room the elderly woman came out. She was
+    plainly in a bad humor. Mrs. Chester was awaiting me with an anxious
+    countenance, evidently much more troubled about the damage to my
+    bicycle than I was. I hastened to relieve her mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It does not matter a bit about the damage done by the bear," I said.
+    "I should not wonder if that wheel would be a great deal better for a
+    new tire, anyway. And, as for that doleful Italian, I do not want to
+    be hard on him, even if he has a little money in his pocket."
+</p>
+<p>
+    But my remarks did not relieve her, while my cheerful and contented
+    tones seemed to add to her anxiety.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But you cannot travel," she said, "and there is no place about here
+    where you could get a new tire."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was very plain that no one in this house entertained the idea that
+    it would be a good thing for me to rest here quietly until my bicycle
+    could be sent away and repaired. In fact, my first statement, that I
+    wished to stop but for the night, was accepted with general approval.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not deem it necessary to refer to the man's offer, to send me
+    and my machine to Waterton in a wagon, and I was just on the point of
+    boldly announcing that I was in no hurry whatever to get on, and that
+    it would suit me very well to wait here for a few days, when the boy
+    burst into the room, one end of his little neck-tie flying behind him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The Dago's put!" he shouted. "He's put off and gone!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    We looked at him in amazement.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Gone!" I exclaimed. "Shall I go after him? Has he paid his bill?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, you needn't do that," said the boy. "He cut across the fields
+    like a chipmunk&mdash;skipped right over the fences! You'd never ketch him,
+    and you needn't try! He's off for the station. I'll tell you all
+    about it," said the boy, turning to his mistress, who had been too
+    much startled to ask any questions. "When he went into the
+    house"&mdash;jerking his head in my direction&mdash;"I was left alone with the
+    Dago, and he begun to talk to me. He asked me a lot of things. He
+    rattled on so I couldn't understand half he said. He wanted to know
+    how much a tire cost; he wanted to know how much his bill would be,
+    and if he'd have to pay for the little post that was broke.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then he asked if I thought that if he'd promise to send you the money
+    would the gentleman let him go without payin' for the tire, and he
+    wanted to know what your name was; and when I told him you hadn't no
+    husband, and what your name was, he asked me to say it over again, and
+    then he made me say it once more&mdash;the whole of it; and while I was
+    tellin' him that I'd write it down for him if he wanted to send you
+    the money, he give a big jump and he stuck his head out like a bull.
+    He looked so queer that I was gettin' skeered; and then he says,
+    almost whisperin': 'I go! I go away! I leave my bear! If she sell him,
+    that pay everything! I come back no more&mdash;never! never!'
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I saw he was goin' to scoot, and I made a grab at him, but he give me
+    a push that nearly tore my collar off, and away he went. You never see
+    anybody run like he run. He was out of sight in no time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And he left his bear!" she exclaimed, in horror. "What on earth am I
+    to do with a bear?" She looked at me, and in spite of her annoyance
+    and perplexity she could not help joining me when I laughed outright.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VIII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    ORSO
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/m.png" alt="M">rs. Chester and I hurried back to the yard. There was the bear,
+    sitting calmly on his haunches, but there was no Italian.
+
+<p>
+    "Now that his master is gone," my hostess exclaimed, "I am afraid of
+    him! I will not go any farther! Can you imagine anything that can be
+    done with that beast?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had no immediate answer to give, and I was still very much amused at
+    the absurdity of the situation. Had any one ever before paid his bill
+    in such fashion? At this moment the stable-man approached us from one
+    of the outbuildings. "This is my hostler," she said. "Perhaps he can
+    suggest something."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "This is a bad go, ma'am," said he. "The horse was out in the pasture
+    all night, but this morning when I went to bring him up I couldn't
+    make him come near the stable. He smells that bear! It seems to drive
+    him crazy!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's awful!" she said. "What are we going to do, John? Do you think
+    the animal will become dangerous when he misses his master?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, there's nothin' dangerous about him," answered John. "I was
+    sittin' talkin' to that Dago last night after supper, and he says his
+    bear's tamer than a cat. He is so mild-tempered that he wouldn't hurt
+    nobody. The Dago says he sleeps close up to him of cold nights to keep
+    himself warm. There ain't no trouble about his bein' dangerous, but
+    you can't bring the horse into the stable while he's about. If anybody
+    was to drive into this yard without knowin' they'd be a circus, I can
+    tell you! Horses can't stand bears."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked at me in dismay. "Couldn't he be shot and buried?" she
+    asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had my doubts on that point. A tame bear is a valuable animal, and I
+    could not advise her to dispose of the property of another person in
+    that summary way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But he must be got away," she said. "We can't have a bear here. He
+    must be taken away some way or other. Isn't there any place where he
+    could be put until the Italian comes back?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That Dago's never comin' back," said the boy, solemnly. "If you'd
+    a-seen him scoot, you'd a-knowed that he was dead skeered, and would
+    never turn up here no more, bear or no bear."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester looked at me. She was greatly worried, but she was also
+    amused, and she could not help laughing.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Isn't this a dreadful predicament?" she said. "What in the world am I
+    to do?" At this moment there was an acidulated voice from the kitchen.
+    "Mrs. Whittaker wants to see you, Mrs. Chester," it cried, "right
+    away!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, dear!" said she. "Here is more trouble! Mrs. Whittaker is an
+    invalid lady who is so nervous that she could not sleep one night
+    because she heard a man had killed a snake at the back of the barn,
+    and what she will say when she hears that we have a bear here without
+    a master I do not know. I must go to her, and I do wish you could
+    think of something that I can do;" as she said this she looked at me
+    as if it were a natural thing for her to rely upon me. For a moment it
+    made me think of the star that had winked the night before.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester hurried into the house, and in company with the
+    stable-man I crossed the yard towards the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You are sure he is gentle?" said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Mild as milk!" said the man. "I was a-playin' with him last night.
+    He'll let you do anything with him! If you box his ears, he'll lay
+    over flat down on his side!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we were within a few feet of the bear he sat upright, dangled his
+    fore paws in front of him, and, with his head on one side, he partly
+    opened his mouth and lolled out his tongue. "I guess he's beggin' for
+    his breakfust," said John.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Can't you get him something to eat?" I asked. "He ought to be fed, to
+    begin with."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The man went back to the kitchen, and I walked slowly around the bear,
+    looking at the chain and the post, and trying to see what sort of a
+    collar was almost hidden under his shaggy hair. Apparently he seemed
+    securely attached, and then&mdash;as he was at the end of his chain&mdash;I went
+    up to him and gently patted one paw. He did not object to this, and
+    turning his head he let his tongue loll out on the other side, fixing
+    his little black eyes upon me with much earnestness. When the man came
+    with the pan of scraps from the kitchen I took it from him and placed
+    it on the ground in front of the bear. Instantly the animal dropped to
+    his feet and began to eat with earnest rapidity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I wonder how much he'd take in for one meal," said John, "if you'd
+    give him all he wanted? I guess that Dago never let him have any
+    more'n he could help."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As the bear was licking the tin pan I stood and looked at him. "I
+    wonder if he would be tame with strangers?" said I. "Do you suppose we
+    could take him away from this post if we wanted to?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," said John. "I wouldn't be afraid to take him anywheres, only
+    there isn't any place to take him to." He then stepped quite close to
+    the bear. "Hey, horsey!" said he. "Hey, old horsey! Good old horsey!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Is that his name?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's what the Dago called him," said John. "Hey, horsey! Good
+    horsey!" And he stooped and unfastened the chain from the post.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I imagined that the Italian had called the bear "Orso," perhaps with
+    some diminutive, but I did not care to discuss this. I was very much
+    interested to see what the man was going to do. With the end of the
+    chain in his hand, John now stepped in front of the bear and said,
+    "Come along, horsey!" and, to my surprise, the bear began to shamble
+    after him as quietly as if he had been following his old master.
+    "See!" cried John. "He'll go anywheres I choose to take him!" and he
+    began to lead him about the yard.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As he approached the kitchen there came a fearful scream from the open
+    window.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Take him away! Take him away!" I heard, in the shrillest accents.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "They're dreadfully skeered," said John, as he led the bear back; "but
+    he wouldn't hurt nobody! It would be a good thing, though, to put his
+    muzzle on; that's it hangin' over there by the shed; it's like a
+    halter, and straps up his jaws. The Dago said there ain't no need for
+    it, but he puts it on when he's travellin' along the road to keep
+    people from bein' skeered."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It would be well to put it on," said I. "I wonder if we can get him
+    into it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I guess he'd let you do anything you'd a mind to," replied John, as
+    he again fastened the chain to the post.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I took down the muzzle and approached the bear. He did not growl, but
+    stood perfectly still and looked at me. I put the muzzle over his
+    head, and, holding myself in readiness to elude a sudden snap, I
+    strapped up his jaws. The creature made no snap&mdash;he gazed at me with
+    mild resignation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "As far as he goes," said John, "he's all right; but as far as
+    everything else goes&mdash;especially horses&mdash;they're all wrong. He's got
+    to be got rid of some way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had nothing more to say to John, and I went into the house. I met
+    Mrs. Chester in the hall.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I have had a bad time up-stairs," she said. "Mrs. Whittaker declares
+    that she will not stay an hour in a house where there is a bear
+    without a master; but as she has a terrible sciatica and cannot
+    travel, I do not know what she is going to do. Her trained nurse, I
+    believe, is now putting on her bonnet to depart."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she spoke, the joyful anticipation of a few days at the Holly Sprig
+    Inn began to fade away. I did not blame the bear as the present cause
+    of my disappointment. He had done all he could for me. It was his
+    wretched master who had done the mischief by running away and leaving
+    him. But no matter what had happened, I saw my duty plainly before me.
+    I had not been encouraged to stay, but it is possible that I might
+    have done so without encouragement, but now I saw that I must go. The
+    Fates, who, as I had hoped, had compelled my stay, now compelled my
+    departure.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do not give yourself another thought upon the subject," I said. "I
+    will settle the whole matter, and nobody need be frightened or
+    disturbed. The Cheltenham Hotel is only a few miles farther on, and I
+    shall have to walk there anyway. I will start immediately and take the
+    bear with me. I am sure that he will allow me to lead him wherever I
+    please. I have tried him, and I find that he is a great deal gentler
+    than most children."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She exclaimed, in horror: "You must not think of it! He might spring
+    upon you and tear you to pieces!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, he will not do that," I answered. "He is not that sort of a
+    bear&mdash;and, besides, he is securely muzzled. I muzzled him myself, and
+    he did not mind it in the least. Oh, you need not be afraid of the
+    bear; he has had his breakfast and he is in perfect good-humor with
+    the world. It will not take me long to reach the hotel, and I shall
+    enjoy the walk, and when I get there I will be sure to find some shed
+    or out-house where the beast can be shut up until it can be decided
+    what to do with him. I can leave him there and have him legally
+    advertised, and then&mdash;if nothing else can be done&mdash;he can be shot. I
+    shall be very glad to have his skin; it will be worth enough to cover
+    his bill here, and the damages to my bicycle. I shall send for that
+    as soon as I reach the hotel. I can go to Waterton by train and take
+    it with me. I can have it made all right in Waterton. So now, you see,
+    I have settled everything satisfactorily."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She looked at me earnestly, and, although there was a certain
+    solicitude in her gaze, I could also see there signs of great relief.
+    "But isn't there some other way of getting that bear to the hotel?"
+    she said. "It will be dreadful for you to have to walk there and lead
+    him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's the only way to do it," I answered. "You could not hitch a bear
+    behind a wagon&mdash;the horse would run away and jerk his head off. The
+    only way to take a bear about the country is to lead him, and I do not
+    mind it in the least. As I have got to go without my bicycle I would
+    like to have some sort of company. Anyway, the bear must go, and as I
+    am on the road to the Cheltenham I shall be very glad to take him
+    along with me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think you are wonderfully brave," she said, "and very good. If I
+    can persuade myself it will be perfectly safe for you, it will
+    certainly be a great relief to me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was now engaged in a piece of self-sacrifice, and I felt that I must
+    do it thoroughly and promptly. "I will go and get my valise," I said,
+    "for I ought to start immediately."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I will send that!" she exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," I answered; "it does not weigh anything, and I can sling it over
+    my shoulder. By-the-way," I said, turning as I was about to leave the
+    room, "I have forgotten something." I put my hand into my pocket; it
+    would not do to forget that I was, after all, only a departing guest.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, no," she replied, quickly, "I am your debtor. When you find out
+    how much damage you have suffered, and what is to be done with the
+    bear, all that can be settled. You can write to me, but I will have
+    nothing to do with it now."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With my valise over my shoulder I returned to the hall to take leave
+    of my hostess. Now she seemed somewhat contrite. Fate and she had
+    conquered, I was going away, and she was sorry for me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think it is wonderfully good of you to do all this," she said. "I
+    wish I could do something for you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I would have been glad to suggest that she might ask me to come again,
+    and it would also have pleased me to say that I did not believe that
+    her husband, if he could express his opinion, would commend her
+    apparent inhospitality to his successor. But I made no such remarks,
+    and offered my hand, which she cordially clasped as if I were an old
+    friend and were going away to settle in the Himalayas.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I went into the yard to get Orso. He was lying down when I approached
+    him, but I think he knew from my general appearance that I was
+    prepared to take the road, and he rose to his feet as much as to say,
+    "I am ready." I unfastened the chain from the post, and, with the best
+    of wishes for good-luck from John, who now seemed to be very well
+    satisfied with me, I walked around the side of the house, the bear
+    following as submissively as if he had been used to my leadership all
+    his life.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not see the boy nor the lemon-faced woman, and I was glad of it.
+    I believe they would have cast evil eyes upon me, and there is no
+    knowing what that bear might have done in consequence.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester was standing in the door as I reached the road.
+    "Good-bye!" she cried, "and good fortune go with you!" I raised my
+    hat, and gave Orso a little jerk with the chain.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IX
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A RUNAWAY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/h.png" alt="H">e was a very slow walker, that bear. If I had been alone I would have
+    been out of sight of the inn in less than five minutes. As it was, I
+    looked back after a considerable time to see if I really were out of
+    sight of the house, and I found I was not. She was still standing in
+    the doorway, and when I turned she waved her handkerchief. Now that I
+    had truly left and was gone, she seemed to be willing to let me know
+    better than before what a charming woman she was. I took off my hat
+    again and pressed forward.
+
+<p>
+    For a couple of miles, perhaps, I walked thoughtfully, and I do not
+    believe I once thought of the bear shambling silently behind me. I had
+    been dreaming a day-dream&mdash;not building a castle in the air, for I had
+    seen before me a castle already built. I had simply been dreaming
+    myself into it, into its life, into its possessions, into the
+    possession of everything which belonged to it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It had been a fascinating vision. It had suited my fancy better than
+    any vision of the future which I had ever had. I was not ambitious; I
+    loved the loveliness of life. I was a student, and I had a dream of
+    life which would not interfere with the society of my books. I loved
+    all rural pleasures, and I had dreamed of a life where these were
+    spread out ready for my enjoyment. I was a man formed to love, and
+    there had come to me dreams of this sort of thing.
+</p>
+<p>
+    My dreams had even taken practical shape. As I was dressing myself
+    that morning I had puzzled my brain to find a pretext for taking the
+    first step, which would be to remain a few days at the inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The pretext for doing this had appeared to me. For a moment I had
+    snatched at it and shown my joy, and then it had utterly
+    disappeared&mdash;the vision, the fancy, the anticipations, the plans, the
+    vine-covered home in the air, all were destroyed as completely as if
+    it had been the tire of my bicycle scattered about in little bits upon
+    the ground.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come along, old Orso!" I exclaimed, endeavoring to mend my pace, and
+    giving the bear a good pull upon his chain. But the ugly creature did
+    not walk any faster; he simply looked at me with an air as if he would
+    say that if I kept long upon the road I would learn to take it easy,
+    and maintained the deliberate slouch of his demeanor.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently I stopped, and Orso was very willing to imitate me in that
+    action. I found, to my surprise, that I was not walking upon a
+    macadamized road: such was the highway which passed the inn and led, I
+    had been told, to the Cheltenham. I was now upon a road of gravel and
+    clay, smooth enough and wide enough, but of a different character from
+    that on which I had started that morning. I looked about me. Across a
+    field to my left I saw a line of trees which seemed to indicate a
+    road. I had a dim recollection of having passed a road which seemed to
+    turn to the left, but I had been thinking very earnestly, and had paid
+    little attention to it. Probably that road was the main road and this
+    the one which turned off.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I determined to investigate. It would not do to wander out of my way
+    with my present encumbrance. It was now somewhat after noon; the
+    country people were eating their dinners or engaged about their barns;
+    there was nobody upon the road. At some distance ahead of me was a
+    small house standing well back behind a little group of trees, and I
+    decided to go there and make inquiries. And as it would not do at all
+    to throw a rural establishment into a state of wild confusion by
+    leading a bear up to its door, I conducted Orso to the side of the
+    road and chained him to a fence-post. He was perfectly satisfied and
+    lay down, his nose upon his fore-paws.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0017"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-17.png">
+<img src="images/bc-17s.png" width="199" height="200"
+alt="'To My Left I Saw a Line of Trees'"><br />'To My Left I Saw a Line of Trees'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I found three women in the little house. They were in a side kitchen
+    eating their dinner, and I wondered what the bear would have done if
+    he had smelled that dinner. They told me that I was not on the main
+    road, and would have to go back more than half a mile in order to
+    regain it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I was out on the road again I said to myself that if I could
+    possibly make Orso step along at a little more lively pace I might get
+    to the hotel in time for a very late luncheon, and I was beginning to
+    think that I had not been wise in declining portable refreshment, when
+    I heard a noise ahead of me. At a considerable distance along the
+    road, and not far from where I had left the bear, I saw a horse
+    attached to a vehicle approaching me at a furious speed. He was
+    running away! The truth flashed upon me&mdash;he had been frightened by
+    Orso!
+</p>
+<p>
+    I ran a few steps towards the approaching horse. His head was high in
+    the air, and the vehicle swayed from side to side. It was a tall
+    affair with two wheels, and on the high seat sat a lady vainly tugging
+    at the reins. My heart sank. What dreadful thing had I done!
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood in the middle of the road. It seemed but a few seconds before
+    the horse was upon me. He swerved to one side, but I was ready for
+    that. I dashed at his bridle, but caught the end of his cumbrous bit
+    in my right hand. I leaned forward with all the strength that dwelt in
+    my muscles and nerves. The horse's glaring eye was over my face, and I
+    felt the round end of a shaft rise up under my arm. A pair of
+    outstretched forelegs slid past me. I saw the end of a banged tail
+    switching in the dust. The horse was on his haunches. He was stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before I had time to recover an erect attitude and to let up the horse
+    the occupant of the vehicle was on the ground She had skipped down
+    with wonderful alacrity on the side opposite to me, and was coming
+    round by the back of the cart. The horse was now standing on his four
+    legs, trembling in every fibre, and with eyes that were still wild and
+    staring. Holding him firmly, I faced the lady as she stopped near me.
+    She was a young woman in a jaunty summer costume and a round straw
+    hat. She did not seem to be quite mistress of herself; she was not
+    pale, but perhaps that was because her face was somewhat browned by
+    the sun, but her step was not steady, and she breathed hard. Under
+    ordinary circumstances she would have been assisted to the side of the
+    road, where she might sit down and recover herself, and have water
+    brought to her. But I could do nothing of that sort. I could not leave
+    that shivering horse.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0018"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-18.png">
+<img src="images/bc-18s.png" width="200" height="108"
+alt="'He Was Running Away'"><br />'He Was Running Away'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "Are you hurt?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh no," she said, "but I am shaken up a bit. I cannot tell you how
+    grateful I am! I don't believe I ever can tell you!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do not speak of that." I said, quickly. "Perhaps you would feel
+    better if you were to sit down somewhere."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I don't want to sit down," said she. "I am so glad to have my
+    feet on the solid earth again that that is enough for me. It was a
+    bear that frightened him&mdash;a bear lying down by the side of the road a
+    little way back. He never ran away before, but when he saw that bear
+    he gave a great shy and a bolt, and he was off. I just got a glimpse
+    of the beast."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was very anxious to change the conversation, and suggested that I
+    lead the horse into the shade, for the sun was blazing down upon us.
+    The horse submitted to be led to the side of the road, but he was very
+    nervous, and looked everywhere for the approach of shaggy bears.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is perfectly dreadful," she said, when she again approached me,
+    "for people to leave bears about in that way. I suppose he was
+    fastened, for it could not have been a wild beast. They do not lie
+    down by the side of the road. I do not say that I was rattled, but I
+    expected every second that there would be a smash, and there would
+    have been if it had not been for&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is a wonder you were not thrown out," I interrupted, "those carts
+    are so tall."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she answered, "and if I hadn't slipped off the driving-cushion
+    at the first shy I would have been out sure. I never had anything
+    happen like this, but who could have expected a great bear by the side
+    of the road?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Have you far to go?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not very&mdash;about three miles. I made a call this morning on the other
+    road, and was driving home. My name is Miss Larramie. My father's
+    place is on this road. He is Henry Esmond Larramie." I had heard of
+    the gentleman, but had never met him. "I am not afraid of horses,"
+    she continued, "but I do not know about driving this one now. He looks
+    as if he were all ready to bolt again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, it would not do for you to drive him," I said. "That would be
+    extremely risky."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I might walk home," she said, "but I could not leave the horse."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Let me think a minute," said I. Then presently I asked, "Will this
+    horse stand if he is hitched?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered; "I always hitch him when I make calls. There
+    is a big strap under the seat which goes around his neck, and then
+    through a ring in his bit. He has to stand&mdash;he can't get away."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Very well, then," said I; "I will tell you what I will do. I will tie
+    him to this tree. I think he is quieter, and if you will stand by him
+    and talk to him&mdash;he knows you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she answered, "and I can feed him with grass. But why do you
+    want to tie him? What are you going to do?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she spoke she brought me the tie strap, and I proceeded to fasten
+    the horse to a tree.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now, then," said I, "I must go and get the bear and take him away
+    somewhere out of sight. It will never do to leave him there. Some
+    other horse might be coming along."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You get the bear!" she said, surprised.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," I answered; "he is my bear, and&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stepped back, her eyes expanded and her lower jaw dropped. "<i>Your</i>
+    bear!" she cried, and with that her glance seemed to run all over me
+    as if she were trying to find some resemblance to a man who exhibited
+    a bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," I replied; "I left him there while I went to ask my way. It was
+    a dreadful thing to do, but I must leave him there no longer. I will
+    tell you all about it when I come back."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had decided upon a plan of action. I ran down the road to the bear,
+    took down some bars of the fence, and then, untying him, I led him
+    over a field to a patch of woodland. Orso shuffled along humbly as if
+    it did not make any difference to him where he went, and when I
+    reached the woods I entered it by an old cart-road, and soon struck
+    off to one side among some heavy underbrush. Finding a spot where it
+    would be impossible for the beast to be seen from the road, I fastened
+    him securely to a tree. He looked after me regretfully, and I think I
+    heard him whine, but I am not sure of that. I hurried back to the
+    road, replaced the bars, and very soon had joined the young lady.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said she, "never in this world would I have thought that was
+    your bear! But what is to be done now? This horse gave a jump as soon
+    as he heard you running this way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said I, "I will drive you to your house, or, if you are afraid,
+    you can walk, and I will take him home for you if you will give me the
+    directions."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, I am not a bit afraid," she said. "I am sure you can manage
+    him&mdash;you seem to be able to manage animals. But will not this be a
+    great inconvenience to you? Are you going this way? And won't you have
+    to come back after your bear? I can't believe that you are really
+    leading a bear about."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed as I unfastened the horse. "It will not take me long to come
+    back," I said. "Now, I will get in first, and, when I have him
+    properly in hand, you can mount on the other side."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The young lady appeared to have entirely recovered from the effects of
+    her fright, and was by my side in a moment. The horse danced a little
+    as we started and tried to look behind him, but he soon felt that he
+    was under control, and trotted off finely.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now thought that I ought to tell her who I was, for I did not want
+    to be taken for a travelling showman, although I really did not
+    suppose that she would make such a mistake.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So you are the school-master at Walford!" said she. "I have heard
+    about you. Little Billy Marshall is one of your scholars."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I admitted that he was, and that I was afraid he did not do me very
+    much credit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Perhaps not," she said, "but he is a good boy. His mother sometimes
+    works for us; she does quite heavy jobs of sewing, and Billy brings
+    them up by train. He was here a little more than a week ago, and I
+    asked him how he was getting on at school, and if he had a good
+    teacher, and he said the man was pretty good. But I want to know about
+    the bear. How in the world did you happen to be leading a bear?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I related the ursine incident, which amused her very much, and, as she
+    was a wheelwoman herself, she commiserated with me sincerely on the
+    damage to my machine.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So you stopped at the Holly Sprig?" she said. "And how did you like
+    the mistress of that little inn?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I replied that I had found her very interesting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, she is an interesting woman," said my companion, "and a very
+    pretty one, too. Some people wonder why she continues to keep the inn,
+    but perhaps she has to. You know, her husband was murdered."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0019"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-19.png">
+<img src="images/bc-19s.png" width="200" height="138"
+alt="'He Soon Felt That he Was Under Control'"><br />'He Soon Felt That he Was Under Control'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "No, I did not!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "I knew he was not
+    living&mdash;but murdered! That is dreadful! How did that happen?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Nobody knows," she answered. "They had not been married very long&mdash;I
+    do not know how long&mdash;when he was killed. He went to New York on
+    business by himself, and did not come back. They were searching for
+    him days and days&mdash;ever so long, and they could find no clew. At
+    last&mdash;it may have been a month afterwards&mdash;or perhaps it was more&mdash;it
+    was found that he had been murdered. His body had been discovered, and
+    was supposed to be that of somebody else, and had been buried in
+    whatever place the authorities buried people in such cases. Then it
+    was too late to get it or to identify it, or to do anything. Wasn't
+    that perfectly awful?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    This story gave me a peculiar shock. I could not have imagined that
+    that charming and apparently light-hearted young woman at the Holly
+    Sprig had ever been crushed down by such a sorrow as this. But I did
+    not ask any more questions. The young girl by my side probably knew no
+    more than she had already told me. Besides, I did not want to hear any
+    more.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "'Royal' goes along just as if nothing had happened," she said,
+    admiringly regarding the horse. "Now, I wonder if it will be safe for
+    me to drive him again?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I should be very sorry," I answered, "if my thoughtlessness had
+    rendered him unsafe for you; but if he could be led up and down past
+    the place where he saw the bear until he becomes convinced that there
+    is now nothing dreadful in that spot, he may soon be all right again."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Do you know," she said, suddenly turning towards me, "what I would
+    like better than anything else in this world? I would like to be able
+    to stand in the middle of the road and stop a horse as you did!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed and assured her that I knew there were a great many things
+    in the world which it would be much better for her to do than that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Nothing would please me so much," she said, decisively, "not one
+    single, solitary thing! There's our gate. Turn in here, please."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I drove up a winding road which led to a house standing among trees on
+    a slight elevation. "Please let me out here," she said, when I reached
+    the end of the porch. "I will send a man to take the horse."
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER X
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; think I did not have to wait ten seconds after her departure, for a
+    stable-man had seen us approach and immediately came forward. I jumped
+    down from the cart and looked in the direction of the road. I thought
+    if I were to make a cross-cut over the lawn and some adjacent fields I
+    should get back to my bear much quicker than if I returned the way I
+    had come. But this thought had scarcely shaped itself in my mind when
+    I heard the approach of hurrying feet, and in the next moment a little
+    army had thrown itself upon me.
+
+<p>
+    There was a tall, bright-faced man, with side whiskers and a flowing
+    jacket, who came forward with long steps and outstretched hand; there
+    was a lady behind him, with little curls on the side of her head; and
+    there were some boys and girls and other people. And nearly in front
+    of the whole of them was the young lady I had brought to the house.
+    Each one of them seized me by the hand; each one of them told me what
+    a great thing I had done; each of them thanked me from the bottom of
+    his or her heart for saving the life of his or her daughter or sister,
+    and not one of them gave me a chance to say that as I had done all the
+    mischief I could not be too thankful that I had been able to avert
+    evil consequences. From the various references to the details of the
+    incident I concluded that the young lady had dashed into the house and
+    had given a full account of everything which had happened in less time
+    than it would have taken me to arrange my ideas for such a recital.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As soon as I could get a chance I thanked them all for their gracious
+    words, and said that as I was in a hurry I must take my leave.
+    Thereupon arose a hubbub of voices. "Not at dinner-time!" exclaimed
+    Mr. Larramie. "We would never listen to such a thing!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And you need not trouble yourself about your bear," cried my young
+    lady, whose Christian name I soon discovered to be Edith. "He can live
+    on barks and roots until we have time to attend to him. He is used to
+    that in his native wilds."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0020"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-20.png">
+<img src="images/bc-20s.png" width="200" height="147"
+alt="'A Little Army Had Thrown Itself Upon Us.'"><br />'A Little Army Had Thrown Itself Upon Us.'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Now everybody wanted to know everything about the bear, and great was
+    the hilarity which my account occasioned.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come in! Come in!" exclaimed Mr. Larramie. "The bear will be all
+    right if you tied him well. You have just time to get ready for
+    dinner." And noticing a glance I had given to my garments, he
+    continued: "You need not bother about your clothes. We are all in
+    field costume. Oh, I did not see you had a valise. Now, hurry in, all
+    of you!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    That dinner was a most lively meal. Everybody seemed to be talking at
+    once, yet they all found time to eat. The father talked so much that
+    his daughter Edith took the carving-fork from him and served out the
+    mutton-chops herself. The mother, from the other end of the table,
+    with tears in her eyes, continually asked me if I would not have
+    something or other, and how I could ever screw up my courage to go
+    about with an absolutely strange bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a young man, apparently the oldest son, with a fine, frank
+    manner and very broad shoulders. He was so wonderfully developed about
+    the bust that he seemed almost deformed, his breast projecting so far
+    that it gave him the appearance of being round-shouldered in front.
+    This, my practised eye told me, was the result of undue exercise in
+    the direction of chest-expansion. He was a good-natured fellow, and
+    overlooked my not answering several of his questions, owing to the
+    evident want of opportunity to do so.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a yellow-haired girl with a long plait down her back; there
+    was a half-grown boy, wearing a blue calico shirt with a red cravat;
+    there was a small girl who sat by her mother; and there was a young
+    lady, very upright and slender, who did not seem to belong to the
+    family, for she never used the words "father" and "mother," which were
+    continually in the mouths of the others. This young lady talked
+    incessantly, and fired her words after the manner of a Gatling gun,
+    without taking aim at anybody in particular. Sometimes she may have
+    been talking to me, but, as she did not direct her gaze towards me on
+    such occasions, I did not feel bound to consider any suppositions in
+    regard to the matter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I, of course, was the principal object of general attention. They
+    wanted to know what I really thought of Billy Marshall as a scholar.
+    They wanted to know if I would have some more. They wanted to know if
+    I had had any previous experience with bears. The father asked which
+    I thought it would be easier to manage, a boy or a bear. The boy Percy
+    wanted to know how I placed my feet when I stood up in front of a
+    runaway horse. Others asked if I intended to go back to my school at
+    Walford, and how I liked the village, and if I were president of the
+    literary society there, which Mrs. Larramie thought I ought to be, on
+    account of my scholastic position.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0021"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-21.png">
+<img src="images/bc-21s.png" width="163" height="200"
+alt="'would It Be Easier to Manage a Boy Or A Bear?'"><br />'would It Be Easier to Manage a Boy Or A Bear?'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    But before the meal was over the bear had come to be the absorbing
+    subject of conversation. I was asked my plans about him, and they were
+    all disapproved.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It would be of no use to take him to the Cheltenham," said Walter,
+    the oldest son. "They couldn't keep him there. They have too many
+    horses&mdash;a livery-stable. They wouldn't let you come on the place with
+    him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course not," said Mr. Larramie. "And, besides, why should you take
+    him there? It would be a poor place anyway. They wouldn't keep him
+    until his owner turned up. They wouldn't have anything to do with him.
+    What you want to do is to bring your bear here. We have a hay-barn out
+    in the fields. He could sleep in the hay, and we could give him a long
+    chain so that he could have a nice range."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The younger members of the family were delighted with this
+    suggestion. Nothing would please them better than to have a bear on
+    the place. Each one of them was ready to take entire charge of it, and
+    Percy declared that he would go into the woods and hunt for wild-bee
+    honey with which to feed it. Even Mrs. Larramie assured me that if a
+    bear were well chained, at a suitable distance, she would have no
+    fears whatever of it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I accepted the proposition, for I was glad to get rid of the animal in
+    a way which would please so many people, and after dinner was over,
+    and I had smoked a cigar with my host and his son Walter, I said that
+    it was time for me to go and get the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But you won't go by the main road," said Mr. Larramie. "That makes a
+    great curve below here to avoid a hill. If I understood you properly,
+    you left the bear not far from a small house inhabited by three
+    women?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "They're the McKenna sisters," added Walter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said the father, "and their house is not more than two miles
+    from here by a field road. I will go with you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I exclaimed that I would not put him to so much trouble, but my words
+    were useless. The Walter son declared that he would go also, that he
+    would like the walk; the Percy son declared he was going if anybody
+    went; and Genevieve, the girl with the yellow plait, said that she
+    wished she were a boy so that she could go too, and she wished she
+    could go anyway, boy or no boy, and as her father said that there was
+    no earthly reason why she should not go, she ran for her hat.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith looked as if she would like to go, but she did not say so;
+    and, as for me, I agreed to every proposition. It would certainly be
+    great fun to do things with this lively household.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We started off without the boy, but it was not long before he came
+    running after us, and to my horror I perceived that he carried a
+    rifle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What are you going to do with that, Percy?" exclaimed his father.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't expect to do anything with it," the boy replied, "but I
+    thought it would be a good thing to bring it along&mdash;especially as
+    Genevieve is with us. Nobody knows what might happen."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's true," exclaimed Walter, "and the fact that Genevieve is along
+    is the best reason in the world for your not bringing a gun. You
+    better go take it back."
+</p>
+<p>
+    To this Percy strongly objected. He was going out on a sort of a
+    bear-hunt, and to him half the pleasure would be lost if he did not
+    carry a gun. I am not a coward, but a boy with a gun is a terror to
+    me. My expression may have intimated my state of mind, for Mr.
+    Larramie said to me that we had now gone so far that it would be a
+    pity to send Percy back, and that he did not think there would be any
+    danger, for his boy had been taught how to carry a gun properly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We are all out-of-door people and sportsmen," he said, "and we begin
+    early. But I suppose what you are thinking about is the danger of some
+    of us ending soon. But we need not be afraid of that. Walk in front,
+    Percy, and keep the barrel pointed downward."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we came in sight of the house of the three McKennas, Walter
+    proposed that we make a d&eacute;tour towards the woods. "For," said he, "if
+    those good women see a party like this with a gun among them, they
+    will be sure to think it is a case of escaped criminal, or something
+    of that kind, and be frightened out of their wits."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We skirted the edge of the trees until we came to the opening of the
+    wood road, which I recognized immediately, and, asking Percy and the
+    others to keep back, I went on by myself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't think people would frighten that sort of a bear," I heard
+    Genevieve say. "He must be used to crowds around him when he's
+    dancing."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I presently reached the place where I had turned from the road. It was
+    a natural break in the woods. There was the tree to which I had tied
+    the bear, but there was no bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood aghast, and in a moment the rest of the party were clustered
+    around me. "Is this where you left him?" they cried. "And is he gone?
+    Are you sure this is the place?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Yes, I was sure of it. I have an excellent eye for locality, and I
+    knew that I had chained the bear to the small oak in front of me. At
+    that moment there was a scream from Genevieve. "Look! Look!" she
+    cried. "There he is, just ready to spring!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    We all looked up, and, sure enough, on the lower branch of the oak,
+    half enveloped in foliage, we saw the bear extended at full length and
+    blinking down at us. I gave a shout of delight.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now, keep back, all of you!" I cried. "Bears don't spring from trees,
+    but it will be better for you to be out of the way while I try to get
+    him down."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I walked up to the oak-tree, and then I found that the bear was still
+    firmly attached to it. His chain had been fastened loosely around the
+    trunk; he had climbed up to the branch and pulled the chain with him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now called upon Orso to come down, but apparently he did not
+    understand English, and lay quietly upon the branch, his head towards
+    the trunk of the tree. I extended my hand up towards the chain, and
+    found that I could nearly reach it. "Shall I give you a lift?" cried
+    Walter, and I accepted the offer. It was a hard piece of work for him,
+    but he was a professed athlete, and he would have lifted me if it had
+    cracked his spine. I reached up and unhooked the chain. It was then
+    long enough for me to stand on the ground and hold the end of it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now I began to pull. "Come down!" I said. "Come down, Orso!" But Orso
+    did not move.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Bears don't come down head-foremost," cried Percy; "they turn around
+    and come down backwards. You ought to have a chain to his tail if you
+    want to pull him down."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "He hasn't got any tail!" exclaimed Genevieve.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was in a quandary. I might as well try to break the branch as to
+    pull the bear down. "If we had only thought of bringing a bucket of
+    meat!" cried Percy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would you mind holding the chain," I said to Walter, "while I try to
+    drive him down?" Of course the developed young man was not afraid to
+    do anything I was not afraid to do, and he took the chain. There was
+    a pine-tree growing near the oak, and, mounting into this, I found
+    that with a long stick which Mr. Larramie handed me I could just reach
+    the bear. "Go down!" I said, tapping him on the haunches, but he did
+    not move.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Can't you speak to him in Italian?" said Genevieve. "Tame bears know
+    Italian. Doesn't anybody know the Italian for 'Come down out of a
+    tree?'" But such knowledge was absent from the party.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Try him in Latin," cried Percy. "That must be a good deal like
+    Italian, anyway."
+</p>
+<p>
+    To this suggestion Mr. Larramie made no answer; he had left college
+    before any of the party present had been born; Mr. Walter looked a
+    little confused; he had graduated several years before, and his
+    classics were rusty. I felt that my pedagogical position made it
+    incumbent upon me to take immediate action, but for the life of me I
+    could not think of an appropriate phrase.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Give him high English!" cried Mr. Larramie. "That's often classic
+    enough! Tell him to descend!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Orso, descend!" I cried, giving a little foreign twang to the words.
+    Immediately the bear began to twist like a caterpillar upon the limb,
+    he extended his hind-legs towards the trunk, he seized it with his
+    fore-paws. He began slowly to move downward.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Hurrah!" cried Percy, "that hit him like a rifle-ball! Hurrah for
+    high English! That's good enough for me!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Look at his hind hands!" cried Genevieve. "He has worn all the hair
+    off his palms!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I hurried from the tree and reached the ground before the bear. Then
+    taking the end of the chain, I advised the others to move out of the
+    woods while I followed with the bear. They all obeyed except
+    Genevieve, who wanted very much to linger behind and help me lead him.
+    But this I would not permit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The bear followed me with his usual docility until we had emerged from
+    the woods. Then he gave a little start, and fixed his eyes upon Percy,
+    who stood at a short distance, his rifle in his hand. I had not
+    supposed that this bear was afraid of anything, but now I had reason
+    to believe that he was afraid of guns, for the instant he saw the
+    armed boy he made the little start I have mentioned, and followed it
+    up by a great bolt which jerked the chain from my hand, and the next
+    instant Orso was bounding away in great lopes, his chain rattling
+    behind him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Promptly Percy brought his rifle to his shoulder. "Don't you fire!" I
+    shouted. "Put down your gun and leave it here. It frightens him!" And
+    with that we were all off in hot pursuit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Cut him off from the woods!" shouted Mr. Walter, who was in advance.
+    "If he gets in the woods we'll lose him sure!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    We followed this good advice, and at the top of our speed we
+    endeavored to get between the beast and the trees. To a certain extent
+    we succeeded in our object, for some of us were fast runners, and
+    Orso, perceiving that he might be cut off from a woody retreat, turned
+    almost at right angles and made directly for the house.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "He's after the three McKennas!" screamed Genevieve, as she turned to
+    follow the bear, and from being somewhat in the rear she was now in
+    advance of us, and dashed across the field at a most wonderful rate
+    for a girl.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The rest of us soon passed her, but before we reached the house the
+    bear disappeared behind some out-buildings. Then we saw him again. He
+    dashed through the gate of a back yard. He seemed to throw himself
+    against the house. He disappeared through a door-way. There was a
+    great crash as of crockery and tin. There were screams. There was
+    rattling and banging, and then all was still. When we reached the
+    house we heard no sound.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XI
+</h2>
+<h4>
+    THE THREE McKENNAS
+</h4>
+
+    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; was in advance, and as I entered the door-way through which the bear
+    had disappeared, I found myself in the kitchen where I had seen the
+    three women at their dinner. Wild confusion had been brought about in
+    a second. A table had been over-turned, broken dishes and tin things
+    were scattered on the floor, a wooden chair lay upon its back, and the
+    room seemed deserted. The rest of the party quickly rushed in behind
+    me, and great were their exclamations at the scene of havoc.
+
+<p>
+    "I hope nothing has happened to the McKenna sisters," cried Mr.
+    Larramie. "They must have been in here!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not suppose that anything serious had occurred, for the bear's
+    jaws were securely strapped, but with anxious haste I went into the
+    other part of the house. Across a hallway I saw an open door, and
+    from the room within came groans, or perhaps I should call them
+    long-drawn wails of woe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was in the room in a moment, and the others crowded through the
+    door-way behind me. It was a good-sized bedroom, probably the
+    "spare-room" of the first floor. In one corner was a tall and wide
+    high-posted bedstead, and in the very middle of it sat an elderly
+    woman drawn up into the smallest compass into which she could possibly
+    compress herself. Her eyes were closed, her jaws were dropped, her
+    spectacles hung in front of her mouth, her gray hair straggled over
+    her eyes, and her skin was of a soapy whiteness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She paid no attention to the crowd of people in the room. Evidently
+    she was frightened out of her senses. Every moment she emitted a
+    doleful wail. As we stood gazing at her, and before we had time to
+    speak to her, she seemed to be seized by an upheaving spasm, the
+    influence of which was so great that she actually rose in the air, and
+    as she did so her wail intensified itself into a shriek, and as she
+    came down again with a sudden thump all the breath in her body seemed
+    to be bounced out in a gasp of woe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It's Susan McKenna!" exclaimed Walter. "What in the world is the
+    matter with her? Miss Susan, are you hurt?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She made no answer, but again she rose, again she gave vent to a wild
+    wail, and again she came down with a thump.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Percy was now on his knees near the bed. "It's the bear!" he cried.
+    "He's under there, and he's humping himself!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Sacking bottom!" cried the practical Genevieve "There isn't room
+    enough for him!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Stooping down I saw the bear under the bed, now crowding himself back
+    as far as possible into a corner. No part of his chain was exposed to
+    view, and for a moment I did not see how I was going to get him out.
+    But the first thing was to get rid of the woman.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Come, Miss Susan," said Mr. Larramie, "let me help you off the bed,
+    and you can go into another room, and then we will attend to this
+    animal. You need not be afraid to get down. He won't hurt you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    But the McKenna sister paid no attention to these remarks. She kept
+    her eyes closed; she moaned and wailed. So long as that horrible demon
+    was under the bed she would not have put as much as one of her toes
+    over the edge for all the money in the world!
+</p>
+<p>
+    In every way I tried to induce the bear to come out, but he paid no
+    attention to me. He had been frightened, and he was now in darkness
+    and security. Suddenly a happy thought struck me. I glanced around the
+    room, and then I rushed into the hall. Genevieve followed me. "What do
+    you want?" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am looking for some overshoes!" I cried. "India-rubber ones!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Instantly Genevieve began to dash around. In a few moments she had
+    opened a little closet which I had not noticed. "Here is one!" she
+    cried, "but it's torn&mdash;the heel is nearly off! Perhaps the other
+    one&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Give me that!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't matter about its being torn!"
+    With the old overshoe in my hand I ran back into the room, where Mr.
+    Larramie was still imploring the McKenna sister to get down from the
+    bed. I stooped and thrust the shoe under as far as I could reach.
+    Almost immediately I saw a movement in the shaggy mass in the corner.
+    I wriggled the shoe, and a paw was slightly extended. Then I drew it
+    away slowly from under the bed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now, Miss Susan McKenna rose in the air higher than she had yet gone.
+    A maddening wail went up, and for a moment she tottered on the apex
+    of an elevation like a wooden idol upheaved by an earthquake. Before
+    she had time to tumble over she sank again with a thump. The great
+    hairy bear, looking twice as large in that room as he appeared in the
+    open air, came out from under the foot of the bed, and as I dangled
+    the old rubber shoe in front of his nose he would have seized upon it
+    if his jaws had not been strapped together. I got hold of the chain
+    and conducted him quietly outside, amid the cheers and hand-clapping
+    of Percy and Genevieve.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I chained Orso to a post of the fence, and, removing his muzzle, I
+    gave him the old rubber shoe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Shall I bring him some more?" cried Genevieve, full of zeal in good
+    works. But I assured her that one would do for the present.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now hurried into the house to find out what had happened to the
+    persons and property of the McKenna sisters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Where are the other two?" cried Genevieve, who was darting from one
+    room to another; "the bear can't have swallowed them."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not long before Percy discovered the two missing sisters in the
+    cellar. They were seated on the ground with their aprons over their
+    heads.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was some time before quiet was restored in that household. To the
+    paralyzing terror occasioned by the sudden advent of the bear
+    succeeded wild lamentations over the loss of property. I assured them
+    that I was perfectly willing to make good the loss, but Mr. Larramie
+    would not allow me to say anything on the subject.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is not your affair," said he. "The bear would have done no damage
+    whatever had it not been for the folly of Percy in bringing his gun&mdash;I
+    suppose the animal has been shot at some time or other&mdash;and my
+    weakness in allowing him to keep it. I will attend to these damages.
+    The amount is very little, I imagine, principally cheap crockery, and
+    the best thing you can do is to start off slowly with your bear. The
+    women will not be able to talk reasonably until it is off the
+    premises. I will catch up with you presently."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When the bear and I, with the rest of the party, were fairly out of
+    sight of the house, we stopped and waited for Mr. Larramie, and it was
+    not long before he joined us.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we reached the hay-barn we were met by the rest of the Larramie
+    family, all anxious to see the bear. Even Miss Edith, who had had one
+    glimpse of the beast, was very glad indeed to assure me that she did
+    not wonder in the least that I had supposed there would be no harm in
+    leaving such a mild creature for a little while by the side of the
+    road, and I was sure from the exclamations of the rest of the family
+    that Orso would not suffer for want of care and attention during his
+    stay in the hay-barn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was immensely relieved to get rid of the bear and to leave him in
+    such good quarters, for it now appeared to me quite reasonable that I
+    might have had difficulty in lodging him anywhere on the premises of
+    the Cheltenham, and under any circumstances I very much preferred
+    appearing at that hotel without an ursine companion. As soon as we
+    reached the house I told Mr. Larramie that it was now necessary for me
+    to hurry on, and asked if there were not some way to the hotel which
+    would not make it necessary for me to go back to the main road.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The good gentleman fairly shouted at me. "You aren't going to any
+    hotel!" he declared. "Do you suppose we are heathens, to let you start
+    off at this late hour in the afternoon for a hotel? You have nothing
+    to do with hotels&mdash;you spend the night with us, sir! If you are
+    thinking about your clothes, pray dismiss the subject from your mind.
+    If it will make you feel better satisfied, we will all put on golf
+    suits. In the morning we will get your machine from the Holly Sprig,
+    and when you want to go on we will send you and it to Waterton in a
+    wagon. It is not a long drive, and it is much the pleasanter way to
+    manage your business."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The family showed themselves delighted when they heard that I was to
+    spend the night with them, and I did not object to the plan, for I had
+    not the slightest desire to go to a summer hotel. Just before I went
+    up to my room to get ready for supper, the young Genevieve came to me
+    upon the porch.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would you mind," she said, "letting me feel your muscle?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Very much surprised, I reached out my arm for her inspection, and she
+    clasped her long thin fingers around my <i>biceps flexor cubiti.</i>
+    Apparently, the inspection was very satisfactory to her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I would give anything," she said, "if I had muscle like that!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed heartily. "My dear little girl," said I, "you would be
+    sorry, indeed, if you had anything of the sort. When you grow up and
+    go to parties, how would you like to show bare arms shaped like mine?
+    You would be a spectacle, indeed."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said she, "perhaps you are right. I might not care to have
+    them bulge, but I would like to have them hard."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was a lively supper and an interesting evening. Miss Edith sat
+    opposite to me at table&mdash;I gave her this title because I was informed
+    that there was an elder sister who was away on a visit. I could see
+    that she regarded me as her especial charge. She did not ask me what I
+    would have, but she saw that every possible want was attended to. As
+    the table was lighted by a large hanging-lamp, I had a better view of
+    her features than I had yet obtained. She was not handsome. Her eyes
+    were too wide apart, her nose needed perhaps an eighth of an inch in
+    length, and her well-shaped mouth would not have suffered by a slight
+    reduction. But there was a cheerful honesty in her expression and in
+    her words which gave me the idea that she was a girl to believe in.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After supper we played round games, and the nervous young lady talked.
+    She could not keep her mind on cards, and therefore played no game. In
+    the course of the evening Mrs. Larramie took occasion to say to me,
+    and her eyes were very full as she spoke, that she did not want me to
+    think she had forgotten that that day I had given her her daughter,
+    and although the others&mdash;greatly to my satisfaction&mdash;did not indulge
+    in any such embarrassing expressions of gratitude, they did not fail
+    to let me know the high estimation in which they held me. The little
+    girl, Clara, sat close to me while I was playing, every now and then
+    gently stroking my arm, and when she was taken off to bed she ran back
+    to say to me that the next time I brought a bear to their house she
+    hoped I would also bring some little ones. Even Percy took occasion to
+    let me know that, under the circumstances, he was willing to overlook
+    entirely the fact of my being a school-master.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After the games, when the family was scattering&mdash;not to their several
+    bed-chambers, but apparently to various forms of recreation or study
+    which seemed to demand their attention&mdash;Miss Edith asked me if I would
+    not like to take a walk and look at the stars. As this suggestion was
+    made in the presence of her parents, I hesitated a moment, expecting
+    some discreet objection. But none came, and I assented most willingly
+    to a sub-astral promenade.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a long, flagged walk which led to the road, and backward and
+    forward upon this path we walked many, many times.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I like starlight better than moonlight," said Miss Edith, "for it
+    doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. You cannot do anything
+    by starlight except simply walk about, and if there are any trees,
+    that isn't easy. You know this, you don't expect anything more, and
+    you're satisfied. But moonlight is different. Sometimes it is so
+    bright out-of-doors when the moon is full that you are apt to think
+    you could play golf or croquet, or even sit on a bench and read. But
+    it isn't so. You can't do any of these things&mdash;at least, you can't do
+    them with any satisfaction. And yet, month after month, if you live in
+    the country, the moon deceives you into thinking that for a great many
+    things she is nearly as good as the sun. But all she does is to make
+    the world beautiful, and she doesn't do that as well as the sun does
+    it. The stars make no pretences, and that is the reason I like them
+    better.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But I did not bring you out here to tell you all this," she
+    continued, offering me no opportunity of giving my opinions on the
+    stars and moon. "I simply wanted to say that I am so glad and thankful
+    to be walking about on the surface of the earth with whole bones and
+    not a scratch from head to foot"&mdash;at this point my heart began to
+    sink: I never do know what to say when people are grateful to
+    me&mdash;"that I am going to show you my gratitude by treating you as I
+    know you would like to be treated. I shall not pour out my gratitude
+    before you and make you say things which are incorrect, for you are
+    bound to do that if you say anything&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said; "but now let us
+    talk some more about the stars."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, bother the stars!" said she. "But I will drop the subject of
+    gratitude as soon as I have said that if you ever come to know me
+    better than you do now, you will know that in regard to such things I
+    am the right kind of a girl."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had not the slightest doubt that she was entirely correct. And then
+    she began to talk about golf, and after that of croquet.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I consider that the finest out-door game we have," she said, "because
+    there is more science in it than you find in any of the others. Your
+    brains must work when you play croquet with intelligent opponents."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The great trouble about it is," I said, "that it is often so easy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But you can get rid of that objection," she replied, "if you have a
+    bad ground. Croquet needs hazards just as much as golf does. The
+    finest games I have ever seen were played on a bad ground."
+</p>
+<p>
+    So we talked and walked until some of the lights in the upper windows
+    of the house had gone out. We ascended to the porch, and just before
+    entering the front door she turned to me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I wish I could go to sleep to-night with the same right to feel
+    proud, self-confident, superior, that you have. Good-night." And she
+    held out her hand and gave mine a strong, hearty shake.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled as she left me standing on the porch. This was the same spot
+    on which her sister Genevieve had felt my muscle. "This is an
+    appreciative family," I said, and, guided by the sound of voices, I
+    found Mr. Larramie and his son Walter in the billiard-room.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/b.png" alt="B">efore going to bed that night I did not throw myself into an
+    easy-chair and gaze musingly out into the night. On the contrary, I
+    stood up sturdily with my back to the mantel-piece, and with the
+    forefinger of my right hand I tapped my left palm.
+
+<p>
+    "Now, then," said I to myself, "as soon as my bicycle is put into
+    working order I shall imitate travellers in hot countries&mdash;I shall
+    ride all night, and I shall rest all day. There are too many young
+    women in Cathay. They turn up one after another with the regularity of
+    a continuous performance. No sooner is the curtain rung down on one
+    act than it is rung up on another. Perhaps after a while I may get out
+    of Cathay, and then again I may ride by day."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In taking my things from my valise, I pulled out the little box which
+    the doctor's daughter had given me, but I did not open it. "No,"
+    said I, "there is no need whatever that I should take a capsule
+    to-night."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0022"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-22.png">
+<img src="images/bc-22s.png" width="119" height="200"
+alt="'I Tapped My Left Palm.'"><br />'I Tapped My Left Palm.'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    After breakfast the next day Mr. Larramie came to me. "Do you know,"
+    said he, "I feel ashamed on account of the plans I made for you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not know, for I could see no earthly reason for such feeling.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I arranged," said he, "to send to the Holly Sprig for your machine,
+    and then to have you and it driven over to Waterton. Now this I
+    consider brutish. My wife told me that it was, and I agree with her
+    perfectly. It will take several days to repair that injured
+    wheel&mdash;Walter tells me you cannot expect it in less than three
+    days&mdash;and what will you do in Waterton all that time? It isn't a
+    pretty country, the hotels are barely good enough for a night's stop,
+    and there isn't anything for you to do. Even if you hired a wheel you
+    would find it stupid exploring that country. Now, sir, that plan is
+    brushed entirely out of sight. Your bicycle shall be sent on, and when
+    you hear that it is repaired and ready for use, you can go on yourself
+    if you wish to."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My dear sir," I exclaimed, "this is entirely too much!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    He put his hands upon my shoulders and looked me squarely in the
+    face. "Too much!" said he, "too much! That may be your opinion, but I
+    can tell you you have the whole of the rest of the world against you.
+    That is, you would have if they all knew the circumstances. Now you
+    are only one, and if you want to know how many people are opposed to
+    you, I have no doubt Percy can tell you, but I am not very well posted
+    in regard to the present population of the world."
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was no good reason that I could offer why I should go and sit
+    solitary in Waterton for three days, and if I had had any such reason
+    I know it would have been treated with contempt. So I submitted&mdash;not
+    altogether with an easy mind, and yet seeing cause for nothing but
+    satisfaction and content.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Another thing," said Mr. Larramie; "I have thought that you would
+    like to attend to your bicycle yourself. Perhaps you will want to take
+    it apart before you send it away. Percy will be glad to drive to the
+    Holly Sprig, and you can go with him. Then, when you come back, I will
+    have my man take your machine to Waterton. I have a young horse very
+    much in need of work, and I shall be glad to have an excuse for giving
+    him some travelling to do." I stood astounded. Go back to the Holly
+    Sprig! This arrangement had been made without reference to me. It had
+    been supposed, of course, that I would be glad to go and attend to the
+    proper packing of my bicycle. Even now, Percy, running across the
+    yard, called to me that he would be ready to start in two minutes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I took my seat in the wagon, Mr. Larramie was telling me that he
+    would like me to inform Mrs. Chester that he would keep the bear until
+    it was reasonable to suppose that the owner would not come for it, and
+    that then he would either sell it or buy it himself, and make
+    satisfactory settlement with her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I know I did not hear all that he said, for my mind was wildly busy
+    trying to decide what I ought to do. Should I jump down even now and
+    decline to go to the Holly Sprig, or should I go on and attend to my
+    business like a sensible man? There was certainly no reason why I
+    should do anything else, but when the impatient Percy started, my mind
+    was not in the least made up; I remained on the seat beside him simply
+    because I was there.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Percy was a good driver, and glad to exhibit his skill. He was also in
+    a lively mood, and talked with great freedom. "Do you know," said he,
+    "that Edith wanted to drive you over to the inn? Think of that! But it
+    had all been cut and dried that I should go, and I was not going to
+    listen to any such nonsense. Besides, you might want somebody to help
+    you take your machine apart and pack it up."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was well satisfied to be accompanied by the boy and not by his
+    sister, and with the wheels and his tongue rattling along together, we
+    soon reached the inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Percy drove past it and was about to turn into the entrance of the
+    yard, but I stopped him. "I suppose your wheel is back there," he
+    said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I, "but I will get out here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "All right," he replied, "I'll drive around to the sheds."
+</p>
+<p>
+    At the open door of the large room I met Mrs. Chester, evidently on
+    her way out-of-doors. She wore a wide straw hat, her hands were
+    gloved, and she carried a basket and a pair of large shears. When she
+    saw me there was a sudden flush upon her face, but it disappeared
+    quickly. Whether this meant that she was agreeably surprised to see me
+    again, or whether it showed that she resented my turning up again so
+    soon after she thought she was finally rid of me, I did not know. It
+    does not do to predicate too much upon the flushes of women.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0023"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-23.png">
+<img src="images/bc-23s.png" width="92" height="200"
+alt="'There Was a Sudden Flush'"><br />'There Was a Sudden Flush'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I hastened to inform her why I had come, and now, having recovered
+    from her momentary surprise, she asked me to walk in and sit down, an
+    invitation which I willingly accepted, for I did not in the least
+    object to detaining her from her garden.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now she wanted to know how I had managed to get on with the bear, and
+    what the people at the Cheltenham said about it, and when I went on to
+    tell her the whole story, which I did at considerable length, she was
+    intensely interested. She shuddered at the runaway, she laughed
+    heartily at the uprising of the McKenna sister, and she listened
+    earnestly to everything I had to say about the Larramies.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You seem to have a wonderful way," she exclaimed, "of falling in
+    with&mdash;" I think she was going to say "girls," but she changed it to
+    "people."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I. "I should not have imagined that I could make so many
+    good friends in such a short time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then I went on to give her Mr. Larramie's message, and to say more
+    things about the bear. I was glad to think of any subject which might
+    prolong the conversation. So far she was interested, and all that we
+    said seemed perfectly natural to the occasion, but this could not
+    last, and I felt within me a strong desire to make some better use of
+    this interview.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had not expected to see her again, certainly not so soon, and here I
+    was alone with her, free to say what I chose; but what should I say? I
+    had not premeditated anything serious. In fact, I was not sure that I
+    wished to say anything which should be considered absolutely serious
+    and definite, but if I were ever to do anything definite&mdash;and the more
+    I talked with this bright-eyed and merry-hearted young lady the
+    stronger became the longing to say something definite&mdash;now was the
+    time to prepare the way for what I might do or say hereafter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was beginning to grow nervous, for the right thing to say would not
+    present itself, when Percy strode into the room. "Good-morning, Mrs.
+    Chester," said he, and then, turning to me, he declared that he had
+    been waiting in the yard, and began to think I might have forgotten I
+    had come for my wheel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of course I rose and she rose, and we followed Percy to the back door
+    of the house. Outside I saw that the boy of the inn was holding the
+    horse, and that the wheel was already placed in the back part of the
+    wagon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I've got everything all right, I think," said Percy. "I didn't
+    suppose it was necessary to wait for you, but you'd better take a look
+    at it to see if you think it will travel without rubbing or damaging
+    itself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stepped to the wagon and found that the bicycle was very well
+    placed. "Now, then," said Percy, taking the reins and mounting to his
+    seat, "all you've got to do is to get up, and we'll be off."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I turned to the back door, but she was not there. "Wait a minute,"
+    said I, and I hurried into the house. She was not in the hall. I
+    looked into the large room. She was not there. I went into the parlor,
+    and out upon the front porch. Then I went back into the house to seek
+    some one who might call her. I was even willing to avail myself of the
+    services of citric acid, for I could not leave that house without
+    speaking to her again.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a moment Mrs. Chester appeared from some inner room. I believe she
+    suspected that I had something to say to her which had nothing to do
+    with the bear or the Larramies, for I had been conscious that my
+    speech had been a little rambling, as if I were earnestly thinking of
+    something else than what I was saying, and that she desired I should
+    be taken away without an opportunity to unburden my mind; but now,
+    hearing me tramping about and knowing that I was looking for her, she
+    was obliged to show herself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she came forward I noticed that her expression had changed
+    somewhat. There was nothing merry about her eyes; I think she was
+    slightly pale, and her brows were a little contracted, as if she were
+    doing something she did not want to do.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I hope you found everything all right," she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked at her steadily. "No," said I, "everything is not all right."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A slight shade of anxiety came upon her face. "I am sorry to hear
+    that," she said. "Was your wheel injured more than you thought?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Wheel!" I exclaimed. "I was not thinking of wheels! I will tell you
+    what is not all right! It is not right for me to go away without
+    saying to you that I&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this moment there was a strong, shrill whistle from the front of
+    the house. A most unmistakable sense of relief showed itself upon
+    her face. She ran to the front door, and called out, "Yes, he is
+    coming."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0024"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-24.png">
+<img src="images/bc-24s.png" width="200" height="175"
+alt="'The Scene Vividly Recurred to My Mind'"><br />'The Scene Vividly Recurred to My Mind'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    There was nothing for me to do but to follow her. I greatly disliked
+    going away without saying what I wanted to say, and I would have been
+    willing to speak even at the front door, but she gave me no chance.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good-bye," she said, extending her hand. It was gloved. It gave no
+    clasp&mdash;it invited none. As I could not say the words which were on my
+    tongue, I said nothing, and, raising my cap, I hurried away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To make up for lost time, Percy drove very rapidly. "I came mighty
+    near having a fight while you were in the house," said he. "It was
+    that boy at the inn. He's a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully
+    impertinent. He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the
+    bear had hurt you. He said he believed you were really afraid of the
+    beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith's runaway, and then he
+    said, fair and square, that he didn't believe you stopped the horse.
+    He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you
+    came along and grabbed him and took all the credit. He said he
+    thought you were that sort of a fellow.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That's the time I was going to pitch into him, but then I thought it
+    would be a pretty low-down thing for me to be fighting a country
+    tavern-boy, so I simply gave him my opinion of him. I don't believe
+    he'd have held the horse, only he thought it would make you get away
+    quicker. He hates you. Did you ever kick him or anything?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I laughed, and, telling Percy that I had never kicked the boy, I
+    thanked him for his championship of me.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A MAN WITH A LETTER
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/w.png" alt="W">hen my unfortunate bicycle had been started on its way to Waterton, I
+    threw myself into the family life of the Larramies, determined not to
+    let them see any perturbations of mind which had been caused by the
+    extraordinary promptness of the younger son. If a man had gone with me
+    instead of that boy, I would have had every opportunity of saying what
+    I wanted to say to the mistress of the Holly Sprig. I may state that I
+    frequently found myself trying to determine what it was I wanted to
+    say.
+
+<p>
+    I did my best to suppress all thoughts relating to things outside of
+    this most hospitable and friendly house. I went to see the bear with
+    the younger members of the family. I played four games of tennis, and
+    in the afternoon the whole family went to fish in a very pretty
+    mill-pond about a mile from the house. A good many fish were caught,
+    large and small, and not one of the female fishers, except Miss
+    Willoughby, the nervous young lady, and little Clara, would allow me
+    to take a fish from her hook. Even Mrs. Larramie said that if she
+    fished at all she thought she ought to do everything for herself, and
+    not depend upon other people.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As much as possible I tried to be with Mr. Larramie and Walter. I had
+    not the slightest distaste for the company of the ladies, but there
+    was a consciousness upon me that there were pleasant things in which a
+    man ought to restrict himself. There was nothing chronic about this
+    consciousness. It was on duty for this occasion only.
+</p>
+<p>
+    That night at the supper-table the conversation took a peculiar turn.
+    Mr. Larramie was the chief speaker, and it pleased him to hold forth
+    upon the merits of Mrs. Chester. He said, and his wife and others of
+    the company agreed with him, that she was a lady of peculiarly
+    estimable character; that she was out of place; that every one who
+    knew her well felt that she was out of place; but that she so graced
+    her position that she almost raised it to her level. Over and over
+    again her friends had said to her that a lady such as she was&mdash;still
+    young, of a good family, well educated, who had travelled, and moved
+    in excellent society&mdash;should not continue to be the landlady of a
+    country inn, but the advice of her friends had had no effect upon her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was not known whether it was necessary for her to continue the
+    inn-keeping business, but the general belief was that it was not
+    necessary. It was supposed that she had had money when she married
+    Godfrey Chester, and he was not a poor man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then came a strange revelation, which Mr. Larramie dwelt upon with
+    considerable earnestness. There was an idea, he said, that Mrs.
+    Chester kept up the Holly Sprig because she thought it would be her
+    husband's wish that she should do so. He had probably said something
+    about its being a provision for her in case of his death. At any rate,
+    she seemed desirous to maintain the establishment exactly as he had
+    ordered it in his life, making no change whatever, very much as if she
+    had expected him to come back, and wished him to find everything as he
+    had left it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course she doesn't expect him to come back," said Mr. Larramie,
+    "because it must now be four years since the time of his supposed
+    murder&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Supposed!" I cried, with much more excited interest than I would have
+    shown if I had taken proper thought before speaking.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said Mr. Larramie, "that is a fine point. I said 'supposed'
+    because the facts of the case are not definitely known. There can be
+    no reasonable doubt, however, that he is dead, for even if this fact
+    had not been conclusively proved by the police investigations, it
+    might now be considered proved by his continued absence. It would have
+    been impossible for Mr. Chester alive to keep away from his wife for
+    four years&mdash;they were devoted to each other. Furthermore, the exact
+    manner of his death is not known&mdash;although it must have been a
+    murder&mdash;and for these reasons I used the word 'supposed.' But, really,
+    so far as human judgment can go, the whole matter is a certainty. I
+    have not the slightest doubt in the world that Mrs. Chester so
+    considers it, and yet, as she does not positively know it&mdash;as she has
+    not the actual proofs that her husband is no longer living&mdash;she
+    refuses in certain ways, in certain ways only, to consider herself a
+    widow."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And what ways are those?" I asked, in a voice which, I hope,
+    exhibited no undue emotion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "She declines to marry again," said Mrs. Larramie, now taking up the
+    conversation. "Of course, such a pretty woman&mdash;I may say, such a
+    charming woman&mdash;would have admirers, and I know that she has had some
+    most excellent offers, but she has always refused to consider any of
+    them. There was one gentleman, a man of wealth and position, who had
+    proposed to her before she married Mr. Chester, who came on here to
+    offer himself again, but she cut off everything he had to say by
+    telling him that as she did not positively know that her husband was
+    not living, she could not allow a word of that sort to be said to her.
+    I know this, because she told me so herself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was a good deal more talk of the sort, and of course it
+    interested me greatly, although I tried not to show it, but I could
+    not help wondering why the subject had been brought forward in such an
+    impressive manner upon the present occasion. It seemed to me that
+    there was something personal in it&mdash;personal to me. Had that boy Percy
+    been making reports?
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the evening I found out all about it, and in a very straightforward
+    and direct fashion. I discovered Miss Edith by herself, and asked her
+    if all that talk about Mrs. Chester had been intended for my benefit,
+    and, if so, why.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She laughed. "I expected you to come and ask me about that," she said,
+    "for of course you could see through a good deal of it. It is all
+    father's kindness and goodness. Percy was a little out of temper when
+    he came back, and he spun a yarn about your being sweet on Mrs.
+    Chester, and how he could hardly get you away from her, and all that.
+    He had an idea that you wanted to go there and live, at least for the
+    summer. Something a boy said to him made him think that. So father
+    thought that if you had any notions about Mrs. Chester you ought to
+    have the matter placed properly before you without any delay, and I
+    expect his reason for mentioning it at the supper-table was that it
+    might then seem like a general subject of conversation, whereas it
+    would have been very pointed indeed if he had taken you apart and
+    talked to you about it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Indeed it would," said I. "And if you will allow me, I will say that
+    boys are unmitigated nuisances! If they are not hearing what they
+    ought not to hear, they are imagining what they ought not to
+    imagine&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And telling things that they ought not to tell," she added, with a
+    laugh.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Which is an extremely bad thing," said I, "when there is nothing to
+    tell."
+</p>
+<p>
+    For the rest of that evening I was more lively than is my wont, for it
+    was a very easy thing to be lively in that family. I do not think I
+    gave any one reason to suppose that I was a man whose attention had
+    been called to a notice not to trespass.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As usual, I communed with myself before going to bed. Wherefore this
+    feeling of disappointment? What did it mean? Would I have said
+    anything of importance, of moment, to Mrs. Chester, if the boy Percy
+    had given me an opportunity? What would I have said? What could I have
+    said? I could see that she did not wish that I should say anything,
+    and now I knew the reason for it. It was all plain enough on her side.
+    Even if she had allowed herself any sort of emotion regarding me, she
+    did not wish me to indulge in anything of the kind. But as for myself.
+    I could decide nothing about myself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled grimly as my eyes fell upon the little box of capsules. My
+    first thought was that I should take two of them, but then I shook my
+    head. "It would be utterly useless," I said; "they would do me no
+    good."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the course of the next morning I found myself alone. I put on my
+    cap, lighted a pipe, and started down the flag walk to the gate. In a
+    few moments I heard running steps behind me, and, turning, I saw Miss
+    Edith. "Don't look cross," she said. "Were you going for a walk?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I scouted the idea of crossness, and said that I had thought of taking
+    a stroll.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That seems funny," said she, "for nobody in this house ever goes out
+    for a lonely walk. But you cannot go just yet. There's a man at the
+    back of the house with a letter for you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "A letter!" I exclaimed. "Who in the world could have sent a letter to
+    me here?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The only way to find out," she answered, "is to go and see."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Under a tree at the back of the house I found a young negro man, very
+    warm and dusty, who handed me a letter, which, to my surprise, bore no
+    address. "How do you know this is for me?" said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    He was a good-natured looking fellow. "Oh, I know it's for you, sir,"
+    said he. "They told me at the little tavern&mdash;the Holly something&mdash;that
+    I'd find you here. You're the gentleman that had a bicycle tire eat
+    up by a bear, ain't you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I admitted that I was, and still, without opening the letter, I asked
+    him, where it came from.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That was given to me in New York, sir," said he, "by a Dago, one of
+    these I-talians. He gave me the money to go to Blackburn Station in
+    the cars, and then I walked over to the tavern. He said he thought I'd
+    find you there, sir. He told me just what sort of a lookin' man you
+    was, sir, and that letter is for you, and no mistake. He didn't know
+    your name, or he'd put it on."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, it is from the owner of the bear," said I.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, sir," said the man, "that's him. He did own a bear&mdash;he told
+    me&mdash;that eat up your tire."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I now tore open the blank envelope, and found it contained a letter on
+    a single sheet, and in this was a folded paper, very dirty. The letter
+    was apparently written in Italian, and had no signature. I ran my eye
+    along the opening lines, and soon found that it would be a very
+    difficult piece of business for me to read it. I was a fair French and
+    German scholar, but my knowledge of Italian was due entirely to its
+    relationship with Latin. I told the man to rest himself somewhere, and
+    went to the house, and, finding Miss Edith, I informed her that I had
+    a letter from the bear man, and asked her if she could read Italian.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I studied the language at school," she said, "but I have not
+    practised much. However, let us go into the library&mdash;there is a
+    dictionary there&mdash;and perhaps we can spell it out."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We spread the open sheet upon the library-table, and laid the folded
+    paper near by, and, sitting side by side, with a dictionary before us,
+    we went to work. It was very hard work.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think," said my companion, after ten minutes' application, "that
+    the man who sent you this letter writes Italian about as badly as we
+    read it. I think I could decipher the meaning of his words if I knew
+    what letters those funny scratches were intended to represent. But let
+    us stick to it. After a while we may get a little used to the writing,
+    and I must admit that I have a curiosity to know what the man has to
+    say about his bear."
+</p>
+<p>
+    After a time the work became easier. Miss Edith possessed an acuteness
+    of perception which enabled her to decipher almost illegible words by
+    comparing them with others which were better written. We were at last
+    enabled to translate the letter. The substance of it was as follows:
+</p>
+<p>
+    The writer came to New York on a ship. There was a man on the ship,
+    an Italian man, who was very wicked. He did very wicked things to the
+    writer. When he got to New York he kept on being wicked. He was so
+    wicked that the writer made up his mind to kill him. He waited for him
+    one night for two hours.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0025"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-25.png">
+<img src="images/bc-25s.png" width="183" height="200"
+alt="Deciphering the Dago's Letters"><br />Deciphering the Dago's Letters</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    At last the moment came. It was very dark, and the victim came,
+    walking fast. The avenger sprang from a door-way and plunged his knife
+    into the back of the victim. The man fell, and the moment he fell the
+    writer of the letter knew that he was not the man he had intended to
+    kill. The wicked man would not have been killed so easily. He turned
+    over the man. He was dead. His eyes were used to the darkness, and he
+    could see that he was the wrong man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The coat of the murdered man had fallen open, and a paper showed
+    itself in an inside pocket. The Italian waited only long enough to
+    snatch this paper. He wanted to have something which had belonged to
+    that poor, wrongly murdered man. After that he heard no more about the
+    great mistake he had committed. He could not read the newspapers, and
+    he asked nobody any questions. He put the paper away and kept it. He
+    often thought he ought to burn the paper, but he did not do it. He was
+    afraid. The paper had a name on it, and he was sure it was the name
+    of the man he had killed. He thought as long as he kept the paper
+    there was a chance for his forgiveness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This was all four years ago. He worked hard, and after a while he
+    bought a bear. When his bear ate up the India-rubber on my bicycle he
+    was very much frightened, for he was afraid he might be sent to
+    prison. But that was not the fright that made him run away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When he talked to the boy and asked him the name of the keeper of the
+    inn, and the boy told him what it was, the earth seemed to open and he
+    saw hell. The name was the name that was on the paper he had taken
+    from the man he had killed by mistake, and this was his wife whose
+    house he was staying at. He was seized with such a horror and such a
+    fear that everything might be found out, and that he would be
+    arrested, that he ran away to the railroad and took a train for New
+    York.
+</p>
+<p>
+    He did not want his bear. He did not want to be known as the man who
+    had been going about with a bear. One thing he wanted, and that was to
+    get back to Italy, where he would be safe. He was going back very soon
+    in a ship. He had changed his name. He could not be found any more.
+    But he knew his soul would never have any peace if he did not send
+    the paper to the wife of the man he had made a mistake about. But he
+    could not write a letter to her, so he sent it to me, for me to give
+    her the paper and to tell her what he had written in the letter. He
+    left America forever. Nobody in this country would ever see him again.
+    He was gone. He was lost to all people in this country, but his soul
+    felt better now that he had done that which would make the lady whose
+    husband he had killed know how it had happened. The bear he would give
+    to her. That was all that he could do for her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There was no formal close to the letter; the writer had said what he
+    had to say and stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith and I looked at each other. Her eyes had grown large and
+    bright. "Now, shall we examine the paper?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not know that we have a right to do so," I said. I know my voice
+    was trembling, for I was very much agitated. "That belongs to&mdash;to
+    her!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I think," said Miss Edith, "that we ought to look at it. It is merely
+    a folded paper. I do not think we ought to thrust information upon
+    Mrs. Chester without knowing what it is. Perhaps the man made a
+    mistake in the name. We may do a great deal of mischief if we do not
+    know exactly what we are about." And so saying she took the paper and
+    opened it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was nothing but a grocery bill, but it was made out to&mdash;Godfrey
+    Chester, Dr. Evidently it was for goods supplied to the inn. It was
+    receipted.
+</p>
+<p>
+    For a few moments I said nothing, and then I exclaimed, in tones which
+    made my companion gaze very earnestly at me: "I must go to her
+    immediately! I must take these papers! She must know everything!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Excuse me," said Miss Edith, "but don't you think that something
+    ought to be done about apprehending this man&mdash;this Italian? Let us go
+    and question his messenger." We went out together, she carrying,
+    tightly clasped, both the letter and the bill.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The black man could tell us very little. An Italian he had never seen
+    before had given him the letter to take to Holly Sprig Inn, and give
+    to the gentleman who had had his tire eaten by a bear. If the
+    gentleman was not there, he was to ask to have it sent to him. That
+    was everything he knew.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did the Italian give you money to go back with?" asked Miss Edith,
+    and the man rather reluctantly admitted that he did.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, you can keep that for yourself," said she, "and we'll pay your
+    passage back. But we would like you to wait here for a while. There
+    may be some sort of an answer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The man laughed. "'Taint no use sendin' no answer," said he; "I
+    couldn't find that Dago again. They're all so much alike. He said he
+    was goin' away on a ship. You see it was yesterday he gave me that
+    letter. I 'spect he'll be a long way out to sea before I get back,
+    even if I did know who he was and what ship he was goin' on. But if
+    you want me to wait, I don't mind waitin'."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Very good," said Miss Edith; "you can go into the kitchen and have
+    something to eat." And, calling a maid, she gave orders for the man's
+    entertainment.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said she, turning to me, "let us take a walk through the
+    orchard. I want to talk to you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," said I, "I can't talk at present. I must go immediately to the
+    inn with those papers. It is right that not a moment should be lost in
+    delivering this most momentous message which has been intrusted to
+    me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But I must speak to you first," said she, and she walked rapidly
+    towards the orchard. As she still held the papers in her hand, I was
+    obliged to follow her.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIV
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/a.png" alt="A">s soon as we had begun to walk under the apple-trees she turned to me
+    and said: "I don't think you ought to take this letter and the bill to
+    Mrs. Chester. It would not be right. There would be something cruel
+    about it."
+
+<p>
+    "What do you mean?" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course I do not know exactly the state of the case," she answered,
+    "but I will tell you what I think about it as far as I know. You must
+    not be offended at what I say. If I am a friend to anybody&mdash;and I
+    would be ashamed if I were not a friend to you&mdash;I must tell him just
+    what I think about things, and this is what I think about this thing:
+    I ought to take these papers to Mrs. Chester. I know her well enough,
+    and it is a woman who ought to go to her at such a time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That message was intrusted to me," I said. "Of course it was," she
+    answered, "but the bear man did not know what he was doing. He did not
+    understand the circumstances."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0026"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-26.png">
+<img src="images/bc-26s.png" width="152" height="200"
+alt="'I Don't Think You Ought to Take This Letter'"><br />'I Don't Think You Ought to Take This Letter'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "What circumstances?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She gave me a look as if she were going to take aim at me and wanted
+    to be sure of my position. Then she said: "Percy told us he thought
+    you were courting Mrs. Chester. That was pure impertinence on his
+    part, and perhaps what father said at the table was impertinence too,
+    but I know he said it because he thought there might be something in
+    Percy's chatter, and that you ought to understand how things stood.
+    Now, you may think it impertinence on my part if you choose, but it
+    really does seem to me that you are very much interested in Mrs.
+    Chester. Didn't you intend to walk down to the Holly Sprig when you
+    were starting out by yourself this morning?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I, "I did."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I thought so," she replied. "That, of course, was your own business,
+    and what father said about her being unwilling to marry again need not
+    have made any difference to you if you had chosen not to mind it. But
+    now, don't you think, if you look at the matter fairly and squarely,
+    it would be pretty hard on Mrs. Chester if you were to go down to her
+    and make her understand that she really is a widow, and that now she
+    is free to listen to you if you want to say anything to her? This may
+    sound a little hard and cruel, but don't you think it is the way she
+    would have to look at it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She stopped as she spoke, and I turned and stood silent, looking at
+    her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "My first thought was," she said, "to advise you to tell father about
+    all this, and take his advice about telling her, but I don't think you
+    would like that. Now, would you like that?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," I answered, "I certainly would not."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And don't you really think I ought to go to her with the message, and
+    then come back and tell you how she took it and what she said?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    For nearly a minute I did not speak, but I knew she was right, and at
+    last I admitted it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am glad to hear you say so!" she exclaimed. "As soon as dinner is
+    over I shall drive to the Holly Sprig."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We still walked on, and she proposed that we should go to the top of a
+    hill beyond the orchard, where there was a pretty view.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You may think me a strange sort of a girl," she said, presently, "but
+    I can't help it. I suppose I am strange. I have often thought I would
+    like very much to talk freely and honestly with a man about the
+    reasons which people have for falling in love with each other. Of
+    course I could not ask my father or brother, because they would simply
+    laugh at me and tell me that falling in love was very much like the
+    springing up of weeds&mdash;generally without reason and often
+    objectionable. But you would be more likely to tell me something which
+    would be of advantage to me in my studies."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Your studies!" I exclaimed. "What in the world are you studying?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, I am studying human nature&mdash;not as a whole, of course, that's
+    too large a subject, but certain phases of it&mdash;and I particularly want
+    to know why such queer people come together and get married. Now I
+    have great advantages in such a study, much greater than most girls
+    have."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What are they?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The principal one is that I never intend to marry. I made up my mind
+    to that a good while ago. There is a great deal of work that I want to
+    do in this world, and I could not do it properly if I were tied to a
+    man. I would either have to submit myself to his ways, or he would
+    have to submit himself to my ways, and that would not suit me. In the
+    one case I should not respect him, and in the other I should not
+    respect myself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But suppose," said I, "you should meet a man who should be in perfect
+    harmony with you in all important points?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ah," she said, "that sort of thing never happens. You might as well
+    expect to pick up two pebbles exactly alike. I don't believe in it.
+    But if at any time during the rest of my life you show me any examples
+    of such harmony, I will change my opinions. I believe that if I can
+    wait long enough, society will catch up with me. Everything looks that
+    way to me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It may be that you are right," I answered. "Society is getting on
+    famously. But what is it you want to ask me?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Simply this," she replied. "What is it which interests you so much in
+    Mrs. Chester?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked at her in astonishment. "Truly," I exclaimed, "that is a
+    remarkable question."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I know it," she replied, "and I suppose you are saying to yourself,
+    'Here is a girl who has known me less than three days, and yet she
+    asks me to tell her about my feeling towards another woman.' But,
+    really, it seems to me that as you have not known that other woman
+    three days, as much friendship and confidence might spring up in the
+    one case as affection in the other."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Affection!" said I. "Have I said anything about affection?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, you have not," she replied; "and if there isn't any affection, of
+    course that ends this special study on my part."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We reached the top of the hill, but I forgot to look out upon the
+    view. "I think you are a strange girl," I said, "but I like you, and I
+    have a mind to try to answer your question. I have not been able quite
+    to satisfy myself about my feelings towards Mrs. Chester, but now I
+    think I can say that I have an affection for her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Good!" she exclaimed. "I like that! That is an honest answer if ever
+    there was one. But tell me why it is that you have an affection for
+    her. It must have been almost a case of love at first sight."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It isn't easy to give reasons for such feelings," I said. "They
+    spring up, as your father would say, very much like weeds."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Indeed they do," she interpolated; "sometimes they grow in the middle
+    of a gravel path where they cannot expect to be allowed to stay."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I reflected a moment. "I don't mind talking about these things to
+    you," I said. "It seems almost like talking to myself."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is a compliment I appreciate," she said. "And now go on. Why do
+    you care for her?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said I, "in the first place, she is very handsome. Don't you
+    think so?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes! In fact, I think she is almost what might be called exactly
+    beautiful."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then she has such charming manners," I continued. "And she is so
+    sensible&mdash;although you may not think I had much chance to find out
+    that. Moreover, there is a certain sympathetic cordiality about her&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Which, of course," interrupted my companion, "you suppose she would
+    not show to any man but you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I. "I am speaking honestly now, and that's the way it
+    strikes me. Of course I may be a fool, but I did think that a sympathy
+    had arisen between us which would not arise between her and anybody
+    else."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith laughed heartily. "I am getting to know a great deal about
+    one side of the subject," she said. "And now tell me&mdash;is that all? I
+    don't believe it is."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," I answered, "it is not. There is something more which makes her
+    attractive to me. I cannot exactly explain it except by saying that it
+    is her surrounding atmosphere&mdash;it is everything that pertains to her.
+    It is the life she lives, it is her home, it is the beauty and peace,
+    the sense of charm which infuses her and everything that belongs to
+    her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Beautiful!" said Miss Edith. "I expected an answer like that, but not
+    so well put. Now let me translate it into plain, simple language. What
+    you want is to give up your present life, which must be awfully
+    stupid, and go and help Mrs. Chester keep the Holly Sprig. That would
+    suit you exactly. A charming wife, charming surroundings, charming
+    sense of living, a life of absolute independence! But don't think,"
+    she added, quickly, "that I am imputing any sordid motives to you. I
+    meant nothing of the kind. You would do just as much to make the inn
+    popular as she would. I expect you would make her rich."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Miss Edith Larramie," said I, "you are a heartless deceiver! It makes
+    my blood run cold to hear you speak in that way."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Never mind that," she said, "but tell me, didn't you think it would
+    be just lovely to live with her in that delightful little inn?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not help smiling at her earnestness, but I answered that I did
+    think so.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She nodded her head reflectively. "Yes," she said, "I was right. I
+    think you ought to admit that I am a good judge of human nature&mdash;at
+    least, in some people and under certain circumstances."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You are," said I. "I admit that. Now answer me a question. What do
+    you think of it?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't like it," she said. "And don't you see," she added, with
+    animation, "what an advantage I possess in having determined never to
+    marry? Very few other girls would be willing to speak to you so
+    plainly. They would be afraid you would think that they wanted you,
+    but, as I don't want anybody, you and I can talk over things of this
+    kind like free and equal human beings. So I will say again that I
+    don't like your affection for Mrs. Chester. It disappoints me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Disappoints you!" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she said, "that is the word. You must remember that my
+    acquaintance with you began with a sort of a bump. A great deal
+    happened in an instant. I formed high ideas of you, and among them
+    were ideas of the future. You can't help that when you are thinking of
+    people who interest you. Your mind will run ahead. When I found out
+    about Mrs. Chester I was disappointed. It might be all very
+    delightful, but you ought to do better than that!"
+</p>
+<a name="image-0027"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-27.png">
+<img src="images/bc-27s.png" width="162" height="200"
+alt="'Do You Think You Could Hit It With an Apple?'"><br/>'Do You Think You Could Hit It With an Apple?'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "How old are you?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Twenty-two last May," she replied.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Isn't that the dinner-bell I hear in the distance?" I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she answered, "and we will go down."
+</p>
+<p>
+    On the way she stopped, and we stood facing each other. "I am greatly
+    obliged to you," she said, "for giving me your confidence in this way,
+    and I want you to believe that I shall be thoroughly loyal to you, and
+    that I never will breathe anything you have said. But I also want you
+    to know that I do not change any of my opinions. Now we understand
+    each other, don't we?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," I answered, "but I think I understand you better than you
+    understand me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Not a bit of it," she replied; "that's nonsense. Do you see that
+    flower-pot on the top of the stump by the little hill over there?
+    Percy has been firing at it with his air-gun. Do you think you could
+    hit it with an apple? Let's each take three apples and try."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was late in the afternoon when Miss Edith returned from the Holly
+    Sprig, where she and Genevieve had driven in a pony-cart. I was with
+    the rest of the family on the golf links a short distance from the
+    house, and it was some time before she got a chance to speak to me,
+    but she managed at last.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How did she take the news?" I eagerly asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The girl hesitated. "I don't think I ought to tell you all she said
+    and did. It was really a private interview between us two, and I know
+    she would not want me to say much about it. And I don't think you
+    would want to hear everything."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I hastened to assure her that I would not ask for the particulars of
+    the conversation. I only wished to know the general effect of the
+    message upon her. That was legitimate enough, as, in fact, she
+    received the message through me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, she was very much affected, and it would have been dreadful if
+    you had gone. Oh the whole, however, I cannot help thinking that the
+    Italian's letter was a great relief to her, particularly because she
+    found that her husband had been killed by mistake. She said that one
+    of the greatest loads upon her soul had been the feeling that he had
+    had an enemy who hated him enough to kill him. But now the case is
+    very different, and it is a great comfort to her to know it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And about the murderer?" I said. "Did you ask her if she wanted steps
+    taken to apprehend him?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," she said, "I did speak of it, and she is very anxious that
+    nothing shall be done in that direction. Even if the Italian should be
+    caught, she would not have the affair again publicly discussed and
+    dissected. She believes the man's story, and she never wants to hear
+    of him again. Indeed, I think that if it should be proved that the
+    Italian killed Mr. Chester on purpose, it would be the greatest blow
+    that could be inflicted upon her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then," said I, "I might as well let the negro man go his way. I have
+    not paid him his passage-money to the city. I knew he would wait until
+    he got it, and it might be desirable to take him into custody."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh no," she said. "Mrs. Chester spoke about that. She doesn't want
+    the man troubled in any way. He knew nothing of the message he
+    carried. Now I am going to tell father about it&mdash;she asked me to do
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    That evening was a merry one. We had charades, and a good many other
+    things were going on. Miss Willoughby was an admirable actress, and
+    Miss Edith was not bad, although she could never get rid of her
+    personality. I was in a singular state of mind. I felt as if I had
+    been relieved from a weight. My spirits were actually buoyant.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You should not be so unreasonably gay," said Miss Edith to me. "That
+    may be your way when you get better acquainted with people, but I am
+    afraid some of the family will think that you are in such good spirits
+    because Mrs. Chester now knows that she is a widow."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, there is no danger of their thinking anything of that sort," I
+    said. "Don't you suppose they will attribute my good spirits to the
+    fact that the man who took my bicycle to Waterton brought back my big
+    valise, so that I am enabled to look like a gentleman in the parlor?
+    And then, as he also brought word that my bicycle will be all ready
+    for me to-morrow, don't you think it is to be expected of me that I
+    should try to make myself as agreeable as possible on this my last
+    evening with all you good friends?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She shook her head. "Those excuses will not pass. You are abnormally
+    cheerful. My study of you is extremely interesting, but not altogether
+    satisfactory."
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XV
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    MISS WILLOUGHBY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I">t was decreed the next day that I should not leave until after
+    dinner. They would send me over to Blackburn Station by a cross-road,
+    and I could then reach Waterton in less than an hour. "There is
+    another good thing about this arrangement," said Miss Edith, for it
+    was she who announced it to me, "and that is that you can take charge
+    of Amy."
+
+<p>
+    I gazed at her mystified, and she said, "Don't you know that Miss
+    Willoughby is going in the same train with you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What!" I exclaimed, far too forcibly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes. Her visit ends to-day. She lives in Waterton. But why should
+    that affect you so wonderfully? I am sure you cannot object to an hour
+    in the train with Amy Willoughby. She may talk a good deal, but you
+    must admit that she talks well."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Object!" I said. "Of course I don't object. She talks very well
+    indeed, and I shall be glad to have the pleasure of her company."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No one would have thought so," she said, looking at me with a
+    criticising eye, "who had seen you when you heard she was going."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It was the suddenness," I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she replied, "and your delicate nerves."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In my soul I cried out to myself: "Am I ever to break free from young
+    women! Is there to be a railroad accident between here and Waterton!
+    If so, I shall save the nearest old gentleman!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I believe the Larramies were truly sorry to have me go. Each one of
+    them in turn told me so. Mrs. Larramie again said to me, with tears in
+    her eyes, that it made her shudder to think what that home might be if
+    it had not been for me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Larramie and Walter promised to get up some fine excursions if I
+    would stay a little longer, and Genevieve made me sit down beside her
+    under a tree.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am awfully sorry you are going," she said. "I always wanted a
+    gentleman friend, and I believe if you'd stay a little longer you'd be
+    one. You see, Walter is really too old for me to confide in, and Percy
+    thinks he's too old&mdash;and that's a great deal worse. But you're just
+    the age I like. There are so many things I would say to you if you
+    lived here."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Little Clara, cried when she heard I was going, and I felt myself
+    obliged to commit the shameful deception of talking about baby bears
+    and my possible return to this place.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith accompanied us to the station, and when I took leave of her
+    on the platform she gave me a good, hearty handshake. "I believe that
+    we shall see each other again," she said, "and when we meet I want you
+    to make a report, and I hope it will be a good one!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "About what?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    She smiled in gentle derision, and the conductor cried, "All aboard!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I found a vacant seat, and, side by side, Miss Willoughby and I sped
+    on towards Waterton.
+</p>
+<p>
+    For some time I had noticed that Miss Willoughby had ceased to look
+    past me when she spoke to me, and now she fixed her eyes fully upon me
+    and said:
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am always sorry when I go away from that house, for I think the
+    people who live there are the dearest in the world, excepting my own
+    mother and aunt, who are nearer to me than anybody else, although, if
+    I needed a mother, Mrs. Larramie would take me to her heart, I am
+    sure, just as if I were her own daughter, and I am not related to them
+    in any way, although I have always looked upon Edith as a sister, and
+    I don't believe that if I had a real sister she could possibly have
+    been as dear a girl as Edith, who is so lovable and tender and
+    forgiving&mdash;whenever there is anything to forgive&mdash;and who, although
+    she is a girl of such strong character and such a very peculiar way of
+    thinking about things, has never said a hard word to me in all her
+    life, even when she found that our opinions were different, which was
+    something she often did find, for she looks upon everything in this
+    world in her own way, and bases all her judgments upon her own
+    observations and convictions, while I am very willing to let those
+    whom I think I ought to look up to and respect judge for me&mdash;at least
+    in a great many things, but of course not in all matters, for there
+    are some things which we must decide for ourselves without reference
+    to other people's opinions, though I should be sorry indeed if I had
+    so many things to decide as Edith has, or rather chooses to have, for
+    if she would depend more upon other people I think it would not only
+    be easier for her, but really make her happier, for if you could hear
+    some of the wonderful things which she has discussed with me after
+    we have gone to bed at night it would really make your head ache&mdash;that
+    is, if you are subject to that sort of thing, which I am if I am kept
+    awake too long, but I am proud to say that I don't think I ever
+    allowed Edith to suppose that I was tired of hearing her talk, for
+    when any one is as lovely as she is I think she ought to be allowed to
+    talk about what she pleases and just along as she pleases."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0028"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-28.png">
+<img src="images/bc-28s.png" width="162" height="200"
+alt="'Talking About Baby Bears'"><br />'Talking About Baby Bears'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Surprising as it may appear, nothing happened on that railroad
+    journey. No cow of Cathay blundered in front of the locomotive; no
+    freight train came around a curve going in the opposite direction upon
+    the same track; everything went smoothly and according to schedule.
+    Miss Willoughby did not talk all the time. She was not the greatest
+    talker I ever knew; she was not even the fastest; she was always
+    willing to wait until her turn came, but she had wonderful endurance
+    for a steady stretch. She never made a bad start, she never broke, she
+    went steadily over the track until the heat had been run.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When the time came for me to speak she listened with great interest,
+    and sometimes at my words her eyes sparkled almost as much as they
+    did when she was speaking herself. She knew a great many things, and
+    I was pleased to find out that she was especially interested in the
+    good qualities of the people she knew. I never heard so many gracious
+    sentiments in so short a time.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Willoughby's residence was but a short distance from the station
+    at Waterton; and as she thought it entirely unnecessary to take a cab,
+    I attended to her baggage, and offered to walk with her to her home
+    and carry her little bag. I was about to leave her at the door, but
+    this she positively forbade. I must step in for a minute or two to see
+    her mother and her aunt. They had heard of me, and would never forgive
+    her if she let me go without their seeing me. As the door opened
+    immediately, we went in.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Willoughby's mother and aunt were two most charming elderly
+    ladies, immaculately dainty in their dress, cordial of manner, bright
+    of eye, and diminutive of hand, producing the impression of gentle
+    goodness set off by soft white muslin, folded tenderly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    They had heard of me. In the few days in which I had been with the
+    Larramies, Miss Willoughby had written of me. They insisted that I
+    should stay to supper, for what good reason could there be for my
+    taking that meal at the hotel&mdash;not a very good one&mdash;when they would be
+    so glad to have me sup with them and talk about our mutual friends?
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had no reasonable objection to offer, and, returning to the station,
+    I took my baggage to the hotel, where I prepared to sup with the
+    Willoughby family.
+</p>
+<p>
+    They were now a little family of three, although there was a brother
+    who had started away the day before on a bicycling tour very like my
+    own, and they were both so delighted to have Amy visit the Larramies,
+    and they were both so delighted to have her come back.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The supper was a delicate one, suitable for canary birds, but at an
+    early stage of the meal a savory little sirloin steak was brought on
+    which had been cooked especially for me. Of course I could not be
+    expected to be satisfied with thin dainties, no matter how tasteful
+    they might be.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This house was the abode of intelligence, cultivated taste, and
+    opulence. It was probably the finest mansion of the town. In every
+    room there were things to see, and after supper we looked at them,
+    and, as I wandered from pictures to vases and carved ivory, the
+    remarks of the two elder ladies and Miss Willoughby seemed like a
+    harmonized chorus accompanying the rest of the performance. Each spoke
+    at the right time, each in her turn said the thing she ought to say.
+    It was a rare exhibition of hospitable enthusiasm, tempered by
+    sympathetic consideration for me and for each other.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I soon discovered that many of the water-color drawings on the walls
+    were the work of Miss Willoughby, and when she saw I was interested in
+    them she produced a portfolio of her sketches. I liked her coloring
+    very much. It was sometimes better than her drawing. It was dainty,
+    delicate, and suggestive. One picture attracted me the moment my eyes
+    fell upon it; it was one of the most carefully executed, and it
+    represented the Holly Sprig Inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You recognize that!" said Miss Willoughby, evidently pleased. "You
+    see that light-colored spot in the portico? That's Mrs. Chester; she
+    stood there when I was making the drawing. It is nothing but two or
+    three little dabs, but that is the way she looked at a distance.
+    Around on this side is the corner of the yard where the bear tried to
+    eat up the tire of your bicycle."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I gazed and gazed at the little light-colored spot in the portico. I
+    gave it form, light, feeling. I could see perfect features, blue
+    eyes which looked out at me, a form of simple grace.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0029"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-29.png">
+<img src="images/bc-29s.png" width="187" height="200"
+alt="'I Held That Picture a Good While'"><br />'I Held That Picture a Good While'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    I held that picture a good while, saying little, and scarcely
+    listening to Miss Willoughby's words. At last I felt obliged to
+    replace it in the portfolio. If the artist had been a poor girl, I
+    would have offered to buy it; if I had known her better, I would have
+    asked her to give it to me; but I could do nothing but put it back.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Glancing at the clock I saw that it was time for me to go, but when I
+    announced this fact the ladies very much demurred. Why should I go to
+    that uncomfortable hotel? They would send for my baggage. There was
+    not the least reason in the world why I should spend the night in that
+    second-rate establishment.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "See," said Mrs. Willoughby, opening the door of a room in the rear of
+    the parlor, "if you will stay with us to-night we will lodge you in
+    the chamber of the favored guest. All the pictures on the walls were
+    done by my daughter."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I looked into the room. It was the most charming and luxurious bedroom
+    I had ever seen. It was lighted, and the harmony of its furnishings
+    was a treat to the eye.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But I stood firm in my purpose to depart. I would not spend the night
+    in that house. There would be a fire, burglars, I knew not what!
+    Against all kind entreaties I urged the absolute necessity of my
+    starting away by the very break of day, and I could not disturb a
+    private family by any such proceeding. They saw that I was determined
+    to go, and they allowed me to depart.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVI
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    AN ICICLE
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/m.png" alt="M">y room at the hotel was as dreary as a stubble-field upon a November
+    evening. The whole house was new, varnished, and hard. My bedroom was
+    small. A piece of new ingrain carpet covered part of the hard
+    varnished floor. Four hard walls and a ceiling, deadly white,
+    surrounded me. The hard varnished bedstead (the mattress felt as if it
+    were varnished) nearly filled the little room. Two stiff chairs, and a
+    yellow window-shade which looked as if it were made of varnished wood,
+    glittered in the feeble light of a glass lamp, while the ghastly
+    grayish pallor of the ewer and basin on the wash-stand was thrown into
+    bold relief by the intenser whiteness of the wall behind it.
+
+<p>
+    I put out my light as soon as possible and resolutely closed my eyes,
+    for a street lamp opposite my window would not allow the room to fade
+    into obscurity, and, as long as the hardness of the bed prevented me
+    from sleeping, my thoughts ran back to the chamber of the favored
+    guest, but my conscience stood by me. Cathay is a country where it is
+    necessary to be very careful.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I did not leave Waterton until after nine o'clock the next day, for,
+    although I was early at the shop to which my bicycle had been sent, it
+    was not quite ready for me, and I had to wait. Fortunately no
+    Willoughby came that way.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But when at last I mounted my wheel I sped away rapidly towards the
+    north. I had ordered my baggage expressed to a town fifty miles away,
+    and I hoped that if I rode steadily and kept my eyes straight in front
+    of me I might safely get out of Cathay, for the boundaries of that
+    fateful territory could not extend themselves indefinitely.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Towards the close of the afternoon I saw a female in front of me, her
+    back to me, walking, and pushing a bicycle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Now," said I to myself, "she is doing that because she likes it, and
+    it is none of my business." I gazed over the fields on the other side
+    of the road, but as I passed her I could not help giving a glance at
+    her machine. The air was gone from the tire of the hind wheel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ah," said I to myself, "perhaps her pump is out of order, or it may
+    be that she does not know how to work it. It is getting late. She may
+    have to go a long distance. I could pump it up for her in no time.
+    Even if there is a hole in it I could mend it." But I did not stop. I
+    had steeled my heart against any more adventures in Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But my conscience did not stand by me. I could not forget that poor
+    woman plodding along the weary road and darkness not far away. I went
+    slower and slower, and at last I turned.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It would not take me five minutes to help her," I said. "I must be
+    careful, but I need not be a churl." And I rode rapidly back.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I came in sight of her just as she was turning into the gateway of a
+    pretty house yard. Doubtless she lived there. I turned again and spun
+    away faster than I had gone that day.
+</p>
+<p>
+    For more than a month I journeyed and sojourned in a beautiful river
+    valley and among the low foot-hills of the mountains. The weather was
+    fair, the scenery was pleasing, and at last I came to believe that I
+    had passed the boundaries of Cathay. I took no tablets from my little
+    box. I did not feel that I had need of them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the course of time I ceased to travel north-ward. My vacation was
+    not very near its end, but I chose to turn my face towards the scene
+    of my coming duties. I made a wide circuit, I rode slowly, and I
+    stopped often.
+</p>
+<p>
+    One day I passed through a village, and at the outer edge of it a
+    little girl, about four years old, tried to cross the road. Tripping,
+    she fell down almost in front of me. It was only by a powerful and
+    sudden exertion that I prevented myself from going over her, and as I
+    wheeled across the road my machine came within two feet of her. She
+    lay there yelling in the dust. I dismounted, and, picking her up I
+    carried her to the other side of the road. There I left her to toddle
+    homeward while I went on my way. I could not but sigh as I thought
+    that I was again in Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Two days after this I entered Waterton. There was another road, said
+    to be a very pleasant one, which lay to the westward, and which would
+    have taken me to Walford through a country new to me, but I wished to
+    make no further explorations in Cathay, and if one journeys back upon
+    a road by which he came he will find the scenery very different.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I spent the night at the hotel, and after breakfast I very reluctantly
+    went to call upon the Willoughbys. I forced myself to do this, for,
+    considering the cordiality they had shown me, it would have required
+    more incivility than I possessed to pass through the town without
+    paying my respects. But to my great joy none of the ladies was at
+    home. I hastened from the house with a buoyant step, and was soon
+    speeding away, and away, and away.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The road was dry and hard, the sun was bright, but there was a fresh
+    breeze in my face, and I rolled along at a swift and steady rate. On,
+    on I went, until, before the sun had reached its highest point, I
+    wheeled out of the main road, rolled up a gravel path, and dismounted
+    in front of the Holly Sprig Inn.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I leaned my bicycle against a tree and went in-doors. The place did
+    not seem so quiet as when I first saw it. I had noticed a lady sitting
+    under a tree in front of the house. There was a nurse-maid attending a
+    child who was playing on the grass. Entering the hall, I glanced into
+    the large room which I had called the "office," and saw a man there
+    writing at a table.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently a maid-servant came into the hall. She was not one I had
+    noticed before. I asked if I could see Mrs. Chester, and she said she
+    would go and look for her. There were chairs in the hall, and I might
+    have waited for her there, but I did not. I entered the parlor, and
+    was pleased to find it unoccupied. I went to the upper end of the
+    room, as far as possible from the door.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a few minutes I heard a step in the hall. I knew it, and it was
+    strange how soon I had learned to know it. She stopped in front of the
+    office, then she went on towards the porch, and turning she came into
+    the parlor, first looking towards the front of the room and then
+    towards the place where I stood.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The light from a window near me fell directly upon her as she
+    approached me, and I could see that there was a slight flush on her
+    face, but before she reached me it had disappeared. She did not greet
+    me. She did not offer me her hand. In fact, from what afterwards
+    happened, I believe that she did not consider me at that moment a fit
+    subject for ordinary greeting. She stood up in front of me. She gazed
+    steadfastly into my face. Her features wore something of their
+    ordinary pleasant expression, but to this there was added a certain
+    determination which I had never seen there before. She gave her head a
+    little quick shake.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, sir!" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This reception amazed me. I had been greatly agitated as I heard her
+    approach, turning over in my mind what I should first say to her, but
+    now I forgot everything I had prepared. "No what?" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0030"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-30.png">
+<img src="images/bc-30s.png" width="142" height="200"
+alt="'No, Sir,' She Said'"><br />'No, Sir,' She Said'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    "'No' means that I will not marry you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood speechless. "Of course you are thinking," she continued, "that
+    you have never asked me to marry you. But that isn't at all necessary.
+    As soon as I saw you standing there, back two weeks before your
+    vacation is over, and when I got a good look at your face, I knew
+    exactly what you had come for. I was afraid when you left here that
+    you would come back for that, so I was not altogether unprepared. I
+    spoke promptly so as to spare you and to make it easier for me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Easier!" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Easier, because the sooner you know that I will not marry you the
+    better it will be for you and for me."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now I could restrain myself no longer. "Why can't I marry you?" I
+    asked, speaking very rapidly, and, I am afraid, with imprudent energy.
+    "Is it any sort of condition or circumstance which prevents? Do you
+    think that I am forcing myself upon you at a time when I ought not to
+    do it? If so, you have mistaken me. Ever since I left here I have
+    thought of scarcely anything but you, and I have returned thus early
+    simply to tell you that I love you! I had to do that! I could not
+    wait! But as to all else, I can wait, and wait, and wait, as long as
+    you please. You can tell me to go away and come back at whatever time
+    you think it will be right for you to give me an answer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "This is the right time," she said, "and I have given you your answer.
+    But, unfortunately, I did not prevent you from saying what you came to
+    say. So now I will tell you that the conditions and circumstances to
+    which you allude have nothing to do with the matter. I have a reason
+    for my decision which is of so much more importance than any other
+    reason that it is the only one which need be considered."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "What is that?" I asked, quickly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is because I keep a tavern," she answered. "It would be wrong and
+    wicked for you to marry a woman who keeps a tavern."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now my face flushed. I could feel it burning. "Keep a tavern!" I
+    exclaimed. "That is a horrible way to put it! But why should you think
+    for an instant that I cared for that? Do you suppose I consider that a
+    dishonorable calling? I would be only too glad to adopt it myself and
+    help you keep a tavern, as you call it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is the trouble!" she exclaimed. "That is the greatest trouble. I
+    believe you would. I believe that you think that the life would just
+    suit you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then sweep away the tavern!" I exclaimed. "Banish it. Leave it. Put
+    it out of all thought or consideration. I can wait for you. I can make
+    a place and a position for you. I can&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No, you cannot," she interrupted. "At least, not for a long time,
+    unless one of your scholars dies and leaves you a legacy. It is the
+    future that I am thinking about. No matter what you might sweep away,
+    and to what position you might attain, it could always be said, 'He
+    married a woman who used to keep a tavern.' Now, every one who is a
+    friend to you, who knows what is before you, if you choose to try for
+    it, should do everything that can be done to prevent such a thing ever
+    being said of you. I am a friend to you, and I am going to prevent
+    it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I stood unable to say one word. Her voice, her eyes, even the manner
+    in which she stood before me, assured me that she meant everything she
+    said. It was almost impossible to believe that such an amiable
+    creature could turn into such an icicle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not want you to feel worse than you can help," she said, "but it
+    was necessary for me to speak as firmly and decidedly as I could, and
+    now it is all settled."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I knew it was all settled. I knew it as well as if it had been settled
+    for years. But, with my eyes still ardently fixed on her, I remembered
+    the little flush when she came into the room.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Tell me one thing," said I, "and I will go. If it were not for what
+    you say about your position in life, and all that&mdash;if there had not
+    been such a place as this inn&mdash;then could you&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    She moved away from me. "You are as great a bear as the other one!"
+    she exclaimed, and turning she left the room by a door in the rear.
+    But in the next moment she ran back, holding out her hand. "Good-bye!"
+    she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I took her hand, but held it not a second. Then she was gone. I stood
+    looking at the door which she had closed behind her, and then I left
+    the house. There was no reason why I should stay in that place another
+    minute.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I was about to mount my bicycle the boy came around the corner of
+    the inn. Upon his face was a diabolical grin. The thought rushed into
+    my mind that he might have been standing beneath the parlor window.
+    Instinctively I made a movement towards him, but he did not run. I
+    turned my eyes away from him and mounted. I could not kill a boy in
+    the presence of a nurse-maid.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> was about to turn in the direction of Walford, but then into my
+    trouble-tossed mind there came the recollection that I had intended,
+    no matter what happened, to call on the Larramies before I went home.
+    I owed it to them, and at this moment their house seemed like a port
+    of refuge.
+
+<p>
+    The Larramies received me with wide-opened eyes and outstretched
+    hands. They were amazed to see me before the end of my vacation, for
+    no member of that family had ever come back from a vacation before it
+    was over; but they showed that they were delighted to have me with
+    them, be it sooner or later than they had expected, and I had not been
+    in the house ten minutes before I received three separate invitations
+    to make that house my home until school began again.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The house was even livelier than when I left it. There was a married
+    couple visiting there, enthusiastic devotees of golf; one of Mr.
+    Walter's college friends was with him; and, to my surprise, Miss Amy
+    Willoughby was there again.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Genevieve received me with the greatest warmth, and I could see that
+    her hopes of a gentleman friend revived. Little Clara demanded to be
+    kissed as soon as she saw me, and I think she now looked upon me as a
+    permanent uncle or something of that kind. As soon as possible I was
+    escorted by the greater part of the family to see the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Miss Edith had welcomed me as if I had been an old friend. It warmed
+    my heart to receive the frank and cordial handshake she gave me. She
+    said very little, but there was a certain interrogation in her eyes
+    which assured me that she had much to ask when the time came. As for
+    me, I was in no hurry for that time to come. I did not feel like
+    answering questions, and with as much animation as I could assume I
+    talked to everybody as we went to see the bear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    This animal had grown very fat and super-contented, but I found that
+    the family were in the condition of Gentleman Waife in Bulwer's novel,
+    and were now wondering what they would do with it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You see," cried Percy, who was the principal showman, "the neighbors
+    are all on pins and needles about him. Ever since the McKenna sisters
+    spread the story that Orso was in the habit of getting under beds,
+    there isn't a person within five miles of here who can go to bed
+    without looking under it to see if there is a bear there. There are
+    two houses for sale about a mile down the road, and we don't know any
+    reason why people should want to go away except it's the bear. Nearly
+    all the dogs around here are kept chained up for fear that Orso will
+    get hold of them, and there is a general commotion, I can tell you. At
+    first it was great fun, but it is getting a little tiresome now. We
+    have been talking about shooting him, and then I shall have his bones,
+    which I am going to set up as a skeleton, and it is my opinion that
+    you ought to have the skin."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Several demurrers now arose, for nobody seemed to think that I would
+    want such an ugly skin as that.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ugly!" cried Percy, who was evidently very anxious to pursue his
+    study of comparative anatomy. "It's a magnificent skin. Look at that
+    long, heavy fur. Why, if you take that skin and have it all cleaned,
+    and combed out, and dyed some nice color, it will be fit to put into
+    any room."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Genevieve was in favor of combing and cleaning, oiling and dyeing the
+    hide of the bear without taking it off.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "If you would do that," she declared, "he would be a beautiful bear,
+    and we would give him away. They would be glad to have him at Central
+    Park."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Larramies would not listen to my leaving that day. There were a
+    good many people in the house, but there was room enough for me, and,
+    when we had left the bear without solving the problem of his final
+    disposition, there were so many things to be done and so many things
+    to be said that it was late in the afternoon before Miss Edith found
+    the opportunity of speaking to me for which she had been waiting so
+    long.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well," said she, as we walked together away from the golf links, but
+    not towards the house, "what have you to report?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Report?" I repeated, evasively.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes, you promised to do that, and I always expect people to fulfil
+    their promises to me. You came here by the way of the Holly Sprig Inn,
+    didn't you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I assented. "A very roundabout way," she said. "It would have been
+    seven miles nearer if you had come by the cross-road. But I suppose
+    you thought you must go there first."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is what I thought," I answered.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Have you been thinking about her all the time you have been away?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Nearly all the time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And actually cut off a big slice of your vacation in order to see
+    her?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I replied that this was precisely the state of the case.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But, after all, you weren't successful. You need not tell me anything
+    about that&mdash;I knew it as soon as I saw you this morning. But I will
+    ask you to answer one thing: Is the decision final?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I sighed&mdash;I could not help it, but she did not even smile. "Yes," I
+    said, "the affair is settled definitely."
+</p>
+<p>
+    For a minute or so we walked on silently, and then she said: "I do not
+    want you to think I am hard-hearted, but I must say what is in me. I
+    congratulate you, and, at the same time, I am sorry for her."
+</p>
+<p>
+    At this amazing speech I turned suddenly towards her, and we both
+    stopped.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said she, standing before me with her clear eyes fixed upon my
+    face, "you are to be congratulated. I think it is likely she is the
+    most charming young woman you are ever likely to meet&mdash;and I know a
+    great deal more about her than you do, for I have known her for a long
+    time, and your acquaintance is a very short one&mdash;she has qualities you
+    do not know anything about; she is lovely! But for all that it would
+    be very wrong for you to marry her, and I am glad she had sense enough
+    not to let you do it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why do you say that?" I asked, a little sharply.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course you don't like it," she replied, "but it is true. She may
+    be as lovely as you think her&mdash;and I am sure she is. She may be of
+    good family, finely educated, and a great many more things, but all
+    that goes for nothing beside the fact that for over five years she has
+    been the landlady of a little hotel."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not care a snap for that!" I exclaimed. "I like her all the
+    better for it. I&mdash;"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That makes it worse," she interrupted, and as she spoke I could not
+    but recollect that a similar remark had been made to me before. "I
+    have not the slightest doubt that you would have been perfectly
+    willing to settle down as the landlord of a little hotel. But if you
+    had not&mdash;even if you had gone on in the course which father has
+    marked out for you, and you ought to hear him talk about you&mdash;you
+    might have become famous, rich, nobody knows what, perhaps President
+    of a college, but still everybody would have known that your wife was
+    the young woman who used to keep the Holly Sprig Inn, and asked the
+    people who came there if they objected to a back room, and if they
+    wanted tea or coffee for their breakfast. Of course Mrs. Chester
+    thought too much of you to let you consider any such foolishness."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I made no answer to this remark. I thought the young woman was taking
+    a great deal upon herself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Of course," she continued, "it would have been a great thing for Mrs.
+    Chester, and I honor her that she stood up stiffly and did the thing
+    she ought to do. I do not know what she said when she gave you her
+    final answer, but whatever it was it was the finest compliment she
+    could have paid you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I smiled grimly. "She likened me to a bear," I said. "Do you call that
+    a compliment?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Edith Larramie looked at me, her eyes sparkling. "Tell me one thing,"
+    she said. "When she spoke to you in that way weren't you trying to
+    find out how she felt about the matter exclusive of the inn?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    I could not help smiling again as I assented.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "There!" she exclaimed. "I am beginning to have the highest respect
+    for my abilities as a forecaster of human probabilities. It was like
+    you to try to find out that, and it was like her to snub you. But
+    let's walk on. Would you like me to give you some advice."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am afraid your advice is not worth very much," I answered, "but I
+    will hear it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Well, then," she said, "I advise you to fall in love with somebody
+    else just as soon as you can. That is the best way to get this affair
+    out of your mind, and until you do that you won't be worth anything."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I felt that I now knew this girl so well that I could say anything to
+    her. "Very well, then," said I; "suppose I fall in love with you?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That isn't a very nice speech," she said. "There is a little bit of
+    spitefulness in it. But it doesn't mean anything, anyway. I am out of
+    the competition, and that is the reason I can speak to you so freely.
+    Moreover, that is the reason I know so much about the matter. I am not
+    biassed. But you need have no trouble&mdash;there's Amy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Don't say Amy to me, I beg of you!" I exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Why not?" she persisted. "She is very pretty. She is as good as she
+    can be. She is rich. And if she were your wife you would want her to
+    talk more than she does, you would be so glad to listen to her. I
+    might say more about Amy, but I won't."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Would it be very impolite," said I, "if I whistled?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I don't know," she said, "but you needn't do it. I will consider it
+    done. Now I will speak of Bertha Putney. I was bound to mention Amy
+    first, because she is my dear friend, but Miss Putney is a grand girl.
+    And I do not mind telling you that she takes a great interest in you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "How do you know that?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I have seen her since you were here&mdash;she lunched with us. As soon as
+    she heard your name mentioned&mdash;and that was bound to happen, for this
+    family has been talking about you ever since they first knew you&mdash;she
+    began to ask questions. Of course the bear came up, and she wanted to
+    know every blessed thing that happened. But when she found out that
+    you got the bear at the Holly Sprig her manner changed, and she
+    talked no more about you at the table.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "But in the afternoon she had a great deal to say to me. I did not
+    know exactly what she was driving at, and I may have told her too
+    much. We said a great many things&mdash;some of which I remember and some I
+    do not&mdash;but I am sure that I never knew a woman to take more interest
+    in a man than she takes in you. So it is my opinion that if you would
+    stop at the Putneys' on your way home you might do a great deal to
+    help you get rid of the trouble you are now in. It makes me feel
+    something like a spy in a camp to talk this way, but I told you I was
+    your friend, and I am going to be one. Spies are all right when they
+    are loyal to their own side."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I was very glad to have such a girl on my side, but this did not seem
+    to be a very good time to talk about the advantages of a call upon
+    Miss Putney.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In spite of all the entreaties of the Larramie family, I persisted in
+    my intention of going on to Walford the next morning, and, in reply to
+    their assurances that I would find it dreadfully dull in that little
+    village during the rest of my vacation, I told them that I should be
+    very much occupied and should have no time to be dull. I was going
+    seriously to work to prepare myself for my profession. For a year or
+    two I had been deferring this important matter, waiting until I had
+    laid by enough money to enable me to give up school-teaching and to
+    apply myself entirely to the studies which would be necessary. All
+    this would give me enough to do, and vacation was the time in which I
+    ought to do it. The distractions of the school session were very much
+    in the way of a proper contemplation of my own affairs.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That sounds very well," said Miss Edith, when there was no one by,
+    "but if you cannot get the Holly Sprig Inn out of your mind, I do not
+    believe you will do very much 'proper contemplation.' Take my advice
+    and stop at the Putneys'. It can do you no harm, and it might help to
+    free your mind of distractions a great deal worse than those of the
+    school."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "By filling it with other distractions, I suppose you mean," I
+    answered. "A fickle-minded person you must think me. But it pleases me
+    so much to have you take an interest in me that I do not resent any of
+    your advice."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She laughed. "I like to give advice," she said, "but I must admit that
+    I sometimes think better of a person if he does not take it. But I
+    will say&mdash;and this is all the advice I am going to give you at
+    present&mdash;that if you want to be successful in making love, you must
+    change your methods. You cannot expect to step up in front of a girl
+    and stop her short as if she were a runaway horse. A horse doesn't
+    like that sort of thing, and a girl doesn't like it. You must take
+    more time about it. A runaway girl doesn't hurt anybody, and, if you
+    are active enough, you can jump in behind and take the reins and stop
+    her gradually without hurting her feelings, and then, most likely, you
+    can drive her for all the rest of your life."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You ought to have that speech engraved in uncial characters on a slab
+    of stone," said I. "Any museum would be glad to have it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I had two reasons besides the one I gave for wishing to leave this
+    hospitable house. In the first place, Edith Larramie troubled me. I
+    did not like to have any one know so much about my mental interior&mdash;or
+    to think she knew so much. I did not like to feel that I was being
+    managed. I had a strong belief that if anybody jumped into a vehicle
+    she was pulling he would find that she was doing her own driving and
+    would allow no interferences. I liked her very much, but I was sure
+    that away from her I would feel freer in mind.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The other reason for my leaving was Amy Willoughby. During my little
+    visit to her house my acquaintance with her had grown with great
+    rapidity. Now I seemed to know her very well, and the more I knew her
+    the better I liked her. It may be vanity, but I think she wanted me to
+    like her, and one reason for believing this was the fact that when she
+    was with me&mdash;and I saw a great deal of her during the afternoon and
+    evening I spent with the Larramies&mdash;she did not talk so much, and when
+    she did speak she invariably said something I wanted to hear.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Remembering the remarks which had been made about her by her friend
+    Edith, I could not but admit that she was a very fine girl, combining
+    a great many attractive qualities, but I rebelled against every
+    conviction I had in regard to her. I did not want to think about her
+    admirable qualities. I did not want to believe that in time they would
+    impress me more forcibly than they did now. I did not want people to
+    imagine that I would come to be so impressed. If I stayed there I
+    might almost look upon her in the light of a duty.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The family farewell the next morning was a tumultuous one. Invitations
+    to ride up again during my vacation, to come and spend Saturdays and
+    Sundays, were intermingled with earnest injunctions from Genevieve in
+    regard to a correspondence which she wished to open with me for the
+    benefit of her mind, and declarations from Percy that he would let me
+    know all about the bear as soon as it was decided what would be the
+    best thing to happen to him, and entreaties from little Clara that I
+    would not go away without kissing her good-bye.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But amid the confusion Miss Edith found a chance to say a final word
+    to me. "Don't you try," she said, as I was about to mount my bicycle,
+    "to keep those holly sprigs in your brain until Christmas. They are
+    awfully stickery, they will not last, and, besides, there will not be
+    any Christmas."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "And how about New-Year's Day?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "That is the way to talk," said she. "Keep your mind on that and you
+    will be all right."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I rode along I could not forget that it would be necessary for me
+    to pass the inn. I had made inquiries, but there were no byways which
+    would serve my purpose. There was nothing for me to do but keep on,
+    and on I kept. I should pass so noiselessly and so swiftly that I did
+    not believe any one would notice me, unless, indeed, it should be the
+    boy. I earnestly hoped that I should not see the boy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Whether or not I was seen from the inn as I passed it I do not know.
+    In fact, I did not know when I passed it. No shout of immature
+    diabolism caught my ear, no scent of lemon came into my nostrils, and
+    I saw nothing but the line of road directly in front of me.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVIII
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/w.png" alt="W">hen I was positively certain that I had left the little inn far
+    behind me, I slackened my speed, and, perceiving a spreading tree by
+    the road-side, I dismounted and sat down in the shade. It was a hot
+    day, and unconsciously I had been working very hard. Several persons
+    on wheels passed along the road, and every time I saw one approaching
+    I was afraid that it might be somebody I knew, who might stop and sit
+    by me in the shade. I was now near enough to Walford to meet with
+    people from that neighborhood, and I did not want to meet with any one
+    just now. I had a great many things to think about and just then I was
+    busy trying to make up my mind whether or not it would be well for me
+    to stop at the Putneys'.
+
+<p>
+    If I should pass without stopping, some one in the lodge would
+    probably see me, and the family would know of my discourtesy, but,
+    although it would have been a very simple thing to do, and a very
+    proper thing, I did not feel sure that I wanted to stop. If Edith
+    Larramie had never said anything about it, I think I would surely have
+    made a morning call upon the Putneys.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After I had cooled off a little I rose to remount; I had not decided
+    anything, but it was of no use to sit there any longer. Glancing along
+    the road towards Walford, I saw in the distance some one approaching
+    on a wheel. Involuntarily I stood still and watched the on-coming
+    cyclist, who I saw was a woman. She moved steadily and rapidly on the
+    other side of the road. Very soon I recognized her. It was Miss
+    Putney.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As she came nearer and nearer I was greatly impressed with her
+    appearance. Her costume was as suitable and becoming for the occasion
+    as if it had been an evening dress for a ball, and she wheeled better
+    than any woman cyclist I ever saw. Her head was erect, her eyes
+    straight before her, and her motion was rhythm of action.
+</p>
+<p>
+    With my hand on my wheel I moved a few steps towards the middle of the
+    road. I was about to take off my cap when she turned her eyes upon me.
+    She even moved her head a little so as to gaze upon me a few seconds
+    longer. Her face was quiet and serene, her eyes were large, clear, and
+    observant. In them was not one gleam of recognition. Turning them
+    again upon the road in front of her, she sped on and away.
+</p>
+<a name="image-0031"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-31.png">
+<img src="images/bc-31s.png" width="200" height="177"
+alt="'Cut Like That'"><br />'Cut Like That'</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    For some minutes I stood looking after her, utterly astonished. I do
+    not think in all my life I had ever been cut like that. What did it
+    mean? Could she care enough about me to resent my stopping at the
+    Holly Sprig? Was it possible that she could have known what had been
+    likely to happen there, and what had happened there? All this was very
+    improbable, but in Cathay people seemed to know a great many things.
+    Anyway, she had solved my problem for me. I need give no further
+    thought to a stop at her father's mansion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I mounted and rode on, but not rapidly. I was very much moved. My soul
+    grew warm as I thought of the steady gaze of the eyes which that girl
+    had fixed upon me. For a mile or so I moved steadily and quietly in a
+    mood of incensed dignity. I pressed the pedals with a hard and cruel
+    tread. I did not understand. I could scarcely believe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Soon, however, I began to move a little faster. Somehow or other I
+    became conscious that there was a bicycle at some distance behind me.
+    I pushed on a little faster. I did not wish to be overtaken by
+    anybody. Now I was sure there was a wheel behind me. I could not hear
+    it, but I knew it was there.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Presently I became certain that my instincts had not deceived me, for
+    I heard the quick sound of a bicycle bell. This was odd, for surely no
+    one would ring for me to get out of the way. Then there was another
+    tinkle, a little nearer.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now I sped faster and faster. I heard the bell violently ringing. Then
+    I thought, but I am not sure, that I heard a voice. I struck out with
+    the thrust of a steam-engine, and the earth slipped backward beneath
+    me like the water of a mill-race. I passed wagons as if they had been
+    puffs of smoke, and people on wheels as though they were flying
+    cinders.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In some ten minutes I slackened speed and looked back. For a long
+    distance behind me not a bicycle was in sight. I now pursued my
+    homeward way with a warm body and a lacerated heart. I hated this
+    region which I had called Cathay. Its inhabitants were not barbarians,
+    but I was suffering from their barbarities. I had come among them
+    clean, whole, with an upright bearing. I was going away torn, bloody,
+    and downcast.
+</p>
+<p>
+    If the last words of the lady of the Holly Sprig meant the sweet thing
+    I thought they meant, then did they make the words which preceded them
+    all the more bitter. The more friendly and honest the counsels of
+    Edith Larramie had grown, the deeper they had cut into my heart. Even
+    the more than regard with which my soul prompted me to look back to
+    Amy Willoughby was a pain to me. My judgment would enrage me if it
+    should try to compel me to feel as I did not want to feel.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But none of these wounds would have so pained and disturbed me had it
+    not been for the merciless gaze which that dark-eyed girl had fixed
+    upon me as she passed me standing in the road. And if she had gone too
+    far and had done more than her own nature could endure, and if it were
+    she who had been pursuing me, then the wound was more cruel and the
+    smart deeper. If she believed me a man who would stop at the ringing
+    of her bell, then was I ashamed of myself for having given her that
+    impression.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0019"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIX
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/i.png" alt="I"> &nbsp; now proposed to wheel my way in one long stretch to Walford. I took
+    no interest in rest or in refreshment. Simply to feel that I had done
+    with this cycle of Cathay would be to me rest, refreshment, and,
+    perhaps, the beginning of peace.
+
+<p>
+    The sun was high in the heavens, and its rays were hot, but still I
+    kept steadily on until I saw a female figure by the road-side waving a
+    handkerchief. I had not yet reached her, but she had stopped, was
+    looking at me, and was waving energetically. I could not be mistaken.
+    I turned and wheeled up in front of her. It was Mrs. Burton, the
+    mother of the young lady who had injured her ankle on the day when I
+    set out for my journey through Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am so glad to see you," she said, as she shook hands with me. "I
+    knew you as soon as my eyes first fell upon you. You know I have
+    often seen you on the road before we became acquainted with you. We
+    have frequently talked about you since you were here, and we did not
+    expect you would be coming back so soon. Mr. Burton has been hoping
+    that he would have a chance to know you better. He is very fond of
+    school-masters. He was an intimate friend of Godfrey Chester, who had
+    the school at Walford some years before you came&mdash;when the boys and
+    girls used to go to school together&mdash;and of the man who came
+    afterwards. He was a little too elderly, perhaps, but Mr. Burton liked
+    him too, and now he hopes that he is going to know you. But excuse me
+    for keeping you standing so long in the road. You must come in. We
+    shall have dinner in ten minutes. I was just coming home from a
+    neighbor's when I caught sight of you."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I declined with earnestness. Mr. Burton might be a very agreeable man,
+    but I wanted to make no new acquaintances then. I must keep on to
+    Walford.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But the good lady would listen to no refusals of her hospitality. I
+    was just in time. I must need a mid-day rest and something to eat. She
+    was very sorry that Mr. Burton was not at home. He nearly always was
+    at home, but to-day he had gone to Waterton. But if I would be
+    contented to take dinner with her daughter and herself, they would be
+    delighted to have me do so. She made a motion to open the gate for me,
+    but I opened it for her, and we both went in. The daughter met us at
+    the top of the garden walk. She came towards me as a cool summer
+    breeze comes upon a hot and dusty world. There was no flush upon her
+    face, but her eyes and lips told me that she was glad to see me before
+    she spoke a word or placed her soft, white hand in mine. At the first
+    touch of that hand I felt glad that Mrs. Burton had stopped me in the
+    road. Here was peace.
+</p>
+<p>
+    That dinner was the most soothing meal of which I had ever partaken. I
+    did the carving, my companions did the questioning, and nearly all the
+    conversation was about myself. Ordinarily I would not have liked this,
+    but every word which was said by these two fair ladies&mdash;for the
+    sweetness of the mother was merely more seasoned than that of the
+    daughter&mdash;was so filled with friendly interest that it gratified me to
+    make my answers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    They seemed to have heard a great deal about me during my wanderings
+    through Cathay. They knew, of course, that I had stopped with the
+    Putneys, for I had told them that, but they had also heard that I had
+    spent a night at the Holly Sprig, and had afterwards stayed with the
+    Larramies. But of anything which had happened which in the slightest
+    degree had jarred upon my feelings they did not appear to have heard
+    the slightest mention.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I might have supposed that only good and happy news thought it worth
+    while to stop at that abode of peace. As I looked upon the serene and
+    tender countenance of Mrs. Burton I wondered how a cloud rising from
+    want of sympathy with early peas ever could have settled over this
+    little family circle; but it was the man who had caused the cloud. I
+    knew it. It is so often the man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When we had finished dinner and had gone out to sit in the cool
+    shadows of the piazza, I let my gaze rest as often as I might upon the
+    fair face of that young girl. Several times her eyes met mine, but
+    their lids never drooped, their tender light did not brighten. I felt
+    that she was so truly glad to see me that her pleasure in the meeting
+    was not affected one way or the other by the slight incident of my
+    looking at her.
+</p>
+<p>
+    If ever a countenance told of innocence, purity, and truth, her
+    countenance told of them. I believe that if she had thought it
+    pleased me to look at her, it would have pleased her to know that it
+    gave me pleasure.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I talked with her and looked at her, and as I looked at her mother
+    and talked with her, it was impressed upon me that if there is one
+    thing in this world which is better than all else, it is peace, that
+    peace which comprises so many forms of happiness and deep content.
+    That the thoughts which came to me could come to a heart so lacerated,
+    so torn, so full of pain as mine had been that morning, seemed
+    wonderful, and yet they came.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Once or twice I tried to banish these thoughts. It seemed
+    disrespectful to myself to entertain them so soon after other thoughts
+    which I now wished to banish utterly. I am not a hero of romance. I am
+    only a plain human being, and such is the constitution of my nature
+    that the more troubled and disturbed is my soul, the more welcome is
+    purity, truth, and peace.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But, after all, my feelings were not quite natural, and the change in
+    them was too sudden. It was the consequence of too violent a reaction,
+    but, such as it was, it was complete. I would not be hasty. I would
+    not be deficient in self-respect. But if at that moment I had known
+    that this was the time to declare what I wished to have, I would
+    unhesitatingly have asked for beauty, purity, and peace.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A maid came out upon the piazza who wanted something. Mrs. Burton half
+    rose, but her daughter forestalled her. "I will go," said she. "Excuse
+    me one minute."
+</p>
+<p>
+    If my face expressed the sentiment, "Oh, that the mother had gone!" I
+    did not intend that it should do so. Mrs. Burton then began to talk
+    about her daughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "She is like her father," she said, "in so many ways. For one thing,
+    she is very fond of school-masters. I do not know exactly why this
+    should be, but her teachers always seem to be her friends. In fact,
+    she is to marry a school-master&mdash;that is, an assistant professor at
+    Yale. He is in Europe now, but we expect him back early in the fall."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A short time after this, when the daughter had returned and I rose to
+    go, the young girl put her soft, white hand into mine exactly as she
+    had done when I arrived, and the light in her eyes showed me, just as
+    it had showed me before, the pleasure she had taken in my visit. But
+    the mother's farewell was different from her greeting. I could see in
+    her kind air a certain considerate sympathy which was not there
+    before. She had been very prompt to tell me of her daughter's
+    engagement.
+</p>
+<p>
+    That young angel of peace and truth would not have deemed it necessary
+    to say a word about the matter, even to a young man who was a
+    school-master, and between whom and her family a mutual interest was
+    rapidly growing. But with the mother it was otherwise. She had seen
+    the shadows pass away from my countenance as I sat and talked upon
+    that cool piazza, my eyes bent upon her daughter. Mothers know.
+</p>
+<br />
+<a name="2HCH0020"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XX
+</h2>
+<br />
+<h4>
+    BACK FROM CATHAY
+</h4>
+<hr>
+<br />    <img align=left src="images/t.png" alt="T">he next morning, being again settled in my rooms in Walford, I went
+    to call upon the Doctor and his daughter. The Doctor was not at home,
+    but his daughter was glad to see me.
+
+<p>
+    "And how do you like your cycle of Cathay?" she asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I do not like it at all," I answered. "It has taken me upon a dreary
+    round. I am going to change it for another as soon as I have an
+    opportunity."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then it has not been a wheel of fortune to you?" she remarked. "And
+    as for that country which you figuratively called Cathay, did you find
+    that pleasant?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "In some ways, yes, but in others not. You see, I came back before my
+    vacation was over, and I do not care to go there any more."
+</p>
+<p>
+    She now wanted me to tell her where I had really been and what had
+    happened to me, and I gave her a sketch of my adventures. Of course I
+    could not enter deeply into particulars, for that would make too long
+    a story, but I told her where I had stopped, and my accounts of the
+    bear and the horse were deeply interesting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It seems to me," she said, when I had finished, "that if things had
+    been a little different, you might have had an extremely pleasant
+    tour. For instance, if Mr. Godfrey Chester had been living, I think
+    you would have liked him very much, and it is probable that you would
+    have been glad to stay at his inn for several days. It is a beautiful
+    country thereabout."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Did you know him?" I asked.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh yes," she said; "he was my teacher during part of my school-days
+    here. And then there is Mr. Burton; father is very fond of him. He is
+    a man of great intelligence. It was unfortunate that you did not see
+    more of him."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Perhaps you know Mr. Putney?" I said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," she answered. "I have heard a great deal about him. He seems to
+    be a stiff sort of a man. But as to Mr. Larramie, everybody likes him.
+    He is a great favorite throughout the county, and his son Walter is a
+    rising young man. I am glad you made the acquaintance of the
+    Larramies."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So am I," I said, "very glad indeed. And, by-the-way, do you know a
+    young man named Willoughby? I never heard his first name, but he lives
+    at Waterton."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Oh, the Willoughbys of Waterton," she said. "I have heard a great
+    deal about them. Father used to know the old gentleman. He was a great
+    collector of rare books, but he is dead now. If you had met him you
+    would have found him a man of your own tastes."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When I was going away she stopped me for a moment. "I forgot to ask
+    you," she said; "did you take any of those capsules I gave you when
+    you were starting off on your cycle?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Yes," said I, "I took some of them." But I could not well explain the
+    capricious way in which I had endeavored to guard against the germs of
+    malaria, and to call my own attention to the threatening germs of
+    erratic fancy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Then you do not think they did you any good?" she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am not sure," I replied. "I cannot say anything about that. But of
+    one thing I am certain, and that is, that if any germs of any kind
+    entered my system, it is perfectly free from them now."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "I am glad to hear that," she said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was about a week after this that I received a letter from Percy
+    Larramie. "I thought you would like to know about the bear," he wrote.
+    "Somebody must have forgotten to feed him, and he broke his chain and
+    got away. He went straight over to the Holly Sprig Inn, and I expect
+    he did that because the inn was the last place he had seen his master.
+    I did not know bears cared so much for masters. He didn't stay long at
+    the inn, but he stayed long enough to bite a boy. Then he went into
+    the woods.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "As soon as we heard of it we all set off on a bear-hunt. It was jolly
+    fun, although I did not so much as catch a sight of him. Father shot
+    him at a three-hundred-foot range. It was a Winchester rifle with a
+    thirty-two cartridge. It was a beautiful shot, Walter said, and I wish
+    I had made it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We took his skin off and tore it only in two or three places, which
+    can be mended. Would you like to have the skin, and do you care
+    particularly about the head? If you don't, I would like to have it,
+    because without it the skeleton will not be perfect."
+</p>
+<p>
+    I wrote to Percy that I did not desire so much as a single hair of the
+    beast. I did not tell him so, but I despised the bears of Cathay.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was just before the Christmas holidays when I finally made up my
+    mind that of all the women in the world the Doctor's daughter was the
+    one for me, and when I told her so she did not try to conceal that
+    this was also her own opinion. I had seen the most charming qualities
+    in other women, and my somewhat rapid and enthusiastic study of them
+    had so familiarized me with them that I was enabled readily to
+    perceive their existence in others. I found them all in the Doctor's
+    daughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Her father was very well pleased when he heard of our compact. It was
+    plain that he had been waiting to hear of it. When he furthermore
+    heard that I had decided to abandon all thought of the law, and to
+    study medicine instead, his satisfaction was complete. He arranged
+    everything with affectionate prudence. I should read with him,
+    beginning immediately, even before I gave up my school. I should
+    attend the necessary medical courses, and we need be in no hurry to
+    marry. We were both young, and when I was ready to become his
+    assistant it would be time enough for him to give me his daughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We were sitting together in the Doctor's library and had been looking
+    over some of the papers of the Walford Literary Society, of which we
+    were both officers, when I said, looking at her signature:
+    "By-the-way, I wish you would tell me one thing. What does the initial
+    'E.' stand for in your name? I never knew any one to use it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "No," she said; "I do not like it. It was given to me by my mother's
+    sister, who was a romantic young lady. It is Europa. And I only hope,"
+    she added, quickly, "that you may have fifty years of it."
+</p>
+<hr>
+<p>
+    Three years of the fifty have now passed, and each one of the young
+    women I met in Cathay has married. The first one to go off was Edith
+    Larramie. She married the college friend of her brother who was at the
+    house when I visited them. When I met her in Walford shortly after I
+    heard of her engagement, she took me aside in her old way and told me
+    she wanted me always to look upon her as my friend, no matter how
+    circumstances might change with her or me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "You do not know how much of a friend I was to you," she said, "and it
+    is not at all necessary you should know. But I will say that when I
+    saw you getting into such a dreadful snarl in our part of the
+    country, I determined, if there were no other way to save you, I would
+    marry you myself! But I did not do it, and you ought to be very glad
+    of it, for you would have found that a little of me, now and then,
+    would be a great deal more to your taste than to have me always."
+</p>
+<a name="image-0032"><!--IMG--></a>
+<center>
+<a href="images/bc-32.png">
+<img src="images/bc-32s.png" width="126" height="200"
+alt="Europa"><br />Europa</a></center>
+<!--IMAGE END-->
+<p>
+    Mrs. Chester married the man who had courted her before she fell in
+    love with her school-master. It appeared that the fact of her having
+    been the landlady of the Holly Sprig made no difference in his case.
+    He was too rich to have any prospects which might be interfered with.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Amy Willoughby married Walter Larramie. That was a thing which might
+    well have been expected. I was very glad to hear it, for I shall never
+    fail to be interested in the Larramies.
+</p>
+<p>
+    About a year ago there was a grand wedding at the Putney city mansion.
+    The daughter of the family was married to an Italian gentleman with a
+    title. I read of the affair in the newspapers, and having heard, in
+    addition, a great many details of the match from the gossips of
+    Walford, I supposed myself to be fully informed in regard to this
+    grand alliance, and was therefore very much surprised to receive,
+    personally, an announcement of the marriage upon a very large and
+    stiff card, on which were given, in full, the various titles and
+    dignities of the noble bridegroom. I did not believe Mr. Putney had
+    sent me this card, nor that his wife had done so; certainly the Count
+    did not send it. But no matter how it came to me, I was very sure I
+    owed it to the determination, on the part of some one, that by no
+    mischance should I fail to know exactly what had happened. I heard
+    recently that the noble lady and her husband expect to spend the
+    summer at her father's country-house, and some people believe that
+    they intend to make it their permanent home.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Doctor strongly advises that Europa and I should go before long
+    and settle in the Cathay region. He thinks that it will be a most
+    excellent field for me to begin my labors in, and he knows many
+    families there who would doubtless give me their practice.
+</p>
+<br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+
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@@ -0,0 +1,6083 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Bicycle of Cathay, by Frank R. 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: A Bicycle of Cathay
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Release Date: May 13, 2004  [eBook #12334]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BICYCLE OF CATHAY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Asad Razzaki, and Project Gutenberg
+Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 12334-h.htm or 12334-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/3/12334/12334-h/12334-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/3/12334/12334-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+A BICYCLE OF CATHAY
+
+A Novel
+
+By Frank R. Stockton
+
+Author of "The Great Stone of Sardis," "The Associate Hermits" etc.
+
+Illustrated by Orson Lowell
+
+1900
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The doctor's daughter]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+   II. A BAD TWIST
+
+  III. THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+
+   IV. A BIT OF ADVICE
+
+    V. THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+
+   VI. THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+
+  VII. MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+
+ VIII. ORSO
+
+   IX. A RUNAWAY
+
+    X. THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+
+   XI. THE THREE MCKENNAS
+
+  XII. BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+
+ XIII. A MAN WITH A LETTER
+
+  XIV. MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+   XV. MISS WILLOUGHBY
+
+  XVI. AN ICICLE
+
+ XVII. A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+
+XVIII. REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+
+  XIX. BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+
+   XX. BACK FROM CATHAY
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+HALF-TITLE
+
+"I PUT ON MY COAT"
+
+"THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN HARD"
+
+"ON MY RIGHT A LIGHTED DOORWAY"
+
+A FEW THOUGHTS
+
+"THE BEAUTY OF HER TEETH"
+
+"I KICKED OFF MY EMBROIDERED SLIPPERS"
+
+"IT WOULD BE WELL FOR ME TO SWALLOW A CAPSULE"
+
+"AS SOON AS I HAD SPOKEN THESE WORDS"
+
+"I DISMOUNTED AND APPROACHED THE WALL"
+
+"I THOUGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS"
+
+"I WENT OUT FOR A WALK"
+
+MRS. CHESTER
+
+"SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WALFORD"
+
+"BUT WE WERE NOT ALONE"
+
+"TO MY LEFT I SAW A LINE OF TREES"
+
+"HE WAS RUNNING AWAY"
+
+"HE SOON FELT THAT HE WAS UNDER CONTROL"
+
+"A LITTLE ARMY HAD THROWN ITSELF UPON ME"
+
+"'WOULD IT BE EASIER TO MANAGE A BOY OR A BEAR?'"
+
+"I TAPPED MY LEFT PALM"
+
+"THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH UPON HER FACE"
+
+"THE SCENE VIVIDLY RECURRED TO MY MIND"
+
+DECIPHERING THE DAGO'S LETTER
+
+"'I DON'T THINK YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THIS LETTER'"
+
+"'DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HIT IT WITH AN APPLE?'"
+
+"TALKING ABOUT BABY BEARS"
+
+"I HELD THAT PICTURE A GOOD WHILE"
+
+"'NO, SIR,' SHE SAID"
+
+"CUT LIKE THAT"
+
+EUROPA
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER
+
+
+It was a beautiful summer morning when slowly I wheeled my way along
+the principal street of the village of Walford. A little valise was
+strapped in front of my bicycle; my coat, rolled into a small compass,
+was securely tied under the seat, and I was starting out to spend my
+vacation.
+
+I was the teacher of the village school, which useful institution had
+been closed for the season the day before, much to the gratification
+of pedagogue and scholars. This position was not at all the summit of
+my youthful ambition. In fact, I had been very much disappointed when
+I found myself obliged to accept it, but when I left college my
+financial condition made it desirable for me to do something to
+support myself while engaged in some of the studies preparatory to a
+professional career.
+
+I have never considered myself a sentimental person, but I must admit
+that I did not feel very happy that morning, and this state of mind
+was occasioned entirely by the feeling that there was no one who
+seemed to be in the least sorry that I was going away. My boys were so
+delighted to give up their studies that they were entirely satisfied
+to give up their teacher, and I am sure that my vacation would have
+been a very long one if they had had the ordering of it. My landlady
+might have been pleased to have me stay, but if I had agreed to pay my
+board during my absence I do not doubt that my empty room would have
+occasioned her no pangs of regret. I had friends in the village, but
+as they knew it was a matter of course that I should go away during
+the vacation, they seemed to be perfectly reconciled to the fact.
+
+As I passed a small house which was the abode of my laundress, my
+mental depression was increased by the action of her oldest son. This
+little fellow, probably five years of age, and the condition of whose
+countenance indicated that his mother's art was seldom exercised upon
+it, was playing on the sidewalk with his sister, somewhat younger and
+much dirtier.
+
+As I passed the little chap he looked up and in a sharp, clear voice,
+he cried: "Good-bye! Come back soon!" These words cut into my soul.
+Was it possible that this little ragamuffin was the only one in that
+village who was sorry to see me depart and who desired my return? And
+the acuteness of this cut was not decreased by the remembrance that on
+several occasions when he had accompanied his mother to my lodging I
+had given him small coins.
+
+I was beginning to move more rapidly along the little path, well worn
+by many rubber tires, which edged the broad roadway, when I perceived
+the doctor's daughter standing at the gate of her father's front yard.
+As I knew her very well, and she happened to be standing there and
+looking in my direction, I felt that it would be the proper thing for
+me to stop and speak to her, and so I dismounted and proceeded to roll
+my bicycle up to the gate.
+
+As the doctor's daughter stood looking over the gate, her hands
+clasped the tops of the two central pickets.
+
+"Good-morning," said she. "I suppose, from your carrying baggage,
+that you are starting off for your vacation. How far do you expect to
+go on your wheel, and do you travel alone?"
+
+"My only plan," I answered, "is to ride over the hills and far away!
+How far I really do not know; and I shall be alone except for this
+good companion." And as I said this I patted the handle-bar of my
+bicycle.
+
+"Your wheel does seem to be a sort of a companion," she said; "not so
+good as a horse, but better than nothing. I should think, travelling
+all by yourself in this way, you would have quite a friendly feeling
+for it. Did you ever think of giving it a name?"
+
+"Oh yes," said I. "I have named it. I call it a 'Bicycle of Cathay.'"
+
+"Is there any sense in such a name?" she asked. "It is like part of a
+quotation from Tennyson, isn't it? I forget the first of it."
+
+"You are right," I said. "'Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle
+of Cathay.' I cannot tell you exactly why, but that seems to suggest a
+good name for a bicycle."
+
+"But your machine has two wheels," said she. "Therefore you ought to
+say, 'Better one hundred years of Europe than two cycles of Cathay.'"
+
+"I bow to custom," said I. "Every one speaks of a bicycle as a wheel,
+and I shall not introduce the plural into the name of my good steed."
+
+"And you don't know where your Cathay is to be?" she asked.
+
+I smiled and shook my head. "No," I answered, "but I hope my cycle
+will carry me safely through it."
+
+The doctor's daughter looked past me across the road. "I wish I were a
+man," said she, "and could go off as I pleased, as you do! It must be
+delightfully independent."
+
+I was about to remark that too much independence is not altogether
+delightful, but she suddenly spoke:
+
+"You carry very little with you for a long journey," and as she said
+this she grasped the pickets of the gate more tightly. I could see the
+contraction of the muscles of her white hands. It seemed as if she
+were restraining something.
+
+"Oh, this isn't all my baggage," I replied. "I sent on a large bag to
+Waterton. I suppose I shall be there in a couple of days, and then I
+shall forward the bag to some other place."
+
+"I do not suppose you have packed up any medicine among your other
+things?" she asked. "You don't look as if you very often needed
+medicine."
+
+I laughed as I replied that in the course of my life I had taken but
+little.
+
+"But if your cycle starts off rolling early in the morning," she said,
+"or keeps on late in the evening, you ought to be able to defend
+yourself against malaria. I do not know what sort of a country Cathay
+may be, but I should not be a bit surprised if you found it full of
+mists and morning vapors. Malaria has a fancy for strong people, you
+know. Just wait here a minute, please," and with that she turned and
+ran into the house.
+
+I had liked the doctor's daughter ever since I had begun to know her,
+although at first I had found it a little hard to become acquainted
+with her.
+
+She was the treasurer of the literary society of the village, and I
+was its secretary. We had to work together sometimes, and I found her
+a very straightforward girl in her accounts and in every other way.
+
+In about a minute she returned, carrying a little pasteboard box.
+
+"Here are some one-grain quinine capsules," she said. "They have no
+taste, and I am quite sure that if you get into a low country it would
+be a good thing for you to take at least one of them every morning.
+People may have given you all sorts of things for your journey, but I
+do not believe any one has given you this." And she handed me the box
+over the top of the gate.
+
+I did not say that her practical little present was the only thing
+that anybody had given me, but I thanked her very heartily, and
+assured her that I would take one every time I thought I needed it.
+Then, as it seemed proper to do so, I straightened up my bicycle as if
+I would mount it. Again her fingers clutched the top of the two
+palings.
+
+"When father comes home," she said, "he will be sorry to find that he
+had not a chance to bid you good-bye. And, by-the-way," she added,
+quickly, "you know there will be one more meeting of the society. Did
+you write out any minutes for the last evening, and would you like me
+to read them for you?"
+
+"Upon my word!" I exclaimed. "I have forgotten all about it. I made
+some rough notes, but I have written nothing."
+
+"Well, it doesn't matter in the least," said she, quickly. "I remember
+everything that happened, and I will write the minutes and read them
+for you; that is, if you want me to."
+
+I assured her that nothing would please me better, and we talked a
+little about the minutes, after which I thought I ought not to keep
+her standing at the gate any longer. So I took leave of her, and we
+shook hands over the gate. This was the first time I had ever shaken
+hands with the doctor's daughter, for she was a reserved girl, and
+hitherto I had merely bowed to her.
+
+As I sped away down the street and out into the open country my heart
+was a good deal lighter than it had been when I began my journey. It
+was certainly pleasant to leave that village, which had been my home
+for the greater part of a year, without the feeling that there was no
+one in it who cared for me, even to the extent of a little box of
+quinine capsules.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A BAD TWIST
+
+
+It was about the middle of the afternoon that I found myself bowling
+along a smooth highway, bordered by trees and stretching itself almost
+upon a level far away into the distance. Had I been a scorcher, here
+would have been a chance to do a little record-breaking, for I was a
+powerful and practised wheelman. But I had no desire to be extravagant
+with my energies, and so contented myself with rolling steadily on at
+a speed moderate enough to allow me to observe the country I was
+passing through.
+
+There were not many people on the road, but at some distance ahead of
+me I saw a woman on a wheel. She was not going rapidly, and I was
+gaining on her. Suddenly, with no reason whatever that I could see,
+her machine gave a twist, and, although she put out her foot to save
+herself, she fell to the ground. Instantly I pushed forward to assist
+her, but before I could reach her she was on her feet. She made a step
+towards her bicycle, which lay in the middle of the road, and then she
+stopped and stood still. I saw that she was hurt, but I could not help
+a sort of inward smile. "It is the old way of the world," I thought.
+"Would the Fates have made that young woman fall from her bicycle if
+there had been two men coming along on their wheels?"
+
+As I jumped from my machine and approached her she turned her head and
+looked at me. She was a pale girl, and her face was troubled. When I
+asked her if she had hurt herself, she spoke to me without the
+slightest embarrassment or hesitation.
+
+"I twisted my foot in some way," she said, "and I do not know what I
+am going to do. It hurts me to make a step, and I am sure I cannot
+work my wheel."
+
+"Have you far to go?" I asked.
+
+"I live about two miles from here," she answered. "I do not think I
+have sprained my ankle, but it hurts. Perhaps, however, if I rest for
+a little while I may be able to walk."
+
+"I would not try to do that," said I. "Whatever has happened to your
+foot or ankle, you would certainly make it very much worse by walking
+such a distance. Perhaps I can ride on and get you a conveyance?"
+
+"You would have to go a long way to get one," she answered. "We do not
+keep a horse and I really--"
+
+"Don't trouble yourself in the least," I said. "I can take you to your
+home without any difficulty whatever. If you will mount your machine I
+can push you along very easily."
+
+"But then you would have to walk yourself," she said, quickly, "and
+push your wheel too."
+
+Of course it would not have been necessary for me to walk, for I could
+have ridden my bicycle and have pushed her along on her own, but under
+the circumstances I did not think it wise to risk this. So I accepted
+her suggestion of walking as if nothing else could be done.
+
+"Oh, I do not mind walking a bit," said I. "I am used to it, and as I
+have been riding for a long time, it would be a relief to me."
+
+She stood perfectly still, apparently afraid to move lest she should
+hurt her foot, but she raised her head and fixed a pair of very large
+blue eyes upon me. "It is too kind in you to offer to do this! But I
+do not see what else is to be done. But who is going to hold up my
+wheel while you help me to get on it?"
+
+"Oh, I will attend to all that," said I, and picking up her bicycle, I
+brought it to her. She made a little step towards it, and then
+stopped.
+
+"You mustn't do that," said I. "I will put you on." And holding her
+bicycle upright with my left hand, I put my right arm around her and
+lifted her to the seat. She was such a childlike, sensible young
+person that I did not think it necessary to ask any permission for
+this action, nor even to allude to its necessity.
+
+"Now you might guide yourself with the handle-bar," I said. "Please
+steer over to that tree where I have left my machine." I easily pushed
+her over to the tree, and when I had laid hold of my bicycle with my
+left hand, we slowly proceeded along the smooth road.
+
+"I think you would better take your feet from the pedals," said I,
+"and put them on the coasters--the motion must hurt you. It is better
+to have your injured foot raised, anyway, as that will keep the blood
+from running down into it and giving you more pain."
+
+She instantly adopted my suggestion, and presently said, "That is a
+great deal more pleasant, and I am sure it is better for my foot to
+keep it still. I do hope I haven't sprained my ankle! It is possible
+to give a foot a bad twist without spraining it, isn't it?"
+
+I assented, and as I did so I thought it would not be difficult to
+give a bad twist to any part of this slenderly framed young creature.
+
+"How did you happen to fall?" I asked--not that I needed to inquire,
+for my own knowledge of wheelcraft assured me that she had tumbled
+simply because she did not know how to ride.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea," she answered. "The first thing I knew
+I was going over, and I wish I had not tried to save myself. It would
+have been better to go down bodily."
+
+As we went on she told me that she had not had much practice, as it
+had been but a few weeks since she had become the possessor of a
+wheel, and that this was the first trip she had ever taken by herself.
+She had always gone in company with some one, but to-day she had
+thought she was able to take care of herself, like other girls.
+Finding her so entirely free from conventional embarrassment, I made
+bold to give her a little advice on the subject of wheeling in
+general, and she seemed entirely willing to be instructed. In fact, as
+I went on with my little discourse I began to think that I would much
+rather teach girls than boys. At first sight the young person under
+my charge might have been taken for a school-girl, but her
+conversation would have soon removed that illusion.
+
+We had not proceeded more than a mile when suddenly I felt a very
+gentle tap on the end of my nose, and at the same moment the young
+lady turned her head towards me and exclaimed: "It's going to rain! I
+felt a drop!"
+
+"I will walk faster," I said, "and no doubt I will get you to your
+house before the shower is upon us. At any rate, I hope you won't be
+much wet."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't matter about me in the least," she said. "I shall be
+at home and can put on dry clothes, but you will be soaked through and
+have to go on. You haven't any coat on!"
+
+If I had known there was any probability of rain I should have put on
+my coat before I started out on this somewhat unusual method of
+travelling, but there was no help for it now, and all I could do was
+to hurry on. From walking fast I began to trot. The drops were coming
+down quite frequently.
+
+"Won't that tire you dreadfully?" she said.
+
+"Not at all," I replied. "I could run like this for a long distance."
+
+[Illustration: "I PUT ON MY COAT"]
+
+She looked up at me with a little smile. I think she must have
+forgotten the pain in her foot.
+
+"It must be nice to be strong like that," she said.
+
+Now the rain came down faster, and my companion declared that I ought
+to stop and put on my coat. I agreed to this, and when I came to a
+suitable tree by the road-side, I carefully leaned her against it and
+detached my coat from my bicycle. But just as I was about to put it on
+I glanced at the young girl. She had on a thin shirt-waist, and I
+could see that the shoulders of it were already wet. I advanced
+towards her, holding out my coat. "I must lay this over you," I said.
+"I am afraid now that I shall not get you to your home before it
+begins to rain hard."
+
+She turned to me so suddenly that I made ready to catch her if her
+unguarded movement should overturn her machine. "You mustn't do that
+at all!" she said. "It doesn't matter whether I am wet or not. I do
+not have to travel in wet clothes, and you do. Please put on your coat
+and let us hurry!"
+
+I obeyed her, and away we went again, the rain now coming down hard
+and fast. For some minutes she did not say anything; but I did not
+wonder at this, for circumstances were not favorable to conversation.
+But presently, in spite of the rain and our haste, she spoke:
+
+"It must seem dreadfully ungrateful and hard-hearted in me to say to
+you, after all you have done for me, that you must go on in the rain.
+Anybody would think that I ought to ask you to come into our house and
+wait until the storm is over. But, really, I do not see how I can do
+it."
+
+I urged her not for a moment to think of me. I was hardy, and did not
+mind rain, and when I was mounted upon my wheel the exercise would
+keep me warm enough until I reached a place of shelter.
+
+"I do not like it," she said. "It is cruel and inhuman, and nothing
+you can say will make it any better. But the fact is that I find
+myself in a very--Well, I do not know what to say about it. You are
+the school-teacher at Walford, are you not?"
+
+This question surprised me, and I assented quickly, wondering what
+would come next.
+
+"I thought so," she said. "I have seen you on the road on your wheel,
+and some one told me who you were. And now, since you have been so
+kind to me, I am going to tell you exactly why I cannot ask you to
+stop at our house. Everything is all wrong there to-day, and if I
+don't explain what has happened, you might think that things are
+worse than they really are, and I wouldn't want anybody to think
+that."
+
+[Illustration: "THE RAIN WAS COMING DOWN HARD"]
+
+I listened with great attention, for I saw that she was anxious to
+free herself of the imputation of being inhospitable, and although the
+heavy rain and my rapid pace made it sometimes difficult to catch her
+words, I lost very little of her story.
+
+"You see," said she, "my father is very fond of gardening, and he
+takes great pride in his vegetables, especially the early ones. He has
+peas this year ahead of everybody else in the neighborhood, and it was
+only day before yesterday that he took me out to look at them. He has
+been watching them ever since they first came up out of the ground,
+and when he showed me the nice big pods and told me they would be
+ready to pick in a day or two, he looked so proud and happy that you
+might have thought his peas were little living people. I truly believe
+that even at prayer-time he could not help thinking how good those
+peas would taste.
+
+"But this morning when he came in from the garden and told mother that
+he was going to pick our first peas, so as to have them perfectly
+fresh for dinner, she said that he would better not pick them to-day,
+because the vegetable man had been along just after breakfast, and he
+had had such nice green peas that she had bought some, and therefore
+he had better keep his peas for some other day.
+
+"Now, I don't want you to think that mother isn't just as good as
+gold, for she is. But she doesn't take such interest in garden things
+as father does, and to her all peas are peas, provided they are good
+ones. But when father heard what she had done I know that he felt
+exactly as if he had been stabbed in one of his tenderest places. He
+did not say one word, and he walked right out of the house, and since
+that they haven't spoken to each other. It was dreadful to sit at
+dinner, neither of them saying a word to the other, and only speaking
+to me. It was all so different from the way things generally are that
+I can scarcely bear it.
+
+"And I went out this afternoon for no other reason than to give them a
+chance to make it up between them. I thought perhaps they would do it
+better if they were alone with each other. But of course I do not know
+what has happened, and things may be worse than they were. I could not
+take a stranger into the house at such a time--they would not like to
+be found not speaking to each other--and, besides, I do not know--"
+
+Here I interrupted her, and begged her not to give another thought to
+the subject. I wanted very much to go on, and in every way it was the
+best thing I could do.
+
+As I finished speaking she pointed out a pretty house standing back
+from the road, and told me that was where she lived. In a very few
+minutes after that I had run her up to the steps of her piazza and was
+assisting her to dismount from her wheel.
+
+"It is awful!" she said. "This rain is coming down like a cataract!"
+
+"You must hurry in-doors," I answered. "Let me help you up the steps."
+And with this I took hold of her under the arms, and in a second I had
+set her down in front of the closed front door. I then ran down and
+brought up her wheel. "Do you think you can manage to walk in?" said
+I.
+
+"Oh yes!" she said. "If I can't do anything else, I can hop. My mother
+will soon have me all right. She knows all about such things."
+
+She looked at me with an anxious expression, and then said, "How do
+you think it would do for you to wait on the piazza until the rain is
+over?"
+
+"Good-bye," I said, with a laugh, and bounding down to the front
+gate, where I had left my bicycle, I mounted and rode away.
+
+The rain came down harder and harder. The road was full of little
+running streams, and liquid mud flew from under my whirling wheels. It
+was not late in the afternoon, but it was actually getting dark, and I
+seemed to be the only living creature out in this tremendous storm. I
+looked from side to side for some place into which I could run for
+shelter, but here the road ran between broad open fields. My coat had
+ceased to protect me, and I could feel the water upon my skin.
+
+But in spite of my discomforts and violent exertions I found myself
+under the influence of some very pleasurable emotions, occasioned by
+the incident of the slender girl. Her childlike frankness was charming
+to me. There was not another girl in a thousand who would have told me
+that story of the peas. I felt glad that she had known who I was when
+she was talking to me, and that her simple confidences had been given
+to me personally, and not to an entire stranger who had happened
+along. I wondered if she resembled her father or her mother, and I had
+no doubt that to possess such a daughter they must both be excellent
+people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DUKE'S DRESSING-GOWN
+
+
+Thinking thus, I almost forgot the storm, but coming to a slight
+descent where the road was very smooth I became conscious that my
+wheel was inclined to slip, and if I were not careful I might come to
+grief. But no sooner had I reached the bottom of the declivity than I
+beheld on my right a lighted doorway. Without the slightest hesitation
+I turned through the wide gateway, the posts of which I could scarcely
+see, and stopped in front of a small house by the side of a driveway.
+Waiting for no permission, I carried my bicycle into a little covered
+porch. I then approached the door, for I was now seeking not only
+shelter but an opportunity to dry myself. I do not believe a sponge
+could have been more thoroughly soaked than I was.
+
+At the very entrance I was met by a little man in short jacket and
+top-boots.
+
+"I heard your step," said he. "Been caught in the rain, eh? Well, this
+is a storm! And now what're we going to do? You must come in. But
+you're in a pretty mess, I must say! Hi, Maria!"
+
+At these words a large, fresh-looking woman came into the little hall.
+
+"Maria," said the man, "here's a gentleman that's pretty nigh drowned,
+and he's dripping puddles big enough to swim in."
+
+The woman smiled. "Really, sir," said she, "you've had a hard time.
+Wheeling, I suppose. It's an awful time to be out. It's so dark that I
+lighted a lamp to make things look a little cheery. But you must come
+in until the rain is over, and try and dry yourself."
+
+"But how about the hall, Maria?" said the man. "There'll be a dreadful
+slop!"
+
+"Oh, I'll make that all right," she said. She disappeared, and quickly
+returned with a couple of rugs, which she laid, wrong side up, on the
+polished floor of the hallway. "Now you can step on those, sir, and
+come into the kitchen. There's a fire there."
+
+I thanked her, and presently found myself before a large stove, on
+which it was evident, from the odors, that supper was preparing. In a
+certain way the heat was grateful, but in less than a minute I was
+bound to admit to myself that I felt as if I were enveloped in a vast
+warm poultice. The little man and his wife--if wife she were, for she
+looked big enough to be his mother, and young enough to be his
+daughter--stood talking in the hall, and I could hear every word they
+said.
+
+[Illustration: "ON MY RIGHT A LIGHTED DOORWAY"]
+
+"It's of no use for him to try to dry himself," she said, "for he's
+wet to the bone. He must change his clothes, and hang those he's got
+on before the fire."
+
+"Change his clothes!" exclaimed the man. "How ever can he do that?
+I've nothing that'll fit him, and of course he has brought nothing
+along with him."
+
+"Never you mind," said she. "Something's got to be got. Take him into
+the little chamber. And don't consider the floor; that can be wiped
+up."
+
+She came into the kitchen and spoke to me. "You must come and change
+your clothes," she said. "You'll catch your death of cold, else.
+You're the school-master from Walford, I think, sir? Indeed, I'm sure
+of it, for I've seen you on your wheel."
+
+Smiling at the idea that through the instrumentality of my bicycle I
+had been making myself known to the people of the surrounding
+country, I followed the man into a small bed-chamber on the
+ground-floor.
+
+"Now," said he, "the quicker you get off your wet clothes and give
+yourself a good rub-down the better it will be for you. And I'll go
+and see what I can do in the way of something for you to put on."
+
+I asked him to bring me the bag from my bicycle, and after doing so he
+left me.
+
+Very soon I heard talking outside of my door, and as both my
+entertainers had clear, high voices, I could hear distinctly what they
+said.
+
+"Go get him the corduroys," said she. "He's a well-made man, but he's
+no bigger than your father was."
+
+"The corduroys?" he said, somewhat doubtfully, I thought.
+
+"Yes," she replied. "Go get them! I should be glad to have them put to
+some use."
+
+"But what for a coat?" said he. "There's nothing in the house that he
+could get on."
+
+"That's true," said she. "But he must have something. You can get him
+the Duke's dressing-gown."
+
+"What!" exclaimed the man. "You don't mean--"
+
+"Yes, I do mean," said she. "It's big enough for anybody, and it'll
+keep him from ketching cold. Go fetch it!"
+
+In a short time there was a knock at my door, and the little man
+handed me in a pair of yellow corduroy trousers and a large and gaudy
+dressing-gown. "There!" said he. "They'll keep you warm until your own
+clothes dry."
+
+With a change of linen from my bag, which had fortunately kept its
+contents dry, the yellow trousers, and a wonderful dressing-gown, made
+of some blue stuff embroidered with gold and lined throughout with
+crimson satin, I made a truly gorgeous appearance. But it struck me
+that it would be rather startling to a beholder were I to appear
+barefooted in such raiment, for my shoes and stockings were as wet as
+the rest of my clothes. I had not finished dressing before the little
+man knocked again, this time with some gray socks and a pair of
+embroidered slippers.
+
+"These'll fit you, I think," said he, "for I'll lay you ten shillings
+that I'm as big in the feet as you are."
+
+I would have been glad to gaze at myself in a full-length mirror, but
+there was no opportunity for the indulgence of such vanity; and before
+leaving the room I sat down for a moment to give a few thoughts to
+the situation. My mind first reverted to the soaked condition of my
+garments and the difficulty of getting them dry enough for me to put
+them on and continue my journey. Then I found that I had dropped the
+subject and was thinking of the slender girl, wondering if she had
+really hurt herself very much, congratulating myself that I had been
+fortunate enough to be on hand to help her in her need, and
+considering what a plight she would have been in if she had been
+caught in that terrible rain and utterly unable to get herself to
+shelter.
+
+Suddenly I stopped short in my thinking, and going to my bag I took
+from it the little box of quinine capsules which had been given to me
+by the doctor's daughter, and promptly proceeded to swallow one of
+them.
+
+"It may be of service to me," I said to myself.
+
+When I made my appearance in the hallway I met the little man, who
+immediately burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Lord, sir!" said he. "You must excuse me, but you look like a king on
+a lark! Walk into the parlor, sir, and sit down and make yourself
+comfortable. She's hurrying up supper to give you something warm after
+your wettin'. Would you like a little nip of whiskey, sir, to keep
+the damp out?"
+
+[Illustration: A Few Thoughts]
+
+I declined the whiskey, and seated myself in the neatly-furnished
+parlor. It was wonderful, I thought, to fall into such a hospitable
+household, and then I began to ask myself whether or not it would be
+the proper thing to offer to pay for my entertainment. I thought I had
+quite properly divined the position in life of the little man. This
+small house, so handsomely built and neatly kept, must be a lodge upon
+some fine country place, and the man was probably the head gardener,
+or something of the kind.
+
+It was not long before my hostess came into the room, but she did not
+laugh at my appearance. She was a handsome woman, erect and broad,
+with a free and powerful step. She smiled as she spoke to me.
+
+"You may think that that's an over-handsome gown for such as us to be
+owning. It was given to my man by the Duke of Radford. That was before
+we were married, and he was an undergardener then. The Duchess
+wouldn't let the Duke wear it, because it was so gay, and there wasn't
+none of the servants that would care to take it, for fear they'd be
+laughed at, until they offered it to John. And John, you must know,
+he'd take anything! But I came in to tell you supper's ready; and, if
+you like, I'll bring you something in here, and you can eat it on that
+table, or--"
+
+Here I interrupted my good hostess, and declared that, while I should
+be glad to have some supper, I would not eat any unless I might sit
+down with her husband and herself; and, as this proposition seemed to
+please her, the three of us were soon seated around a very tastefully
+furnished table in a dining-room looking out upon a pretty lawn. The
+rain had now almost ceased, and from the window I could see beautiful
+stretches of grass, interspersed with ornamental trees and
+flower-beds.
+
+The meal was plain but abundant, with an appetizing smell pervading it
+which is seldom noticed in connection with the tables of the rich.
+When we had finished supper I found that the skies had nearly cleared
+and that it was growing quite light again. I asked permission to step
+out upon a little piazza which opened from the dining-room and smoke a
+pipe, and while I was sitting there enjoying the beauty of the
+sunlight on the sparkling grass and trees I again heard the little man
+and his wife talking to each other.
+
+"It can't be done," said he, speaking very positively. "I've orders
+about that, and there's no getting round them."
+
+"It's got to be done!" said she, "and there's an end of it! The
+clothes won't be dry until morning, and it won't do to put them too
+near the stove, or they'll shrink so he can't get them on. And he
+can't go away to hunt up lodgings wearing the Duke's dressing-gown and
+them yellow breeches!"
+
+"Orders is orders," said the man, "and unless I get special leave, it
+can't be done."
+
+"Well, then, go and get special leave," said she, "and don't stand
+there talking about it!"
+
+There was no doubt that my lodging that night was the subject of this
+conversation, but I had no desire to interfere with the good
+intentions of my hostess. I must stay somewhere until my clothes were
+dry, and I should be glad to stop in my present comfortable quarters.
+
+So I sat still and smoked, and very soon I heard the big shoes of the
+little man grating upon the gravel as he walked rapidly away from the
+house. Now came the good woman out upon the piazza to ask me if I had
+found my tobacco dry. "Because if it's damp," said she, "my man has
+some very good 'baccy in his jar."
+
+I assured her that my pouch had kept dry; and then, as she seemed
+inclined to talk, I begged her to sit down if she did not mind the
+pipe. Down she sat, and steadily she talked. She congratulated herself
+on her happy thought to light the hall lamp, or I might never have
+noticed the house in the darkness, and she would have been sorry
+enough if I had had to keep on the road for another half-hour in that
+dreadful rain.
+
+On she talked in the most cheerful and communicative way, until
+suddenly she rose with a start. "He's coming himself, sir!" she said,
+"with Miss Putney."
+
+"Who is 'he'?" I asked.
+
+"It's the master, sir Mr. Putney, and his daughter. Just stay here
+where you are, sir, and make yourself comfortable. I'll go and speak
+to them."
+
+Left to myself, I knocked out my pipe and sat wondering what would
+happen next. A thing happened which surprised me very much. Upon a
+path which ran in front of the little piazza there appeared two
+persons--one, an elderly gentleman, with gray side-whiskers and a pale
+face, attired in clothes with such an appearance of newness that it
+might well have been supposed this was the first time he had worn
+them; the other, a young lady, rather small in stature, but
+extremely pleasant to look upon. She had dark hair and large blue
+eyes; her complexion was rich, and her dress of light silk was
+wonderfully well shaped.
+
+[Illustration: "The beauty of her teeth"]
+
+All this I saw at a glance, and immediately afterwards I also
+perceived that she had most beautiful teeth; for when she beheld me as
+I rose from my chair and stood in my elevated position before her she
+could not restrain a laugh; but for this apparent impoliteness I did
+not blame her at all.
+
+But not so much as a smile came upon the countenance of the elderly
+gentleman. He, too, was small, but he had a deep voice. "Good-evening,
+sir," said he. "I am told that you are the school-master at Walford,
+and that you were overtaken by the storm."
+
+I assured him that these were the facts, and stood waiting to hear
+what he would say next.
+
+"It was very proper indeed, sir, that my gardener and his wife should
+take you under the protection of this roof, but as I hear that it is
+proposed that you should spend the night here, I have come down to
+speak about it. I will tell you at once, sir, that I have given my man
+the most positive orders that he is not to allow any one to spend a
+night in this house. It is so conveniently near to the road that I
+should not know what sort of persons were being entertained here if I
+allowed him any such privilege."
+
+As he spoke the young lady stood silently gazing at me. There was a
+remnant of a smile upon her face, but I could also see that she was a
+little annoyed. I was about to make some sort of an independent answer
+to the gentleman's remarks, but he anticipated me.
+
+"I do not want you to think, sir, on account of what I have said, that
+I intend to drive you off my property at this hour of the evening, and
+in your inappropriate clothing. I have heard of you, sir, and you
+occupy a position of trust and, to a certain degree, of honor, in your
+village. Therefore, while I cannot depart from my rule--for I wish to
+make no precedent of that kind--I will ask you to spend the night at
+my house. You need not be annoyed by the peculiarity of your attire.
+If you desire to avoid observation you can remain here until it grows
+darker, and then you can walk up to the mansion. I shall have a
+bed-room prepared for you, and whenever you choose you can occupy it.
+I have been informed that you have had something to eat, and it is as
+well, for perhaps your dress would prevent you from accepting an
+invitation to our evening meal."
+
+I still held my brier-wood pipe in my hand, and I felt inclined to
+hurl it at the dapper head of the consequential little gentleman, but
+with such a girl standing by it would have been impossible to treat
+him with any disrespect, and as I looked at him I felt sure that his
+apparent superciliousness was probably the result of too much money
+and too little breeding.
+
+The young lady said nothing, but she turned and looked steadily at her
+father. Her countenance was probably in the habit of very promptly
+expressing the state of her mind, and it now seemed to say to her
+father, "I hope that what you have said will not make him decline what
+you offer!"
+
+My irritation quickly disappeared. I had now entered into my Cathay,
+and I must take things as I found them there. As I could not stay
+where I was, and could not continue my journey, it would be a sensible
+thing to overlook the man's manner and accept his offer, and I
+accordingly did so. I think he was pleased more than he cared to
+express.
+
+"Very good, sir!" said he. "As soon as it grows a little darker I
+shall be glad to have you walk up to my house. As I said before, I am
+sure you would not care to do so now, as you might provoke remarks
+even from the servants. Good-evening, sir, until I see you again."
+
+During all this time the young lady had not spoken, but as the two
+disappeared around the corner of the house I heard her voice. She
+spoke very clearly and distinctly, and she said, "It would have been a
+great deal more gracious if you had asked him to come at once, without
+all that----" The rest of her remarks were lost to me.
+
+The little man and his wife presently came out on the porch. Her
+countenance expressed a sort of resignation to thwarted hospitality.
+
+"It's the way of the world, sir!" she said. "The ups are always up and
+the downs are always down! I expect they will be glad to have company
+at the house, for it must be dreadfully lonely up there--which might
+be said of this house as well."
+
+It soon became dark enough for me to walk through the grounds without
+hurting the sensibilities of their proprietor, and as I arose to go
+the good wife of the gardener brought me my cap.
+
+"I dried that out for you, sir, for I knew you would want it, and
+to-morrow morning my man will take your clothes up to the house."
+
+I thanked her for her thoughtful kindness, and was about to depart,
+but the little man was not quite ready for me to go.
+
+"If you don't mind, sir," said he, "and would step back there in the
+light just for one minute, I would like to take another look at you. I
+don't suppose I'll ever see anybody again wearing the Duke's
+dressing-gown. By George, sir, you do look real royal!"
+
+His wife looked at me admiringly. "Yes, sir," said she, "and I wish it
+was the fashion for gentlemen to dress something like that every day.
+But I will say, sir, that if you don't want people to be staring at
+you, and will just wrap that gown round you so that the lining won't
+be seen, you won't look so much out of the way."
+
+As I walked along the smooth, hard driveway I adopted the suggestion
+of the gardener's wife; but as I approached the house, and saw that
+even the broad piazza was lighted by electric lamps, I was seized with
+the fancy to appear in all my glory, and I allowed my capacious robe
+to float out on each side of me in crimson brightness.
+
+The gentleman stood at the top of the steps. "I have been waiting for
+you, sir," said he. He looked as if he were about to offer me his
+hand, but probably considered this an unnecessary ceremony under the
+circumstances. "Would you like to retire to your room, sir, or would
+you prefer--prefer sitting out here to enjoy the cool of the evening?
+Here are chairs and seats, sir, of all variety of comfort. My family
+and I frequently sit out here in the evenings, but to-night the air is
+a little damp."
+
+I assured the gentleman that the air suited me very well, and that I
+would prefer not to retire so early; and so, not caring any longer to
+stand in front of the lighted doorway, I walked to one end of the
+piazza and took a seat.
+
+"We haven't yet--that is to say, we are still at the table," he
+remarked, as he followed me; "but if there is anything that you would
+like to have, I should be--"
+
+I interrupted him by declaring that I had supped heartily and did not
+want for anything in the world, and then, with some sort of an
+inarticulate excuse, he left me. I knew very well that this nervously
+correct personage had jumped up from his dinner in order that he might
+meet me at the door and thus prevent my unconventional attire from
+shocking any of the servants.
+
+It was very quiet and pleasant on the piazza, but, although I could
+hear that a great deal of talking was going on inside, no words came
+to me. In a short time, however, a man-servant in livery came out
+upon the piazza and approached me with a tray on which were a cup of
+coffee and some cigars. I could not refrain from smiling as I saw the
+man.
+
+"The old fellow has been forced to conquer his prejudices," I said to
+myself, "and to submit to the mortification of allowing me to be seen
+by his butler!"
+
+I think, however, that even had the master been regarding us he would
+have seen no reason for mortification in the manner of his servant.
+The man was extremely polite and attentive, suggesting various
+refreshments, such as wine and biscuits, and I never was treated by a
+lackey with more respect.
+
+Leaning back in a comfortable chair, I sipped my coffee and puffed
+away at a perfectly delightful Havana cigar. "Cathay is not a bad
+place," said I, to myself. "Its hospitality is a little queer, but as
+to gorgeousness, luxury, and----" I was about to add another quality
+when my mind was diverted by a light step on the piazza, and, turning
+my head, I beheld the young lady I had seen before. Instantly I rose
+and laid aside my cigar.
+
+"Please do not disturb yourself," she said. "I simply came out to give
+a little message from my father. Sit down again, and I will take this
+seat for a moment. My father's health is delicate," she said, "and we
+do not like him to be out in the night air, especially after a rain.
+So I came in his stead to tell you that if you would like to come into
+the house you must do so without the slightest hesitation, because my
+mother and I do not mind that dressing-gown any more than if it were
+an ordinary coat. We are very glad to have the opportunity of
+entertaining you, for we know some people in Walford--not very many,
+but some--and we have heard you and your school spoken of very
+highly. So we want you to make yourself perfectly at home, and come in
+or sit out here, just as your own feelings in regard to extraordinary
+fine clothes shall prompt you."
+
+At this she reassured me as to the beauty of her teeth. "As long as
+you will sit out here," said I, to myself, "there will be no in-doors
+for me."
+
+She seemed to read my thoughts, and said: "If you will go on with your
+smoking, I will wait and ask you some things about Walford. I dearly
+love the smell of a good cigar, and father never smokes. He always
+keeps them, however, in case of gentlemen visitors."
+
+She then went on to talk about some Walford people, and asked me if I
+knew Mary Talbot. I replied in the affirmative, for Miss Talbot was a
+member of our literary society, and the young lady informed me that
+Mary Talbot had a brother in my school--a fact of which I was aware to
+my sorrow--and it was on account of this brother that she had first
+happened to see me.
+
+"See me!" I exclaimed, with surprise.
+
+"Yes," said she. "I drove over to the village one day this spring, and
+Mary and I were walking past your school-house, and the door was wide
+open, for it was so warm, and we stopped so that Mary might point out
+her brother to me; and so, as we were looking in, of course I saw
+you."
+
+"And you recognized me," I said, "when you saw me at the gardener's
+house?"
+
+"We call that the lodge," said she. "Not that I care in the least what
+name you give it. And while we are on a personal subject, I want to
+ask you to excuse me for laughing at you when I first saw you in that
+astounding garb. It was very improper, I know, but the apparition was
+so sudden I could not help it."
+
+I had never met a young lady so thoroughly self-contained as this one.
+None of the formalities of society had been observed in regard to our
+acquaintance with each other, but she talked with me with such an easy
+grace and with such a gentle assurance that there was no need of
+introduction or presentation; I felt acquainted with her on the spot.
+I had no doubt that her exceptionally gracious demeanor was due to the
+fact that nobody else in the house seemed inclined to be gracious, and
+she felt hospitality demanded that something of the kind should be
+offered me by some one of the family.
+
+We talked together for some minutes longer, and then, apparently
+hearing something in the house which I did not notice, she rose rather
+abruptly.
+
+"I must go in," she said; "but don't you stay out here a second longer
+than you want to."
+
+She had left me but a very short time when her father came out on the
+piazza, his coat buttoned up nearly to his chin. "I have been
+detained, sir," he said, "by a man who came to see me on business. I
+cannot remain with you out here, for the air affects me; but if you
+will come in, sir, I shall be glad to have you do so, without regard
+to your appearance. My wife is not strong and she has retired, and if
+it pleases you I shall be very glad to have you tell me something of
+your duties and success in Walford. Or, if you are fatigued, your
+room is ready for you, and my man will show you to it."
+
+I snatched at the relief held out to me. To sit in the company of that
+condescending prig, to bore him and to be bored by him, was a doleful
+grievance I did not wish to inflict upon myself, and I eagerly
+answered that the day had been a long and hard one, and that I would
+be glad to go to bed.
+
+This was an assertion which was doubly false, for I was not in the
+least tired or sleepy; and just as I had made the statement and was
+entering the hall I saw that the young lady was standing at the parlor
+door; but it was too late now for me to change my mind.
+
+"Brownster," said Mr. Putney to his butler, "will you give this
+gentleman a candle and show him to his room?"
+
+Brownster quietly bowed, and stepping to a table in the corner, on
+which stood some brass bed-room candlesticks, he lighted one of the
+candles and stood waiting.
+
+The gentleman moved towards his daughter, and then he stopped and
+turned to me. "We have breakfast," he said, "at half-past eight But if
+that is too late for you," he added, with a certain hesitation, "you
+can have--"
+
+At this moment I distinctly saw his daughter punch him with her elbow,
+and as I had no desire to make an early start, and wished very much to
+enjoy a good breakfast in Cathay, I quickly declared that I was in no
+hurry, and that the family breakfast hour would suit me perfectly.
+
+The young lady disappeared into the parlor, and I moved towards the
+butler; but my host, probably thinking that he had not been quite as
+attentive to me as his station demanded, or wishing to let me see what
+a fine house he possessed, stepped up to me and asked me to look into
+the billiard-room, the door of which I was about to pass. After some
+remarks of deprecatory ostentation, in which he informed me that in
+building his house he thought only of comfort and convenience, and
+nothing of show, he carelessly invited my attention to the
+drawing-room, the library, the music-room, and the little
+sitting-room, all of which were furnished with as much stiffness and
+hardness and inharmonious coloring as money could command.
+
+When we had finished the round of these rooms he made me a bow as
+stiff as one of his white and gold chairs, and I followed the butler
+up the staircase. The man with the light preceded me into a room on
+the second floor, and just as I was about to enter after him I saw the
+young lady come around a corner of the hall with a lighted candle in
+her hand.
+
+[Illustration: "I kicked off my embroidered slippers"]
+
+"Good-night," she said, with a smile so charming that I wanted to stop
+and tell her something about Mary Talbot's brother; but she passed on,
+and I went into my room.
+
+It seemed perfectly ridiculous to me that people should carry around
+bed-room candles in a house lighted from top to bottom by electricity,
+but I had no doubt that this was one of the ultra-conventional customs
+from which the dapper gentleman would not allow his family to depart.
+I did not believe for a moment that his daughter would conform to such
+nonsense except to please her parent.
+
+The softly moving and attentive Brownster put the candle on the table,
+blew it out, and touched a button, thereby lighting up a very
+handsomely furnished room. Then, after performing every possible
+service for me, with a bow he left me. Throwing myself into a great
+easy chair, I kicked off my embroidered slippers and put my feet upon
+another chair gay with satin stripes. Raising my eyes, I saw in front
+of me a handsome mirror extending from the floor nearly to the
+ceiling, and at the magnificent personage which therein met my gaze I
+could not help laughing aloud.
+
+I rose, stood before the mirror, folded my gorgeous gown around me,
+spread it out, contrasting the crimson glory of its lining with the
+golden yellow of my trousers, and wondered in my soul how that
+exceedingly handsome girl with the bright eyes could have controlled
+her risibilities as she sat with me on the piazza. I could see that
+she had a wonderful command of herself, but this exercise of it seemed
+superhuman.
+
+I walked around the sumptuously furnished chamber, looking at the
+pictures and bric-a-brac; I wondered that the master of the house was
+willing to put me in a room like this--I had expected a hall bed-room,
+at the best; I sat down by an open window, for it was very early yet
+and I did not want to go to bed, but I had scarcely seated myself when
+I heard a tap at the door. I could not have explained it, but this tap
+made me jump, and I went to the door and opened it instead of calling
+out. There stood the butler, with a tray in his hand on which was a
+decanter of wine, biscuits, cheese, and some cigars.
+
+"It's so early, sir," said Brownster, "that she said--I mean, sir, I
+thought that you might like something to eat, and if you want to enjoy
+a cigar before retiring, as many gentlemen do, you need not mind
+smoking here. These rooms are so well ventilated, sir, that every
+particle of odor will be out in no time." Placing the tray upon a
+table, he retired.
+
+[Illustration: "IT WOULD BE WELL FOR ME TO SWALLOW A CAPSULE"]
+
+For an hour or more I sat sipping my wine, puffing smoke into rings,
+and allowing my mind to dwell pleasingly upon the situation, the most
+prominent feature of which seemed to me to be a young lady with bright
+eyes and white teeth, and dressed in a perfectly-fitting gown.
+
+When at last I thought I ought to go to bed, I stood and gazed at my
+little valise. I had left it on the porch and had totally forgotten
+it, but here it was upon a table, where it had been placed, no doubt,
+by the thoughtful Brownster. I opened it and took out the box of
+capsules. I did not feel that I had taken cold in the night air; this
+was not a time to protect myself against morning mists; but still I
+thought it would be well for me to swallow a capsule, and I did so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A BIT OF ADVICE
+
+
+The next morning I awoke about seven o'clock. My clothes, neatly
+brushed and folded, were on a chair near the bed, with my
+brightly-blackened shoes near by. I rose, quickly dressed myself, and
+went forth into the morning air. I met no one in the house, and the
+hall door was open. For an hour or more I walked about the beautiful
+grounds. Sometimes I wandered near the house, among the flower-beds
+and shrubs; sometimes I followed the winding path to a considerable
+distance; occasionally I sat down in a covered arbor; and then I
+sought the shade of a little grove, in which there were hammocks and
+rustic chairs. But I met no one, and I saw no one except some men
+working near the stables. I would have been glad to go down to the
+lodge and say "Good-morning" to my kind entertainers there, but for
+some reason or other it struck me that that neat little house was too
+much out of the way.
+
+When I had had enough walking I retired to the piazza and sat there,
+until Brownster, with a bow, came and informed me that breakfast was
+served.
+
+The young lady, in the freshest of summer costumes, met me at the door
+and bade me "Good-morning," but the greeting of her father was not by
+any means cordial, although his manner had lost some of the stiff
+condescension which had sat so badly upon him the evening before. The
+mother was a very pleasant little lady of few words and a general air
+which indicated an intimate acquaintance with back seats.
+
+The breakfast was a remarkably good one. When the meal was over, Mr.
+Putney walked with me into the hall. "I must now ask you to excuse me,
+sir," said he, "as this is the hour when I receive my manager and
+arrange with him for the varied business of the day. Good-morning,
+sir. I wish you a very pleasant journey." And, barely giving me a
+chance to thank him for his entertainment, he disappeared into the
+back part of the house.
+
+The young lady was standing at the front of the hall. "Won't you
+please come in," she said, "and see mother? She wants to talk to you
+about Walford."
+
+I found the little lady in a small room opening from the parlor, and
+also, to my great surprise, I found her extremely talkative and
+chatty. She asked me so many questions that I had little chance to
+answer them, and she told me a great deal more about Walford and its
+people and citizens than I had learned during my nine months'
+residence in the village. I was very glad to give her an opportunity
+of talking, which was a pleasure, I imagined, she did not often enjoy;
+but as I saw no signs of her stopping, I was obliged to rise and take
+leave of her.
+
+The young lady accompanied me into the hall. "I must get my valise," I
+said, "and then I must be off. And I assure you--"
+
+"No, do not trouble yourself about your valise," she interrupted.
+"Brownster will attend to that--he will take it down to the lodge.
+And as to your gorgeous raiment, he will see that that is all properly
+returned to its owners."
+
+I picked up my cap, and she walked with me out upon the piazza. "I
+suppose you saw everything on our place," she asked, "when you were
+walking about this morning?"
+
+A little surprised, I answered that I had seen a good deal, but I did
+not add that I had not found what I was looking for.
+
+"We have all sorts of hot-houses and green-houses," she said, "but
+they are not very interesting at this time of the year, otherwise I
+would ask you to walk through them before you go." She then went on to
+tell me that a little building which she pointed out was a
+mushroom-house. "And you will think it strange that it should be there
+when I tell you that not one of our family likes mushrooms or ever
+tastes one. But the manager thinks that we ought to grow mushrooms,
+and so we do it."
+
+As she was talking, the thought came to me that there were some people
+who might consider this young lady a little forward in her method of
+entertaining a comparative stranger, but I dismissed this idea. With
+such a peculiarly constituted family it was perhaps necessary for her
+to put herself forward, in regard, at least, to the expression of
+hospitality.
+
+"One thing I must show you," she said, suddenly, "and that is the
+orchid-house! Are you fond of orchids?"
+
+"Under certain circumstances," I said, unguardedly, "I could be fond
+of apple-cores." As soon as I had spoken these words I would have
+been glad to recall them, but they seemed to make no impression
+whatever on her.
+
+We walked to the orchid-house, we went through it, and she explained
+all its beauties, its singularities, and its rarities. When we came
+out again, I asked myself: "Is she in the habit of doing all this to
+chance visitors? Would she treat a Brown or a Robinson in the way she
+is treating me?" I could not answer my question, but if Brown and
+Robinson had appeared at that moment I should have been glad to knock
+their heads together.
+
+I did not want to go; I would have been glad to examine every building
+on the place, but I knew I must depart; and as I was beginning to
+express my sense of the kindness with which I had been treated, she
+interrupted by asking me if I expected to come back this way.
+
+"No," said I, "that is not my plan. I expect to ride on to Waterton,
+and there I shall stop for a day or two and decide what section of the
+country I shall explore next."
+
+"And to-day?" she said. "Where have you planned to spend the night?"
+
+"I have been recommended to stop at a little inn called the 'Holly
+Sprig,'" I replied. "It is a leisurely day's journey from Walford, and
+I have been told that it is a pleasant place and a pretty country. I
+do not care to travel all the time, and I want to stop a little when I
+find interesting scenery."
+
+[Illustration: "As soon as I had spoken these words"]
+
+"Oh, I know the Holly Sprig Inn," said she, speaking very quickly,
+"and I would advise you not to stop there. We have lunched there two
+or three times when we were out on long drives. There is a much better
+house about five miles the other side of the Holly Sprig. It is really
+a large, handsome hotel, with good service and everything you
+want--where people go to spend the summer."
+
+I thanked her for her information and bade her good-bye. She shook my
+hand very cordially and I walked away. I had gone but a very few steps
+when I wanted to turn around and look back, but I did not.
+
+Before I had reached the lodge, where I had left my bicycle, I met
+Brownster, and when I saw him I put my hand into my pocket. He had
+certainly been very attentive.
+
+"I carried your valise, sir," he said, "to the lodge, and I took the
+liberty of strapping it to your handle-bar. You will find everything
+all right, sir, and the--other clothes will be properly attended to."
+
+I thanked him, and then handed him some money. To my surprise, he did
+not offer to take it. He smiled a little and bowed.
+
+"Would you mind, sir," he said, "if you did not give me anything? I
+assure you, sir, that I'd very much rather that you wouldn't give me
+anything." And with this he bowed and rapidly disappeared.
+
+"Well," said I, to myself, as I put my money back into my pocket, "it
+is a queer country, this Cathay."
+
+As I approached the lodge, I felt that perhaps I had received a
+lesson, but I was not sure. I would wait and let circumstances decide.
+The gardener was away attending to his duties; but his wife was there,
+and when she came forward, with a frank, cheery greeting, I instantly
+decided that I had had a lesson. I thanked her, as earnestly as I knew
+how, for what she had done for me, and then I added:
+
+"You and your husband have treated me with such kind hospitality that
+I am not going to offer you anything in return for what you have
+done."
+
+"You would have hurt us, sir, if you had," said she.
+
+Then, in order to change the subject, I spoke of the honor which had
+been bestowed upon me by being allowed to wear the Duke's
+dressing-gown. She smiled, and replied:
+
+"Honors would always be easy for you, sir, if you only chose to take
+them."
+
+As I rode away I thought that the last remark of the gardener's wife
+seemed to show a mental brightness above her station, although I did
+not know exactly what she meant. "Can it be," I asked myself, "that
+she fancies that good family, six feet of athletic muscle, and no
+money would be considered sufficient to make matrimonial honors easy
+on that estate?" If such an idea had come into her head, it certainly
+was a very foolish one, and I determined to drive it from my mind by
+thinking of something else.
+
+Suddenly I slackened my speed. I stopped and put one foot to the
+ground. What a hard-hearted wretch I thought myself to be! Here I was
+thinking of all sorts of nonsense and speeding away without a thought
+of the young girl who had hurt herself the day before and who had been
+helped by me to her home! She lived but a few miles back, and I had
+determined, the evening before, to run down and see how she was
+getting on before starting on my day's journey.
+
+I turned and went bowling back over the road on which I had been so
+terribly drenched the previous afternoon. In a very little while my
+bicycle was leaning against the fence of the pretty house by the
+road-side, and I had entered the front yard. The slender girl was
+sitting on the piazza behind some vines. When she saw me she quickly
+closed the book she was reading, drew one foot from a little stool,
+and rose to meet me. There was more color on her face than I had
+supposed would be likely to find its way there, and her bright eyes
+showed that she was not only surprised but glad to see me.
+
+"I thought you were ever so far on your journey!" she said. "And how
+did you get through that awful storm?"
+
+"I want to know first about your foot," I said--"how is that?"
+
+"My own opinion is," she answered, "that it is nearly well. Mother
+knew exactly what to do for it; she wrapped it in wet cloths and dry
+cloths, and this morning I scarcely think of it. But there is one
+thing I want to tell you before you meet father and mother--for they
+want to see you, I know. We talked a great deal about you last night.
+You may have thought it strange I told you about the peas, but I had
+to do it to explain why I could not ask you to stop. Now I want to
+tell you that this accident made everything all right. As soon as
+father and mother knew that I was hurt they forgot everything else,
+and neither of them remembered that there was such a thing as a
+pea-vine in the world. It really seems as if my tumble was a most
+lucky thing. And now you must come in. They will never forgive me if I
+let you go away without seeing them."
+
+The mother, a pleasant little woman, full of cheerful gratitude to me
+for having done so much for her daughter, and the father, tall and
+slender, hurrying in from the garden, his face beaming with a friendly
+enthusiasm, apologizing for the mud on his clothes, and almost in the
+same breath telling me of the obligations under which I had placed
+him, both seemed to me at the first glance to be such kind,
+simple-hearted, simple-mannered people that I could not help
+contrasting this family with the one under whose roof I had passed the
+night.
+
+I spent half an hour with these good people, patiently listening to
+their gratitude and to their deep regrets that I had been allowed to
+go on in the storm; but I succeeded in allaying their friendly regrets
+by assuring them that it would have been impossible to keep me from
+going on, so certain had I been that I could reach the little town of
+Vernon before the storm grew violent. Then I was obliged to tell them
+that I did not reach Vernon, and how I had spent the night.
+
+"With the Putneys!" exclaimed the mother. "I am sure you could not
+have been entertained in a finer house!"
+
+They asked me many questions and I told them many things, and I soon
+discovered that they took a generous interest in the lives of other
+people. They spoke of the good this rich family had done in the
+neighborhood during the building of their great house and the
+improvement of their estate, and not a word did I hear of ridicule or
+scandalous comment, although in good truth there was opportunity
+enough for it.
+
+The young lady asked me if I had seen Miss Putney, and when I replied
+that I had, she inquired if I did not think that she was a very pretty
+girl. "I do not know her," she said, "but I have often seen her when
+she was out driving. I do not believe there is any one in this part of
+the country who dresses better than she does."
+
+I laughed, and told her that I thought I knew somebody who dressed
+much finer even than Miss Putney, and then I described the incident
+of the Duke's dressing-gown. This delighted them all, and before I
+left I was obliged to give every detail of my gorgeous attire.
+
+It was about eleven o'clock when at last I tore myself away from this
+most attractive little family. To live as they lived, to be interested
+in the things that interested them--for the house seemed filled with
+books and pictures--to love nature, to love each other, and to think
+well of their fellow-beings, even of the super-rich--seemed to me to
+be an object for which a man of my temperament should be willing to
+strive and thankful to win. After meeting her parents I did not wonder
+that I had thought the slender girl so honest-hearted and so lovable.
+It was true that I had thought that.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER
+
+
+The day was fine, and the landscape lay clean and sharply defined
+under the blue sky and white clouds. I sped along in a cheerful mood,
+well pleased with what my good cycle had so far done for me. Again I
+passed the open gate of the Putney estate, and glanced through it at
+the lodge. I saw no one, and was glad of it--better pleased, perhaps,
+than I could have given good reason for. When I had gone on a few
+hundred yards I was suddenly startled by a voice--a female voice.
+
+"Well! well!" cried some one on my right, and turning, I saw, above a
+low wall, the head and shoulders of the young lady with the dark eyes
+with whom I had parted an hour or so before. A broad hat shaded her
+face, her eyes were very dark and very wide open, and I saw some of
+her beautiful teeth, although she was not smiling or laughing. It
+was plain that she had not come down there to see me pass; she was
+genuinely astonished; I dismounted and approached the wall.
+
+[Illustration: "I dismounted and approached the wall"]
+
+"I thought you were miles and miles on your way!" said she. It
+occurred to me that I had recently heard a remark very like this, and
+yet the words, as they came from the slender girl and from this one,
+seemed to have entirely different meanings. She was desirous,
+earnestly desirous, to know how I came to be passing this place at
+this time, when I had left their gate so long before, and, as I was
+not unwilling to gratify her curiosity, I told her the whole story of
+the accident the day before, and of everything which had followed it.
+
+"And you went all the way back," she said, "to inquire after that
+Burton girl?"
+
+"Do you know her?" I asked.
+
+"No," she said, "I do not know her; but I have seen her often, and I
+know all about her family. They seem to be of such little consequence,
+one way or the other, that I can scarcely understand how things could
+so twist themselves that you should consider it necessary to go back
+there this morning before you really started on your day's journey."
+
+I do not remember what I said, but it was something commonplace, no
+doubt, but I imagined I perceived a little pique in the young lady. Of
+course I did not object to this, for nothing could be more flattering
+to a young man than the exhibition of such a feeling on an occasion
+such as this.
+
+But if she felt any pique she quickly brushed it out of sight, for, as
+I have said before, she was a young woman who had great command of
+herself. Of course I said to her that I was very glad to have this
+chance of seeing her again, and she answered, with a laugh:
+
+"If you really are glad, you ought to thank the Burton girl. This is
+one of my favorite walks. The path runs along inside the wall for a
+considerable distance and then turns around the little hill over
+there, and so leads back to the house. When I happened to look over
+the wall and saw you I was truly surprised."
+
+The ground was lower on the outside of the wall than on the inside,
+and as I stood and looked almost into the eyes of this girl, as she
+leaned with her arms upon the smooth top of the wall, the idea which
+the gardener's wife put into my head came into it again. This was a
+beautiful face, and the expression upon it was different from
+anything I had seen there before. Her surprise had disappeared, her
+pique had gone, but a very great interest in the incident of my
+passing this spot at the moment of her being there was plainly
+evident. As I gazed at her my blood ran warmer through my veins, and
+there came upon me a feeling of the olden time--of the days when the
+brave cavalier rode up to the spot where, waiting for him, his lady
+sat upon her impatient jennet.
+
+Without the least hesitation, I asked:
+
+"Do you ride a wheel?"
+
+She looked wonderingly at me for a moment, and then broke into a
+laugh.
+
+"Why on earth do you ask such a question as that? I have a bicycle,
+but I am not a very good rider, and I never venture out upon the
+public road by myself."
+
+"You shouldn't think of such a thing," said I; and then I stood
+silent, and my mind showed me two young people, each mounted, not upon
+a swift steed, but upon a far swifter pair of wheels, skimming onward
+through the summer air, still rolling on, on, on, through country
+lanes and woodland roads, laughing at pursuit if they heard the
+trampling of eager hoofs behind them, with never a telegraph wire to
+stretch menacingly above them, and so on, on, on, their eyes
+sparkling, their hearts beating high with youthful hope.
+
+Again, through the tender mists of the afternoon, I saw them returning
+from some secluded Gretna Green to bend their knees and bow their
+heads before the lord of the fair bride's home.
+
+When all this had passed through my brain, I wondered how such a pair
+would be received. I knew the gardener and his wife would welcome
+them, to begin with; Brownster would be very glad to see them; and I
+believe the mother would stand with tears of joy and open arms, in
+whatever quiet room she might feel free to await them. Moreover, when
+the sterner parent heard my tale and read my pedigree, might he not
+consider good name on the one side an equivalent for good money on the
+other?
+
+I looked up at her; she did not ask me what I had been thinking about
+nor remark upon my silence. She, too, had been wrapped in revery; her
+face was grave. She raised her arms from the wall and stood up.
+
+It was plainly time for me to do something, and she decided the point
+for me by slightly moving away from the wall. "Some time, when you are
+riding out from Walford," she said, "we should be glad to have you
+stop and take luncheon. Father likes to have people at luncheon."
+
+"I should be delighted to do so," said I; and if she had asked me to
+delay my journey and take luncheon with them that day I think I should
+have accepted the invitation. But she did not do that, and she was not
+a young lady who would stand too long by a public road talking to a
+young man. She smiled very sweetly and held out her hand over the
+wall. "Good-bye again," she said. As I took her hand I felt very much
+inclined to press it warmly, but I refrained. Her grasp was firm and
+friendly, and I would have liked very much to know whether or not it
+was more so than was her custom.
+
+I was mounting my wheel when she called to me again. "Now, I suppose,"
+she said, "you are going straight on?"
+
+"Oh yes," I replied, with emphasis, "straight on."
+
+"And the name of the hotel where you will stay to-night," said she,
+"it is the Cheltenham. I forgot it when I spoke to you before. I do
+not believe, really, it is more than three miles beyond the other
+little place where you thought of stopping."
+
+Then she walked away from the wall and I mounted. I moved very slowly
+onward, and as I turned my head I saw that a row of straggling bushes
+which grew close to the wall were now between her and me. But I also
+saw, or thought I saw, between the leaves and boughs, that her face
+was towards me, and that she was waving her handkerchief. If I had
+been sure of that, I think I should have jumped over the wall, pushed
+through the bushes, and should have asked her to give me that
+handkerchief, that I might fasten it on the front of my cap as, in
+olden days, a knight going forth to his adventures bound upon his
+helmet the glove of his lady-love.
+
+But I was not sure of it, and, seized by a sudden energetic
+excitement, I started off at a tremendous rate of speed. The ground
+flew backward beneath me as if I had been standing on the platform of
+a railroad car. Not far ahead of me there came from a side road into
+the main avenue on which I was travelling a Scorcher, scorching. As he
+spun away in front of me, his body bent forward until his back was
+nearly horizontal, and his green-stockinged legs striking out behind
+him with the furious rapidity of a great frog trying to push his head
+into the mud, he turned back his little face with a leer of triumphant
+derision at every moving thing which might happen to be behind him.
+
+[Illustration: "I THOUGHT FOR A FEW MOMENTS"]
+
+At the sight of this green-legged Scorcher my blood rose, and it was
+with me as if I had heard the clang of trumpets and the clash of arms.
+I leaned slightly forward; I struck out powerfully, swiftly, and
+steadily; I gained upon the Scorcher; I sent into his emerald legs a
+thrill of startled fear, as if he had been a terrified hare bounding
+madly away from a pursuing foe, and I passed him as if I had been a
+swift falcon swooping by a quarry unworthy of his talons.
+
+On, on I sped, not deigning even to look back. The same spirit
+possessed me as that which fired the hearts of the olden knights. I
+would have been glad to meet with another Scorcher, and yet another,
+that for the sake of my fair lady I might engage with each and humble
+his pride in the dust.
+
+"It is true," I said to myself, with an inward laugh, "I carry no
+glove or delicate handkerchief bound upon my visor--" but at this
+point my mind wandered. I went more slowly, and at last I stopped and
+sat down under the shade of a way-side tree. I thought for a few
+minutes, and then I said to myself, "It seems to me this would be a
+good time to take one of those capsules," and I took one. I then
+fancied that perhaps I ought to take two, but I contented myself with
+one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE HOLLY SPRIG INN
+
+
+In the middle of the day I stopped at Vernon, and the afternoon was
+well advanced when I came in sight of a little way-side house with a
+broad unfenced green in front of it, and a swinging sign which told
+the traveller that this was the "Holly Sprig Inn."
+
+I dismounted on the opposite side of the road and gazed upon the
+smoothly shaven greensward in front of the little inn; upon the pretty
+upper windows peeping out from their frames of leaves; upon the
+queerly-shaped projections of the building; upon the low portico which
+shaded the doorway; and upon the gentle stream of blue smoke which
+rose from the great gray chimney.
+
+Then I turned and looked over the surrounding country. There were
+broad meadows slightly descending to a long line of trees, between
+which I could see the glimmering of water. On the other side of the
+road, and extending back of the inn, there were low, forest-crowned
+hills. Then my eyes, returning to nearer objects, fell upon an
+old-fashioned garden, with bright flowers and rows of box, which lay
+beyond the house.
+
+"Why on earth," I thought, "should I pass such a place as this and go
+on to the Cheltenham, with its waiters in coat tails, its nurse-maids,
+and its rows of people on piazzas? She could not know my tastes, and
+perhaps she had thought but little on the subject, and had taken her
+ideas from her father. He is just the man to be contented with nothing
+else than a vast sprawling hotel, with disdainful menials expecting
+tips."
+
+I rolled my bicycle along the little path which ran around the green,
+and knocked upon the open door of Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+In a few moments a boy came into the hall. He was not dressed like an
+ordinary hotel attendant, but his appearance was decent, and he might
+have been a sub-clerk or a head hall-boy.
+
+"Can I obtain lodging here for the night?" I asked.
+
+The boy looked at me from head to foot, and an expression such as
+might be produced by too much lemon juice came upon his face.
+
+"No," said he; "we don't take cyclers."
+
+This reception was something novel to me, who had cycled over
+thousands of miles, and I was not at all inclined to accept it at the
+hands of the boy. I stepped into the hall. "Can I see the master of
+this house?" said I.
+
+"There ain't none," he answered, gruffly.
+
+"Well, then, I want to see whoever is in charge."
+
+He looked as if he were about to say that he was in charge, but he had
+no opportunity for such impertinence. A female figure came into the
+hall and advanced towards me. She stopped in an attitude of
+interrogation.
+
+"I was just inquiring," I said, with a bow--for I saw that the
+new-comer was not a servant--"if I could be accommodated here for the
+night, but the boy informed me that cyclers are not received here."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, and turned as if she would speak to the boy,
+but he had vanished. "That is a mistake, sir," she said to me. "Very
+few wheelmen do stop here, as they prefer a hotel farther on, but we
+are glad to entertain them when they come."
+
+It was not very light in the hall in which we stood, but I could see
+that this lady was young, that she was of medium size, and
+good-looking.
+
+"Will you walk in, sir, and register?" she said. "I will have your
+wheel taken around to the back."
+
+I followed her into a large apartment to the right of the
+hall--evidently a room of general assembly. Near the window was a desk
+with a great book on it. As I stood before this desk and she handed me
+a pen, her face was in the full light of the window, and glancing at
+it, the thought struck me that I now knew why Miss Putney did not wish
+me to stop at the Holly Sprig Inn. I almost laughed as I turned away
+my head to write my name. I was amused, and at the same time I could
+not help feeling highly complimented. It cannot but be grateful to the
+feelings of a young man to find that a very handsome woman objects to
+his making the acquaintance of an extremely pretty one.
+
+When I laid down the pen she stepped up and looked at my name and
+address.
+
+"Oh," said she, "you are the schoolmaster at Walford?" She seemed to
+be pleased by this discovery, and smiled in a very engaging way as she
+said, "I am much interested in that school, for I received a great
+part of my education there." "Indeed!" said I, very much surprised.
+"But I do not exactly understand. It is a boys' school."
+
+"I know that," she answered, "but both boys and girls used to go
+there. Now the girls have a school of their own."
+
+As she spoke I could not help contrasting in my mind what the school
+must have been with what it was now.
+
+She stepped to the door and told a woman who was just entering the
+room to show me No. 2. The woman said something which I did not hear,
+although her tones indicated surprise, and then conducted me to my
+room.
+
+This was an exceedingly pleasant chamber on the first floor at the
+back of the house. It was furnished far better than the quarters
+generally allotted to me in country inns, or, in fact, in hostelries
+of any kind. There was great comfort and even simple elegance in its
+appointments.
+
+I would have liked to ask the maid some questions, but she was an
+elderly woman, who looked as if she might be the mother of the
+lemon-juice boy, and as she said not a word to me while she made a few
+arrangements in the room, I did not feel emboldened to say anything to
+her.
+
+When I left my room and went out on the little porch, I soon came to
+the conclusion that this was not a house of great resort. I saw
+nobody in front and I heard nobody within. There seemed to be an air
+of quiet greenness about the surroundings, and the little porch was a
+charming place in which to sit and look upon the evening landscape.
+
+After a time the boy came to tell me that supper was ready. He did so
+as if he were informing me that it was time to take medicine and he
+had just taken his.
+
+Supper awaited me in a very pleasant room, through the open windows of
+which there came a gentle breeze which made me know that there was a
+flower-garden not far away. The table was a small one, round, and on
+it there was supper for one person. I seated myself, and the elderly
+woman waited on me. I was so grateful that the boy was not my
+attendant that my heart warmed towards her, and I thought she might
+not consider it much out of the way if I said something.
+
+"Did I arrive after the regular supper-time?" I asked. "I am sorry if
+I put the establishment to any inconvenience."
+
+"What's inconvenience in your own house isn't anything of the kind in
+a tavern," she said. "We're used to that. But it doesn't matter
+to-day. You're the only transient; that is, that eats here," she
+added.
+
+I wanted very much to ask something about the lady who had gone to
+school in Walford, but I thought it would be well to approach that
+subject by degrees.
+
+"Apparently," said I, "your house is not full."
+
+"No," said she, "not at this precise moment of time. Do you want some
+more tea?"
+
+The tone in which she said this made me feel sure she was the mother
+of the boy, and when she had given me the tea, and looked around in a
+general way to see that I was provided with what else I needed, she
+left the room.
+
+After supper I looked into the large room where I had registered; it
+was lighted, and was very comfortably furnished with easy-chairs and a
+lounge, but it was an extremely lonely place, and, lighting a cigar, I
+went out for a walk. It was truly a beautiful country, and, illumined
+by the sunset sky, with all its forms and colors softened by the
+growing dusk, it was more charming to me than it had been by daylight.
+
+As I returned to the inn I noticed a man standing at the entrance of a
+driveway which appeared to lead back to the stable-yards. "Here is
+some one who may talk," I thought, and I stopped.
+
+[Illustration: "WENT OUT FOR A WALK"]
+
+"This ought to be a good country for sport," I said--"fishing, and
+that sort of thing."
+
+"You're stoppin' here for the night?" he asked. I presumed from his
+voice and appearance that he was a stable-man, and from his tone that
+he was disappointed that I had not brought a horse with me.
+
+I assented to his question, and he said:
+
+"I never heard of no fishin'. When people want to fish, they go to a
+lake about ten miles furder on."
+
+"Oh, I do not care particularly about fishing," I said, "but there
+must be a good many pleasant roads about here."
+
+"There's this one," said he. "The people on wheels keep to it." With
+this he turned and walked slowly towards the back of the house.
+
+"A lemon-loving lot!" thought I, and as I approached the porch I saw
+that the lady who had gone to school at Walford was standing there. I
+did not believe she had been eating lemons, and I stepped forward
+quickly for fear that she should depart before I reached her.
+
+"Been taking a walk?" she said, pleasantly. There was something in the
+general air of this young woman which indicated that she should have
+worn a little apron with pockets, and that her hands should have been
+jauntily thrust into those pockets; but her dress included nothing of
+the sort.
+
+The hall lamp was now lighted, and I could see that her attire was
+extremely neat and becoming. Her face was in shadow, but she had
+beautiful hair of a ruddy brown. I asked myself if she were the "lady
+clerk" of the establishment, or the daughter of the keeper of the inn.
+She was evidently a person in some authority, and one with whom it
+would be proper for me to converse, and as she had given me a very
+good opportunity to open conversation, I lost no time in doing so.
+
+"And so you used to live in Walford?" I said.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, and then she began to speak of the pleasant
+days she had spent in that village. As she talked I endeavored to
+discover from her words who she was and what was her position. I did
+not care to discuss Walford. I wanted to talk about the Holly Sprig
+Inn, but I could not devise a courteous question which would serve my
+purpose.
+
+Presently our attention was attracted by the sound of singing at the
+corner of the little lawn most distant from the house. It was growing
+dark, and the form of the singer could barely be discerned upon a
+bench under a great oak. The voice was that of a man, and his song
+was an Italian air from one of Verdi's operas. He sang in a low tone,
+as if he were simply amusing himself and did not wish to disturb the
+rest of the world.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHESTER]
+
+"That must be the Italian who is stopping here for the night," she
+said. "We do not generally take such people; but he spoke so civilly,
+and said it was so hard to get lodging for his bear--"
+
+"His bear!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Oh yes," she answered, with a little laugh, "he has a bear with him.
+I suppose it dances, and so makes a living for its master. Anyway, I
+said he might stay and lodge with our stable-man. He would sing very
+well if he had a better voice--don't you think so?"
+
+"We do not generally accommodate," "I said he might stay"--these were
+phrases which I turned over in my mind. If she were the lady clerk she
+might say "we"--even the boy said "we"--but "I said he might stay" was
+different. A daughter of a landlord or a landlady might say that.
+
+I made a remark about the difficulty of finding lodging for man and
+beast, if the beast happened to be a bear, and I had scarcely finished
+it when from the house there came a shrill voice, flavored with lemon
+without any sugar, and it said, "Mrs. Chester!"
+
+"Excuse me," said the young lady, and immediately she went in-doors.
+
+Here was a revelation! Mrs. Chester! Strange to say, I had not thought
+of her as a married woman; and yet, now that I recalled her manner of
+perfect self-possession, she did suggest the idea of a satisfied young
+wife. And Mr. Chester--what of him? Could it be possible? Hardly.
+There was nothing about her to suggest a widow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+MRS. CHESTER IS TROUBLED
+
+
+I sat on that porch a good while, but she did not come out again. Why
+should she? Nobody came out, and within I could hear no sound of
+voices. I might certainly recommend this inn as a quiet place. The
+Italian and the crickets continued singing and chirping, but they only
+seemed to make the scene more lonely.
+
+I went in-doors. On the left hand of the hall was a door which I had
+not noticed before, but which was now open. There was a light within,
+and I saw a prettily-furnished parlor. There was a table with a lamp
+on it, and by the table sat the lady, Mrs. Chester. I involuntarily
+stopped, and, looking up, she invited me to come in. Instantly I
+accepted the invitation, but with a sort of an apology for the
+intrusion.
+
+"Oh, this is the public parlor," she said, "although everything about
+this house seems private at present. We generally have families
+staying with us in the summer, but last week nearly all of them went
+away to the sea-shore. In a few days, however, we expect to be full
+again."
+
+She immediately began to talk about Walford, for evidently the subject
+interested her, and I answered all her questions as well as I could.
+
+"You may know that my husband taught that school. I was his scholar
+before I became his wife."
+
+I had heard of a Mr. Chester who, before me, had taught the school,
+but, although the information had not interested me at the time, now
+it did. I wished very much to ask what Mr. Chester was doing at
+present, but I waited.
+
+"I went to boarding-school after I left Walford," said she, "and so
+for a time lost sight of the village, although I have often visited it
+since."
+
+"How long is it since Mr. Chester gave up the school there?" I asked.
+
+This proved to be a very good question indeed. "About six years," she
+said. "He gave it up just before we were married. He did not like
+teaching school, and as the death of his father put him into the
+possession of some money, he was able to change his mode of life. It
+was by accident that we settled here as innkeepers. We happened to
+pass the place, and Mr. Chester was struck by its beauty. It was not
+an inn then, but he thought it would make a charming one, and he also
+thought that this sort of life would suit him exactly. He was a
+student, a great reader, and a lover of rural sports--such as fishing
+and all that."
+
+[Illustration: "SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WALFORD"]
+
+"Was." Here was a dim light. "Was" must mean that Mr. Chester had
+been. If he were living, he would still be a reader and a student.
+
+"Did he find the new life all that he expected?" I said, hesitating a
+little at the word did, as it was not impossible that I might be
+mistaken.
+
+"Oh yes, and more. I think the two years he spent here were the
+happiest of his life."
+
+I was not yet quite sure about the state of affairs; he might be in an
+insane asylum, or he might be a hopeless invalid up-stairs.
+
+"If he had lived," she continued, "I suppose this would have been a
+wonderfully beautiful place, for he was always making improvements.
+But it is four years now since his death, and in that time there has
+been very little change in the inn."
+
+I do not remember what answer I made to this remark, but I gazed out
+upon the situation as if it were an unrolled map.
+
+"When you wrote your name in the book," she said, "it seemed to me as
+if you had brought a note of introduction, and I am sure I am very
+glad to be acquainted with you, for, you know, you are my husband's
+successor. He did not like teaching, but he was fond of his scholars,
+and he always had a great fancy for school-teachers. Whenever one of
+them stopped here--which happened two or three times--he insisted that
+he should be put into our best room, if it happened to be vacant, and
+that is the reason I have put you into it to-day."
+
+This was charming. She was such an extremely agreeable young person
+that it was delightful for me to think of myself in any way as her
+husband's successor.
+
+There was a step at the door. I turned and saw the elderly servant.
+
+"Mrs. Chester," she said, "I'm goin' up," and every word was flavored
+with citric acid.
+
+"Good-night," said Mrs. Chester, taking up her basket and her work.
+"You know, you need not retire until you wish to do so. There is a
+room opposite, where gentlemen smoke."
+
+I did not enter the big, lonely room. I went to my own chamber,
+which, I had just been informed, was the best in the house. I sat down
+in an easy-chair by the open window. I looked up to the twinkling
+stars.
+
+Reading, studying, fishing, beautiful country, and all that. And he
+did not like school-teaching! No wonder he was happier here than he
+had ever been before! My eyes wandered around the tastefully furnished
+room. "Her husband's successor," I said to myself, pondering. "He did
+not like school-teaching, and he was so happy here." Of course he was
+happy. "Died and left him some money." There was no one to leave me
+any money, but I had saved some for the time when I should devote
+myself entirely to my profession. Profession--I thought. After all,
+what is there in a profession? Slavery; anxiety. And he chose a life
+of reading, studying, fishing, and everything else.
+
+I turned to the window and again looked up into the sky. There was a
+great star up there, and it seemed to wink cheerfully at me as the
+words came into my mind, "her husband's successor."
+
+When I opened my little valise, before going to bed, I saw the box the
+doctor's daughter had given me.
+
+After sitting so long at the open window, thought I, it might be well
+to take one of these capsules, and I swallowed one.
+
+When I was called to breakfast the next morning I saw that the table
+was laid with covers for two. In a moment my hostess entered and bade
+me good-morning. We sat down at the table; and the elderly woman
+waited. I could now see that her face was the color of a shop-worn
+lemon.
+
+As for the lady who had gone to school at Walford--I wondered what
+place in the old school-room she had occupied--she was more charming
+than ever. Her manner was so cordial and cheerful that I could not
+doubt that she considered the entry of my name in her book as a
+regular introduction. She asked me about my plan of travel, how far I
+would go in a day, and that sort of thing. The elderly woman was very
+grim, and somehow or other I did not take very much interest in my
+plan of travel, but the meal was an extremely pleasant one for all
+that.
+
+The natural thing for me to do after I finished my breakfast was to
+pay my bill and ride away, but I felt no inclination for anything of
+the sort. In fact, the naturalness of departure did not strike me. I
+went out on the little porch and gazed upon the bright, fresh morning
+landscape, and as I did so I asked myself why I should mount my
+bicycle and wheel away over hot and dusty roads, leaving all this
+cool, delicious beauty behind me.
+
+What could I find more enjoyable than this? Why should I not spend a
+few days at this inn, reading, studying, fishing? Here I wondered why
+that man told me such a lie about the fishing. If I wanted to exercise
+on my wheel I felt sure there were pretty roads hereabout. I had
+plenty of time before me--my whole vacation. Why should I be consumed
+by this restless desire to get on?
+
+I could not help smiling as I thought of my somewhat absurd fancies of
+the night before; but they were pleasant fancies, and I did not wonder
+that they had come to me. It certainly is provocative of pleasant
+fancies to have an exceedingly attractive young woman talk of you in
+any way as her husband's successor.
+
+I could not make up my mind what I ought to do, and I walked back into
+the hall. I glanced into the parlor, but it was unoccupied. Then I
+went into the large room on the right; no one was there, and I stood
+by the window trying to make up my mind in regard to proposing a brief
+stay at the inn.
+
+It really did not seem necessary to give the matter much thought. Here
+was a place of public entertainment, and, as I was one of the public,
+why should I not be entertained? I had stopped at many a road-side
+hostelry, and in each one of them I knew I would be welcome to stay as
+long as I was willing to pay.
+
+Still, there was something, some sort of an undefined consciousness,
+which seemed to rise in the way of an off-hand proposal to stay at
+this inn for several days, when I had clearly stated that I wished to
+stop only for the night.
+
+While I was still turning over this matter in my mind Mrs. Chester
+came into the room. I had expected her. The natural thing for her to
+do was to come in and receive the amount I owed her for her
+entertainment of me, but as I looked at her I could not ask her for my
+bill. It seemed to me that such a thing would shock her sensibilities.
+Moreover, I did not want her bill.
+
+It was plain enough, however, that she expected me to depart, for she
+asked me where I proposed to stop in the middle of the day, and she
+suggested that she should have a light luncheon put up for me. She
+thought probably a wheelman would like that sort of thing, for then he
+could stop and rest wherever it suited him.
+
+"Speaking of stopping," said I, "I am very glad that I did not do as I
+was advised to do and go on to the Cheltenham. I do not know anything
+about that hotel, but I am sure it is not so charming as this
+delightful little inn with its picturesque surroundings."
+
+"I am glad you did not," she answered. "Who advised you to go on to
+the Cheltenham?"
+
+"Miss Putney," said I. "Her father's place is between here and
+Walford. I stopped there night before last." And then, as I was glad
+of an opportunity to prolong the interview, I told her the history of
+my adventures at that place.
+
+Mrs. Chester was amused, and I thought I might as well tell her how I
+came to be delayed on the road and so caught in the storm, and I
+related my experience with Miss Burton. I would have been glad to go
+still farther back and tell her how I came to take the school at
+Walford, and anything else she might care to listen to.
+
+When I told her about Miss Burton she sat down in a chair near by and
+laughed heartily.
+
+"It is wonderfully funny," she said, "that you should have met those
+two young ladies and should then have stopped here."
+
+"You know them?" I said, promptly taking another chair.
+
+"Oh yes," she answered. "I know them both; and, as I have mentioned
+that your meeting with them seemed funny to me, I suppose I ought to
+tell you the reason. Some time ago a photographer in Walford, who has
+taken a portrait of me and also of Miss Putney and Miss Burton, took
+it into his head to print the three on one card and expose them for
+sale with a ridiculous inscription under them. This created a great
+deal of talk, and Miss Putney made the photographer destroy his
+negative and all the cards he had on hand. After that we were talked
+about as a trio, and, I expect, a good deal of fun was made of us. And
+now it seems a little odd--does it not?--that you have become
+acquainted with all the members of this trio as soon as you left
+Walford. But I must not keep you in this way." And she rose.
+
+Now was my opportunity to make known my desire to be kept, but before
+I could do so the boy hurriedly came into the room.
+
+"The Dago wants to see you," he said. "He's in an awful hurry."
+
+"Excuse me," said Mrs. Chester. "It is that Italian who was singing
+outside last night. I thought he had gone. Would you mind waiting a
+few minutes?"
+
+It was getting harder and harder to enunciate my proposition to make a
+sojourn at the inn. I wished that I had spoken sooner. It is so much
+easier to do things promptly.
+
+While I was waiting the elderly woman came in. "Do you want the boy to
+take your little bag out and strap it on?" said she.
+
+Evidently there was no want of desire to speed the departing guest.
+"Oh, I will attend to that myself," said I, but I made no step to do
+it. When my hostess came back I wanted to be there.
+
+Presently she did come back. She ran in hurriedly, and her face was
+flushed. "Here is a very bad piece of business," she said. "That man's
+bear has eaten the tire off one of your wheels!"
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, and my heart bounded within me. Here, perhaps,
+was the solution of all my troubles. If by any happy chance my bicycle
+had been damaged, of course I could not go on.
+
+"Come and see," she said, and, following her through the back hall
+door, we entered a large, enclosed yard. Not far from the house was a
+shed, and in front of this lay my bicycle on its side in an apparently
+disabled condition. An Italian, greatly agitated, was standing by it.
+He was hatless, and his tangled black hair hung over his swarthy face.
+At the other end of the yard was a whitish-brown bear, not very large,
+and chained to a post.
+
+I approached my bicycle, earnestly hoping that the bear had been
+attempting to ride it, but I found that he had been trying to do
+something very different. He had torn the pneumatic tire from one of
+the wheels, and nearly the whole of it was lying scattered about in
+little bits upon the ground.
+
+"How did this happen?" I said to the Italian, feeling very much
+inclined to give him a dollar for the good offices of the beast.
+
+The man began immediately to pour out an explanation upon me. His
+English was as badly broken as the torn parts of my tire, but I had no
+trouble in understanding. The bear had got loose in the night. He had
+pulled up a little post to which he had been chained. The man had not
+known it was such a weak post. The bear was never muzzled at night. He
+had gone about looking for something to eat. He was very fond of
+India-rubber--or, as the man called it, "Injer-rub." He always ate up
+India-rubber shoes wherever he could find them. He would eat them off
+a man's feet if the man should be asleep. He liked the taste of
+Injer-rub. He did not swallow it. He dropped it all about in little
+bits.
+
+[Illustration: BUT WE WERE NOT ALONE]
+
+Then the man sprang towards me and seized the injured wheel. "See!" he
+exclaimed. "He eat your Injer-rub, but he no break your machine!"
+
+This was very true. The wheel did not seem to be injured, but still I
+could not travel without a tire. This was the most satisfactory
+feature of the affair. If he and I had been alone together I would
+have handed the man two dollars, and told him to go in peace with his
+bear and give himself no more trouble.
+
+But we were not alone. The stable-man who had lied to me about the
+fishing was there; the boy who had lied to me about the reception of
+cyclers was there; the lemon-faced woman was there, standing close to
+Mrs. Chester; and there were two maids looking out of the window of
+the kitchen.
+
+"This is very bad indeed!" said Mrs. Chester, addressing the Italian.
+"You have damaged this gentleman's wheel, and you must pay him for
+it."
+
+Now the Italian began to tear his hair. Never before had I seen any
+one tear his hair. More than that, he shed tears, and declared he had
+no money. After he had paid his bill he would not have a cent in the
+world. His bear had ruined him. He was in despair.
+
+"What are you going to do?" said Mrs. Chester to me. "You cannot use
+your bicycle."
+
+Before I could answer, the elderly woman exclaimed: "You ought to come
+in, Mrs. Chester! This is no place for you! Suppose that beast should
+break loose again! Let the gentleman settle it with the man."
+
+I do not think my hostess wanted to go, but she accompanied her grim
+companion into the house.
+
+"I suppose there is no place near here where I can have a new tire put
+on this wheel?" said I to the stable-man.
+
+"Not nearer than Waterton," he replied; "but we could take you and
+your machine there in a wagon."
+
+"That's so," said the boy. "I'll drive."
+
+I glared upon the two fellows as if they had been a couple of fiends
+who were trying to put a drop of poison into my cup of joy. To be
+dolefully driven to Waterton by that boy! What a picture! How
+different from my picture!
+
+The Italian sat down on the ground and embraced his knees with his
+arms. He moaned and groaned, and declared over and over again that he
+was ruined; that he had no money to pay.
+
+In regard to him my mind was made up. I would forgive him his debt and
+send him away with my blessing, even if I found no opportunity of
+rewarding him for his great service to me.
+
+I would go in and speak to Mrs. Chester about it. Of course it would
+not be right to do anything without consulting her, and now I could
+boldly tell her that it would suit me very well to stop at the inn
+until my wheel could be sent away and repaired.
+
+As I entered the large room the elderly woman came out. She was
+plainly in a bad humor. Mrs. Chester was awaiting me with an anxious
+countenance, evidently much more troubled about the damage to my
+bicycle than I was. I hastened to relieve her mind.
+
+"It does not matter a bit about the damage done by the bear," I said.
+"I should not wonder if that wheel would be a great deal better for a
+new tire, anyway. And, as for that doleful Italian, I do not want to
+be hard on him, even if he has a little money in his pocket."
+
+But my remarks did not relieve her, while my cheerful and contented
+tones seemed to add to her anxiety.
+
+"But you cannot travel," she said, "and there is no place about here
+where you could get a new tire."
+
+It was very plain that no one in this house entertained the idea that
+it would be a good thing for me to rest here quietly until my bicycle
+could be sent away and repaired. In fact, my first statement, that I
+wished to stop but for the night, was accepted with general approval.
+
+I did not deem it necessary to refer to the man's offer, to send me
+and my machine to Waterton in a wagon, and I was just on the point of
+boldly announcing that I was in no hurry whatever to get on, and that
+it would suit me very well to wait here for a few days, when the boy
+burst into the room, one end of his little neck-tie flying behind him.
+
+"The Dago's put!" he shouted. "He's put off and gone!"
+
+We looked at him in amazement.
+
+"Gone!" I exclaimed. "Shall I go after him? Has he paid his bill?"
+
+"No, you needn't do that," said the boy. "He cut across the fields
+like a chipmunk--skipped right over the fences! You'd never ketch him,
+and you needn't try! He's off for the station. I'll tell you all
+about it," said the boy, turning to his mistress, who had been too
+much startled to ask any questions. "When he went into the
+house"--jerking his head in my direction--"I was left alone with the
+Dago, and he begun to talk to me. He asked me a lot of things. He
+rattled on so I couldn't understand half he said. He wanted to know
+how much a tire cost; he wanted to know how much his bill would be,
+and if he'd have to pay for the little post that was broke.
+
+"Then he asked if I thought that if he'd promise to send you the money
+would the gentleman let him go without payin' for the tire, and he
+wanted to know what your name was; and when I told him you hadn't no
+husband, and what your name was, he asked me to say it over again, and
+then he made me say it once more--the whole of it; and while I was
+tellin' him that I'd write it down for him if he wanted to send you
+the money, he give a big jump and he stuck his head out like a bull.
+He looked so queer that I was gettin' skeered; and then he says,
+almost whisperin': 'I go! I go away! I leave my bear! If she sell him,
+that pay everything! I come back no more--never! never!'
+
+"I saw he was goin' to scoot, and I made a grab at him, but he give me
+a push that nearly tore my collar off, and away he went. You never see
+anybody run like he run. He was out of sight in no time."
+
+"And he left his bear!" she exclaimed, in horror. "What on earth am I
+to do with a bear?" She looked at me, and in spite of her annoyance
+and perplexity she could not help joining me when I laughed outright.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+ORSO
+
+
+Mrs. Chester and I hurried back to the yard. There was the bear,
+sitting calmly on his haunches, but there was no Italian.
+
+"Now that his master is gone," my hostess exclaimed, "I am afraid of
+him! I will not go any farther! Can you imagine anything that can be
+done with that beast?"
+
+I had no immediate answer to give, and I was still very much amused at
+the absurdity of the situation. Had any one ever before paid his bill
+in such fashion? At this moment the stable-man approached us from one
+of the outbuildings. "This is my hostler," she said. "Perhaps he can
+suggest something."
+
+"This is a bad go, ma'am," said he. "The horse was out in the pasture
+all night, but this morning when I went to bring him up I couldn't
+make him come near the stable. He smells that bear! It seems to drive
+him crazy!"
+
+"It's awful!" she said. "What are we going to do, John? Do you think
+the animal will become dangerous when he misses his master?"
+
+"Oh, there's nothin' dangerous about him," answered John. "I was
+sittin' talkin' to that Dago last night after supper, and he says his
+bear's tamer than a cat. He is so mild-tempered that he wouldn't hurt
+nobody. The Dago says he sleeps close up to him of cold nights to keep
+himself warm. There ain't no trouble about his bein' dangerous, but
+you can't bring the horse into the stable while he's about. If anybody
+was to drive into this yard without knowin' they'd be a circus, I can
+tell you! Horses can't stand bears."
+
+She looked at me in dismay. "Couldn't he be shot and buried?" she
+asked.
+
+I had my doubts on that point. A tame bear is a valuable animal, and I
+could not advise her to dispose of the property of another person in
+that summary way.
+
+"But he must be got away," she said. "We can't have a bear here. He
+must be taken away some way or other. Isn't there any place where he
+could be put until the Italian comes back?"
+
+"That Dago's never comin' back," said the boy, solemnly. "If you'd
+a-seen him scoot, you'd a-knowed that he was dead skeered, and would
+never turn up here no more, bear or no bear."
+
+Mrs. Chester looked at me. She was greatly worried, but she was also
+amused, and she could not help laughing.
+
+"Isn't this a dreadful predicament?" she said. "What in the world am I
+to do?" At this moment there was an acidulated voice from the kitchen.
+"Mrs. Whittaker wants to see you, Mrs. Chester," it cried, "right
+away!"
+
+"Oh, dear!" said she. "Here is more trouble! Mrs. Whittaker is an
+invalid lady who is so nervous that she could not sleep one night
+because she heard a man had killed a snake at the back of the barn,
+and what she will say when she hears that we have a bear here without
+a master I do not know. I must go to her, and I do wish you could
+think of something that I can do;" as she said this she looked at me
+as if it were a natural thing for her to rely upon me. For a moment it
+made me think of the star that had winked the night before.
+
+Mrs. Chester hurried into the house, and in company with the
+stable-man I crossed the yard towards the bear.
+
+"You are sure he is gentle?" said I.
+
+"Mild as milk!" said the man. "I was a-playin' with him last night.
+He'll let you do anything with him! If you box his ears, he'll lay
+over flat down on his side!"
+
+When we were within a few feet of the bear he sat upright, dangled his
+fore paws in front of him, and, with his head on one side, he partly
+opened his mouth and lolled out his tongue. "I guess he's beggin' for
+his breakfust," said John.
+
+"Can't you get him something to eat?" I asked. "He ought to be fed, to
+begin with."
+
+The man went back to the kitchen, and I walked slowly around the bear,
+looking at the chain and the post, and trying to see what sort of a
+collar was almost hidden under his shaggy hair. Apparently he seemed
+securely attached, and then--as he was at the end of his chain--I went
+up to him and gently patted one paw. He did not object to this, and
+turning his head he let his tongue loll out on the other side, fixing
+his little black eyes upon me with much earnestness. When the man came
+with the pan of scraps from the kitchen I took it from him and placed
+it on the ground in front of the bear. Instantly the animal dropped to
+his feet and began to eat with earnest rapidity.
+
+"I wonder how much he'd take in for one meal," said John, "if you'd
+give him all he wanted? I guess that Dago never let him have any
+more'n he could help."
+
+As the bear was licking the tin pan I stood and looked at him. "I
+wonder if he would be tame with strangers?" said I. "Do you suppose we
+could take him away from this post if we wanted to?"
+
+"Oh yes," said John. "I wouldn't be afraid to take him anywheres, only
+there isn't any place to take him to." He then stepped quite close to
+the bear. "Hey, horsey!" said he. "Hey, old horsey! Good old horsey!"
+
+"Is that his name?" I asked.
+
+"That's what the Dago called him," said John. "Hey, horsey! Good
+horsey!" And he stooped and unfastened the chain from the post.
+
+I imagined that the Italian had called the bear "Orso," perhaps with
+some diminutive, but I did not care to discuss this. I was very much
+interested to see what the man was going to do. With the end of the
+chain in his hand, John now stepped in front of the bear and said,
+"Come along, horsey!" and, to my surprise, the bear began to shamble
+after him as quietly as if he had been following his old master.
+"See!" cried John. "He'll go anywheres I choose to take him!" and he
+began to lead him about the yard.
+
+As he approached the kitchen there came a fearful scream from the open
+window.
+
+"Take him away! Take him away!" I heard, in the shrillest accents.
+
+"They're dreadfully skeered," said John, as he led the bear back; "but
+he wouldn't hurt nobody! It would be a good thing, though, to put his
+muzzle on; that's it hangin' over there by the shed; it's like a
+halter, and straps up his jaws. The Dago said there ain't no need for
+it, but he puts it on when he's travellin' along the road to keep
+people from bein' skeered."
+
+"It would be well to put it on," said I. "I wonder if we can get him
+into it?"
+
+"I guess he'd let you do anything you'd a mind to," replied John, as
+he again fastened the chain to the post.
+
+I took down the muzzle and approached the bear. He did not growl, but
+stood perfectly still and looked at me. I put the muzzle over his
+head, and, holding myself in readiness to elude a sudden snap, I
+strapped up his jaws. The creature made no snap--he gazed at me with
+mild resignation.
+
+"As far as he goes," said John, "he's all right; but as far as
+everything else goes--especially horses--they're all wrong. He's got
+to be got rid of some way."
+
+I had nothing more to say to John, and I went into the house. I met
+Mrs. Chester in the hall.
+
+"I have had a bad time up-stairs," she said. "Mrs. Whittaker declares
+that she will not stay an hour in a house where there is a bear
+without a master; but as she has a terrible sciatica and cannot
+travel, I do not know what she is going to do. Her trained nurse, I
+believe, is now putting on her bonnet to depart."
+
+As she spoke, the joyful anticipation of a few days at the Holly Sprig
+Inn began to fade away. I did not blame the bear as the present cause
+of my disappointment. He had done all he could for me. It was his
+wretched master who had done the mischief by running away and leaving
+him. But no matter what had happened, I saw my duty plainly before me.
+I had not been encouraged to stay, but it is possible that I might
+have done so without encouragement, but now I saw that I must go. The
+Fates, who, as I had hoped, had compelled my stay, now compelled my
+departure.
+
+"Do not give yourself another thought upon the subject," I said. "I
+will settle the whole matter, and nobody need be frightened or
+disturbed. The Cheltenham Hotel is only a few miles farther on, and I
+shall have to walk there anyway. I will start immediately and take the
+bear with me. I am sure that he will allow me to lead him wherever I
+please. I have tried him, and I find that he is a great deal gentler
+than most children."
+
+She exclaimed, in horror: "You must not think of it! He might spring
+upon you and tear you to pieces!"
+
+"Oh, he will not do that," I answered. "He is not that sort of a
+bear--and, besides, he is securely muzzled. I muzzled him myself, and
+he did not mind it in the least. Oh, you need not be afraid of the
+bear; he has had his breakfast and he is in perfect good-humor with
+the world. It will not take me long to reach the hotel, and I shall
+enjoy the walk, and when I get there I will be sure to find some shed
+or out-house where the beast can be shut up until it can be decided
+what to do with him. I can leave him there and have him legally
+advertised, and then--if nothing else can be done--he can be shot. I
+shall be very glad to have his skin; it will be worth enough to cover
+his bill here, and the damages to my bicycle. I shall send for that
+as soon as I reach the hotel. I can go to Waterton by train and take
+it with me. I can have it made all right in Waterton. So now, you see,
+I have settled everything satisfactorily."
+
+She looked at me earnestly, and, although there was a certain
+solicitude in her gaze, I could also see there signs of great relief.
+"But isn't there some other way of getting that bear to the hotel?"
+she said. "It will be dreadful for you to have to walk there and lead
+him."
+
+"It's the only way to do it," I answered. "You could not hitch a bear
+behind a wagon--the horse would run away and jerk his head off. The
+only way to take a bear about the country is to lead him, and I do not
+mind it in the least. As I have got to go without my bicycle I would
+like to have some sort of company. Anyway, the bear must go, and as I
+am on the road to the Cheltenham I shall be very glad to take him
+along with me."
+
+"I think you are wonderfully brave," she said, "and very good. If I
+can persuade myself it will be perfectly safe for you, it will
+certainly be a great relief to me."
+
+I was now engaged in a piece of self-sacrifice, and I felt that I must
+do it thoroughly and promptly. "I will go and get my valise," I said,
+"for I ought to start immediately."
+
+"Oh, I will send that!" she exclaimed.
+
+"No," I answered; "it does not weigh anything, and I can sling it over
+my shoulder. By-the-way," I said, turning as I was about to leave the
+room, "I have forgotten something." I put my hand into my pocket; it
+would not do to forget that I was, after all, only a departing guest.
+
+"No, no," she replied, quickly, "I am your debtor. When you find out
+how much damage you have suffered, and what is to be done with the
+bear, all that can be settled. You can write to me, but I will have
+nothing to do with it now."
+
+With my valise over my shoulder I returned to the hall to take leave
+of my hostess. Now she seemed somewhat contrite. Fate and she had
+conquered, I was going away, and she was sorry for me.
+
+"I think it is wonderfully good of you to do all this," she said. "I
+wish I could do something for you."
+
+I would have been glad to suggest that she might ask me to come again,
+and it would also have pleased me to say that I did not believe that
+her husband, if he could express his opinion, would commend her
+apparent inhospitality to his successor. But I made no such remarks,
+and offered my hand, which she cordially clasped as if I were an old
+friend and were going away to settle in the Himalayas.
+
+I went into the yard to get Orso. He was lying down when I approached
+him, but I think he knew from my general appearance that I was
+prepared to take the road, and he rose to his feet as much as to say,
+"I am ready." I unfastened the chain from the post, and, with the best
+of wishes for good-luck from John, who now seemed to be very well
+satisfied with me, I walked around the side of the house, the bear
+following as submissively as if he had been used to my leadership all
+his life.
+
+I did not see the boy nor the lemon-faced woman, and I was glad of it.
+I believe they would have cast evil eyes upon me, and there is no
+knowing what that bear might have done in consequence.
+
+Mrs. Chester was standing in the door as I reached the road.
+"Good-bye!" she cried, "and good fortune go with you!" I raised my
+hat, and gave Orso a little jerk with the chain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A RUNAWAY
+
+
+He was a very slow walker, that bear. If I had been alone I would have
+been out of sight of the inn in less than five minutes. As it was, I
+looked back after a considerable time to see if I really were out of
+sight of the house, and I found I was not. She was still standing in
+the doorway, and when I turned she waved her handkerchief. Now that I
+had truly left and was gone, she seemed to be willing to let me know
+better than before what a charming woman she was. I took off my hat
+again and pressed forward.
+
+For a couple of miles, perhaps, I walked thoughtfully, and I do not
+believe I once thought of the bear shambling silently behind me. I had
+been dreaming a day-dream--not building a castle in the air, for I had
+seen before me a castle already built. I had simply been dreaming
+myself into it, into its life, into its possessions, into the
+possession of everything which belonged to it.
+
+It had been a fascinating vision. It had suited my fancy better than
+any vision of the future which I had ever had. I was not ambitious; I
+loved the loveliness of life. I was a student, and I had a dream of
+life which would not interfere with the society of my books. I loved
+all rural pleasures, and I had dreamed of a life where these were
+spread out ready for my enjoyment. I was a man formed to love, and
+there had come to me dreams of this sort of thing.
+
+My dreams had even taken practical shape. As I was dressing myself
+that morning I had puzzled my brain to find a pretext for taking the
+first step, which would be to remain a few days at the inn.
+
+The pretext for doing this had appeared to me. For a moment I had
+snatched at it and shown my joy, and then it had utterly
+disappeared--the vision, the fancy, the anticipations, the plans, the
+vine-covered home in the air, all were destroyed as completely as if
+it had been the tire of my bicycle scattered about in little bits upon
+the ground.
+
+"Come along, old Orso!" I exclaimed, endeavoring to mend my pace, and
+giving the bear a good pull upon his chain. But the ugly creature did
+not walk any faster; he simply looked at me with an air as if he would
+say that if I kept long upon the road I would learn to take it easy,
+and maintained the deliberate slouch of his demeanor.
+
+Presently I stopped, and Orso was very willing to imitate me in that
+action. I found, to my surprise, that I was not walking upon a
+macadamized road: such was the highway which passed the inn and led, I
+had been told, to the Cheltenham. I was now upon a road of gravel and
+clay, smooth enough and wide enough, but of a different character from
+that on which I had started that morning. I looked about me. Across a
+field to my left I saw a line of trees which seemed to indicate a
+road. I had a dim recollection of having passed a road which seemed to
+turn to the left, but I had been thinking very earnestly, and had paid
+little attention to it. Probably that road was the main road and this
+the one which turned off.
+
+I determined to investigate. It would not do to wander out of my way
+with my present encumbrance. It was now somewhat after noon; the
+country people were eating their dinners or engaged about their barns;
+there was nobody upon the road. At some distance ahead of me was a
+small house standing well back behind a little group of trees, and I
+decided to go there and make inquiries. And as it would not do at all
+to throw a rural establishment into a state of wild confusion by
+leading a bear up to its door, I conducted Orso to the side of the
+road and chained him to a fence-post. He was perfectly satisfied and
+lay down, his nose upon his fore-paws.
+
+[Illustration: "TO MY LEFT I SAW A LINE OF TREES"]
+
+I found three women in the little house. They were in a side kitchen
+eating their dinner, and I wondered what the bear would have done if
+he had smelled that dinner. They told me that I was not on the main
+road, and would have to go back more than half a mile in order to
+regain it.
+
+When I was out on the road again I said to myself that if I could
+possibly make Orso step along at a little more lively pace I might get
+to the hotel in time for a very late luncheon, and I was beginning to
+think that I had not been wise in declining portable refreshment, when
+I heard a noise ahead of me. At a considerable distance along the
+road, and not far from where I had left the bear, I saw a horse
+attached to a vehicle approaching me at a furious speed. He was
+running away! The truth flashed upon me--he had been frightened by
+Orso!
+
+I ran a few steps towards the approaching horse. His head was high in
+the air, and the vehicle swayed from side to side. It was a tall
+affair with two wheels, and on the high seat sat a lady vainly tugging
+at the reins. My heart sank. What dreadful thing had I done!
+
+I stood in the middle of the road. It seemed but a few seconds before
+the horse was upon me. He swerved to one side, but I was ready for
+that. I dashed at his bridle, but caught the end of his cumbrous bit
+in my right hand. I leaned forward with all the strength that dwelt in
+my muscles and nerves. The horse's glaring eye was over my face, and I
+felt the round end of a shaft rise up under my arm. A pair of
+outstretched forelegs slid past me. I saw the end of a banged tail
+switching in the dust. The horse was on his haunches. He was stopped.
+
+Before I had time to recover an erect attitude and to let up the horse
+the occupant of the vehicle was on the ground She had skipped down
+with wonderful alacrity on the side opposite to me, and was coming
+round by the back of the cart. The horse was now standing on his four
+legs, trembling in every fibre, and with eyes that were still wild and
+staring. Holding him firmly, I faced the lady as she stopped near me.
+She was a young woman in a jaunty summer costume and a round straw
+hat. She did not seem to be quite mistress of herself; she was not
+pale, but perhaps that was because her face was somewhat browned by
+the sun, but her step was not steady, and she breathed hard. Under
+ordinary circumstances she would have been assisted to the side of the
+road, where she might sit down and recover herself, and have water
+brought to her. But I could do nothing of that sort. I could not leave
+that shivering horse.
+
+[Illustration: "HE WAS RUNNING AWAY"]
+
+"Are you hurt?" I asked.
+
+"Oh no," she said, "but I am shaken up a bit. I cannot tell you how
+grateful I am! I don't believe I ever can tell you!"
+
+"Do not speak of that." I said, quickly. "Perhaps you would feel
+better if you were to sit down somewhere."
+
+"Oh, I don't want to sit down," said she. "I am so glad to have my
+feet on the solid earth again that that is enough for me. It was a
+bear that frightened him--a bear lying down by the side of the road a
+little way back. He never ran away before, but when he saw that bear
+he gave a great shy and a bolt, and he was off. I just got a glimpse
+of the beast."
+
+I was very anxious to change the conversation, and suggested that I
+lead the horse into the shade, for the sun was blazing down upon us.
+The horse submitted to be led to the side of the road, but he was very
+nervous, and looked everywhere for the approach of shaggy bears.
+
+"It is perfectly dreadful," she said, when she again approached me,
+"for people to leave bears about in that way. I suppose he was
+fastened, for it could not have been a wild beast. They do not lie
+down by the side of the road. I do not say that I was rattled, but I
+expected every second that there would be a smash, and there would
+have been if it had not been for--"
+
+"It is a wonder you were not thrown out," I interrupted, "those carts
+are so tall."
+
+"Yes," she answered, "and if I hadn't slipped off the driving-cushion
+at the first shy I would have been out sure. I never had anything
+happen like this, but who could have expected a great bear by the side
+of the road?"
+
+"Have you far to go?" I asked.
+
+"Not very--about three miles. I made a call this morning on the other
+road, and was driving home. My name is Miss Larramie. My father's
+place is on this road. He is Henry Esmond Larramie." I had heard of
+the gentleman, but had never met him. "I am not afraid of horses,"
+she continued, "but I do not know about driving this one now. He looks
+as if he were all ready to bolt again."
+
+"Oh, it would not do for you to drive him," I said. "That would be
+extremely risky."
+
+"I might walk home," she said, "but I could not leave the horse."
+
+"Let me think a minute," said I. Then presently I asked, "Will this
+horse stand if he is hitched?"
+
+"Oh yes," she answered; "I always hitch him when I make calls. There
+is a big strap under the seat which goes around his neck, and then
+through a ring in his bit. He has to stand--he can't get away."
+
+"Very well, then," said I; "I will tell you what I will do. I will tie
+him to this tree. I think he is quieter, and if you will stand by him
+and talk to him--he knows you?"
+
+"Oh yes," she answered, "and I can feed him with grass. But why do you
+want to tie him? What are you going to do?"
+
+As she spoke she brought me the tie strap, and I proceeded to fasten
+the horse to a tree.
+
+"Now, then," said I, "I must go and get the bear and take him away
+somewhere out of sight. It will never do to leave him there. Some
+other horse might be coming along."
+
+"You get the bear!" she said, surprised.
+
+"Yes," I answered; "he is my bear, and--"
+
+She stepped back, her eyes expanded and her lower jaw dropped. "_Your_
+bear!" she cried, and with that her glance seemed to run all over me
+as if she were trying to find some resemblance to a man who exhibited
+a bear.
+
+"Yes," I replied; "I left him there while I went to ask my way. It was
+a dreadful thing to do, but I must leave him there no longer. I will
+tell you all about it when I come back."
+
+I had decided upon a plan of action. I ran down the road to the bear,
+took down some bars of the fence, and then, untying him, I led him
+over a field to a patch of woodland. Orso shuffled along humbly as if
+it did not make any difference to him where he went, and when I
+reached the woods I entered it by an old cart-road, and soon struck
+off to one side among some heavy underbrush. Finding a spot where it
+would be impossible for the beast to be seen from the road, I fastened
+him securely to a tree. He looked after me regretfully, and I think I
+heard him whine, but I am not sure of that. I hurried back to the
+road, replaced the bars, and very soon had joined the young lady.
+
+"Well," said she, "never in this world would I have thought that was
+your bear! But what is to be done now? This horse gave a jump as soon
+as he heard you running this way."
+
+"Now," said I, "I will drive you to your house, or, if you are afraid,
+you can walk, and I will take him home for you if you will give me the
+directions."
+
+"Oh, I am not a bit afraid," she said. "I am sure you can manage
+him--you seem to be able to manage animals. But will not this be a
+great inconvenience to you? Are you going this way? And won't you have
+to come back after your bear? I can't believe that you are really
+leading a bear about."
+
+I laughed as I unfastened the horse. "It will not take me long to come
+back," I said. "Now, I will get in first, and, when I have him
+properly in hand, you can mount on the other side."
+
+The young lady appeared to have entirely recovered from the effects of
+her fright, and was by my side in a moment. The horse danced a little
+as we started and tried to look behind him, but he soon felt that he
+was under control, and trotted off finely.
+
+I now thought that I ought to tell her who I was, for I did not want
+to be taken for a travelling showman, although I really did not
+suppose that she would make such a mistake.
+
+"So you are the school-master at Walford!" said she. "I have heard
+about you. Little Billy Marshall is one of your scholars."
+
+I admitted that he was, and that I was afraid he did not do me very
+much credit.
+
+"Perhaps not," she said, "but he is a good boy. His mother sometimes
+works for us; she does quite heavy jobs of sewing, and Billy brings
+them up by train. He was here a little more than a week ago, and I
+asked him how he was getting on at school, and if he had a good
+teacher, and he said the man was pretty good. But I want to know about
+the bear. How in the world did you happen to be leading a bear?"
+
+I related the ursine incident, which amused her very much, and, as she
+was a wheelwoman herself, she commiserated with me sincerely on the
+damage to my machine.
+
+"So you stopped at the Holly Sprig?" she said. "And how did you like
+the mistress of that little inn?"
+
+I replied that I had found her very interesting.
+
+"Yes, she is an interesting woman," said my companion, "and a very
+pretty one, too. Some people wonder why she continues to keep the inn,
+but perhaps she has to. You know, her husband was murdered."
+
+[Illustration: "He soon felt that he was under control"]
+
+"No, I did not!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "I knew he was not
+living--but murdered! That is dreadful! How did that happen?"
+
+"Nobody knows," she answered. "They had not been married very long--I
+do not know how long--when he was killed. He went to New York on
+business by himself, and did not come back. They were searching for
+him days and days--ever so long, and they could find no clew. At
+last--it may have been a month afterwards--or perhaps it was more--it
+was found that he had been murdered. His body had been discovered, and
+was supposed to be that of somebody else, and had been buried in
+whatever place the authorities buried people in such cases. Then it
+was too late to get it or to identify it, or to do anything. Wasn't
+that perfectly awful?"
+
+This story gave me a peculiar shock. I could not have imagined that
+that charming and apparently light-hearted young woman at the Holly
+Sprig had ever been crushed down by such a sorrow as this. But I did
+not ask any more questions. The young girl by my side probably knew no
+more than she had already told me. Besides, I did not want to hear any
+more.
+
+"'Royal' goes along just as if nothing had happened," she said,
+admiringly regarding the horse. "Now, I wonder if it will be safe for
+me to drive him again?"
+
+"I should be very sorry," I answered, "if my thoughtlessness had
+rendered him unsafe for you; but if he could be led up and down past
+the place where he saw the bear until he becomes convinced that there
+is now nothing dreadful in that spot, he may soon be all right again."
+
+"Do you know," she said, suddenly turning towards me, "what I would
+like better than anything else in this world? I would like to be able
+to stand in the middle of the road and stop a horse as you did!"
+
+I laughed and assured her that I knew there were a great many things
+in the world which it would be much better for her to do than that.
+
+"Nothing would please me so much," she said, decisively, "not one
+single, solitary thing! There's our gate. Turn in here, please."
+
+I drove up a winding road which led to a house standing among trees on
+a slight elevation. "Please let me out here," she said, when I reached
+the end of the porch. "I will send a man to take the horse."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LARRAMIE FAMILY
+
+
+I think I did not have to wait ten seconds after her departure, for a
+stable-man had seen us approach and immediately came forward. I jumped
+down from the cart and looked in the direction of the road. I thought
+if I were to make a cross-cut over the lawn and some adjacent fields I
+should get back to my bear much quicker than if I returned the way I
+had come. But this thought had scarcely shaped itself in my mind when
+I heard the approach of hurrying feet, and in the next moment a little
+army had thrown itself upon me.
+
+There was a tall, bright-faced man, with side whiskers and a flowing
+jacket, who came forward with long steps and outstretched hand; there
+was a lady behind him, with little curls on the side of her head; and
+there were some boys and girls and other people. And nearly in front
+of the whole of them was the young lady I had brought to the house.
+Each one of them seized me by the hand; each one of them told me what
+a great thing I had done; each of them thanked me from the bottom of
+his or her heart for saving the life of his or her daughter or sister,
+and not one of them gave me a chance to say that as I had done all the
+mischief I could not be too thankful that I had been able to avert
+evil consequences. From the various references to the details of the
+incident I concluded that the young lady had dashed into the house and
+had given a full account of everything which had happened in less time
+than it would have taken me to arrange my ideas for such a recital.
+
+As soon as I could get a chance I thanked them all for their gracious
+words, and said that as I was in a hurry I must take my leave.
+Thereupon arose a hubbub of voices. "Not at dinner-time!" exclaimed
+Mr. Larramie. "We would never listen to such a thing!"
+
+"And you need not trouble yourself about your bear," cried my young
+lady, whose Christian name I soon discovered to be Edith. "He can live
+on barks and roots until we have time to attend to him. He is used to
+that in his native wilds."
+
+[Illustration: "A LITTLE ARMY HAD THROWN ITSELF UPON US."]
+
+Now everybody wanted to know everything about the bear, and great was
+the hilarity which my account occasioned.
+
+"Come in! Come in!" exclaimed Mr. Larramie. "The bear will be all
+right if you tied him well. You have just time to get ready for
+dinner." And noticing a glance I had given to my garments, he
+continued: "You need not bother about your clothes. We are all in
+field costume. Oh, I did not see you had a valise. Now, hurry in, all
+of you!"
+
+That dinner was a most lively meal. Everybody seemed to be talking at
+once, yet they all found time to eat. The father talked so much that
+his daughter Edith took the carving-fork from him and served out the
+mutton-chops herself. The mother, from the other end of the table,
+with tears in her eyes, continually asked me if I would not have
+something or other, and how I could ever screw up my courage to go
+about with an absolutely strange bear.
+
+There was a young man, apparently the oldest son, with a fine, frank
+manner and very broad shoulders. He was so wonderfully developed about
+the bust that he seemed almost deformed, his breast projecting so far
+that it gave him the appearance of being round-shouldered in front.
+This, my practised eye told me, was the result of undue exercise in
+the direction of chest-expansion. He was a good-natured fellow, and
+overlooked my not answering several of his questions, owing to the
+evident want of opportunity to do so.
+
+There was a yellow-haired girl with a long plait down her back; there
+was a half-grown boy, wearing a blue calico shirt with a red cravat;
+there was a small girl who sat by her mother; and there was a young
+lady, very upright and slender, who did not seem to belong to the
+family, for she never used the words "father" and "mother," which were
+continually in the mouths of the others. This young lady talked
+incessantly, and fired her words after the manner of a Gatling gun,
+without taking aim at anybody in particular. Sometimes she may have
+been talking to me, but, as she did not direct her gaze towards me on
+such occasions, I did not feel bound to consider any suppositions in
+regard to the matter.
+
+I, of course, was the principal object of general attention. They
+wanted to know what I really thought of Billy Marshall as a scholar.
+They wanted to know if I would have some more. They wanted to know if
+I had had any previous experience with bears. The father asked which
+I thought it would be easier to manage, a boy or a bear. The boy Percy
+wanted to know how I placed my feet when I stood up in front of a
+runaway horse. Others asked if I intended to go back to my school at
+Walford, and how I liked the village, and if I were president of the
+literary society there, which Mrs. Larramie thought I ought to be, on
+account of my scholastic position.
+
+[Illustration: "'WOULD IT BE EASIER TO MANAGE A BOY OR A BEAR?'"]
+
+But before the meal was over the bear had come to be the absorbing
+subject of conversation. I was asked my plans about him, and they were
+all disapproved.
+
+"It would be of no use to take him to the Cheltenham," said Walter,
+the oldest son. "They couldn't keep him there. They have too many
+horses--a livery-stable. They wouldn't let you come on the place with
+him."
+
+"Of course not," said Mr. Larramie. "And, besides, why should you take
+him there? It would be a poor place anyway. They wouldn't keep him
+until his owner turned up. They wouldn't have anything to do with him.
+What you want to do is to bring your bear here. We have a hay-barn out
+in the fields. He could sleep in the hay, and we could give him a long
+chain so that he could have a nice range."
+
+The younger members of the family were delighted with this
+suggestion. Nothing would please them better than to have a bear on
+the place. Each one of them was ready to take entire charge of it, and
+Percy declared that he would go into the woods and hunt for wild-bee
+honey with which to feed it. Even Mrs. Larramie assured me that if a
+bear were well chained, at a suitable distance, she would have no
+fears whatever of it.
+
+I accepted the proposition, for I was glad to get rid of the animal in
+a way which would please so many people, and after dinner was over,
+and I had smoked a cigar with my host and his son Walter, I said that
+it was time for me to go and get the bear.
+
+"But you won't go by the main road," said Mr. Larramie. "That makes a
+great curve below here to avoid a hill. If I understood you properly,
+you left the bear not far from a small house inhabited by three
+women?"
+
+"They're the McKenna sisters," added Walter.
+
+"Yes," said the father, "and their house is not more than two miles
+from here by a field road. I will go with you."
+
+I exclaimed that I would not put him to so much trouble, but my words
+were useless. The Walter son declared that he would go also, that he
+would like the walk; the Percy son declared he was going if anybody
+went; and Genevieve, the girl with the yellow plait, said that she
+wished she were a boy so that she could go too, and she wished she
+could go anyway, boy or no boy, and as her father said that there was
+no earthly reason why she should not go, she ran for her hat.
+
+Miss Edith looked as if she would like to go, but she did not say so;
+and, as for me, I agreed to every proposition. It would certainly be
+great fun to do things with this lively household.
+
+We started off without the boy, but it was not long before he came
+running after us, and to my horror I perceived that he carried a
+rifle.
+
+"What are you going to do with that, Percy?" exclaimed his father.
+
+"I don't expect to do anything with it," the boy replied, "but I
+thought it would be a good thing to bring it along--especially as
+Genevieve is with us. Nobody knows what might happen."
+
+"That's true," exclaimed Walter, "and the fact that Genevieve is along
+is the best reason in the world for your not bringing a gun. You
+better go take it back."
+
+To this Percy strongly objected. He was going out on a sort of a
+bear-hunt, and to him half the pleasure would be lost if he did not
+carry a gun. I am not a coward, but a boy with a gun is a terror to
+me. My expression may have intimated my state of mind, for Mr.
+Larramie said to me that we had now gone so far that it would be a
+pity to send Percy back, and that he did not think there would be any
+danger, for his boy had been taught how to carry a gun properly.
+
+"We are all out-of-door people and sportsmen," he said, "and we begin
+early. But I suppose what you are thinking about is the danger of some
+of us ending soon. But we need not be afraid of that. Walk in front,
+Percy, and keep the barrel pointed downward."
+
+When we came in sight of the house of the three McKennas, Walter
+proposed that we make a detour towards the woods. "For," said he, "if
+those good women see a party like this with a gun among them, they
+will be sure to think it is a case of escaped criminal, or something
+of that kind, and be frightened out of their wits."
+
+We skirted the edge of the trees until we came to the opening of the
+wood road, which I recognized immediately, and, asking Percy and the
+others to keep back, I went on by myself.
+
+"I don't think people would frighten that sort of a bear," I heard
+Genevieve say. "He must be used to crowds around him when he's
+dancing."
+
+I presently reached the place where I had turned from the road. It was
+a natural break in the woods. There was the tree to which I had tied
+the bear, but there was no bear.
+
+I stood aghast, and in a moment the rest of the party were clustered
+around me. "Is this where you left him?" they cried. "And is he gone?
+Are you sure this is the place?"
+
+Yes, I was sure of it. I have an excellent eye for locality, and I
+knew that I had chained the bear to the small oak in front of me. At
+that moment there was a scream from Genevieve. "Look! Look!" she
+cried. "There he is, just ready to spring!"
+
+We all looked up, and, sure enough, on the lower branch of the oak,
+half enveloped in foliage, we saw the bear extended at full length and
+blinking down at us. I gave a shout of delight.
+
+"Now, keep back, all of you!" I cried. "Bears don't spring from trees,
+but it will be better for you to be out of the way while I try to get
+him down."
+
+I walked up to the oak-tree, and then I found that the bear was still
+firmly attached to it. His chain had been fastened loosely around the
+trunk; he had climbed up to the branch and pulled the chain with him.
+
+I now called upon Orso to come down, but apparently he did not
+understand English, and lay quietly upon the branch, his head towards
+the trunk of the tree. I extended my hand up towards the chain, and
+found that I could nearly reach it. "Shall I give you a lift?" cried
+Walter, and I accepted the offer. It was a hard piece of work for him,
+but he was a professed athlete, and he would have lifted me if it had
+cracked his spine. I reached up and unhooked the chain. It was then
+long enough for me to stand on the ground and hold the end of it.
+
+Now I began to pull. "Come down!" I said. "Come down, Orso!" But Orso
+did not move.
+
+"Bears don't come down head-foremost," cried Percy; "they turn around
+and come down backwards. You ought to have a chain to his tail if you
+want to pull him down."
+
+"He hasn't got any tail!" exclaimed Genevieve.
+
+I was in a quandary. I might as well try to break the branch as to
+pull the bear down. "If we had only thought of bringing a bucket of
+meat!" cried Percy.
+
+"Would you mind holding the chain," I said to Walter, "while I try to
+drive him down?" Of course the developed young man was not afraid to
+do anything I was not afraid to do, and he took the chain. There was
+a pine-tree growing near the oak, and, mounting into this, I found
+that with a long stick which Mr. Larramie handed me I could just reach
+the bear. "Go down!" I said, tapping him on the haunches, but he did
+not move.
+
+"Can't you speak to him in Italian?" said Genevieve. "Tame bears know
+Italian. Doesn't anybody know the Italian for 'Come down out of a
+tree?'" But such knowledge was absent from the party.
+
+"Try him in Latin," cried Percy. "That must be a good deal like
+Italian, anyway."
+
+To this suggestion Mr. Larramie made no answer; he had left college
+before any of the party present had been born; Mr. Walter looked a
+little confused; he had graduated several years before, and his
+classics were rusty. I felt that my pedagogical position made it
+incumbent upon me to take immediate action, but for the life of me I
+could not think of an appropriate phrase.
+
+"Give him high English!" cried Mr. Larramie. "That's often classic
+enough! Tell him to descend!"
+
+"Orso, descend!" I cried, giving a little foreign twang to the words.
+Immediately the bear began to twist like a caterpillar upon the limb,
+he extended his hind-legs towards the trunk, he seized it with his
+fore-paws. He began slowly to move downward.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Percy, "that hit him like a rifle-ball! Hurrah for
+high English! That's good enough for me!"
+
+"Look at his hind hands!" cried Genevieve. "He has worn all the hair
+off his palms!"
+
+I hurried from the tree and reached the ground before the bear. Then
+taking the end of the chain, I advised the others to move out of the
+woods while I followed with the bear. They all obeyed except
+Genevieve, who wanted very much to linger behind and help me lead him.
+But this I would not permit.
+
+The bear followed me with his usual docility until we had emerged from
+the woods. Then he gave a little start, and fixed his eyes upon Percy,
+who stood at a short distance, his rifle in his hand. I had not
+supposed that this bear was afraid of anything, but now I had reason
+to believe that he was afraid of guns, for the instant he saw the
+armed boy he made the little start I have mentioned, and followed it
+up by a great bolt which jerked the chain from my hand, and the next
+instant Orso was bounding away in great lopes, his chain rattling
+behind him.
+
+Promptly Percy brought his rifle to his shoulder. "Don't you fire!" I
+shouted. "Put down your gun and leave it here. It frightens him!" And
+with that we were all off in hot pursuit.
+
+"Cut him off from the woods!" shouted Mr. Walter, who was in advance.
+"If he gets in the woods we'll lose him sure!"
+
+We followed this good advice, and at the top of our speed we
+endeavored to get between the beast and the trees. To a certain extent
+we succeeded in our object, for some of us were fast runners, and
+Orso, perceiving that he might be cut off from a woody retreat, turned
+almost at right angles and made directly for the house.
+
+"He's after the three McKennas!" screamed Genevieve, as she turned to
+follow the bear, and from being somewhat in the rear she was now in
+advance of us, and dashed across the field at a most wonderful rate
+for a girl.
+
+The rest of us soon passed her, but before we reached the house the
+bear disappeared behind some out-buildings. Then we saw him again. He
+dashed through the gate of a back yard. He seemed to throw himself
+against the house. He disappeared through a door-way. There was a
+great crash as of crockery and tin. There were screams. There was
+rattling and banging, and then all was still. When we reached the
+house we heard no sound.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE THREE McKENNAS
+
+
+I was in advance, and as I entered the door-way through which the bear
+had disappeared, I found myself in the kitchen where I had seen the
+three women at their dinner. Wild confusion had been brought about in
+a second. A table had been over-turned, broken dishes and tin things
+were scattered on the floor, a wooden chair lay upon its back, and the
+room seemed deserted. The rest of the party quickly rushed in behind
+me, and great were their exclamations at the scene of havoc.
+
+"I hope nothing has happened to the McKenna sisters," cried Mr.
+Larramie. "They must have been in here!"
+
+I did not suppose that anything serious had occurred, for the bear's
+jaws were securely strapped, but with anxious haste I went into the
+other part of the house. Across a hallway I saw an open door, and
+from the room within came groans, or perhaps I should call them
+long-drawn wails of woe.
+
+I was in the room in a moment, and the others crowded through the
+door-way behind me. It was a good-sized bedroom, probably the
+"spare-room" of the first floor. In one corner was a tall and wide
+high-posted bedstead, and in the very middle of it sat an elderly
+woman drawn up into the smallest compass into which she could possibly
+compress herself. Her eyes were closed, her jaws were dropped, her
+spectacles hung in front of her mouth, her gray hair straggled over
+her eyes, and her skin was of a soapy whiteness.
+
+She paid no attention to the crowd of people in the room. Evidently
+she was frightened out of her senses. Every moment she emitted a
+doleful wail. As we stood gazing at her, and before we had time to
+speak to her, she seemed to be seized by an upheaving spasm, the
+influence of which was so great that she actually rose in the air, and
+as she did so her wail intensified itself into a shriek, and as she
+came down again with a sudden thump all the breath in her body seemed
+to be bounced out in a gasp of woe.
+
+"It's Susan McKenna!" exclaimed Walter. "What in the world is the
+matter with her? Miss Susan, are you hurt?"
+
+She made no answer, but again she rose, again she gave vent to a wild
+wail, and again she came down with a thump.
+
+Percy was now on his knees near the bed. "It's the bear!" he cried.
+"He's under there, and he's humping himself!"
+
+"Sacking bottom!" cried the practical Genevieve "There isn't room
+enough for him!"
+
+Stooping down I saw the bear under the bed, now crowding himself back
+as far as possible into a corner. No part of his chain was exposed to
+view, and for a moment I did not see how I was going to get him out.
+But the first thing was to get rid of the woman.
+
+"Come, Miss Susan," said Mr. Larramie, "let me help you off the bed,
+and you can go into another room, and then we will attend to this
+animal. You need not be afraid to get down. He won't hurt you."
+
+But the McKenna sister paid no attention to these remarks. She kept
+her eyes closed; she moaned and wailed. So long as that horrible demon
+was under the bed she would not have put as much as one of her toes
+over the edge for all the money in the world!
+
+In every way I tried to induce the bear to come out, but he paid no
+attention to me. He had been frightened, and he was now in darkness
+and security. Suddenly a happy thought struck me. I glanced around the
+room, and then I rushed into the hall. Genevieve followed me. "What do
+you want?" she said.
+
+"I am looking for some overshoes!" I cried. "India-rubber ones!"
+
+Instantly Genevieve began to dash around. In a few moments she had
+opened a little closet which I had not noticed. "Here is one!" she
+cried, "but it's torn--the heel is nearly off! Perhaps the other
+one--"
+
+"Give me that!" I exclaimed. "It doesn't matter about its being torn!"
+With the old overshoe in my hand I ran back into the room, where Mr.
+Larramie was still imploring the McKenna sister to get down from the
+bed. I stooped and thrust the shoe under as far as I could reach.
+Almost immediately I saw a movement in the shaggy mass in the corner.
+I wriggled the shoe, and a paw was slightly extended. Then I drew it
+away slowly from under the bed.
+
+Now, Miss Susan McKenna rose in the air higher than she had yet gone.
+A maddening wail went up, and for a moment she tottered on the apex
+of an elevation like a wooden idol upheaved by an earthquake. Before
+she had time to tumble over she sank again with a thump. The great
+hairy bear, looking twice as large in that room as he appeared in the
+open air, came out from under the foot of the bed, and as I dangled
+the old rubber shoe in front of his nose he would have seized upon it
+if his jaws had not been strapped together. I got hold of the chain
+and conducted him quietly outside, amid the cheers and hand-clapping
+of Percy and Genevieve.
+
+I chained Orso to a post of the fence, and, removing his muzzle, I
+gave him the old rubber shoe.
+
+"Shall I bring him some more?" cried Genevieve, full of zeal in good
+works. But I assured her that one would do for the present.
+
+I now hurried into the house to find out what had happened to the
+persons and property of the McKenna sisters.
+
+"Where are the other two?" cried Genevieve, who was darting from one
+room to another; "the bear can't have swallowed them."
+
+It was not long before Percy discovered the two missing sisters in the
+cellar. They were seated on the ground with their aprons over their
+heads.
+
+It was some time before quiet was restored in that household. To the
+paralyzing terror occasioned by the sudden advent of the bear
+succeeded wild lamentations over the loss of property. I assured them
+that I was perfectly willing to make good the loss, but Mr. Larramie
+would not allow me to say anything on the subject.
+
+"It is not your affair," said he. "The bear would have done no damage
+whatever had it not been for the folly of Percy in bringing his gun--I
+suppose the animal has been shot at some time or other--and my
+weakness in allowing him to keep it. I will attend to these damages.
+The amount is very little, I imagine, principally cheap crockery, and
+the best thing you can do is to start off slowly with your bear. The
+women will not be able to talk reasonably until it is off the
+premises. I will catch up with you presently."
+
+When the bear and I, with the rest of the party, were fairly out of
+sight of the house, we stopped and waited for Mr. Larramie, and it was
+not long before he joined us.
+
+When we reached the hay-barn we were met by the rest of the Larramie
+family, all anxious to see the bear. Even Miss Edith, who had had one
+glimpse of the beast, was very glad indeed to assure me that she did
+not wonder in the least that I had supposed there would be no harm in
+leaving such a mild creature for a little while by the side of the
+road, and I was sure from the exclamations of the rest of the family
+that Orso would not suffer for want of care and attention during his
+stay in the hay-barn.
+
+I was immensely relieved to get rid of the bear and to leave him in
+such good quarters, for it now appeared to me quite reasonable that I
+might have had difficulty in lodging him anywhere on the premises of
+the Cheltenham, and under any circumstances I very much preferred
+appearing at that hotel without an ursine companion. As soon as we
+reached the house I told Mr. Larramie that it was now necessary for me
+to hurry on, and asked if there were not some way to the hotel which
+would not make it necessary for me to go back to the main road.
+
+The good gentleman fairly shouted at me. "You aren't going to any
+hotel!" he declared. "Do you suppose we are heathens, to let you start
+off at this late hour in the afternoon for a hotel? You have nothing
+to do with hotels--you spend the night with us, sir! If you are
+thinking about your clothes, pray dismiss the subject from your mind.
+If it will make you feel better satisfied, we will all put on golf
+suits. In the morning we will get your machine from the Holly Sprig,
+and when you want to go on we will send you and it to Waterton in a
+wagon. It is not a long drive, and it is much the pleasanter way to
+manage your business."
+
+The family showed themselves delighted when they heard that I was to
+spend the night with them, and I did not object to the plan, for I had
+not the slightest desire to go to a summer hotel. Just before I went
+up to my room to get ready for supper, the young Genevieve came to me
+upon the porch.
+
+"Would you mind," she said, "letting me feel your muscle?"
+
+Very much surprised, I reached out my arm for her inspection, and she
+clasped her long thin fingers around my _biceps flexor cubiti._
+Apparently, the inspection was very satisfactory to her.
+
+"I would give anything," she said, "if I had muscle like that!"
+
+I laughed heartily. "My dear little girl," said I, "you would be
+sorry, indeed, if you had anything of the sort. When you grow up and
+go to parties, how would you like to show bare arms shaped like mine?
+You would be a spectacle, indeed."
+
+"Well," said she, "perhaps you are right. I might not care to have
+them bulge, but I would like to have them hard."
+
+It was a lively supper and an interesting evening. Miss Edith sat
+opposite to me at table--I gave her this title because I was informed
+that there was an elder sister who was away on a visit. I could see
+that she regarded me as her especial charge. She did not ask me what I
+would have, but she saw that every possible want was attended to. As
+the table was lighted by a large hanging-lamp, I had a better view of
+her features than I had yet obtained. She was not handsome. Her eyes
+were too wide apart, her nose needed perhaps an eighth of an inch in
+length, and her well-shaped mouth would not have suffered by a slight
+reduction. But there was a cheerful honesty in her expression and in
+her words which gave me the idea that she was a girl to believe in.
+
+After supper we played round games, and the nervous young lady talked.
+She could not keep her mind on cards, and therefore played no game. In
+the course of the evening Mrs. Larramie took occasion to say to me,
+and her eyes were very full as she spoke, that she did not want me to
+think she had forgotten that that day I had given her her daughter,
+and although the others--greatly to my satisfaction--did not indulge
+in any such embarrassing expressions of gratitude, they did not fail
+to let me know the high estimation in which they held me. The little
+girl, Clara, sat close to me while I was playing, every now and then
+gently stroking my arm, and when she was taken off to bed she ran back
+to say to me that the next time I brought a bear to their house she
+hoped I would also bring some little ones. Even Percy took occasion to
+let me know that, under the circumstances, he was willing to overlook
+entirely the fact of my being a school-master.
+
+After the games, when the family was scattering--not to their several
+bed-chambers, but apparently to various forms of recreation or study
+which seemed to demand their attention--Miss Edith asked me if I would
+not like to take a walk and look at the stars. As this suggestion was
+made in the presence of her parents, I hesitated a moment, expecting
+some discreet objection. But none came, and I assented most willingly
+to a sub-astral promenade.
+
+There was a long, flagged walk which led to the road, and backward and
+forward upon this path we walked many, many times.
+
+"I like starlight better than moonlight," said Miss Edith, "for it
+doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. You cannot do anything
+by starlight except simply walk about, and if there are any trees,
+that isn't easy. You know this, you don't expect anything more, and
+you're satisfied. But moonlight is different. Sometimes it is so
+bright out-of-doors when the moon is full that you are apt to think
+you could play golf or croquet, or even sit on a bench and read. But
+it isn't so. You can't do any of these things--at least, you can't do
+them with any satisfaction. And yet, month after month, if you live in
+the country, the moon deceives you into thinking that for a great many
+things she is nearly as good as the sun. But all she does is to make
+the world beautiful, and she doesn't do that as well as the sun does
+it. The stars make no pretences, and that is the reason I like them
+better.
+
+"But I did not bring you out here to tell you all this," she
+continued, offering me no opportunity of giving my opinions on the
+stars and moon. "I simply wanted to say that I am so glad and thankful
+to be walking about on the surface of the earth with whole bones and
+not a scratch from head to foot"--at this point my heart began to
+sink: I never do know what to say when people are grateful to
+me--"that I am going to show you my gratitude by treating you as I
+know you would like to be treated. I shall not pour out my gratitude
+before you and make you say things which are incorrect, for you are
+bound to do that if you say anything--"
+
+"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said; "but now let us
+talk some more about the stars."
+
+"Oh, bother the stars!" said she. "But I will drop the subject of
+gratitude as soon as I have said that if you ever come to know me
+better than you do now, you will know that in regard to such things I
+am the right kind of a girl."
+
+I had not the slightest doubt that she was entirely correct. And then
+she began to talk about golf, and after that of croquet.
+
+"I consider that the finest out-door game we have," she said, "because
+there is more science in it than you find in any of the others. Your
+brains must work when you play croquet with intelligent opponents."
+
+"The great trouble about it is," I said, "that it is often so easy."
+
+"But you can get rid of that objection," she replied, "if you have a
+bad ground. Croquet needs hazards just as much as golf does. The
+finest games I have ever seen were played on a bad ground."
+
+So we talked and walked until some of the lights in the upper windows
+of the house had gone out. We ascended to the porch, and just before
+entering the front door she turned to me.
+
+"I wish I could go to sleep to-night with the same right to feel
+proud, self-confident, superior, that you have. Good-night." And she
+held out her hand and gave mine a strong, hearty shake.
+
+I smiled as she left me standing on the porch. This was the same spot
+on which her sister Genevieve had felt my muscle. "This is an
+appreciative family," I said, and, guided by the sound of voices, I
+found Mr. Larramie and his son Walter in the billiard-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BACK TO THE HOLLY SPRIG
+
+
+Before going to bed that night I did not throw myself into an
+easy-chair and gaze musingly out into the night. On the contrary, I
+stood up sturdily with my back to the mantel-piece, and with the
+forefinger of my right hand I tapped my left palm.
+
+"Now, then," said I to myself, "as soon as my bicycle is put into
+working order I shall imitate travellers in hot countries--I shall
+ride all night, and I shall rest all day. There are too many young
+women in Cathay. They turn up one after another with the regularity of
+a continuous performance. No sooner is the curtain rung down on one
+act than it is rung up on another. Perhaps after a while I may get out
+of Cathay, and then again I may ride by day."
+
+In taking my things from my valise, I pulled out the little box which
+the doctor's daughter had given me, but I did not open it. "No,"
+said I, "there is no need whatever that I should take a capsule
+to-night."
+
+[Illustration: "I TAPPED MY LEFT PALM."]
+
+After breakfast the next day Mr. Larramie came to me. "Do you know,"
+said he, "I feel ashamed on account of the plans I made for you."
+
+I did not know, for I could see no earthly reason for such feeling.
+
+"I arranged," said he, "to send to the Holly Sprig for your machine,
+and then to have you and it driven over to Waterton. Now this I
+consider brutish. My wife told me that it was, and I agree with her
+perfectly. It will take several days to repair that injured
+wheel--Walter tells me you cannot expect it in less than three
+days--and what will you do in Waterton all that time? It isn't a
+pretty country, the hotels are barely good enough for a night's stop,
+and there isn't anything for you to do. Even if you hired a wheel you
+would find it stupid exploring that country. Now, sir, that plan is
+brushed entirely out of sight. Your bicycle shall be sent on, and when
+you hear that it is repaired and ready for use, you can go on yourself
+if you wish to."
+
+"My dear sir," I exclaimed, "this is entirely too much!"
+
+He put his hands upon my shoulders and looked me squarely in the
+face. "Too much!" said he, "too much! That may be your opinion, but I
+can tell you you have the whole of the rest of the world against you.
+That is, you would have if they all knew the circumstances. Now you
+are only one, and if you want to know how many people are opposed to
+you, I have no doubt Percy can tell you, but I am not very well posted
+in regard to the present population of the world."
+
+There was no good reason that I could offer why I should go and sit
+solitary in Waterton for three days, and if I had had any such reason
+I know it would have been treated with contempt. So I submitted--not
+altogether with an easy mind, and yet seeing cause for nothing but
+satisfaction and content.
+
+"Another thing," said Mr. Larramie; "I have thought that you would
+like to attend to your bicycle yourself. Perhaps you will want to take
+it apart before you send it away. Percy will be glad to drive to the
+Holly Sprig, and you can go with him. Then, when you come back, I will
+have my man take your machine to Waterton. I have a young horse very
+much in need of work, and I shall be glad to have an excuse for giving
+him some travelling to do." I stood astounded. Go back to the Holly
+Sprig! This arrangement had been made without reference to me. It had
+been supposed, of course, that I would be glad to go and attend to the
+proper packing of my bicycle. Even now, Percy, running across the
+yard, called to me that he would be ready to start in two minutes.
+
+When I took my seat in the wagon, Mr. Larramie was telling me that he
+would like me to inform Mrs. Chester that he would keep the bear until
+it was reasonable to suppose that the owner would not come for it, and
+that then he would either sell it or buy it himself, and make
+satisfactory settlement with her.
+
+I know I did not hear all that he said, for my mind was wildly busy
+trying to decide what I ought to do. Should I jump down even now and
+decline to go to the Holly Sprig, or should I go on and attend to my
+business like a sensible man? There was certainly no reason why I
+should do anything else, but when the impatient Percy started, my mind
+was not in the least made up; I remained on the seat beside him simply
+because I was there.
+
+Percy was a good driver, and glad to exhibit his skill. He was also in
+a lively mood, and talked with great freedom. "Do you know," said he,
+"that Edith wanted to drive you over to the inn? Think of that! But it
+had all been cut and dried that I should go, and I was not going to
+listen to any such nonsense. Besides, you might want somebody to help
+you take your machine apart and pack it up."
+
+I was well satisfied to be accompanied by the boy and not by his
+sister, and with the wheels and his tongue rattling along together, we
+soon reached the inn.
+
+Percy drove past it and was about to turn into the entrance of the
+yard, but I stopped him. "I suppose your wheel is back there," he
+said.
+
+"Yes," said I, "but I will get out here."
+
+"All right," he replied, "I'll drive around to the sheds."
+
+At the open door of the large room I met Mrs. Chester, evidently on
+her way out-of-doors. She wore a wide straw hat, her hands were
+gloved, and she carried a basket and a pair of large shears. When she
+saw me there was a sudden flush upon her face, but it disappeared
+quickly. Whether this meant that she was agreeably surprised to see me
+again, or whether it showed that she resented my turning up again so
+soon after she thought she was finally rid of me, I did not know. It
+does not do to predicate too much upon the flushes of women.
+
+[Illustration: "THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH"]
+
+I hastened to inform her why I had come, and now, having recovered
+from her momentary surprise, she asked me to walk in and sit down, an
+invitation which I willingly accepted, for I did not in the least
+object to detaining her from her garden.
+
+Now she wanted to know how I had managed to get on with the bear, and
+what the people at the Cheltenham said about it, and when I went on to
+tell her the whole story, which I did at considerable length, she was
+intensely interested. She shuddered at the runaway, she laughed
+heartily at the uprising of the McKenna sister, and she listened
+earnestly to everything I had to say about the Larramies.
+
+"You seem to have a wonderful way," she exclaimed, "of falling in
+with--" I think she was going to say "girls," but she changed it to
+"people."
+
+"Yes," said I. "I should not have imagined that I could make so many
+good friends in such a short time."
+
+Then I went on to give her Mr. Larramie's message, and to say more
+things about the bear. I was glad to think of any subject which might
+prolong the conversation. So far she was interested, and all that we
+said seemed perfectly natural to the occasion, but this could not
+last, and I felt within me a strong desire to make some better use of
+this interview.
+
+I had not expected to see her again, certainly not so soon, and here I
+was alone with her, free to say what I chose; but what should I say? I
+had not premeditated anything serious. In fact, I was not sure that I
+wished to say anything which should be considered absolutely serious
+and definite, but if I were ever to do anything definite--and the more
+I talked with this bright-eyed and merry-hearted young lady the
+stronger became the longing to say something definite--now was the
+time to prepare the way for what I might do or say hereafter.
+
+I was beginning to grow nervous, for the right thing to say would not
+present itself, when Percy strode into the room. "Good-morning, Mrs.
+Chester," said he, and then, turning to me, he declared that he had
+been waiting in the yard, and began to think I might have forgotten I
+had come for my wheel.
+
+Of course I rose and she rose, and we followed Percy to the back door
+of the house. Outside I saw that the boy of the inn was holding the
+horse, and that the wheel was already placed in the back part of the
+wagon.
+
+"I've got everything all right, I think," said Percy. "I didn't
+suppose it was necessary to wait for you, but you'd better take a look
+at it to see if you think it will travel without rubbing or damaging
+itself."
+
+I stepped to the wagon and found that the bicycle was very well
+placed. "Now, then," said Percy, taking the reins and mounting to his
+seat, "all you've got to do is to get up, and we'll be off."
+
+I turned to the back door, but she was not there. "Wait a minute,"
+said I, and I hurried into the house. She was not in the hall. I
+looked into the large room. She was not there. I went into the parlor,
+and out upon the front porch. Then I went back into the house to seek
+some one who might call her. I was even willing to avail myself of the
+services of citric acid, for I could not leave that house without
+speaking to her again.
+
+In a moment Mrs. Chester appeared from some inner room. I believe she
+suspected that I had something to say to her which had nothing to do
+with the bear or the Larramies, for I had been conscious that my
+speech had been a little rambling, as if I were earnestly thinking of
+something else than what I was saying, and that she desired I should
+be taken away without an opportunity to unburden my mind; but now,
+hearing me tramping about and knowing that I was looking for her, she
+was obliged to show herself.
+
+As she came forward I noticed that her expression had changed
+somewhat. There was nothing merry about her eyes; I think she was
+slightly pale, and her brows were a little contracted, as if she were
+doing something she did not want to do.
+
+"I hope you found everything all right," she said.
+
+I looked at her steadily. "No," said I, "everything is not all right."
+
+A slight shade of anxiety came upon her face. "I am sorry to hear
+that," she said. "Was your wheel injured more than you thought?"
+
+"Wheel!" I exclaimed. "I was not thinking of wheels! I will tell you
+what is not all right! It is not right for me to go away without
+saying to you that I--"
+
+At this moment there was a strong, shrill whistle from the front of
+the house. A most unmistakable sense of relief showed itself upon
+her face. She ran to the front door, and called out, "Yes, he is
+coming."
+
+[Illustration: "THE SCENE VIVIDLY RECURRED TO MY MIND"]
+
+There was nothing for me to do but to follow her. I greatly disliked
+going away without saying what I wanted to say, and I would have been
+willing to speak even at the front door, but she gave me no chance.
+
+"Good-bye," she said, extending her hand. It was gloved. It gave no
+clasp--it invited none. As I could not say the words which were on my
+tongue, I said nothing, and, raising my cap, I hurried away.
+
+To make up for lost time, Percy drove very rapidly. "I came mighty
+near having a fight while you were in the house," said he. "It was
+that boy at the inn. He's a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully
+impertinent. He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the
+bear had hurt you. He said he believed you were really afraid of the
+beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.
+
+"I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith's runaway, and then he
+said, fair and square, that he didn't believe you stopped the horse.
+He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you
+came along and grabbed him and took all the credit. He said he
+thought you were that sort of a fellow.
+
+"That's the time I was going to pitch into him, but then I thought it
+would be a pretty low-down thing for me to be fighting a country
+tavern-boy, so I simply gave him my opinion of him. I don't believe
+he'd have held the horse, only he thought it would make you get away
+quicker. He hates you. Did you ever kick him or anything?"
+
+I laughed, and, telling Percy that I had never kicked the boy, I
+thanked him for his championship of me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A MAN WITH A LETTER
+
+
+When my unfortunate bicycle had been started on its way to Waterton, I
+threw myself into the family life of the Larramies, determined not to
+let them see any perturbations of mind which had been caused by the
+extraordinary promptness of the younger son. If a man had gone with me
+instead of that boy, I would have had every opportunity of saying what
+I wanted to say to the mistress of the Holly Sprig. I may state that I
+frequently found myself trying to determine what it was I wanted to
+say.
+
+I did my best to suppress all thoughts relating to things outside of
+this most hospitable and friendly house. I went to see the bear with
+the younger members of the family. I played four games of tennis, and
+in the afternoon the whole family went to fish in a very pretty
+mill-pond about a mile from the house. A good many fish were caught,
+large and small, and not one of the female fishers, except Miss
+Willoughby, the nervous young lady, and little Clara, would allow me
+to take a fish from her hook. Even Mrs. Larramie said that if she
+fished at all she thought she ought to do everything for herself, and
+not depend upon other people.
+
+As much as possible I tried to be with Mr. Larramie and Walter. I had
+not the slightest distaste for the company of the ladies, but there
+was a consciousness upon me that there were pleasant things in which a
+man ought to restrict himself. There was nothing chronic about this
+consciousness. It was on duty for this occasion only.
+
+That night at the supper-table the conversation took a peculiar turn.
+Mr. Larramie was the chief speaker, and it pleased him to hold forth
+upon the merits of Mrs. Chester. He said, and his wife and others of
+the company agreed with him, that she was a lady of peculiarly
+estimable character; that she was out of place; that every one who
+knew her well felt that she was out of place; but that she so graced
+her position that she almost raised it to her level. Over and over
+again her friends had said to her that a lady such as she was--still
+young, of a good family, well educated, who had travelled, and moved
+in excellent society--should not continue to be the landlady of a
+country inn, but the advice of her friends had had no effect upon her.
+
+It was not known whether it was necessary for her to continue the
+inn-keeping business, but the general belief was that it was not
+necessary. It was supposed that she had had money when she married
+Godfrey Chester, and he was not a poor man.
+
+Then came a strange revelation, which Mr. Larramie dwelt upon with
+considerable earnestness. There was an idea, he said, that Mrs.
+Chester kept up the Holly Sprig because she thought it would be her
+husband's wish that she should do so. He had probably said something
+about its being a provision for her in case of his death. At any rate,
+she seemed desirous to maintain the establishment exactly as he had
+ordered it in his life, making no change whatever, very much as if she
+had expected him to come back, and wished him to find everything as he
+had left it.
+
+"Of course she doesn't expect him to come back," said Mr. Larramie,
+"because it must now be four years since the time of his supposed
+murder--"
+
+"Supposed!" I cried, with much more excited interest than I would have
+shown if I had taken proper thought before speaking.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Larramie, "that is a fine point. I said 'supposed'
+because the facts of the case are not definitely known. There can be
+no reasonable doubt, however, that he is dead, for even if this fact
+had not been conclusively proved by the police investigations, it
+might now be considered proved by his continued absence. It would have
+been impossible for Mr. Chester alive to keep away from his wife for
+four years--they were devoted to each other. Furthermore, the exact
+manner of his death is not known--although it must have been a
+murder--and for these reasons I used the word 'supposed.' But, really,
+so far as human judgment can go, the whole matter is a certainty. I
+have not the slightest doubt in the world that Mrs. Chester so
+considers it, and yet, as she does not positively know it--as she has
+not the actual proofs that her husband is no longer living--she
+refuses in certain ways, in certain ways only, to consider herself a
+widow."
+
+"And what ways are those?" I asked, in a voice which, I hope,
+exhibited no undue emotion.
+
+"She declines to marry again," said Mrs. Larramie, now taking up the
+conversation. "Of course, such a pretty woman--I may say, such a
+charming woman--would have admirers, and I know that she has had some
+most excellent offers, but she has always refused to consider any of
+them. There was one gentleman, a man of wealth and position, who had
+proposed to her before she married Mr. Chester, who came on here to
+offer himself again, but she cut off everything he had to say by
+telling him that as she did not positively know that her husband was
+not living, she could not allow a word of that sort to be said to her.
+I know this, because she told me so herself."
+
+There was a good deal more talk of the sort, and of course it
+interested me greatly, although I tried not to show it, but I could
+not help wondering why the subject had been brought forward in such an
+impressive manner upon the present occasion. It seemed to me that
+there was something personal in it--personal to me. Had that boy Percy
+been making reports?
+
+In the evening I found out all about it, and in a very straightforward
+and direct fashion. I discovered Miss Edith by herself, and asked her
+if all that talk about Mrs. Chester had been intended for my benefit,
+and, if so, why.
+
+She laughed. "I expected you to come and ask me about that," she said,
+"for of course you could see through a good deal of it. It is all
+father's kindness and goodness. Percy was a little out of temper when
+he came back, and he spun a yarn about your being sweet on Mrs.
+Chester, and how he could hardly get you away from her, and all that.
+He had an idea that you wanted to go there and live, at least for the
+summer. Something a boy said to him made him think that. So father
+thought that if you had any notions about Mrs. Chester you ought to
+have the matter placed properly before you without any delay, and I
+expect his reason for mentioning it at the supper-table was that it
+might then seem like a general subject of conversation, whereas it
+would have been very pointed indeed if he had taken you apart and
+talked to you about it."
+
+"Indeed it would," said I. "And if you will allow me, I will say that
+boys are unmitigated nuisances! If they are not hearing what they
+ought not to hear, they are imagining what they ought not to
+imagine--"
+
+"And telling things that they ought not to tell," she added, with a
+laugh.
+
+"Which is an extremely bad thing," said I, "when there is nothing to
+tell."
+
+For the rest of that evening I was more lively than is my wont, for it
+was a very easy thing to be lively in that family. I do not think I
+gave any one reason to suppose that I was a man whose attention had
+been called to a notice not to trespass.
+
+As usual, I communed with myself before going to bed. Wherefore this
+feeling of disappointment? What did it mean? Would I have said
+anything of importance, of moment, to Mrs. Chester, if the boy Percy
+had given me an opportunity? What would I have said? What could I have
+said? I could see that she did not wish that I should say anything,
+and now I knew the reason for it. It was all plain enough on her side.
+Even if she had allowed herself any sort of emotion regarding me, she
+did not wish me to indulge in anything of the kind. But as for myself.
+I could decide nothing about myself.
+
+I smiled grimly as my eyes fell upon the little box of capsules. My
+first thought was that I should take two of them, but then I shook my
+head. "It would be utterly useless," I said; "they would do me no
+good."
+
+In the course of the next morning I found myself alone. I put on my
+cap, lighted a pipe, and started down the flag walk to the gate. In a
+few moments I heard running steps behind me, and, turning, I saw Miss
+Edith. "Don't look cross," she said. "Were you going for a walk?"
+
+I scouted the idea of crossness, and said that I had thought of taking
+a stroll.
+
+"That seems funny," said she, "for nobody in this house ever goes out
+for a lonely walk. But you cannot go just yet. There's a man at the
+back of the house with a letter for you."
+
+"A letter!" I exclaimed. "Who in the world could have sent a letter to
+me here?"
+
+"The only way to find out," she answered, "is to go and see."
+
+Under a tree at the back of the house I found a young negro man, very
+warm and dusty, who handed me a letter, which, to my surprise, bore no
+address. "How do you know this is for me?" said I.
+
+He was a good-natured looking fellow. "Oh, I know it's for you, sir,"
+said he. "They told me at the little tavern--the Holly something--that
+I'd find you here. You're the gentleman that had a bicycle tire eat
+up by a bear, ain't you?"
+
+I admitted that I was, and still, without opening the letter, I asked
+him, where it came from.
+
+"That was given to me in New York, sir," said he, "by a Dago, one of
+these I-talians. He gave me the money to go to Blackburn Station in
+the cars, and then I walked over to the tavern. He said he thought I'd
+find you there, sir. He told me just what sort of a lookin' man you
+was, sir, and that letter is for you, and no mistake. He didn't know
+your name, or he'd put it on."
+
+"Oh, it is from the owner of the bear," said I.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the man, "that's him. He did own a bear--he told
+me--that eat up your tire."
+
+I now tore open the blank envelope, and found it contained a letter on
+a single sheet, and in this was a folded paper, very dirty. The letter
+was apparently written in Italian, and had no signature. I ran my eye
+along the opening lines, and soon found that it would be a very
+difficult piece of business for me to read it. I was a fair French and
+German scholar, but my knowledge of Italian was due entirely to its
+relationship with Latin. I told the man to rest himself somewhere, and
+went to the house, and, finding Miss Edith, I informed her that I had
+a letter from the bear man, and asked her if she could read Italian.
+
+"I studied the language at school," she said, "but I have not
+practised much. However, let us go into the library--there is a
+dictionary there--and perhaps we can spell it out."
+
+We spread the open sheet upon the library-table, and laid the folded
+paper near by, and, sitting side by side, with a dictionary before us,
+we went to work. It was very hard work.
+
+"I think," said my companion, after ten minutes' application, "that
+the man who sent you this letter writes Italian about as badly as we
+read it. I think I could decipher the meaning of his words if I knew
+what letters those funny scratches were intended to represent. But let
+us stick to it. After a while we may get a little used to the writing,
+and I must admit that I have a curiosity to know what the man has to
+say about his bear."
+
+After a time the work became easier. Miss Edith possessed an acuteness
+of perception which enabled her to decipher almost illegible words by
+comparing them with others which were better written. We were at last
+enabled to translate the letter. The substance of it was as follows:
+
+The writer came to New York on a ship. There was a man on the ship,
+an Italian man, who was very wicked. He did very wicked things to the
+writer. When he got to New York he kept on being wicked. He was so
+wicked that the writer made up his mind to kill him. He waited for him
+one night for two hours.
+
+[Illustration: DECIPHERING THE DAGO'S LETTERS]
+
+At last the moment came. It was very dark, and the victim came,
+walking fast. The avenger sprang from a door-way and plunged his knife
+into the back of the victim. The man fell, and the moment he fell the
+writer of the letter knew that he was not the man he had intended to
+kill. The wicked man would not have been killed so easily. He turned
+over the man. He was dead. His eyes were used to the darkness, and he
+could see that he was the wrong man.
+
+The coat of the murdered man had fallen open, and a paper showed
+itself in an inside pocket. The Italian waited only long enough to
+snatch this paper. He wanted to have something which had belonged to
+that poor, wrongly murdered man. After that he heard no more about the
+great mistake he had committed. He could not read the newspapers, and
+he asked nobody any questions. He put the paper away and kept it. He
+often thought he ought to burn the paper, but he did not do it. He was
+afraid. The paper had a name on it, and he was sure it was the name
+of the man he had killed. He thought as long as he kept the paper
+there was a chance for his forgiveness.
+
+This was all four years ago. He worked hard, and after a while he
+bought a bear. When his bear ate up the India-rubber on my bicycle he
+was very much frightened, for he was afraid he might be sent to
+prison. But that was not the fright that made him run away.
+
+When he talked to the boy and asked him the name of the keeper of the
+inn, and the boy told him what it was, the earth seemed to open and he
+saw hell. The name was the name that was on the paper he had taken
+from the man he had killed by mistake, and this was his wife whose
+house he was staying at. He was seized with such a horror and such a
+fear that everything might be found out, and that he would be
+arrested, that he ran away to the railroad and took a train for New
+York.
+
+He did not want his bear. He did not want to be known as the man who
+had been going about with a bear. One thing he wanted, and that was to
+get back to Italy, where he would be safe. He was going back very soon
+in a ship. He had changed his name. He could not be found any more.
+But he knew his soul would never have any peace if he did not send
+the paper to the wife of the man he had made a mistake about. But he
+could not write a letter to her, so he sent it to me, for me to give
+her the paper and to tell her what he had written in the letter. He
+left America forever. Nobody in this country would ever see him again.
+He was gone. He was lost to all people in this country, but his soul
+felt better now that he had done that which would make the lady whose
+husband he had killed know how it had happened. The bear he would give
+to her. That was all that he could do for her.
+
+There was no formal close to the letter; the writer had said what he
+had to say and stopped.
+
+Miss Edith and I looked at each other. Her eyes had grown large and
+bright. "Now, shall we examine the paper?"
+
+"I do not know that we have a right to do so," I said. I know my voice
+was trembling, for I was very much agitated. "That belongs to--to
+her!"
+
+"I think," said Miss Edith, "that we ought to look at it. It is merely
+a folded paper. I do not think we ought to thrust information upon
+Mrs. Chester without knowing what it is. Perhaps the man made a
+mistake in the name. We may do a great deal of mischief if we do not
+know exactly what we are about." And so saying she took the paper and
+opened it.
+
+It was nothing but a grocery bill, but it was made out to--Godfrey
+Chester, Dr. Evidently it was for goods supplied to the inn. It was
+receipted.
+
+For a few moments I said nothing, and then I exclaimed, in tones which
+made my companion gaze very earnestly at me: "I must go to her
+immediately! I must take these papers! She must know everything!"
+
+"Excuse me," said Miss Edith, "but don't you think that something
+ought to be done about apprehending this man--this Italian? Let us go
+and question his messenger." We went out together, she carrying,
+tightly clasped, both the letter and the bill.
+
+The black man could tell us very little. An Italian he had never seen
+before had given him the letter to take to Holly Sprig Inn, and give
+to the gentleman who had had his tire eaten by a bear. If the
+gentleman was not there, he was to ask to have it sent to him. That
+was everything he knew.
+
+"Did the Italian give you money to go back with?" asked Miss Edith,
+and the man rather reluctantly admitted that he did.
+
+"Well, you can keep that for yourself," said she, "and we'll pay your
+passage back. But we would like you to wait here for a while. There
+may be some sort of an answer."
+
+The man laughed. "'Taint no use sendin' no answer," said he; "I
+couldn't find that Dago again. They're all so much alike. He said he
+was goin' away on a ship. You see it was yesterday he gave me that
+letter. I 'spect he'll be a long way out to sea before I get back,
+even if I did know who he was and what ship he was goin' on. But if
+you want me to wait, I don't mind waitin'."
+
+"Very good," said Miss Edith; "you can go into the kitchen and have
+something to eat." And, calling a maid, she gave orders for the man's
+entertainment.
+
+"Now," said she, turning to me, "let us take a walk through the
+orchard. I want to talk to you."
+
+"No," said I, "I can't talk at present. I must go immediately to the
+inn with those papers. It is right that not a moment should be lost in
+delivering this most momentous message which has been intrusted to
+me."
+
+"But I must speak to you first," said she, and she walked rapidly
+towards the orchard. As she still held the papers in her hand, I was
+obliged to follow her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MISS EDITH IS DISAPPOINTED
+
+
+As soon as we had begun to walk under the apple-trees she turned to me
+and said: "I don't think you ought to take this letter and the bill to
+Mrs. Chester. It would not be right. There would be something cruel
+about it."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Of course I do not know exactly the state of the case," she answered,
+"but I will tell you what I think about it as far as I know. You must
+not be offended at what I say. If I am a friend to anybody--and I
+would be ashamed if I were not a friend to you--I must tell him just
+what I think about things, and this is what I think about this thing:
+I ought to take these papers to Mrs. Chester. I know her well enough,
+and it is a woman who ought to go to her at such a time."
+
+"That message was intrusted to me," I said. "Of course it was," she
+answered, "but the bear man did not know what he was doing. He did not
+understand the circumstances."
+
+[Illustration: "'I DON'T THINK YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THIS LETTER'"]
+
+"What circumstances?" I asked.
+
+She gave me a look as if she were going to take aim at me and wanted
+to be sure of my position. Then she said: "Percy told us he thought
+you were courting Mrs. Chester. That was pure impertinence on his
+part, and perhaps what father said at the table was impertinence too,
+but I know he said it because he thought there might be something in
+Percy's chatter, and that you ought to understand how things stood.
+Now, you may think it impertinence on my part if you choose, but it
+really does seem to me that you are very much interested in Mrs.
+Chester. Didn't you intend to walk down to the Holly Sprig when you
+were starting out by yourself this morning?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "I did."
+
+"I thought so," she replied. "That, of course, was your own business,
+and what father said about her being unwilling to marry again need not
+have made any difference to you if you had chosen not to mind it. But
+now, don't you think, if you look at the matter fairly and squarely,
+it would be pretty hard on Mrs. Chester if you were to go down to her
+and make her understand that she really is a widow, and that now she
+is free to listen to you if you want to say anything to her? This may
+sound a little hard and cruel, but don't you think it is the way she
+would have to look at it?"
+
+She stopped as she spoke, and I turned and stood silent, looking at
+her.
+
+"My first thought was," she said, "to advise you to tell father about
+all this, and take his advice about telling her, but I don't think you
+would like that. Now, would you like that?"
+
+"No," I answered, "I certainly would not."
+
+"And don't you really think I ought to go to her with the message, and
+then come back and tell you how she took it and what she said?"
+
+For nearly a minute I did not speak, but I knew she was right, and at
+last I admitted it.
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so!" she exclaimed. "As soon as dinner is
+over I shall drive to the Holly Sprig."
+
+We still walked on, and she proposed that we should go to the top of a
+hill beyond the orchard, where there was a pretty view.
+
+"You may think me a strange sort of a girl," she said, presently, "but
+I can't help it. I suppose I am strange. I have often thought I would
+like very much to talk freely and honestly with a man about the
+reasons which people have for falling in love with each other. Of
+course I could not ask my father or brother, because they would simply
+laugh at me and tell me that falling in love was very much like the
+springing up of weeds--generally without reason and often
+objectionable. But you would be more likely to tell me something which
+would be of advantage to me in my studies."
+
+"Your studies!" I exclaimed. "What in the world are you studying?"
+
+"Well, I am studying human nature--not as a whole, of course, that's
+too large a subject, but certain phases of it--and I particularly want
+to know why such queer people come together and get married. Now I
+have great advantages in such a study, much greater than most girls
+have."
+
+"What are they?" I asked.
+
+"The principal one is that I never intend to marry. I made up my mind
+to that a good while ago. There is a great deal of work that I want to
+do in this world, and I could not do it properly if I were tied to a
+man. I would either have to submit myself to his ways, or he would
+have to submit himself to my ways, and that would not suit me. In the
+one case I should not respect him, and in the other I should not
+respect myself."
+
+"But suppose," said I, "you should meet a man who should be in perfect
+harmony with you in all important points?"
+
+"Ah," she said, "that sort of thing never happens. You might as well
+expect to pick up two pebbles exactly alike. I don't believe in it.
+But if at any time during the rest of my life you show me any examples
+of such harmony, I will change my opinions. I believe that if I can
+wait long enough, society will catch up with me. Everything looks that
+way to me."
+
+"It may be that you are right," I answered. "Society is getting on
+famously. But what is it you want to ask me?"
+
+"Simply this," she replied. "What is it which interests you so much in
+Mrs. Chester?"
+
+I looked at her in astonishment. "Truly," I exclaimed, "that is a
+remarkable question."
+
+"I know it," she replied, "and I suppose you are saying to yourself,
+'Here is a girl who has known me less than three days, and yet she
+asks me to tell her about my feeling towards another woman.' But,
+really, it seems to me that as you have not known that other woman
+three days, as much friendship and confidence might spring up in the
+one case as affection in the other."
+
+"Affection!" said I. "Have I said anything about affection?"
+
+"No, you have not," she replied; "and if there isn't any affection, of
+course that ends this special study on my part."
+
+We reached the top of the hill, but I forgot to look out upon the
+view. "I think you are a strange girl," I said, "but I like you, and I
+have a mind to try to answer your question. I have not been able quite
+to satisfy myself about my feelings towards Mrs. Chester, but now I
+think I can say that I have an affection for her."
+
+"Good!" she exclaimed. "I like that! That is an honest answer if ever
+there was one. But tell me why it is that you have an affection for
+her. It must have been almost a case of love at first sight."
+
+"It isn't easy to give reasons for such feelings," I said. "They
+spring up, as your father would say, very much like weeds."
+
+"Indeed they do," she interpolated; "sometimes they grow in the middle
+of a gravel path where they cannot expect to be allowed to stay."
+
+I reflected a moment. "I don't mind talking about these things to
+you," I said. "It seems almost like talking to myself."
+
+"That is a compliment I appreciate," she said. "And now go on. Why do
+you care for her?"
+
+"Well," said I, "in the first place, she is very handsome. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Oh yes! In fact, I think she is almost what might be called exactly
+beautiful."
+
+"Then she has such charming manners," I continued. "And she is so
+sensible--although you may not think I had much chance to find out
+that. Moreover, there is a certain sympathetic cordiality about her--"
+
+"Which, of course," interrupted my companion, "you suppose she would
+not show to any man but you."
+
+"Yes," said I. "I am speaking honestly now, and that's the way it
+strikes me. Of course I may be a fool, but I did think that a sympathy
+had arisen between us which would not arise between her and anybody
+else."
+
+Miss Edith laughed heartily. "I am getting to know a great deal about
+one side of the subject," she said. "And now tell me--is that all? I
+don't believe it is."
+
+"No," I answered, "it is not. There is something more which makes her
+attractive to me. I cannot exactly explain it except by saying that it
+is her surrounding atmosphere--it is everything that pertains to her.
+It is the life she lives, it is her home, it is the beauty and peace,
+the sense of charm which infuses her and everything that belongs to
+her."
+
+"Beautiful!" said Miss Edith. "I expected an answer like that, but not
+so well put. Now let me translate it into plain, simple language. What
+you want is to give up your present life, which must be awfully
+stupid, and go and help Mrs. Chester keep the Holly Sprig. That would
+suit you exactly. A charming wife, charming surroundings, charming
+sense of living, a life of absolute independence! But don't think,"
+she added, quickly, "that I am imputing any sordid motives to you. I
+meant nothing of the kind. You would do just as much to make the inn
+popular as she would. I expect you would make her rich."
+
+"Miss Edith Larramie," said I, "you are a heartless deceiver! It makes
+my blood run cold to hear you speak in that way."
+
+"Never mind that," she said, "but tell me, didn't you think it would
+be just lovely to live with her in that delightful little inn?"
+
+I could not help smiling at her earnestness, but I answered that I did
+think so.
+
+She nodded her head reflectively. "Yes," she said, "I was right. I
+think you ought to admit that I am a good judge of human nature--at
+least, in some people and under certain circumstances."
+
+"You are," said I. "I admit that. Now answer me a question. What do
+you think of it?"
+
+"I don't like it," she said. "And don't you see," she added, with
+animation, "what an advantage I possess in having determined never to
+marry? Very few other girls would be willing to speak to you so
+plainly. They would be afraid you would think that they wanted you,
+but, as I don't want anybody, you and I can talk over things of this
+kind like free and equal human beings. So I will say again that I
+don't like your affection for Mrs. Chester. It disappoints me."
+
+"Disappoints you!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," she said, "that is the word. You must remember that my
+acquaintance with you began with a sort of a bump. A great deal
+happened in an instant. I formed high ideas of you, and among them
+were ideas of the future. You can't help that when you are thinking of
+people who interest you. Your mind will run ahead. When I found out
+about Mrs. Chester I was disappointed. It might be all very
+delightful, but you ought to do better than that!"
+
+[Illustration: "'DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HIT IT WITH AN APPLE?'"]
+
+"How old are you?" I asked.
+
+"Twenty-two last May," she replied.
+
+"Isn't that the dinner-bell I hear in the distance?" I said.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "and we will go down."
+
+On the way she stopped, and we stood facing each other. "I am greatly
+obliged to you," she said, "for giving me your confidence in this way,
+and I want you to believe that I shall be thoroughly loyal to you, and
+that I never will breathe anything you have said. But I also want you
+to know that I do not change any of my opinions. Now we understand
+each other, don't we?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, "but I think I understand you better than you
+understand me."
+
+"Not a bit of it," she replied; "that's nonsense. Do you see that
+flower-pot on the top of the stump by the little hill over there?
+Percy has been firing at it with his air-gun. Do you think you could
+hit it with an apple? Let's each take three apples and try."
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Miss Edith returned from the Holly
+Sprig, where she and Genevieve had driven in a pony-cart. I was with
+the rest of the family on the golf links a short distance from the
+house, and it was some time before she got a chance to speak to me,
+but she managed at last.
+
+"How did she take the news?" I eagerly asked.
+
+The girl hesitated. "I don't think I ought to tell you all she said
+and did. It was really a private interview between us two, and I know
+she would not want me to say much about it. And I don't think you
+would want to hear everything."
+
+I hastened to assure her that I would not ask for the particulars of
+the conversation. I only wished to know the general effect of the
+message upon her. That was legitimate enough, as, in fact, she
+received the message through me.
+
+"Well, she was very much affected, and it would have been dreadful if
+you had gone. Oh the whole, however, I cannot help thinking that the
+Italian's letter was a great relief to her, particularly because she
+found that her husband had been killed by mistake. She said that one
+of the greatest loads upon her soul had been the feeling that he had
+had an enemy who hated him enough to kill him. But now the case is
+very different, and it is a great comfort to her to know it."
+
+"And about the murderer?" I said. "Did you ask her if she wanted steps
+taken to apprehend him?"
+
+"Yes," she said, "I did speak of it, and she is very anxious that
+nothing shall be done in that direction. Even if the Italian should be
+caught, she would not have the affair again publicly discussed and
+dissected. She believes the man's story, and she never wants to hear
+of him again. Indeed, I think that if it should be proved that the
+Italian killed Mr. Chester on purpose, it would be the greatest blow
+that could be inflicted upon her."
+
+"Then," said I, "I might as well let the negro man go his way. I have
+not paid him his passage-money to the city. I knew he would wait until
+he got it, and it might be desirable to take him into custody."
+
+"Oh no," she said. "Mrs. Chester spoke about that. She doesn't want
+the man troubled in any way. He knew nothing of the message he
+carried. Now I am going to tell father about it--she asked me to do
+it."
+
+That evening was a merry one. We had charades, and a good many other
+things were going on. Miss Willoughby was an admirable actress, and
+Miss Edith was not bad, although she could never get rid of her
+personality. I was in a singular state of mind. I felt as if I had
+been relieved from a weight. My spirits were actually buoyant.
+
+"You should not be so unreasonably gay," said Miss Edith to me. "That
+may be your way when you get better acquainted with people, but I am
+afraid some of the family will think that you are in such good spirits
+because Mrs. Chester now knows that she is a widow."
+
+"Oh, there is no danger of their thinking anything of that sort," I
+said. "Don't you suppose they will attribute my good spirits to the
+fact that the man who took my bicycle to Waterton brought back my big
+valise, so that I am enabled to look like a gentleman in the parlor?
+And then, as he also brought word that my bicycle will be all ready
+for me to-morrow, don't you think it is to be expected of me that I
+should try to make myself as agreeable as possible on this my last
+evening with all you good friends?"
+
+She shook her head. "Those excuses will not pass. You are abnormally
+cheerful. My study of you is extremely interesting, but not altogether
+satisfactory."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MISS WILLOUGHBY
+
+
+It was decreed the next day that I should not leave until after
+dinner. They would send me over to Blackburn Station by a cross-road,
+and I could then reach Waterton in less than an hour. "There is
+another good thing about this arrangement," said Miss Edith, for it
+was she who announced it to me, "and that is that you can take charge
+of Amy."
+
+I gazed at her mystified, and she said, "Don't you know that Miss
+Willoughby is going in the same train with you?"
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, far too forcibly.
+
+"Yes. Her visit ends to-day. She lives in Waterton. But why should
+that affect you so wonderfully? I am sure you cannot object to an hour
+in the train with Amy Willoughby. She may talk a good deal, but you
+must admit that she talks well."
+
+"Object!" I said. "Of course I don't object. She talks very well
+indeed, and I shall be glad to have the pleasure of her company."
+
+"No one would have thought so," she said, looking at me with a
+criticising eye, "who had seen you when you heard she was going."
+
+"It was the suddenness," I said.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "and your delicate nerves."
+
+In my soul I cried out to myself: "Am I ever to break free from young
+women! Is there to be a railroad accident between here and Waterton!
+If so, I shall save the nearest old gentleman!"
+
+I believe the Larramies were truly sorry to have me go. Each one of
+them in turn told me so. Mrs. Larramie again said to me, with tears in
+her eyes, that it made her shudder to think what that home might be if
+it had not been for me.
+
+Mr. Larramie and Walter promised to get up some fine excursions if I
+would stay a little longer, and Genevieve made me sit down beside her
+under a tree.
+
+"I am awfully sorry you are going," she said. "I always wanted a
+gentleman friend, and I believe if you'd stay a little longer you'd be
+one. You see, Walter is really too old for me to confide in, and Percy
+thinks he's too old--and that's a great deal worse. But you're just
+the age I like. There are so many things I would say to you if you
+lived here."
+
+Little Clara, cried when she heard I was going, and I felt myself
+obliged to commit the shameful deception of talking about baby bears
+and my possible return to this place.
+
+Miss Edith accompanied us to the station, and when I took leave of her
+on the platform she gave me a good, hearty handshake. "I believe that
+we shall see each other again," she said, "and when we meet I want you
+to make a report, and I hope it will be a good one!"
+
+"About what?" I asked.
+
+She smiled in gentle derision, and the conductor cried, "All aboard!"
+
+I found a vacant seat, and, side by side, Miss Willoughby and I sped
+on towards Waterton.
+
+For some time I had noticed that Miss Willoughby had ceased to look
+past me when she spoke to me, and now she fixed her eyes fully upon me
+and said:
+
+"I am always sorry when I go away from that house, for I think the
+people who live there are the dearest in the world, excepting my own
+mother and aunt, who are nearer to me than anybody else, although, if
+I needed a mother, Mrs. Larramie would take me to her heart, I am
+sure, just as if I were her own daughter, and I am not related to them
+in any way, although I have always looked upon Edith as a sister, and
+I don't believe that if I had a real sister she could possibly have
+been as dear a girl as Edith, who is so lovable and tender and
+forgiving--whenever there is anything to forgive--and who, although
+she is a girl of such strong character and such a very peculiar way of
+thinking about things, has never said a hard word to me in all her
+life, even when she found that our opinions were different, which was
+something she often did find, for she looks upon everything in this
+world in her own way, and bases all her judgments upon her own
+observations and convictions, while I am very willing to let those
+whom I think I ought to look up to and respect judge for me--at least
+in a great many things, but of course not in all matters, for there
+are some things which we must decide for ourselves without reference
+to other people's opinions, though I should be sorry indeed if I had
+so many things to decide as Edith has, or rather chooses to have, for
+if she would depend more upon other people I think it would not only
+be easier for her, but really make her happier, for if you could hear
+some of the wonderful things which she has discussed with me after
+we have gone to bed at night it would really make your head ache--that
+is, if you are subject to that sort of thing, which I am if I am kept
+awake too long, but I am proud to say that I don't think I ever
+allowed Edith to suppose that I was tired of hearing her talk, for
+when any one is as lovely as she is I think she ought to be allowed to
+talk about what she pleases and just along as she pleases."
+
+[Illustration: "TALKING ABOUT BABY BEARS"]
+
+Surprising as it may appear, nothing happened on that railroad
+journey. No cow of Cathay blundered in front of the locomotive; no
+freight train came around a curve going in the opposite direction upon
+the same track; everything went smoothly and according to schedule.
+Miss Willoughby did not talk all the time. She was not the greatest
+talker I ever knew; she was not even the fastest; she was always
+willing to wait until her turn came, but she had wonderful endurance
+for a steady stretch. She never made a bad start, she never broke, she
+went steadily over the track until the heat had been run.
+
+When the time came for me to speak she listened with great interest,
+and sometimes at my words her eyes sparkled almost as much as they
+did when she was speaking herself. She knew a great many things, and
+I was pleased to find out that she was especially interested in the
+good qualities of the people she knew. I never heard so many gracious
+sentiments in so short a time.
+
+Miss Willoughby's residence was but a short distance from the station
+at Waterton; and as she thought it entirely unnecessary to take a cab,
+I attended to her baggage, and offered to walk with her to her home
+and carry her little bag. I was about to leave her at the door, but
+this she positively forbade. I must step in for a minute or two to see
+her mother and her aunt. They had heard of me, and would never forgive
+her if she let me go without their seeing me. As the door opened
+immediately, we went in.
+
+Miss Willoughby's mother and aunt were two most charming elderly
+ladies, immaculately dainty in their dress, cordial of manner, bright
+of eye, and diminutive of hand, producing the impression of gentle
+goodness set off by soft white muslin, folded tenderly.
+
+They had heard of me. In the few days in which I had been with the
+Larramies, Miss Willoughby had written of me. They insisted that I
+should stay to supper, for what good reason could there be for my
+taking that meal at the hotel--not a very good one--when they would be
+so glad to have me sup with them and talk about our mutual friends?
+
+I had no reasonable objection to offer, and, returning to the station,
+I took my baggage to the hotel, where I prepared to sup with the
+Willoughby family.
+
+They were now a little family of three, although there was a brother
+who had started away the day before on a bicycling tour very like my
+own, and they were both so delighted to have Amy visit the Larramies,
+and they were both so delighted to have her come back.
+
+The supper was a delicate one, suitable for canary birds, but at an
+early stage of the meal a savory little sirloin steak was brought on
+which had been cooked especially for me. Of course I could not be
+expected to be satisfied with thin dainties, no matter how tasteful
+they might be.
+
+This house was the abode of intelligence, cultivated taste, and
+opulence. It was probably the finest mansion of the town. In every
+room there were things to see, and after supper we looked at them,
+and, as I wandered from pictures to vases and carved ivory, the
+remarks of the two elder ladies and Miss Willoughby seemed like a
+harmonized chorus accompanying the rest of the performance. Each spoke
+at the right time, each in her turn said the thing she ought to say.
+It was a rare exhibition of hospitable enthusiasm, tempered by
+sympathetic consideration for me and for each other.
+
+I soon discovered that many of the water-color drawings on the walls
+were the work of Miss Willoughby, and when she saw I was interested in
+them she produced a portfolio of her sketches. I liked her coloring
+very much. It was sometimes better than her drawing. It was dainty,
+delicate, and suggestive. One picture attracted me the moment my eyes
+fell upon it; it was one of the most carefully executed, and it
+represented the Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+"You recognize that!" said Miss Willoughby, evidently pleased. "You
+see that light-colored spot in the portico? That's Mrs. Chester; she
+stood there when I was making the drawing. It is nothing but two or
+three little dabs, but that is the way she looked at a distance.
+Around on this side is the corner of the yard where the bear tried to
+eat up the tire of your bicycle."
+
+I gazed and gazed at the little light-colored spot in the portico. I
+gave it form, light, feeling. I could see perfect features, blue
+eyes which looked out at me, a form of simple grace.
+
+[Illustration: "'I HELD THAT PICTURE A GOOD WHILE'"]
+
+I held that picture a good while, saying little, and scarcely
+listening to Miss Willoughby's words. At last I felt obliged to
+replace it in the portfolio. If the artist had been a poor girl, I
+would have offered to buy it; if I had known her better, I would have
+asked her to give it to me; but I could do nothing but put it back.
+
+Glancing at the clock I saw that it was time for me to go, but when I
+announced this fact the ladies very much demurred. Why should I go to
+that uncomfortable hotel? They would send for my baggage. There was
+not the least reason in the world why I should spend the night in that
+second-rate establishment.
+
+"See," said Mrs. Willoughby, opening the door of a room in the rear of
+the parlor, "if you will stay with us to-night we will lodge you in
+the chamber of the favored guest. All the pictures on the walls were
+done by my daughter."
+
+I looked into the room. It was the most charming and luxurious bedroom
+I had ever seen. It was lighted, and the harmony of its furnishings
+was a treat to the eye.
+
+But I stood firm in my purpose to depart. I would not spend the night
+in that house. There would be a fire, burglars, I knew not what!
+Against all kind entreaties I urged the absolute necessity of my
+starting away by the very break of day, and I could not disturb a
+private family by any such proceeding. They saw that I was determined
+to go, and they allowed me to depart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AN ICICLE
+
+
+My room at the hotel was as dreary as a stubble-field upon a November
+evening. The whole house was new, varnished, and hard. My bedroom was
+small. A piece of new ingrain carpet covered part of the hard
+varnished floor. Four hard walls and a ceiling, deadly white,
+surrounded me. The hard varnished bedstead (the mattress felt as if it
+were varnished) nearly filled the little room. Two stiff chairs, and a
+yellow window-shade which looked as if it were made of varnished wood,
+glittered in the feeble light of a glass lamp, while the ghastly
+grayish pallor of the ewer and basin on the wash-stand was thrown into
+bold relief by the intenser whiteness of the wall behind it.
+
+I put out my light as soon as possible and resolutely closed my eyes,
+for a street lamp opposite my window would not allow the room to fade
+into obscurity, and, as long as the hardness of the bed prevented me
+from sleeping, my thoughts ran back to the chamber of the favored
+guest, but my conscience stood by me. Cathay is a country where it is
+necessary to be very careful.
+
+I did not leave Waterton until after nine o'clock the next day, for,
+although I was early at the shop to which my bicycle had been sent, it
+was not quite ready for me, and I had to wait. Fortunately no
+Willoughby came that way.
+
+But when at last I mounted my wheel I sped away rapidly towards the
+north. I had ordered my baggage expressed to a town fifty miles away,
+and I hoped that if I rode steadily and kept my eyes straight in front
+of me I might safely get out of Cathay, for the boundaries of that
+fateful territory could not extend themselves indefinitely.
+
+Towards the close of the afternoon I saw a female in front of me, her
+back to me, walking, and pushing a bicycle.
+
+"Now," said I to myself, "she is doing that because she likes it, and
+it is none of my business." I gazed over the fields on the other side
+of the road, but as I passed her I could not help giving a glance at
+her machine. The air was gone from the tire of the hind wheel.
+
+"Ah," said I to myself, "perhaps her pump is out of order, or it may
+be that she does not know how to work it. It is getting late. She may
+have to go a long distance. I could pump it up for her in no time.
+Even if there is a hole in it I could mend it." But I did not stop. I
+had steeled my heart against any more adventures in Cathay.
+
+But my conscience did not stand by me. I could not forget that poor
+woman plodding along the weary road and darkness not far away. I went
+slower and slower, and at last I turned.
+
+"It would not take me five minutes to help her," I said. "I must be
+careful, but I need not be a churl." And I rode rapidly back.
+
+I came in sight of her just as she was turning into the gateway of a
+pretty house yard. Doubtless she lived there. I turned again and spun
+away faster than I had gone that day.
+
+For more than a month I journeyed and sojourned in a beautiful river
+valley and among the low foot-hills of the mountains. The weather was
+fair, the scenery was pleasing, and at last I came to believe that I
+had passed the boundaries of Cathay. I took no tablets from my little
+box. I did not feel that I had need of them.
+
+In the course of time I ceased to travel north-ward. My vacation was
+not very near its end, but I chose to turn my face towards the scene
+of my coming duties. I made a wide circuit, I rode slowly, and I
+stopped often.
+
+One day I passed through a village, and at the outer edge of it a
+little girl, about four years old, tried to cross the road. Tripping,
+she fell down almost in front of me. It was only by a powerful and
+sudden exertion that I prevented myself from going over her, and as I
+wheeled across the road my machine came within two feet of her. She
+lay there yelling in the dust. I dismounted, and, picking her up I
+carried her to the other side of the road. There I left her to toddle
+homeward while I went on my way. I could not but sigh as I thought
+that I was again in Cathay.
+
+Two days after this I entered Waterton. There was another road, said
+to be a very pleasant one, which lay to the westward, and which would
+have taken me to Walford through a country new to me, but I wished to
+make no further explorations in Cathay, and if one journeys back upon
+a road by which he came he will find the scenery very different.
+
+I spent the night at the hotel, and after breakfast I very reluctantly
+went to call upon the Willoughbys. I forced myself to do this, for,
+considering the cordiality they had shown me, it would have required
+more incivility than I possessed to pass through the town without
+paying my respects. But to my great joy none of the ladies was at
+home. I hastened from the house with a buoyant step, and was soon
+speeding away, and away, and away.
+
+The road was dry and hard, the sun was bright, but there was a fresh
+breeze in my face, and I rolled along at a swift and steady rate. On,
+on I went, until, before the sun had reached its highest point, I
+wheeled out of the main road, rolled up a gravel path, and dismounted
+in front of the Holly Sprig Inn.
+
+I leaned my bicycle against a tree and went in-doors. The place did
+not seem so quiet as when I first saw it. I had noticed a lady sitting
+under a tree in front of the house. There was a nurse-maid attending a
+child who was playing on the grass. Entering the hall, I glanced into
+the large room which I had called the "office," and saw a man there
+writing at a table.
+
+Presently a maid-servant came into the hall. She was not one I had
+noticed before. I asked if I could see Mrs. Chester, and she said she
+would go and look for her. There were chairs in the hall, and I might
+have waited for her there, but I did not. I entered the parlor, and
+was pleased to find it unoccupied. I went to the upper end of the
+room, as far as possible from the door.
+
+In a few minutes I heard a step in the hall. I knew it, and it was
+strange how soon I had learned to know it. She stopped in front of the
+office, then she went on towards the porch, and turning she came into
+the parlor, first looking towards the front of the room and then
+towards the place where I stood.
+
+The light from a window near me fell directly upon her as she
+approached me, and I could see that there was a slight flush on her
+face, but before she reached me it had disappeared. She did not greet
+me. She did not offer me her hand. In fact, from what afterwards
+happened, I believe that she did not consider me at that moment a fit
+subject for ordinary greeting. She stood up in front of me. She gazed
+steadfastly into my face. Her features wore something of their
+ordinary pleasant expression, but to this there was added a certain
+determination which I had never seen there before. She gave her head a
+little quick shake.
+
+"No, sir!" she said.
+
+This reception amazed me. I had been greatly agitated as I heard her
+approach, turning over in my mind what I should first say to her, but
+now I forgot everything I had prepared. "No what?" I exclaimed.
+
+[Illustration: "'NO, SIR,' SHE SAID"]
+
+"'No' means that I will not marry you."
+
+I stood speechless. "Of course you are thinking," she continued, "that
+you have never asked me to marry you. But that isn't at all necessary.
+As soon as I saw you standing there, back two weeks before your
+vacation is over, and when I got a good look at your face, I knew
+exactly what you had come for. I was afraid when you left here that
+you would come back for that, so I was not altogether unprepared. I
+spoke promptly so as to spare you and to make it easier for me."
+
+"Easier!" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Easier, because the sooner you know that I will not marry you the
+better it will be for you and for me."
+
+Now I could restrain myself no longer. "Why can't I marry you?" I
+asked, speaking very rapidly, and, I am afraid, with imprudent energy.
+"Is it any sort of condition or circumstance which prevents? Do you
+think that I am forcing myself upon you at a time when I ought not to
+do it? If so, you have mistaken me. Ever since I left here I have
+thought of scarcely anything but you, and I have returned thus early
+simply to tell you that I love you! I had to do that! I could not
+wait! But as to all else, I can wait, and wait, and wait, as long as
+you please. You can tell me to go away and come back at whatever time
+you think it will be right for you to give me an answer."
+
+"This is the right time," she said, "and I have given you your answer.
+But, unfortunately, I did not prevent you from saying what you came to
+say. So now I will tell you that the conditions and circumstances to
+which you allude have nothing to do with the matter. I have a reason
+for my decision which is of so much more importance than any other
+reason that it is the only one which need be considered."
+
+"What is that?" I asked, quickly.
+
+"It is because I keep a tavern," she answered. "It would be wrong and
+wicked for you to marry a woman who keeps a tavern."
+
+Now my face flushed. I could feel it burning. "Keep a tavern!" I
+exclaimed. "That is a horrible way to put it! But why should you think
+for an instant that I cared for that? Do you suppose I consider that a
+dishonorable calling? I would be only too glad to adopt it myself and
+help you keep a tavern, as you call it."
+
+"That is the trouble!" she exclaimed. "That is the greatest trouble. I
+believe you would. I believe that you think that the life would just
+suit you."
+
+"Then sweep away the tavern!" I exclaimed. "Banish it. Leave it. Put
+it out of all thought or consideration. I can wait for you. I can make
+a place and a position for you. I can--"
+
+"No, you cannot," she interrupted. "At least, not for a long time,
+unless one of your scholars dies and leaves you a legacy. It is the
+future that I am thinking about. No matter what you might sweep away,
+and to what position you might attain, it could always be said, 'He
+married a woman who used to keep a tavern.' Now, every one who is a
+friend to you, who knows what is before you, if you choose to try for
+it, should do everything that can be done to prevent such a thing ever
+being said of you. I am a friend to you, and I am going to prevent
+it."
+
+I stood unable to say one word. Her voice, her eyes, even the manner
+in which she stood before me, assured me that she meant everything she
+said. It was almost impossible to believe that such an amiable
+creature could turn into such an icicle.
+
+"I do not want you to feel worse than you can help," she said, "but it
+was necessary for me to speak as firmly and decidedly as I could, and
+now it is all settled."
+
+I knew it was all settled. I knew it as well as if it had been settled
+for years. But, with my eyes still ardently fixed on her, I remembered
+the little flush when she came into the room.
+
+"Tell me one thing," said I, "and I will go. If it were not for what
+you say about your position in life, and all that--if there had not
+been such a place as this inn--then could you--"
+
+She moved away from me. "You are as great a bear as the other one!"
+she exclaimed, and turning she left the room by a door in the rear.
+But in the next moment she ran back, holding out her hand. "Good-bye!"
+she said.
+
+I took her hand, but held it not a second. Then she was gone. I stood
+looking at the door which she had closed behind her, and then I left
+the house. There was no reason why I should stay in that place another
+minute.
+
+As I was about to mount my bicycle the boy came around the corner of
+the inn. Upon his face was a diabolical grin. The thought rushed into
+my mind that he might have been standing beneath the parlor window.
+Instinctively I made a movement towards him, but he did not run. I
+turned my eyes away from him and mounted. I could not kill a boy in
+the presence of a nurse-maid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A FORECASTER OF HUMAN PROBABILITIES
+
+
+I was about to turn in the direction of Walford, but then into my
+trouble-tossed mind there came the recollection that I had intended,
+no matter what happened, to call on the Larramies before I went home.
+I owed it to them, and at this moment their house seemed like a port
+of refuge.
+
+The Larramies received me with wide-opened eyes and outstretched
+hands. They were amazed to see me before the end of my vacation, for
+no member of that family had ever come back from a vacation before it
+was over; but they showed that they were delighted to have me with
+them, be it sooner or later than they had expected, and I had not been
+in the house ten minutes before I received three separate invitations
+to make that house my home until school began again.
+
+The house was even livelier than when I left it. There was a married
+couple visiting there, enthusiastic devotees of golf; one of Mr.
+Walter's college friends was with him; and, to my surprise, Miss Amy
+Willoughby was there again.
+
+Genevieve received me with the greatest warmth, and I could see that
+her hopes of a gentleman friend revived. Little Clara demanded to be
+kissed as soon as she saw me, and I think she now looked upon me as a
+permanent uncle or something of that kind. As soon as possible I was
+escorted by the greater part of the family to see the bear.
+
+Miss Edith had welcomed me as if I had been an old friend. It warmed
+my heart to receive the frank and cordial handshake she gave me. She
+said very little, but there was a certain interrogation in her eyes
+which assured me that she had much to ask when the time came. As for
+me, I was in no hurry for that time to come. I did not feel like
+answering questions, and with as much animation as I could assume I
+talked to everybody as we went to see the bear.
+
+This animal had grown very fat and super-contented, but I found that
+the family were in the condition of Gentleman Waife in Bulwer's novel,
+and were now wondering what they would do with it.
+
+"You see," cried Percy, who was the principal showman, "the neighbors
+are all on pins and needles about him. Ever since the McKenna sisters
+spread the story that Orso was in the habit of getting under beds,
+there isn't a person within five miles of here who can go to bed
+without looking under it to see if there is a bear there. There are
+two houses for sale about a mile down the road, and we don't know any
+reason why people should want to go away except it's the bear. Nearly
+all the dogs around here are kept chained up for fear that Orso will
+get hold of them, and there is a general commotion, I can tell you. At
+first it was great fun, but it is getting a little tiresome now. We
+have been talking about shooting him, and then I shall have his bones,
+which I am going to set up as a skeleton, and it is my opinion that
+you ought to have the skin."
+
+Several demurrers now arose, for nobody seemed to think that I would
+want such an ugly skin as that.
+
+"Ugly!" cried Percy, who was evidently very anxious to pursue his
+study of comparative anatomy. "It's a magnificent skin. Look at that
+long, heavy fur. Why, if you take that skin and have it all cleaned,
+and combed out, and dyed some nice color, it will be fit to put into
+any room."
+
+Genevieve was in favor of combing and cleaning, oiling and dyeing the
+hide of the bear without taking it off.
+
+"If you would do that," she declared, "he would be a beautiful bear,
+and we would give him away. They would be glad to have him at Central
+Park."
+
+The Larramies would not listen to my leaving that day. There were a
+good many people in the house, but there was room enough for me, and,
+when we had left the bear without solving the problem of his final
+disposition, there were so many things to be done and so many things
+to be said that it was late in the afternoon before Miss Edith found
+the opportunity of speaking to me for which she had been waiting so
+long.
+
+"Well," said she, as we walked together away from the golf links, but
+not towards the house, "what have you to report?"
+
+"Report?" I repeated, evasively.
+
+"Yes, you promised to do that, and I always expect people to fulfil
+their promises to me. You came here by the way of the Holly Sprig Inn,
+didn't you?"
+
+I assented. "A very roundabout way," she said. "It would have been
+seven miles nearer if you had come by the cross-road. But I suppose
+you thought you must go there first."
+
+"That is what I thought," I answered.
+
+"Have you been thinking about her all the time you have been away?"
+
+"Nearly all the time."
+
+"And actually cut off a big slice of your vacation in order to see
+her?"
+
+I replied that this was precisely the state of the case.
+
+"But, after all, you weren't successful. You need not tell me anything
+about that--I knew it as soon as I saw you this morning. But I will
+ask you to answer one thing: Is the decision final?"
+
+I sighed--I could not help it, but she did not even smile. "Yes," I
+said, "the affair is settled definitely."
+
+For a minute or so we walked on silently, and then she said: "I do not
+want you to think I am hard-hearted, but I must say what is in me. I
+congratulate you, and, at the same time, I am sorry for her."
+
+At this amazing speech I turned suddenly towards her, and we both
+stopped.
+
+"Yes," said she, standing before me with her clear eyes fixed upon my
+face, "you are to be congratulated. I think it is likely she is the
+most charming young woman you are ever likely to meet--and I know a
+great deal more about her than you do, for I have known her for a long
+time, and your acquaintance is a very short one--she has qualities you
+do not know anything about; she is lovely! But for all that it would
+be very wrong for you to marry her, and I am glad she had sense enough
+not to let you do it."
+
+"Why do you say that?" I asked, a little sharply.
+
+"Of course you don't like it," she replied, "but it is true. She may
+be as lovely as you think her--and I am sure she is. She may be of
+good family, finely educated, and a great many more things, but all
+that goes for nothing beside the fact that for over five years she has
+been the landlady of a little hotel."
+
+"I do not care a snap for that!" I exclaimed. "I like her all the
+better for it. I--"
+
+"That makes it worse," she interrupted, and as she spoke I could not
+but recollect that a similar remark had been made to me before. "I
+have not the slightest doubt that you would have been perfectly
+willing to settle down as the landlord of a little hotel. But if you
+had not--even if you had gone on in the course which father has
+marked out for you, and you ought to hear him talk about you--you
+might have become famous, rich, nobody knows what, perhaps President
+of a college, but still everybody would have known that your wife was
+the young woman who used to keep the Holly Sprig Inn, and asked the
+people who came there if they objected to a back room, and if they
+wanted tea or coffee for their breakfast. Of course Mrs. Chester
+thought too much of you to let you consider any such foolishness."
+
+I made no answer to this remark. I thought the young woman was taking
+a great deal upon herself.
+
+"Of course," she continued, "it would have been a great thing for Mrs.
+Chester, and I honor her that she stood up stiffly and did the thing
+she ought to do. I do not know what she said when she gave you her
+final answer, but whatever it was it was the finest compliment she
+could have paid you."
+
+I smiled grimly. "She likened me to a bear," I said. "Do you call that
+a compliment?"
+
+Edith Larramie looked at me, her eyes sparkling. "Tell me one thing,"
+she said. "When she spoke to you in that way weren't you trying to
+find out how she felt about the matter exclusive of the inn?"
+
+I could not help smiling again as I assented.
+
+"There!" she exclaimed. "I am beginning to have the highest respect
+for my abilities as a forecaster of human probabilities. It was like
+you to try to find out that, and it was like her to snub you. But
+let's walk on. Would you like me to give you some advice."
+
+"I am afraid your advice is not worth very much," I answered, "but I
+will hear it."
+
+"Well, then," she said, "I advise you to fall in love with somebody
+else just as soon as you can. That is the best way to get this affair
+out of your mind, and until you do that you won't be worth anything."
+
+I felt that I now knew this girl so well that I could say anything to
+her. "Very well, then," said I; "suppose I fall in love with you?"
+
+"That isn't a very nice speech," she said. "There is a little bit of
+spitefulness in it. But it doesn't mean anything, anyway. I am out of
+the competition, and that is the reason I can speak to you so freely.
+Moreover, that is the reason I know so much about the matter. I am not
+biassed. But you need have no trouble--there's Amy."
+
+"Don't say Amy to me, I beg of you!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Why not?" she persisted. "She is very pretty. She is as good as she
+can be. She is rich. And if she were your wife you would want her to
+talk more than she does, you would be so glad to listen to her. I
+might say more about Amy, but I won't."
+
+"Would it be very impolite," said I, "if I whistled?"
+
+"I don't know," she said, "but you needn't do it. I will consider it
+done. Now I will speak of Bertha Putney. I was bound to mention Amy
+first, because she is my dear friend, but Miss Putney is a grand girl.
+And I do not mind telling you that she takes a great interest in you."
+
+"How do you know that?" I asked.
+
+"I have seen her since you were here--she lunched with us. As soon as
+she heard your name mentioned--and that was bound to happen, for this
+family has been talking about you ever since they first knew you--she
+began to ask questions. Of course the bear came up, and she wanted to
+know every blessed thing that happened. But when she found out that
+you got the bear at the Holly Sprig her manner changed, and she
+talked no more about you at the table.
+
+"But in the afternoon she had a great deal to say to me. I did not
+know exactly what she was driving at, and I may have told her too
+much. We said a great many things--some of which I remember and some I
+do not--but I am sure that I never knew a woman to take more interest
+in a man than she takes in you. So it is my opinion that if you would
+stop at the Putneys' on your way home you might do a great deal to
+help you get rid of the trouble you are now in. It makes me feel
+something like a spy in a camp to talk this way, but I told you I was
+your friend, and I am going to be one. Spies are all right when they
+are loyal to their own side."
+
+I was very glad to have such a girl on my side, but this did not seem
+to be a very good time to talk about the advantages of a call upon
+Miss Putney.
+
+In spite of all the entreaties of the Larramie family, I persisted in
+my intention of going on to Walford the next morning, and, in reply to
+their assurances that I would find it dreadfully dull in that little
+village during the rest of my vacation, I told them that I should be
+very much occupied and should have no time to be dull. I was going
+seriously to work to prepare myself for my profession. For a year or
+two I had been deferring this important matter, waiting until I had
+laid by enough money to enable me to give up school-teaching and to
+apply myself entirely to the studies which would be necessary. All
+this would give me enough to do, and vacation was the time in which I
+ought to do it. The distractions of the school session were very much
+in the way of a proper contemplation of my own affairs.
+
+"That sounds very well," said Miss Edith, when there was no one by,
+"but if you cannot get the Holly Sprig Inn out of your mind, I do not
+believe you will do very much 'proper contemplation.' Take my advice
+and stop at the Putneys'. It can do you no harm, and it might help to
+free your mind of distractions a great deal worse than those of the
+school."
+
+"By filling it with other distractions, I suppose you mean," I
+answered. "A fickle-minded person you must think me. But it pleases me
+so much to have you take an interest in me that I do not resent any of
+your advice."
+
+She laughed. "I like to give advice," she said, "but I must admit that
+I sometimes think better of a person if he does not take it. But I
+will say--and this is all the advice I am going to give you at
+present--that if you want to be successful in making love, you must
+change your methods. You cannot expect to step up in front of a girl
+and stop her short as if she were a runaway horse. A horse doesn't
+like that sort of thing, and a girl doesn't like it. You must take
+more time about it. A runaway girl doesn't hurt anybody, and, if you
+are active enough, you can jump in behind and take the reins and stop
+her gradually without hurting her feelings, and then, most likely, you
+can drive her for all the rest of your life."
+
+"You ought to have that speech engraved in uncial characters on a slab
+of stone," said I. "Any museum would be glad to have it."
+
+I had two reasons besides the one I gave for wishing to leave this
+hospitable house. In the first place, Edith Larramie troubled me. I
+did not like to have any one know so much about my mental interior--or
+to think she knew so much. I did not like to feel that I was being
+managed. I had a strong belief that if anybody jumped into a vehicle
+she was pulling he would find that she was doing her own driving and
+would allow no interferences. I liked her very much, but I was sure
+that away from her I would feel freer in mind.
+
+The other reason for my leaving was Amy Willoughby. During my little
+visit to her house my acquaintance with her had grown with great
+rapidity. Now I seemed to know her very well, and the more I knew her
+the better I liked her. It may be vanity, but I think she wanted me to
+like her, and one reason for believing this was the fact that when she
+was with me--and I saw a great deal of her during the afternoon and
+evening I spent with the Larramies--she did not talk so much, and when
+she did speak she invariably said something I wanted to hear.
+
+Remembering the remarks which had been made about her by her friend
+Edith, I could not but admit that she was a very fine girl, combining
+a great many attractive qualities, but I rebelled against every
+conviction I had in regard to her. I did not want to think about her
+admirable qualities. I did not want to believe that in time they would
+impress me more forcibly than they did now. I did not want people to
+imagine that I would come to be so impressed. If I stayed there I
+might almost look upon her in the light of a duty.
+
+The family farewell the next morning was a tumultuous one. Invitations
+to ride up again during my vacation, to come and spend Saturdays and
+Sundays, were intermingled with earnest injunctions from Genevieve in
+regard to a correspondence which she wished to open with me for the
+benefit of her mind, and declarations from Percy that he would let me
+know all about the bear as soon as it was decided what would be the
+best thing to happen to him, and entreaties from little Clara that I
+would not go away without kissing her good-bye.
+
+But amid the confusion Miss Edith found a chance to say a final word
+to me. "Don't you try," she said, as I was about to mount my bicycle,
+"to keep those holly sprigs in your brain until Christmas. They are
+awfully stickery, they will not last, and, besides, there will not be
+any Christmas."
+
+"And how about New-Year's Day?" I asked.
+
+"That is the way to talk," said she. "Keep your mind on that and you
+will be all right."
+
+As I rode along I could not forget that it would be necessary for me
+to pass the inn. I had made inquiries, but there were no byways which
+would serve my purpose. There was nothing for me to do but keep on,
+and on I kept. I should pass so noiselessly and so swiftly that I did
+not believe any one would notice me, unless, indeed, it should be the
+boy. I earnestly hoped that I should not see the boy.
+
+Whether or not I was seen from the inn as I passed it I do not know.
+In fact, I did not know when I passed it. No shout of immature
+diabolism caught my ear, no scent of lemon came into my nostrils, and
+I saw nothing but the line of road directly in front of me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+REPENTANCE AVAILS NOT
+
+
+When I was positively certain that I had left the little inn far
+behind me, I slackened my speed, and, perceiving a spreading tree by
+the road-side, I dismounted and sat down in the shade. It was a hot
+day, and unconsciously I had been working very hard. Several persons
+on wheels passed along the road, and every time I saw one approaching
+I was afraid that it might be somebody I knew, who might stop and sit
+by me in the shade. I was now near enough to Walford to meet with
+people from that neighborhood, and I did not want to meet with any one
+just now. I had a great many things to think about and just then I was
+busy trying to make up my mind whether or not it would be well for me
+to stop at the Putneys'.
+
+If I should pass without stopping, some one in the lodge would
+probably see me, and the family would know of my discourtesy, but,
+although it would have been a very simple thing to do, and a very
+proper thing, I did not feel sure that I wanted to stop. If Edith
+Larramie had never said anything about it, I think I would surely have
+made a morning call upon the Putneys.
+
+After I had cooled off a little I rose to remount; I had not decided
+anything, but it was of no use to sit there any longer. Glancing along
+the road towards Walford, I saw in the distance some one approaching
+on a wheel. Involuntarily I stood still and watched the on-coming
+cyclist, who I saw was a woman. She moved steadily and rapidly on the
+other side of the road. Very soon I recognized her. It was Miss
+Putney.
+
+As she came nearer and nearer I was greatly impressed with her
+appearance. Her costume was as suitable and becoming for the occasion
+as if it had been an evening dress for a ball, and she wheeled better
+than any woman cyclist I ever saw. Her head was erect, her eyes
+straight before her, and her motion was rhythm of action.
+
+With my hand on my wheel I moved a few steps towards the middle of the
+road. I was about to take off my cap when she turned her eyes upon me.
+She even moved her head a little so as to gaze upon me a few seconds
+longer. Her face was quiet and serene, her eyes were large, clear, and
+observant. In them was not one gleam of recognition. Turning them
+again upon the road in front of her, she sped on and away.
+
+[Illustration: "CUT LIKE THAT"]
+
+For some minutes I stood looking after her, utterly astonished. I do
+not think in all my life I had ever been cut like that. What did it
+mean? Could she care enough about me to resent my stopping at the
+Holly Sprig? Was it possible that she could have known what had been
+likely to happen there, and what had happened there? All this was very
+improbable, but in Cathay people seemed to know a great many things.
+Anyway, she had solved my problem for me. I need give no further
+thought to a stop at her father's mansion.
+
+I mounted and rode on, but not rapidly. I was very much moved. My soul
+grew warm as I thought of the steady gaze of the eyes which that girl
+had fixed upon me. For a mile or so I moved steadily and quietly in a
+mood of incensed dignity. I pressed the pedals with a hard and cruel
+tread. I did not understand. I could scarcely believe.
+
+Soon, however, I began to move a little faster. Somehow or other I
+became conscious that there was a bicycle at some distance behind me.
+I pushed on a little faster. I did not wish to be overtaken by
+anybody. Now I was sure there was a wheel behind me. I could not hear
+it, but I knew it was there.
+
+Presently I became certain that my instincts had not deceived me, for
+I heard the quick sound of a bicycle bell. This was odd, for surely no
+one would ring for me to get out of the way. Then there was another
+tinkle, a little nearer.
+
+Now I sped faster and faster. I heard the bell violently ringing. Then
+I thought, but I am not sure, that I heard a voice. I struck out with
+the thrust of a steam-engine, and the earth slipped backward beneath
+me like the water of a mill-race. I passed wagons as if they had been
+puffs of smoke, and people on wheels as though they were flying
+cinders.
+
+In some ten minutes I slackened speed and looked back. For a long
+distance behind me not a bicycle was in sight. I now pursued my
+homeward way with a warm body and a lacerated heart. I hated this
+region which I had called Cathay. Its inhabitants were not barbarians,
+but I was suffering from their barbarities. I had come among them
+clean, whole, with an upright bearing. I was going away torn, bloody,
+and downcast.
+
+If the last words of the lady of the Holly Sprig meant the sweet thing
+I thought they meant, then did they make the words which preceded them
+all the more bitter. The more friendly and honest the counsels of
+Edith Larramie had grown, the deeper they had cut into my heart. Even
+the more than regard with which my soul prompted me to look back to
+Amy Willoughby was a pain to me. My judgment would enrage me if it
+should try to compel me to feel as I did not want to feel.
+
+But none of these wounds would have so pained and disturbed me had it
+not been for the merciless gaze which that dark-eyed girl had fixed
+upon me as she passed me standing in the road. And if she had gone too
+far and had done more than her own nature could endure, and if it were
+she who had been pursuing me, then the wound was more cruel and the
+smart deeper. If she believed me a man who would stop at the ringing
+of her bell, then was I ashamed of myself for having given her that
+impression.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BEAUTY, PURITY, AND PEACE
+
+
+I now proposed to wheel my way in one long stretch to Walford. I took
+no interest in rest or in refreshment. Simply to feel that I had done
+with this cycle of Cathay would be to me rest, refreshment, and,
+perhaps, the beginning of peace.
+
+The sun was high in the heavens, and its rays were hot, but still I
+kept steadily on until I saw a female figure by the road-side waving a
+handkerchief. I had not yet reached her, but she had stopped, was
+looking at me, and was waving energetically. I could not be mistaken.
+I turned and wheeled up in front of her. It was Mrs. Burton, the
+mother of the young lady who had injured her ankle on the day when I
+set out for my journey through Cathay.
+
+"I am so glad to see you," she said, as she shook hands with me. "I
+knew you as soon as my eyes first fell upon you. You know I have
+often seen you on the road before we became acquainted with you. We
+have frequently talked about you since you were here, and we did not
+expect you would be coming back so soon. Mr. Burton has been hoping
+that he would have a chance to know you better. He is very fond of
+school-masters. He was an intimate friend of Godfrey Chester, who had
+the school at Walford some years before you came--when the boys and
+girls used to go to school together--and of the man who came
+afterwards. He was a little too elderly, perhaps, but Mr. Burton liked
+him too, and now he hopes that he is going to know you. But excuse me
+for keeping you standing so long in the road. You must come in. We
+shall have dinner in ten minutes. I was just coming home from a
+neighbor's when I caught sight of you."
+
+I declined with earnestness. Mr. Burton might be a very agreeable man,
+but I wanted to make no new acquaintances then. I must keep on to
+Walford.
+
+But the good lady would listen to no refusals of her hospitality. I
+was just in time. I must need a mid-day rest and something to eat. She
+was very sorry that Mr. Burton was not at home. He nearly always was
+at home, but to-day he had gone to Waterton. But if I would be
+contented to take dinner with her daughter and herself, they would be
+delighted to have me do so. She made a motion to open the gate for me,
+but I opened it for her, and we both went in. The daughter met us at
+the top of the garden walk. She came towards me as a cool summer
+breeze comes upon a hot and dusty world. There was no flush upon her
+face, but her eyes and lips told me that she was glad to see me before
+she spoke a word or placed her soft, white hand in mine. At the first
+touch of that hand I felt glad that Mrs. Burton had stopped me in the
+road. Here was peace.
+
+That dinner was the most soothing meal of which I had ever partaken. I
+did the carving, my companions did the questioning, and nearly all the
+conversation was about myself. Ordinarily I would not have liked this,
+but every word which was said by these two fair ladies--for the
+sweetness of the mother was merely more seasoned than that of the
+daughter--was so filled with friendly interest that it gratified me to
+make my answers.
+
+They seemed to have heard a great deal about me during my wanderings
+through Cathay. They knew, of course, that I had stopped with the
+Putneys, for I had told them that, but they had also heard that I had
+spent a night at the Holly Sprig, and had afterwards stayed with the
+Larramies. But of anything which had happened which in the slightest
+degree had jarred upon my feelings they did not appear to have heard
+the slightest mention.
+
+I might have supposed that only good and happy news thought it worth
+while to stop at that abode of peace. As I looked upon the serene and
+tender countenance of Mrs. Burton I wondered how a cloud rising from
+want of sympathy with early peas ever could have settled over this
+little family circle; but it was the man who had caused the cloud. I
+knew it. It is so often the man.
+
+When we had finished dinner and had gone out to sit in the cool
+shadows of the piazza, I let my gaze rest as often as I might upon the
+fair face of that young girl. Several times her eyes met mine, but
+their lids never drooped, their tender light did not brighten. I felt
+that she was so truly glad to see me that her pleasure in the meeting
+was not affected one way or the other by the slight incident of my
+looking at her.
+
+If ever a countenance told of innocence, purity, and truth, her
+countenance told of them. I believe that if she had thought it
+pleased me to look at her, it would have pleased her to know that it
+gave me pleasure.
+
+As I talked with her and looked at her, and as I looked at her mother
+and talked with her, it was impressed upon me that if there is one
+thing in this world which is better than all else, it is peace, that
+peace which comprises so many forms of happiness and deep content.
+That the thoughts which came to me could come to a heart so lacerated,
+so torn, so full of pain as mine had been that morning, seemed
+wonderful, and yet they came.
+
+Once or twice I tried to banish these thoughts. It seemed
+disrespectful to myself to entertain them so soon after other thoughts
+which I now wished to banish utterly. I am not a hero of romance. I am
+only a plain human being, and such is the constitution of my nature
+that the more troubled and disturbed is my soul, the more welcome is
+purity, truth, and peace.
+
+But, after all, my feelings were not quite natural, and the change in
+them was too sudden. It was the consequence of too violent a reaction,
+but, such as it was, it was complete. I would not be hasty. I would
+not be deficient in self-respect. But if at that moment I had known
+that this was the time to declare what I wished to have, I would
+unhesitatingly have asked for beauty, purity, and peace.
+
+A maid came out upon the piazza who wanted something. Mrs. Burton half
+rose, but her daughter forestalled her. "I will go," said she. "Excuse
+me one minute."
+
+If my face expressed the sentiment, "Oh, that the mother had gone!" I
+did not intend that it should do so. Mrs. Burton then began to talk
+about her daughter.
+
+"She is like her father," she said, "in so many ways. For one thing,
+she is very fond of school-masters. I do not know exactly why this
+should be, but her teachers always seem to be her friends. In fact,
+she is to marry a school-master--that is, an assistant professor at
+Yale. He is in Europe now, but we expect him back early in the fall."
+
+A short time after this, when the daughter had returned and I rose to
+go, the young girl put her soft, white hand into mine exactly as she
+had done when I arrived, and the light in her eyes showed me, just as
+it had showed me before, the pleasure she had taken in my visit. But
+the mother's farewell was different from her greeting. I could see in
+her kind air a certain considerate sympathy which was not there
+before. She had been very prompt to tell me of her daughter's
+engagement.
+
+That young angel of peace and truth would not have deemed it necessary
+to say a word about the matter, even to a young man who was a
+school-master, and between whom and her family a mutual interest was
+rapidly growing. But with the mother it was otherwise. She had seen
+the shadows pass away from my countenance as I sat and talked upon
+that cool piazza, my eyes bent upon her daughter. Mothers know.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BACK FROM CATHAY
+
+
+The next morning, being again settled in my rooms in Walford, I went
+to call upon the Doctor and his daughter. The Doctor was not at home,
+but his daughter was glad to see me.
+
+"And how do you like your cycle of Cathay?" she asked.
+
+"I do not like it at all," I answered. "It has taken me upon a dreary
+round. I am going to change it for another as soon as I have an
+opportunity."
+
+"Then it has not been a wheel of fortune to you?" she remarked. "And
+as for that country which you figuratively called Cathay, did you find
+that pleasant?"
+
+"In some ways, yes, but in others not. You see, I came back before my
+vacation was over, and I do not care to go there any more."
+
+She now wanted me to tell her where I had really been and what had
+happened to me, and I gave her a sketch of my adventures. Of course I
+could not enter deeply into particulars, for that would make too long
+a story, but I told her where I had stopped, and my accounts of the
+bear and the horse were deeply interesting.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, when I had finished, "that if things had
+been a little different, you might have had an extremely pleasant
+tour. For instance, if Mr. Godfrey Chester had been living, I think
+you would have liked him very much, and it is probable that you would
+have been glad to stay at his inn for several days. It is a beautiful
+country thereabout."
+
+"Did you know him?" I asked.
+
+"Oh yes," she said; "he was my teacher during part of my school-days
+here. And then there is Mr. Burton; father is very fond of him. He is
+a man of great intelligence. It was unfortunate that you did not see
+more of him."
+
+"Perhaps you know Mr. Putney?" I said.
+
+"No," she answered. "I have heard a great deal about him. He seems to
+be a stiff sort of a man. But as to Mr. Larramie, everybody likes him.
+He is a great favorite throughout the county, and his son Walter is a
+rising young man. I am glad you made the acquaintance of the
+Larramies."
+
+"So am I," I said, "very glad indeed. And, by-the-way, do you know a
+young man named Willoughby? I never heard his first name, but he lives
+at Waterton."
+
+"Oh, the Willoughbys of Waterton," she said. "I have heard a great
+deal about them. Father used to know the old gentleman. He was a great
+collector of rare books, but he is dead now. If you had met him you
+would have found him a man of your own tastes."
+
+When I was going away she stopped me for a moment. "I forgot to ask
+you," she said; "did you take any of those capsules I gave you when
+you were starting off on your cycle?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "I took some of them." But I could not well explain the
+capricious way in which I had endeavored to guard against the germs of
+malaria, and to call my own attention to the threatening germs of
+erratic fancy.
+
+"Then you do not think they did you any good?" she said.
+
+"I am not sure," I replied. "I cannot say anything about that. But of
+one thing I am certain, and that is, that if any germs of any kind
+entered my system, it is perfectly free from them now."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," she said.
+
+It was about a week after this that I received a letter from Percy
+Larramie. "I thought you would like to know about the bear," he wrote.
+"Somebody must have forgotten to feed him, and he broke his chain and
+got away. He went straight over to the Holly Sprig Inn, and I expect
+he did that because the inn was the last place he had seen his master.
+I did not know bears cared so much for masters. He didn't stay long at
+the inn, but he stayed long enough to bite a boy. Then he went into
+the woods.
+
+"As soon as we heard of it we all set off on a bear-hunt. It was jolly
+fun, although I did not so much as catch a sight of him. Father shot
+him at a three-hundred-foot range. It was a Winchester rifle with a
+thirty-two cartridge. It was a beautiful shot, Walter said, and I wish
+I had made it.
+
+"We took his skin off and tore it only in two or three places, which
+can be mended. Would you like to have the skin, and do you care
+particularly about the head? If you don't, I would like to have it,
+because without it the skeleton will not be perfect."
+
+I wrote to Percy that I did not desire so much as a single hair of the
+beast. I did not tell him so, but I despised the bears of Cathay.
+
+It was just before the Christmas holidays when I finally made up my
+mind that of all the women in the world the Doctor's daughter was the
+one for me, and when I told her so she did not try to conceal that
+this was also her own opinion. I had seen the most charming qualities
+in other women, and my somewhat rapid and enthusiastic study of them
+had so familiarized me with them that I was enabled readily to
+perceive their existence in others. I found them all in the Doctor's
+daughter.
+
+Her father was very well pleased when he heard of our compact. It was
+plain that he had been waiting to hear of it. When he furthermore
+heard that I had decided to abandon all thought of the law, and to
+study medicine instead, his satisfaction was complete. He arranged
+everything with affectionate prudence. I should read with him,
+beginning immediately, even before I gave up my school. I should
+attend the necessary medical courses, and we need be in no hurry to
+marry. We were both young, and when I was ready to become his
+assistant it would be time enough for him to give me his daughter.
+
+We were sitting together in the Doctor's library and had been looking
+over some of the papers of the Walford Literary Society, of which we
+were both officers, when I said, looking at her signature:
+"By-the-way, I wish you would tell me one thing. What does the initial
+'E.' stand for in your name? I never knew any one to use it."
+
+"No," she said; "I do not like it. It was given to me by my mother's
+sister, who was a romantic young lady. It is Europa. And I only hope,"
+she added, quickly, "that you may have fifty years of it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Three years of the fifty have now passed, and each one of the young
+women I met in Cathay has married. The first one to go off was Edith
+Larramie. She married the college friend of her brother who was at the
+house when I visited them. When I met her in Walford shortly after I
+heard of her engagement, she took me aside in her old way and told me
+she wanted me always to look upon her as my friend, no matter how
+circumstances might change with her or me.
+
+"You do not know how much of a friend I was to you," she said, "and it
+is not at all necessary you should know. But I will say that when I
+saw you getting into such a dreadful snarl in our part of the
+country, I determined, if there were no other way to save you, I would
+marry you myself! But I did not do it, and you ought to be very glad
+of it, for you would have found that a little of me, now and then,
+would be a great deal more to your taste than to have me always."
+
+[Illustration: EUROPA]
+
+Mrs. Chester married the man who had courted her before she fell in
+love with her school-master. It appeared that the fact of her having
+been the landlady of the Holly Sprig made no difference in his case.
+He was too rich to have any prospects which might be interfered with.
+
+Amy Willoughby married Walter Larramie. That was a thing which might
+well have been expected. I was very glad to hear it, for I shall never
+fail to be interested in the Larramies.
+
+About a year ago there was a grand wedding at the Putney city mansion.
+The daughter of the family was married to an Italian gentleman with a
+title. I read of the affair in the newspapers, and having heard, in
+addition, a great many details of the match from the gossips of
+Walford, I supposed myself to be fully informed in regard to this
+grand alliance, and was therefore very much surprised to receive,
+personally, an announcement of the marriage upon a very large and
+stiff card, on which were given, in full, the various titles and
+dignities of the noble bridegroom. I did not believe Mr. Putney had
+sent me this card, nor that his wife had done so; certainly the Count
+did not send it. But no matter how it came to me, I was very sure I
+owed it to the determination, on the part of some one, that by no
+mischance should I fail to know exactly what had happened. I heard
+recently that the noble lady and her husband expect to spend the
+summer at her father's country-house, and some people believe that
+they intend to make it their permanent home.
+
+The Doctor strongly advises that Europa and I should go before long
+and settle in the Cathay region. He thinks that it will be a most
+excellent field for me to begin my labors in, and he knows many
+families there who would doubtless give me their practice.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BICYCLE OF CATHAY***
+
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